Collaborative synergy between business and academia: in coversation with A Borges, S Watson, M R Rao

Abstract

While the need for greater collaboration between industry and academia is agreed upon by both sides, the engineering of such collaboration is often problematic. Generous funding from industry may come with strings attached which may not be acceptable to management institutes and yet it is a fact that with shrinking government funding, research is increasingly market driven. A mutual interchange is essential to the health of both theory and practice but the best people to teach business are not necessarily businessmen, or academics ensconced in their ivory towers. Business schools still have to overcome the competitive mindset and switch to collaborative mode. Antonio Borges, Dean, INSEAD, Stephen Watson, Dean, Management School, Lancaster University and M R Rao, Director, Indian Institute of Management Bangalore, spoke to N Balasubramanian about how their institutions were combating challenges to create a collaborative synergy between business and academia.