Introduction

Recent organizational research focusses on issues of learning in networks (Oliver 2001; Beckman & Haunschild 2002; Hagedoorn & Duysters 2003; Hardy, Phillips & Lawrence 2003), all testing the degree to which organizational knowledge or decisions are based on learning gained through network-based exchanges. Since issues of technology-transfer and university–industry collaborations take an important role in explaining some of the learning features in knowledge intensive industries (Liebeskind et al. 1996; Powell, Koput & Smith-Doerr 1996; Owen-Smith et al. 2002), attention has been given to the issues of learning and knowledge-transfer across the different institutional contexts of academia and industry.

It is now well understood that biotechnology-related products are developed within interorganizational networks of universities, dedicated biotechnology firms, and large pharmaceutical firms (Liebeskind et al. 1996; Liebeskind & Oliver 1998; Oliver & Liebeskind 1998; Powell, Koput & Smith-Doerr 1996). The important role played by universities in biotechnology product development (Zucker, Darby & Brewer 1998) requires the establishment of collaborations between universities and biotechnology firms through which basic and applied science are transferred into products. These symbiotic interrelations result from the constant interdependence between the two types of institutions (Liebeskind et al. 1996; Oliver & Montgomery 2000). The motivations of the participants in university–industry alliances vary from needs for funding academic research to scientific reputation and better access to corporate R&D consulting options (Nelkin, Nelson & Kiernan 1987).