Cambridge Centre for Business Research Survey of Knowledge Exchange Activity with Universities by United Kingdom Companies, 2017-2021

The survey was designed to assess the extent and nature of the knowledge exchange interactions of UK companies with the UK university sector.

The Cambridge Centre for Business Research Survey of Knowledge Exchange Activity with Universities by United Kingdom Companies, 2017-2021 contains the results of an online survey of directors of UK companies in 2020-2021.

The survey was designed to assess the extent and nature of the knowledge exchange interactions of their companies with the university sector. It covers the three-year period to March 2020 prior to the Covid-19 pandemic and questions relating to the subsequent impact of the pandemic on knowledge exchange patterns. The researchers inquired about 33 modes of interaction grouped into four broad categories. These were commercialisation (3 modes), people-based (10 modes), problem-solving (12 modes) and community-based (4 modes).

The survey covers a sample of 3,823 companies in all sectors, regions and countries of the UK and employment sizes ranging from micro-firms less than 10 employees, to the largest public listed corporations. The response rate was 4.4 per cent and a detailed response bias analyses by survey wave and prompt wave showed largely insignificant sample response bias compared to the sampling frame drawn from the FAME database of all UK companies.

The dataset provides a unique source of data on a critical period of challenge for knowledge exchange in the UK. David Sweeney, the then Executive Director of Research England which sponsored the survey commented on an initial report of results in 2022 that "This report which has an exclusive focus on company interactions with universities, is an important addition to our understanding of the collaboration process" (The Changing State of Business-University Interactions in the UK. Centre for Business Research and NCUB. 2022 p2).

The survey dataset contains many variables comparable with a similar previous postal survey of an earlier period by two members of the current research team. The data from this is available from the Data Archive under SN 6464 - Cambridge Centre for Business Research Survey of Knowledge Exchange Activity by United Kingdom Businesses, 2005-2009.

Keywords:
advice, innovation behaviour, scientific cooperation, industrial areas, information sources, professional consultations, covid-19, knowledge transfer, businesses, higher education institutions, turnover, exports and imports, expenditure, research and development, employees, economic competition, market structure, customers, student employment, educational cooperation, patents, licences, commercial innovation, scientific innovation, 2017-2021, united kingdom

Cite this dataset as:
Hughes, A., Kitson, M., Salter, A., Angenendt, D., Hughes, R., 2022. Cambridge Centre for Business Research Survey of Knowledge Exchange Activity with Universities by United Kingdom Companies, 2017-2021. UK Data Service. Available from: https://doi.org/10.5255/UKDA-SN-9037-1.

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Creators

Alan Hughes
Rights Holder
University of Cambridge

Michael Kitson
Rights Holder
University of Cambridge

Ammon Salter
Rights Holder
University of Bath

David Angenendt
Rights Holder
Technical University of Munich

Robert Hughes
Rights Holder
University of Cambridge

Contributors

University of Cambridge
Data Collector

Coverage

Collection date(s):

From 15 November 2020 to 14 May 2021

Temporal coverage:

From 4 April 2017 to 14 May 2021

Geographical coverage:

United Kingdom

Documentation

Data collection method:

Time dimension: Follow-up to cross-sectional study. Sampling procedure: Multi-stage stratified random sample. Mode of data collection: Self-administered questionnaire: Web-based (CAWI). Weighting: No weighting used.

Funders

National Centre for Universities and Business

Publication details

Publication date: 12 December 2022
by: UK Data Service

Version: 1

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5255/UKDA-SN-9037-1

URL for this record: https://researchdata.bath.ac.uk/id/eprint/1246

Related papers and books

Hughes, A., Kitson, M., Angenendt, D., Salter, A., and Hughes, R., 2022. The Changing State of Business-University Interactions in the UK, 2005 to 2021. NCUB. Available from: https://researchportal.bath.ac.uk/en/publications/the-changing-state-of-business-university-interactions-in-the-uk-.

Contact information

Please contact the Research Data Service in the first instance for all matters concerning this item.

Contact person: Ammon Salter

Departments:

Faculties and Schools
School of Management