Companies' human capital for university partnerships: A micro-foundational perspective

Forming strategic partnerships, particularly university partnerships, is among the important aspects of companies' innovation strategies that shape their innovation performance. While research has uncovered many macro-level attributes of such partnerships, the micro-level, including the human side, of these inter-organizational relationships is only partly understood. We especially lack an understanding of how individual, manager-level characteristics facilitate company collaboration with partners such as universities. Applying a micro-foundational lens and building on 10 qualitative case studies, we identify how companies' human capital helps overcome barriers and enhance the drivers of university-industry collaboration. We propose a two-dimensional framework consisting of companies' human capital components and their managerial roles for university partnerships-attitudinal, relational, and cognitive-to guide future research on human capital in the context of university-industry strategic partnerships. The framework will also assist managers and recruiters in better understanding the role of human capital in their collaborations with universities.