University Knowledge Commercialisation through an Institutional Logics Perspective: The case of Oman

Abstract

University Knowledge Commercialisation‘ (UKC) has come to be seen as a stimulant for developing economic performance. Regardless of the increasing body of literature in the UKC, it is revealed to be undertheorized, whilst existing theories are the result of inductive theorizing based on successful KC stories within the western context. Moreover, the literature provides modest practical directions and pay insufficient attention to the role of mechanisms, such as power, mimetic isomorphism, and intermediation, in bridging differences in institutional logics between actors. These gaps inspired the study aim, which is to explore the implication of such mechanisms in bridging differences in logics within UKC institutionally emerging context, Oman. Through a qualitative, multiple case-study approach, data was collected from four contract research projects through semi-structured interviews. The first three interviews served as a pilot study, the results of which were then used to formulate the second stage which was interviews with participants from academia, industry, and government. This approach improves the internal validity of the research, and provides a rich picture of the Omani UKC emerging institutional environment. The findings suggest that the influences of power, mimetic isomorphism, and intermediation have significantly shaped bridging, though not always positively, in logics in the Omani UKC context. The findings show that adverse influences in this process included: asymmetric power relationships, mimetic isomorphism‘s simplistic view of logics convergence and negligence of institutional fragmentation, and insufficient intermediation activities. The novelty of introducing the concept of power adds a new theoretical dimension into the UKC and ILP theories. Additionally, the novelty of using case of Oman as an empirical study added new contribution into the field. In addition, this study contributes to a better understanding of the Omani policy actions with regard to shift to an effective UKC approach.