Cash, community and coordination: the triple-C categorisation of technology transfer office organisational philosophy

Although Technology Transfer as a research topic has become more and more popular, the mission and vision statements of technology transfer offices (TTOs) and the impact they have on the technology transfer processes leading to the creation of spin-offs, is still unfamiliar terrain. As mission and vision are incorporated into the operational philosophy of a TTO, this paper aims to find out what operational philosophies currently exist and if they can be aggregated into a typology. An empirical study was performed through a survey of 51 European TTOs, representing different academic disciplines and affiliations. The results shows that currently, three operational philosophy types exist within European TTOs: Cash, Community and Cooperation. Consequently, the degree to which the licensing negotiation strategies for the creation of spin-offs matched the typology that TTOs proclaimed to adhere to was studied. The results show that, besides mission and vision, also the risk averseness of TTOs plays a major role in the operational philosophy.