HOW TO MANAGE THE IMPEDIMENT OF DEPARTMENT AUTONOMY WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF UNIVERSITY-INDUSTRY TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER: THE CASE OF UNIVERSITY OF LJUBLJANA

Managing University-Industry Technology Transfer (UITT) from the viewpoint of university leads to changes in the organizational structure of the university and, likewise, of the national innovation system. The Bay-Dole Act since 1980 emphasized systematic approach to the UITT-process, in the form of specialized units (Technology-Transfer Organizations - TTOs) at universities, making the TTOs synonymous for UITT, thus introduced in countries that intended to catch-up with the innovation leaders. Yet, previous analyses of UITT mainly investigated the effects and not necessarily the management of TTOs. The organizational structure of the unit in charge of UITT depends on top-down (frameworks set in national policy documents) and bottom-up (strategies and approaches made by universities) and incentives, which led to its formation. UITT-unit's work and results thus depend also on the organizational factors, namely the support and autonomy of the university's and faculty's boards. The article will present possible organizational impediments to academic collaboration with industry on a case of a university in Central Europe, with the focus on the structure of UITT-units and role of department's or faculty's autonomy. Starting with Mintzberg's theory of organizations and building on the contemporary understanding of knowledge and technology transfer, the case study reveals the misconceptions about UITT and consequent organizational overlapping at University of Ljubljana.