Permanent regional, national and international networks guarantee a high efficiency on the realisation of student placement in industry to gain practical work experience;

Variations of regional networks and local structure to realise different strands of project / program activities in European funding activities; needs of the partners involved;

The increasing correlation between scientific research, higher education and economic development pushes towards stronger expectations of direct returns of investments in knowledge. Universities are increasingly engaged in commercialising their principal product, i.e. knowledge, and firms are interested in using this resource in order to raise their economic returns. The two aims are not conflicting, and both university and industry can benefit from mutual co-operation to improve their capacity to influence the social, cultural and economic development.
Even if moving from different starting points, as working methods and ethos may differ considerably, a common ground can be found in view of a shared interest in knowledge production, diffusion and appropriation. 
In Italy the experiences of cooperation between universities and firms date back to the first half of last Century. At the beginning of the cooperation process the initiatives were taken mainly by individual professors and/or entrepreneurs and only afterwards there was a commitment of their organizations. A coordinated action in a common science policy framework though is defined much later and still needs further improvements. 
At present cooperation schemes between university and industry are supported in Italy by a network of formal agreements that link directly the different partners or create a common framework programme managed by various actors. The main one are managed by the Italian Industrials association (Confindustria) and the Conference of Italian rectors (Crui) that are at present the main institutional bodies acting as facilitators and promoters of cooperation.

Objective of the study

We intend to outline a framework of different measures and implemented models, which foster the cooperation in research, training and education activities between two partners often far away in their operational methods and reference system of working conditions and values.
We will present a survey of some cooperation agreements set up by various partners focusing on different cooperation objectives that can be outlined as: research; training and education; certification; counselling.
The paper will analyse some collaboration protocols subscribed by industry and university, which represent the formal framework of joint activities. We are going to select examples of collaborations, which take place in some Italian regions with different level of economic development in order to give a balanced framework of different realities.
In particular the analysis will consider:
· Types of formal agreement such as framework program, bilateral agreement, multilateral agreement, consortia, partnership etc.
· Goals of formal agreements
· Types of actors involved i.e. SMEs, University Departments, etc
· Role played in the collaboration based on cooperation models
· Types of activity carried out 
· Economic sector covered
Particular attention will be put on the cooperation carried out in training and education, such as personnel training and joint courses, which have had a considerable development in Italy. This type of collaboration has important features as it represents the field where common objectives of both parties converge the most and the respective roles are more blurred. 
As information sources we will use the institutional ones including the Association of industrialists, the Conference of rectors, the Ministry for Universities and research and the National research institutions such as CNR. The aim of these information gathering is not to offer a complete picture of all the various initiatives but to structure the main trend along which the cooperation between industry and university is nowadays structured.
The paper intends to set up a taxonomy of cooperation models that can be eventually used to build up synergy indicators on the different topics outlined above. 

Students and companies can both profit from exchanges, given certain conditions. Under the framework of the Leonardo da Vinci Programme of the European Union, a large Network of partners are organising student placements in companies throughout Europe.

Some of the key ingredients for a successful placement abroad are a detailed work contract, cultural and language preparation, close monitoring and scrutinous evaluation. 

The presentation will outline the characteristics of Leonardo placements, obligations of participating students and companies, the role of the Network and some benefits of a Leonardo placement that go well beyond comfortable financial support. 

In economies where research-based innovation is seen to be a crucial element of competitiveness, the issue of university-industry collaboration has been raised by many scholars, industry analysts and policy makers. 
Unfortunately the abundant literature in economics and management sciences is mostly focusing on the issue of technology transfer between the academic and the corporate worlds, i.e. on the contribution to the innovation process initiated by the business community of basic and applied research and development (R&D) carried out by universities and public laboratories. 
Such collaboration, however, is obviously not limited to commissioned research: it is developing on a continuum from knowledge transfer such as education and training up to basic knowledge generation through research.
This paper is restricting its scope to the following questions: how could long-term sustainable relationships between business schools and enterprises be created and developed to their mutual benefit? What lessons can be learnt from case studies of current practices? What are the critical success factors to build sustainable collaborative activities?
The paper is based on a project carried out between 2001 and 2004 by a consortium of European vehicle manufacturers and business schools entitled ELAN2, standing for European Learning Automobile Network, funded under the European Leonardo da Vinci programme2. The core partners for ELAN2 are listed in Table 1.
 

ELAN2 was organized around four topical work packages – e-learning, coaching, knowledge management and university-business relationships – selected for their importance and relevance to the core partners. Each work package was responsible for identifying good practice and involved the organisation of a series of workshops, including guest speakers from other industries, and for delivering a final report on the key findings and issues to be dealt with in the future. 
This paper reports the study of university-business relationships. It is based on an analysis of four case studies selected from those presented. The cases reported here were selected as representing successful practice in relationships as in each case they had been in existence for some considerable time and had secured major resource investment from the parties involved. They also represented different approaches to building university-business relations. The cases were initially presented by the academic institution leading the work, but were then subject to cross examination by members of the project team and invited guests. The summaries presented here reflect that analysis. The write-up of these meetings was agreed by those making the initial presentation. 

References
Adams, J.D., Chiang, E.P., Starkey, K., (2001), Industry-University Cooperative Research Centers, Journal of Technology Transfer, 26, 1-2, pp. 73-86.
Agrawal, A. (2001), University-to-industry knowledge transfer: literature review and unanswered questions, International Journal of Management Reviews, 3, 4, pp. 285-302.
van Aken, J.E., (2001A), Mode 2 Knowledge Production in the Field of Management, Eindhoven Centre for Innovation Studies, Working Paper 01.13, December.
Van Aken, J.E., (2001B); Improving the relevance of management research by developing tested and grounded technological rules, Eindhoven Centre for Innovation Studies, Working Paper 01.19, December.
Allen, M, Renaud-Coulon, A., (2002), The Corporate University Handbook, Pepperdine University, Amacom Press, May.
Ankers, P., Brennan, R., (2002), Managerial relevance in academic research: an exploratory study, Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 20, 1, pp. 15-21.
Betts, S.C, Santoro, M.D., (2003), Industry and academe working together: Factors that give life to initial and continuing success, in Kocaoglu, D.F. & Anderson, T.R. (eds.), Technology Management for Reshaping the World, IEEE Publications, Piscattaway, NJ, pp. 165-171
Birchall, D.W., Chanaron, J.J., (2004), Industry & Academic Institutions Partnerships, Final Report of the Working Group #4, Leonardo Da Vinci-ELAN 2, The European Learning Automotive Network 2001-2005.
Burgoyne, J., James, K., (2003), Towards Best Or Better Practice in Corporate Leadership Development: Issues in Mode 2 Research, Lancaster University Management School, Working Paper 2003/083.
Cameron, G. Wallace, C., (2003), Technology clubs: efficient pricing in business-university collaborations, Working Paper, Oxford University.
Caniëls, M., Romijn, H., (2001), Small-industry clusters, accumulation of technological capabilities and development: A conceptual framework, Eindhoven Centre for Innovation Studies, Working Paper 01.05, June.
Carrie, A., (1999), Integrated clusters, the future basis of competition, International Journal of Agile Management Systems, 1, 1, pp. 45-57.
Chakrabarti, A.K., Santoro, M.D., (2004), Building social capital and learning environment in university – industry relationships, International Journal of Learning and Intellectual Capital, 1, 1, pp. 19-36.
Christensen, C.M. , Raynor, E.M., (2003) Why Hard-Nosed Executives Should Care about Management Theory, Harvard Business Review, September, pp. 66-74.
Claridge, P.F., (2004), A Review of Technology Transfer From New Zealand Universities, MBA Dissertation, Henley Management College.
Cohen, W.M., Nelson R.R., Walsh, J.P., (2002), Links and Impacts : The Influence of Public Research on Industrial R&D, Management Science, 48, 1, pp. 1-23.
Dodgson, M., (1993), Learning, trust and technological collaboration, Human Relations; 46, 1, pp. 77-96.
Edwards, V., Loveys, R. Wareing, T., (1993), How to make partnership work, Journal of European Industrial Training, 17, 3, pp. 3-7.
EFMD, (2002), The Corporate University Challenge: Corporate competitiveness, learning and knowledge, Report of the efmd CU Learning Group (1999-2001).
ELAN2 Consortium (2004), Developments in learning and knowledge sharing, Conference Reader, December.
Fontana, R., Geuna, A., Matt, M., (2004), Firm size and Openness: The Driving Forces of University-Industry Collaboration, EARIE conference, Berlin, 2-5 September.
Gibbons, M., Limoges, C., Nowotny, H., Schwartzman, S., Scott, P, Trow, M., The New Production of Knowledge: the Dynamics of Science and Research in Contemporary Societies, London, Sage.
Hernes, G., Martin, M., (2000), Management of University-Industry Linkages, IIEP-UNESCO Policy Forum, 11, 1-2 June.
Huff, A.S., Huff, J.O., (2001), Re-Focusing the Business School Agenda, British Journal of Management, 12, Special Issue, pp. S49-S54.
Hughes, A., (2003), Knowledge transfer, entrepreneurship and economic growth: some reflections and implications for policy in the Netherlands, Working Paper No. 273, ESRC Centre for Business Research, University of Cambridge, September.
Johnson, W.H.A., Johnston, D.A., (2001), Aligning technical and business goals in industry-university collaborative R&D projects: A tale of two projects, Engineering Management Journal, 13, 1, pp. 23-27.
Kelemen, M., Bansal, P., (2002), The Conventions of Management Research and their Relevance to Management Practice, British Journal of Management, 13, pp. 97-108.
Kitagawa, F., (2003), Innovation Systems, University-Business Networks and Regionalozation of the Knowledge Economy in Japan, International Conference on Regionalization and Innovation Policy, Option and Experiences, Berlin, June.
Laursen, K., Salter, A., (2004), Open for innovation, the role of openness in explaining innovation performance among UK manufacturing firms, DRUID Summer Conference, 29 March.
Leenamaija, O., (1994), Industry-university partnership: Implementing lifelong learning, Journal of European Industria Training, 18, 8, pp. 13-18. 
Löfsten, H., Lindelöf, P., (2001), Sciences Parks in Sweden – Industrial renewal and development?, R&D Management, 31, 3, pp. 309-324.
Martin, R., Sunley, P., (2001), Deconstructing Clusters: Chaotic Concept or Policy Panacea, Regional Studies Association Conference on Regionalising the Knowledge Economy, London, 21st November.
McLaughlin, H., Thorpe, R., (2000), All in Bain: Lost Voices in the Development of Management Research, Manchester Metropolitan University, Management and Business Working Paper 00/04.
Muskett, D., (1996), Making university-industry co-operation work for education and training, Industrial and Commercial Training, 28, 2, pp. 22-28.
Nambisan, S., Wilemon, D., (2004), Industry should help define the agenda for technology management education, Research Technology Management, November-December, pp. 9-13.
Newberg, J.A., Dunn, R.I., (2002), Keeping secrets in the campus lab: law, values and rules of engagement for industry-university R&D partnerships, American Business Law Journal, 39, 2, pp. 187-240.
Oviatt, B., Miller, W.D., (1989), Irrelevance, Intransigence and Business Professors, The Academy of Management Executive, 3, 4, pp. 304-312.
Pharr, S.W., (2001), Cooperative Research Efforts Between Business Schools And The Private and Public Sectors: Frequency Of Occurrence And Outcomes, The Journal of Applied Business Research, 17, 2, pp. 1-16.
Pittaway, L., Robertson, M., Munir, K., Denyer, D., (2004), Networking and Innovation: A Systematic Review of the Evidence, Lancaster University Management School, Working Paper 2004/016.
Renaud-Coulon, A., (2002), Universités d’entreprise, Vers une mondialisation de l’intelligence, Editions Village Mondial, Paris.
Rynes, S.L., Bartunek, J.M., Daft, R.I., (2001), Across the great divide, Knowledge creation and transfer between practitioners and academics, Academy of Management Journal, 44, 2, pp. 340-355. 
Schartinger, D. Schibany, A., Gassler, H., (2001), Interactive relations between university and industry: empirical evidence for Austria, The Journal of Technology Transfer, 26, 3, June, pp. 255 - 268 
Slater, V., (2003), The Challenge of partnerships for Sustainable Executive Education, EFMD Executive Education Meeting, University of Stellenbosch Business School, South Africa, October 12-15, Conference report, Henley Management College. 
Starkey K.; Madan P., (2001), Bridging the Relevance Gap: Aligning Stakeholders in the Future of Management Research, British Journal of Management, December, 12, Supplement 1, pp. S3-S26(24). 
Tapp , A., (2003), Linking business schools and practice in direct marketing: Are we missing an opportunity, Journal of Database Marketing & Customer Strategy Management, 11, 2, pp. 107-113. 
Thorburn, L., (2000), Knowledge management, research spin-offs and commercialization of R&D in Australia, Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 17, 2, pp. 257-270.
Tranfield, D., Denyer, D., (2004), Linking Theory to Practice: A ‘Grand Challenge’ for Management Research in the 21st Century, Organization Management Journal, 1, 1, pp. 10-14.
Tranfield, D., Starkey, K., (2004), The Nature, Social Organization and Promotion of Management Research, British Journal of Management, 9, pp. 341-353.
Watling, D., Prince, C., Beaver, G., (2003), University business schools 2 business: the changing dynamics of the corporate education market, Strategic Change, 12, 4, pp. 223-234.