The Lambert Review of Business-University Collaboration was a report by
Richard Lambert
Sir Richard Peter Lambert (born 23 September 1944) is a British journalist and business executive. He served as director-general of the CBI, chancellor of the University of Warwick, editor of the ''Financial Times'' newspaper and chairman of t ...
published by
Her Majesty's Treasury
His Majesty's Treasury (HM Treasury), occasionally referred to as the Exchequer, or more informally the Treasury, is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for developing and executing the government's public finance policy and ec ...
in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
in 2003, which made "a series of recommendations aimed at smoothing out the path between Britain’s strong science base and the
business community"
M Treasury 2003a
M, or m, is the thirteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''em'' (pronounced ), plural ''ems''.
History
Th ...
The Lambeth Review concluded that the British dual support system acts as a disincentive to business-
university
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase ''universitas magistrorum et scholarium'', which ...
collaboration
M Treasury 2003, p5
M, or m, is the thirteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''em'' (pronounced ), plural ''ems''.
History
Th ...
and that the biggest single challenge for
knowledge transfer
Knowledge transfer is the sharing or disseminating of knowledge and the providing of inputs to problem solving. In organizational theory, knowledge transfer is the practical problem of transferring knowledge from one part of the organization to ...
is in boosting the demand for research from non-academic communities, rather in increasing the supply of ideas and services from universities
10
The Treasury advised that:
* the best form of knowledge transfer comes when a talented researcher moves out of the university and into business, or vice versa.
12* the most exciting collaborations arise as a result of like-minded people getting together – sometimes by chance – to address a problem.
12* encouraging academics and business people to spend more time together should be a high priority for knowledge transfer professionals.
12* the
innovation
Innovation is the practical implementation of ideas that result in the introduction of new goods or service (economics), services or improvement in offering goods or services. ISO TC 279 in the standard ISO 56000:2020 defines innovation as "a ...
process is non-linear, so knowledge transfer is not simply a question of channeling clever ideas from
researcher
Research is "creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness t ...
s down a
production line
A production line is a set of sequential operations established in a factory where components are assembled to make a finished article or where materials are put through a refining process to produce an end-product that is suitable for onward c ...
into
commercialisation
Commercialization or commercialisation is the process of introducing a new product or production method into commerce—making it available on the market. The term often connotes especially entry into the mass market (as opposed to entry into e ...
. "Great ideas emerge out of all kinds of
feedback
Feedback occurs when outputs of a system are routed back as inputs as part of a chain of cause-and-effect that forms a circuit or loop. The system can then be said to ''feed back'' into itself. The notion of cause-and-effect has to be handled ...
loops,
development
Development or developing may refer to:
Arts
*Development hell, when a project is stuck in development
*Filmmaking, development phase, including finance and budgeting
*Development (music), the process thematic material is reshaped
*Photographi ...
activities and sheer chance. This is another reason why it is so critical to build dynamic networks between academic researchers and their business counterparts."
12* diversity is good, both in mission and in funding. "The type of business collaboration that would make sense for one kind of university might be either impossible or irrelevant for another."
13* proximity matters when it comes to business collaboration.
13* "business-university collaborations need careful and consistent
management
Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business.
Management includes the activities ...
by both sides, and a number of joint programmes have failed for lack of such attention".
13* an emphasis on knowledge transfer requires institutions to put in place new mechanisms for establishing institutional priorities.
13* universities are more complex to manage than businesses, with a variety of different
stakeholders – academics, students, and funders.
13* that the large number of pots of ring-fenced financing is 'the source of endless unnecessary frustration'.
13
Sources
Lambert Review of Business-University Collaboration HM Treasury, December 2003.
Business analysis
Economic history of the United Kingdom
Innovation in the United Kingdom