A UNISON framework for knowledge management of university-industry collaboration and an illustration

Knowledge is a core competency for maintaining competitive advantages of organizations. While universities conduct research and create knowledge, few studies have been conducted to address the applications of knowledge management (KM) to higher education in light of the increasing requirement for universities to play additional roles in the modern society. This study aims to develop a UNISON framework for managing knowledge for university-industry collaboration (UIC) with a plan-do-check-act (PDCA) improvement circle. An empirical study was conducted in Taiwan for improving employee productivity, optimizing resource use, motivating employees, and realizing continuous improvement. The results have shown practical viability of the proposed KM models to improve the performance of UIC as well as strengthen the efficiency and operational excellence for the university serving various social responsibilities. Indeed, the case study university, National Tsing Hua University, becomes the first national university being awarded for the National Quality Award in Taiwan. This study concludes with the contributions and discussions of future research directions.