A benefit segmentation approach for innovation-oriented university-business collaboration

Abstract

Increasing competition in the light of globalisation imposes challenges on both academia and businesses. Universities have to compete for additional financial means, while companies, particularly in high technology business environments, are facing a stronger pressure to innovate. Universities seek to deal with this situation by academic engagement, hereby providing external research support for businesses. Relying on the market segmentation approach, promoting beneficial exchange relations between academia and businesses enables the integration of both perspectives and may contribute to solving current challenges. Transferring the segmentation approach and the customer benefit perspective to university-business collaboration (UBC), this paper develops a multi-step segmentation framework aimed at identifying research customer segments in technical textile industries in Western Europe. This novel view helps to promote UBC and benefits both actors and society.