How the Universities of technology cooperates with SMEs on the
example of Polish universities
JUSTYNA BĘTLEWSKA
Institute of management
Warsaw School of Economics
al. Niepodległości 162, 02-554 Warsaw
POLAND
Abstract: The fundamental aim of the study is to indicate how Polish universities of technology cooperate with
enterprises belonging to the small and medium-sized enterprise sector. The study was conducted from the
perspective of polytechnic schools. Given the goal indicated in this way, the key activities included obtaining an
answer to the question regarding the scope, conditions, and quality of cooperation between small and medium-
sized enterprises and technical universities. In-depth literature studies in the indicated research problem, own
observations as well as conducting empirical research contributed to the formulation of detailed questions, the
solution of which determined the answer to the main problem, which is to indicate how Polish technical
universities cooperate with small and medium-sized enterprises on the example of Polish technical universities.
The conducted research allowed to obtain an answer to the question concerning the motivating and limiting
factors, including the cooperation of technical universities with small and medium-sized enterprises. This
publication, constituting an empirical cognitive foundation, can be a starting point for further considerations on
the increase in the importance and role of cooperation, as well as a better understanding of new challenges in the
development of the modern economy. The paper focuses on showing the phenomenon of cooperation,
systematizing this phenomenon in the theory of management, and also on presenting the results of own research
along with the methods of its implementation. This paper is important to better understand the importance of
collaboration between science and business and create new opportunities to develop areas of collaboration.
Keywords: cooperation, small and medium-sized enterprises, polytechnics, economy, polytechnic, polish
university.
Received: April 29, 2021. Revised: November 9, 2021. Accepted: December 16, 2021. Published: January 11, 2022.
1. Introduction
The phenomenon of cooperation is of particular
importance nowadays. The role and significance
of searching for new solutions as well as areas
of cooperation are more and more visible, which
is particularly related to the emergence of new
challenges that currently face technical
universities in the context of cooperation with
other units. The aspect becomes more and more
visible.
1
Sandberg, S. (2012). Internationalization processes of
small and medium‐sized enterprises: Entering and
taking off from emerging markets (Doctoral
Dissertation). Retrieved from http://www.diva‐
portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2%3A504939&dsw
id=‐2578.
The internationalization of enterprises has
become an extremely important research area in
recent years
1
. On the other hand, the still
systematically progressing globalization has
made the activity of companies with an
international scope even more important for the
search for opportunities and opportunities to
cooperate with other entities, such as technical
universities, to introduce innovative projects
into the economy
2
. The development of small
and medium-sized enterprises is a priority
2
Susanne Mueller-Using, Wieslaw Urban, Jan
Wedemeier (2020) Internationalization of SMEs in the
Baltic Sea
Region: Barriers of cross-national collaboration
considering regional innovation strategies for smart
specialization, Wiley Periodicals LLC, p.2.
WSEAS TRANSACTIONS on ENVIRONMENT and DEVELOPMENT
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Justyna Bętlewska
E-ISSN: 2224-3496
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action for the governments of many countries,
therefore their distinguishing position on the
market is extremely important for cooperation
with other research and development units,
which include technical universities
3
.
The broadly understood cooperation between
technical universities and small and medium-
sized enterprises is extremely important and
constitutes an extremely interesting research
area. The analysis of the literature on the subject
and statistical data to date indicates not only the
lack of identification of the condition of such
cooperation, but also the determinants and
factors limiting cooperation between enterprises
and technical universities, such as polytechnic
universities. The CATI method was used to
solve the resulting research problem, and the
interviews conducted using this method were
valuable information for determining
particularly important aspects related to
cooperation between science and business.
2. Cooperation in the theory of
management and quality sciences -
systematizing considerations
Nowadays, it can be seen that the measure of the
development of enterprises is their ability and
ability to cooperate. In turn, technical
universities also need such a partner to share
their own research results or knowledge. The
literature on the subject indicates a number of
definitions of the concept of cooperation. In the
era of increasingly growing turbulences in the
economy, the aspect of cooperation becomes
more and more important. By and large, the idea
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/grow.1
2439
3
Hazem ALI ,Yunhong HAO ,Chen AIJUAN, (2020)
Innovation Capabilities and Small and Medium
Enterprises’ Performance: An Exploratory Study, The
Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
Vol.7 No.10 pp. 959 DOI :
https://doi.org/10.13106/jafeb.2020.vol7.no10.959, ISSN
2288-4645, pp. 2288-4645.
4
N.R. dos Santos a,b,, C. Figueiredoc, d, L. Pais e,f,
(2020) Development and validation of the organisational
cooperation questionnaire, European Review of Applied
Psychology Volume 70, Issue 4, October 2020, 100555,
p.1.
of cooperation between technical universities
and SMEs incorporates all the efficient
exercises. The objective of such helpful
relations between the technical universities and
the SMEs is to get to innovations, the
advancement of eliminating outskirt
information, the development of monetary
assets, and the utilization of the inventive
capacities of universities. Cooperation is the
basic framework for the functioning of the
economy and society
4
. In turn, enterprises react
openly, adapting their innovation and research
development strategies. Cooperation with
research and development units, which include
technical universities, this type of unit is an
extremely important entity for creating added
value in the enterprise
5
.
There are many definitions of the concept of
cooperation in the literature on the subject. For
M. Grabowska, cooperation is understood as the
division of resources or information in order to
achieve the desired, common or individual
results of cooperating partners
6
. However, the
most common definition is that of collaboration
as the links between organizations that pursue
mutually consistent goals to achieve in relation
to these benefits. This means creating links on
various levels with varying degrees of
persistence and intensity
7
. The relationship can
take various forms, ranging from long-term and
broad cooperation to narrow and one-time.
Given this approach, enterprises and
universities that undertake cooperation assume
the role of an accelerator in the process of
innovation development
8
. Continuing this
discussion, it should be emphasized that more of
this cooperation is created on a larger scale and
5
Meissner D. (2015) Public-Private Partnership Models
for Science, Technology, and Innovation Cooperation,
Springer, s.1 .
6
Grabowska M., Współdziałanie przedsiębiorstw w
perspektywie sieciowej, „Organizacja i Zarządzanie.
Zeszyty Naukowe Politechniki Śląskiej”, nr.76, 2014, s.
51-61.
7
Adamik A., Powiązania współpracy
międzyorganizacyjnej w zarządzaniu współczesnymi
przedsiębiorstwami [w:] W. Kowalczewski, W.
Matwiejczuk, (red.) Zarządzanie organizacjami w teorii i
praktyce, Difin, Warszawa 2008, s. 60-73.
8
Roper S. Love J.H, Knowledge context, learning and
innovation: an integrating framework, “Industry and
Innovation”, vol. 25(4), 2018, s. 339-364.
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Volume 18, 2022
begins to cover a wider scope, the more
opportunities it provides for the development,
reducing barriers and limitations to cooperation
9
. Shaping the appropriate economic, social,
cultural, and institutional conditions will be a
factor triggering entrepreneurship and favor the
cooperation of enterprises, in particular small
and medium-sized enterprises in the field of
technology.
The links that exist between the world of science
and have a multifaceted nature, carrying out its
activities in various relationships in which there
is a mutual exchange of information, knowledge
,or other, other resources. The basic types of
relations between science and business include
10
:
• Research partnerships;
• Research services;
• Academic entrepreneurship;
• Mobility of human capital;
• Informal networks of contacts;
• Joint scientific publications
• Transfer of intellectual rights (patenting,
licensing)
The benefits that are obtained from cooperation
are mutual, although in this study attention will
be paid to the search for an answer to the
question of what such cooperation looks like by
showing the motives of cooperation, limiting
factors, and the most important aspects.
3. Material and method
The aim of the study was to indicate by technical
universities - Polytechnics in Poland, what is the
condition of cooperation between universities
and small and medium-sized enterprises. 5
polytechnics were invited to the study, thus
constituting over 30% of all polytechnic
universities in Poland. The survey was
conducted in the form of a telephone interview
with experts / brokers of cooperation between
the universities and small and medium-sized
9
Micek G., Piziak B., Wpływ bliskości
międzyorganizacyjnej na rozwój usług IT w Krakowie i
na Górnym Śląsku, “Studia Ekonomiczne. Zeszyty
Naukowe Uniwersytetu Ekonomicznego w Katowicach”,
nr 320, 2017 s. 107-128.
enterprises. The experts in the study were
employees of the Technology Transfer Center at
the studied universities, and their selection for
the study depended on their experience and
work experience at the Technology Transfer
Center. The telephone interview, during which
10 open questions were asked, concerned
cooperation between universities of technology
and enterprises from the point of view of
technical universities. A request was made
about the motives for cooperation and the
barriers which they have to overcome to
establish cooperation.
The study, whose findings are discussed in this
paper, was conducted in the second quarter of
2019 in random purposive sampling. The study
identified characteristics of the group of
respondents. NVivo was used to analyze the
qualitative interviews. Due to the size of the
sample, the results obtained during the
empirical study cannot be generalized for the
entire population of the University of
Technology.
The following universities took part in the
study:
1. Warsaw University of Technology
2. Gdańsk University of Technology
3. Poznań University of Technology
4. Lublin University of Technology
5. Rzeszów University of Technology
The interview was one-off. The interviewees -
technology transfer brokers did not know the
questions before. The answer were spontaneous
and honest. The selection of experts/brokers as
well as universities of technology was random.
The study covered collaborative activities over
a period of 5 years, i.e., from 2014 to 2019.
4. Research results
Technical universities have separate units, i.e.
Technology Transfer Center, whose task is to
look for opportunities to start cooperation with
10
A. Marszałek, Relacje między światem nauki
i przemysłu, „e-mentor” 2014, nr 56(4), s. 44–53,
https://doi. org/10.15219/em56.1123.
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other entities, including small and medium-
sized enterprises. This cooperation is most
commonly undertaken with industries closely
corresponding to their faculties at the university.
During the survey, representatives of technical
universities were asked about the motives for
cooperation. In their opinion, there is an impact
of establishing cooperation between small and
medium-sized enterprises and technical
universities. This enables the identification of
motives and factors limiting the establishment
of cooperation. The indicated motives and
limitations of cooperation are included in Table
1.
Table 1. Motives and barriers in cooperation
between polytechnic universities and small
and medium-sized enterprises.
University
name
Factors
motivating to
cooperation
Gdańsk
University
of
Technology
- Having a
very large
base of a team
of scientists
with
extensive
scientific and
expert
experience;
- equipment
and
laboratories;
- location,
rich history,
knowledge of
universities
throughout
Pomerania;
- willingness
to find the
best solution
for a given
problem;
Lublin
University
of
Technology
taking up a
new,
interesting
topic with an
entrepreneur,
which results
in scientific
cooperation;
- increasing
the practical
dimension for
science;
- to be a better
and more
practical
educator;
-possibility to
obtain
additional
funds for
further
activities.
-
misunderstandings
due to lack of time,
the scientist needs
additional time to
plan, carry out and
re-verify the
experiment.
- other
misunderstandings
resulting from
attempts to
circumvent formal
procedures (pay-
to-pocket by
enterprises).
Warsaw
University
of
Technology
- willingness
to execute
orders
reflecting the
market
reality;
-
encountering
a real
problem
awaiting a
specific
technological,
scientific and
research
thought;
carrying out many
research projects
at the same time;
- high time-
consuming
operation;
- different way of
thinking - scientist
versus
entrepreneur.
Poznan
University
of
Technology
- enabling the
creation of a
new product,
technology;
- increasing
the chances of
receiving a
grant by
applying
jointly;
the inability of
enterprises to
estimate the offer
whether it is
market or
overestimated;
- offering too low
remuneration for
developing new
technologies;
-no time to carry
out orders from
industry, in the
case of parallel
implementation of
own research
projects in order to
continue the
development of
one's own career.
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Rzeszow
University
of
Technology
- owned
human
resources;
- new
technologies;
- enabling the
product to be
tested when
the company
is unable to
do so;
Source: Own study based on research.
Technical universities have many advantages
thanks to which they can create opportunities
for cooperation. Despite this, there are still a
number of limitations that significantly prevent
or act as a deterrent to cooperation. These
factors, especially those contributing to the
limitation of starting cooperation, may be
valuable information for both universities and
for entrepreneurs to further work on limiting
such negative aspects of cooperation. Many of
the above-mentioned barriers can be reduced or
eliminated. The analysis of Table 1 also
indicates that each of the cities indicates
different motives and barriers related to the
establishment of cooperation. This also implies
that other factors depend on geographic location
and experience of establishing cooperation.
The technical universities surveyed most often
establish cooperation with production
companies. Cooperation with enterprises is
most often in line with the expectations of both
parties. With their actions, the universities make
every effort to ensure that the cooperation, as
well as the relations achieved during the
cooperation, are positive and partner-like. It is
extremely important because this cooperation
often translates into subsequent orders for
additional research and searching for new
solutions. This is confirmed by cases in which
subsequent joint actions resulted in the purchase
of a patent or improvement of a given product,
thus increasing their efficiency.
In the years 2014-2019, a five-fold increase in
interest in obtaining funds from the European
Union was observed in all polytechnic
universities surveyed. This cooperation in all
polytechnic universities was formalized,
although sometimes there were proposals to
circumvent the formal rules and conditions.
These universities do not sign contracts that do
not secure the interests of the university
financially. The cooperation also usually
proceeded as expected by both sides. The
universities of technology strive to satisfy both
sides. It is rare to break cooperation or not
achieve the intended common goal. To better
understand the issues of cooperation between
both environments, the most important aspects
of cooperation between universities and
enterprises can be distinguished.
Fig. 1. The most important aspects of cooperation
between universities and small and medium-sized
enterprises.
Among the most important aspects of
cooperation between universities and small and
medium-sized enterprises, the impact of
cooperation on the development of the entire
economy is distinguished, so that the solutions
created are implemented and best used in the
economy. What is emphasized by all
polytechnic universities surveyed in the
Gdańsk University of
Technology
-dependent on what the
company needs at the
moment;
-possibility to publish and
perform specialized
research.
Lublin University of
Technology
-understanding mutual
expectations from the
beginning;
-appropriate selection of
scientists for the
implemented project.
Warsaw University of
Technology
- solving a specific problem
at the scientific level;- the
project contributes to the
competences and scientific
achievements of scientists.
Poznan University of
Technology
- real achievement of the
company's goals - new
product, new service, new
expert knowledge.-
achievement of scientists'
goals - development of
scientists, the possibility of
publishing research results
Rzeszow University of Technology
possibility to prepare students for
internships in enterprises with which
they cooperate.
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selection of the right team for the project is
extremely important. Not only because of the
number of people in the team, there are 2-3
dedicated people for a given project, but above
all, they fit into the competencies and scientific
achievements of scientists. In the polytechnic
universities studied, the aspect of enabling the
preparation of students for internships in
companies with which they cooperate is also
important.
Polytechnics undertake a number of activities to
establish cooperation with enterprises. Some of
these activities are shown in Figure 2.
Fig. 2. Actions taken by universities to establish
cooperation
Technical universities meet the expectations of
small and medium-sized enterprises and create
many conditions for learning about mutual
expectations and cooperation opportunities.
Apart from the indicated trips to trade fairs,
universities themselves create opportunities for
meetings with entrepreneurs, including
individual meetings. It is common practice to
call companies to find out about their
expectations and needs. In addition, various
events are organized at the university, such as
the open-door day at the university, dedicated to
entrepreneurs - innovation open day, the idea of
which is to create opportunities and
opportunities for enterprises to learn about
solutions that have recently been developed at
the university and are presented to
entrepreneurs. Additionally, activities are
carried out in the media and on the university's
internet forum to provide information about
interesting solutions developed at universities.
Through media drifting or individual meetings
with journalists allowing talking and preparing
material for the media. Additionally,
cooperation with enterprises acting as
intermediaries in searching for and combining
business with science is undertaken.
According to the researched technical
universities, their cooperation with enterprises
increases the innovativeness of these
enterprises. For the Gdańsk University of
Technology, this cooperation has an impact
thanks to the possibility of implementing new
products and technological processes that
enable them to develop. In the case of the Lublin
University of Technology, such cooperation is
one of the determinants. It is important to what
extent enterprises are actually interested in
increasing the level of their innovativeness and
to what extent they are only interested in
copying what is already on the market. If ithe
company wants to be innovative, it must be
aware of the fact of all kinds of such activities,
for example, the effect of uncertainty, and be
determined to actually talk about innovative
solutions that will be ahead of market trends by
looking for what will be needed soon and not
what currently exists on the market.
Additionally, financial stability is important as
such activities cost money which can be a
limiting factor. For the Warsaw University of
Technology, product or technological
innovation is important at the time when these
measures are taken under EU funding ends at
the stage of implementing a new product. The
sale of licenses or patents is also intended to
increase the innovativeness of enterprises. As a
result, everything that the University of
Technology does is to have a measurable
benefit, such that the entrepreneur invests his
funds to make it better and stand out from the
competition. To make the technology more
effective, economical, which will increase the
team. The Poznań University of Technology
also confirms this assumption, which then
translates into the implementation of the results
organizing a conference
trips to trade fairs
organizing meetings with
entrepreneurs
participation in associations, clusters,
running an innovation center
creating a networking space
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of cooperation scored in the parametric
evaluation of the faculties of the Poznań
University of Technology. The Rzeszów
University of Technology also defines the
positive impact of the impact of cooperation
between enterprises and universities on the
growth of innovation.
5. Discussion
The relationship that exists between science and
business is extremely important to the economic
development of the country. How technical
universities use the resources of business and
vice versa will lead to the development or
weakening of the economy. Today, in the era of
digitalization of the economy, it is important to
establish relationships between universities and
businesses so that together we can create new
innovative solutions and reduce the barriers that
have arisen. A better understanding of
networking opportunities helps to create new
forms of relationships. In particular, it is
important for both communities to focus on
improving social and networking skills, and also
that’s why this area is very important to get to
know each other better.
6. Summary
Research carried out on a group of
representatives of technical universities in
Poland confirmed the key role of creating
conditions for cooperation between polytechnic
universities and small and medium-sized
enterprises. This study made it possible to
identify a number of factors supporting and
limiting cooperation between science and
business. The technical universities subject to
the study have enormous scientific, expert, and
premises facilities, which is an extraordinary
asset and a factor facilitating and improving
cooperation. The advantages of universities of
technology that entrepreneurs cannot afford
increase not only the interest in starting
cooperation but above all gives greater
opportunities for cooperation, creating better
educators with up-to-date knowledge of
business and economic life. The study was
limited to a sample of 30 % of technical
universities in Poland, which means that a part
of economic reality was verified. Future
research direction will focus on understanding
small and medium-sized enterprises and their
motives and barriers in the area of undertaking
cooperation with the university of technology to
better understand both science and business
environments.
There are many challenges ahead of the
analyzed environments.
In order to better strengthen cooperation,
universities and enterprises should continue
their initiatives to undertake this cooperation.
This is extremely important for creating the
right conditions for mutual support. Particular
attention should be paid to taking actions in the
future to eliminate or minimize the bureaucracy
associated with undertaking cooperation.
Taking joint actions will also contribute to
changes at the university towards the better
adaptation of students to the realities of work in
enterprises and the economy because a frequent
problem is the clash of the theory obtained
during studies with the reality on the labor
market. Focusing on an even better
understanding of mutual needs, increasing
tolerance, and mutual trust will undoubtedly
contribute to a better understanding of
cooperation between entities such as science
and business.
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Retrieved from http://www.diva‐
portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2%3A
504939&dswid=‐2578.
Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0
(Attribution 4.0 International, CC BY 4.0)
This article is published under the terms of the Creative
Commons Attribution License 4.0
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