Assessing the Impact of Organizational Justice on Academic Entrepreneurship: Qualitative and Quantitative Evidence From University Scientists

大学已经建立了技术转移办公室（TTOs）来管理由联邦资助的研究产生的知识产权商业化。申请专利、获得许可或在此知识产权基础上成立新公司的教职员工将通过大学的技术转让中心（TTO）进行工作，这是一个正式的技术转让过程。然而，一些学术科学家选择规避或绕过大学技术转让，从事非正式技术转让。该项目的目标是获得关于非正式技术转让决定因素的新证据。它为管理大学的大学管理者和政策制定者提供了有用的见解。了解导致非正式技术转让的原因可以帮助机构采取有效的政策来支持学术创业，并发展更有利于正式技术转让的组织氛围。该项目对旨在刺激教师和学生企业家创业的计划（如NSF I-Corps计划）具有进一步的重要意义。本研究解决了以往学术研究的主要局限性。重点是教师个人，他们是创新和潜在创业的源泉。本研究考察了与个人和决定与大学TTO合作相关的关键心理变量。具体来说，我们考察了大学校长在教育教师学术创业方面的努力，大学管理者的倡导行为（例如，对学术创业特别热情的大学校长），以及教师对公平和平等的看法（即组织正义）。这是第一个将组织公平原则应用于大学技术转移的研究。我们采用定量和定性两种方法。我们进行了几个详细的案例研究，更广泛地调查了35所大学的教职员工。综合使用关于个人、学术部门、大学和抽样大学周边地区的数据，可以对非正式技术转让有一个全面的看法。

Universities have established technology transfer offices (TTOs) to manage the commercialization of intellectual property arising from federally-funded research. Faculty members who patent, license, or form a new company based on this intellectual property are directed to work through the university TTO, a process of formal technology transfer. However, some academic scientists choose to circumvent or bypass the university TTO and engage in informal technology transfer. The objective of this project is to obtain new evidence on the determinants of informal technology transfer. It provides useful insights for university administrators and policymakers who govern universities. An understanding of what induces informal technology transfer can help institutions adopt effective policies to support academic entrepreneurship and also develop an organizational climate that is more conducive to formal technology transfer. The project has further important implications for initiatives designed to stimulate startup formation by faculty and student entrepreneurs, such as the NSF I-Corps program. This research addresses key limitations of prior studies of academic. The focus is the individual faculty member, who is the source of innovation and potential entrepreneurship. This research examines key psychological variables that are relevant to individuals and the decision to work with the university TTO. Specifically, we examine efforts on the part of TTOs to educate faculty regarding academic entrepreneurship, championing behavior by university administrators (e.g., university presidents who are especially enthusiastic about academic entrepreneurship), and faculty perceptions of fairness and equity (i.e., organizational justice). This is the first study to apply principles of organizational justice to university technology transfer. We use both quantitative and qualitative methods. We conduct several detailed case studies, and more broadly, survey faculty members at 35 universities. The combined use of data on individuals, academic departments, universities, and the surrounding regions of sampled universities, enables a comprehensive perspective on informal technology transfer.