BUILDING NEW INNOVATION CAPABILITIES THROUGH KNOWLEDGE SHARING AND STRATEGIC ALLIANCES IN HEALTHCARE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

Abstract

The knowledge base of an academic medical center is elaborate and far-reaching as the sources of expertise can be found in multiple networks of learning and management within the organization. Therefore, it is incumbent for professionals within a healthcare ecosystem to utilize external collaboration. This research explored open innovation processes between different academic medical centers with biomedical and genomic research institutions and biopharmaceutical companies with the intention to develop new insights that would maximize the probability of successful collaborative academic-industry knowledge creation. Through exploratory research consisting of a literature review and semi-structured interviews of senior-level managers and top-of-field researchers, it became evident that both individuals and organizations employed critical success strategies for open innovation orchestration by fostering trust, identifying motivating factors, continuously developing collaborative knowledge sharing with top-management support and lowering barriers to collaboration through project-level processes and procedures, but not without experiencing scientist-manager tension in the process. This study provided a relatively rare series of insights into the senior-level collaboration views and issues between those scientists and managers within several major academic-industry strategic alliances.