Title: 
Integration versus Separation: Structure and strategies of the technology transfer office (TTO) in medical research organisations. 
Keywords: 
Technology Transfer Office (TTO); Research Management¨; Qualitative research; Commercialisation 
Author: 
Derrick, GE. 
Corresponding author details: 
Email: 	gemma.derrick@csic.es 
Address: 	Instituto de Politicas y Bienes Publicos (IPP-CSIC), 
Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, 
C/Albasanz 26-28, Madrid (Spain) 28037 

Highlights: 
This study uses qualitative evidence to explore the strategies used by integrated technology transfer offices (TTO) Finds indirect benefits associated with incorporating the TTO within a research organisation (Integration Model) over outsourcing it (Separation Model).  Specific strategies used by the TTO are identified that increase researcher engagement with commercialisation. 

Abstract 
Establishing technology transfer offices (TTOs) within research organisations is one initiative used to facilitate successful commercialisation.  Research organisations may choose to either outsource the commercialisation expertise (separation model) or incorporate it within their organisational structure (integration model).  Ensuring the success of these integration TTOs, face many challenges.  These challenges are based on growing tensions from researchers within research organisations about the perceived differences in opinions, rules, norms and reward systems between research and commercialisation.  Using qualitative data from interviews from researchers and the integrated TTO personnel, this paper describes the experiences of researchers and TTO personnel in 5 Australian medical research organisations.  Despite strong concerns and fears about research commercialisation, a number of strategies employed by integrated TTOs were identified that aim to combat researcher concerns.  These include the flexibility of TTO personnel to researcher needs; offering collective incentives; and being visible within the organisation.  Recommendations are offered for research organisations keen to increase researcher engagement with commercialisation. 
1.0 Introduction 
Research organisations are increasingly faced with the challenge of incorporating infrastructure capable of facilitating successful commercialisation.  Establishing technology transfer offices (TTOs) is one organisational strategy used to achieve this facilitation.  However, establishing and ensuring the success of a TTO faces its own set of challenges.  This paper uses qualitative interview data to analyse the success of strategies used by five medical research organisations to facilitate commercialisation through integrated and separated TTOs. This article also investigates the operationalisation of the TTO and the indirect benefits that emerge from its presence within an organisation (Integration Model).  These factors have been overlooked in the past with analyses preferring to concentrate on quantitative research outcomes (patents, licences 
etc) as the sole measure of a TTO‟s success. 
As an operational part of an institute, these institutional offices face inherent barriers from individual researchers.  These unwelcome tensions between researchers and the concept of commercialisation are numerous and well documented.  These tensions are based on perceived differences of opinions, rules, norms and reward systems between research and commercialisation and therefore, by extension, the professional entities that represent commercialisation such as the TTO.  These include reports of withholding behaviour in research and delays in publishing as a result of the increased presence of commercialisation in research (Blumenthal et al., 1997; Campbell et al., 2002; Campbell et al., 2000).  There are also reports of commercially funded researchers facing restrictions when either publishing or presenting their results at scientific conferences (Blumenthal et al., 1996).  More alarming, are the descriptions of researchers being gagged by commercial companies and incurring penalties for discussing their research with colleagues within research organisations (Blumenthal et al., 1996). These behaviour changes run counter to commonly acknowledged research norms (Etzkowitz, 2000) and are a source of researcher reluctance to engage with commercialisation. 
Increasing entrepreneurialism of universities coupled with the change in government policy regarding the intellectual property of publicly funded research, has stimulated proprietary activity within universities through the establishment of TTOs (Sampat, 2006; Shane, 2004).  Such moves that include commercialisation as a main objective, have been met with hostility from traditionalists who view obtaining intellectual property as contrary to the aims of objective research sectors and hence a threat to their scientific integrity.  
This disjunction between research and commercialisation suggests that the two cultures are incapable of co-existing.  Existing inherent tensions hold little hope for the reconciliation between these entrepreneurial activities and research (Etzkowitz, 2003).  In order to avoid these cultural tensions, Etzkowitz (2003) hypothesised one of four main approaches could be implemented for research commercialisation management.  These included; (1) prohibition of the activity; (2) a requirement of disclosure; (3) separation of activities; or (4) integration of the activities.  After rejecting the ideas of prohibition or disclosure, Etzkowitz (2003) insists that the separation model, in which the financial interest is separated from the research interest by defining boundaries or creating structures that mediate between the two activities, is preferable over the integration model.  According to Etzkowitz (2003), the separation model will always be chosen when an attempt is made to combine new roles with existing missions.  As such, and in accordance with the separation model, Etzkowitz (2003) recommends placing as much distance as possible between the activities involved in the advancement of knowledge and those involved in commercialisation. 
Other research has also investigated the optimal model for the technology transfer office for research organisations and universities. These studies primarily use research productivity outputs from commercialisation as a measure of TTO success and overlook the importance of the indirect benefits stemming from a potential integrated commercialisation ambassador of the integrated TTO (Integration model).  Nonetheless, a number of characteristics have been associated with “successful” TTOs including the use of incentives (Debackere and Veugelers, 2005; Friedman and Silberman, 2003; O'Gorman et al., 2008); education programs (Hatakenaka, 2006) and the active participation of university inventors (Markman, 2005).  
Interestingly, Siegel et al (2003) emphasises the importance of reducing the cultural divide between university and industry, recommending that TTO staff possess an industry background as a move to limit the cognitive distance between academics and managers (Siegel et al., 2004; Siegel and Waldman, 2003).  This study, however, assumes that TTO staff would be academics first, and gain sufficient industry knowledge as a second priority.  It was also noted that involving a TTO with a low level of cognitive distance between academics and TTO managers may slow the commercialisation due to a tendency for the TTO to safeguard research interests and maximise the concerns of the university (Siegel et al., 2004; Siegel and Waldman, 2003).  This is contrasted by studies that acknowledges that although TTO staff must “respect” the academic world, the involvement of non-academic staff (presumably industry related) contributes to the increased interaction between universities and industry (Muscio, 2010).  Future research into the relationship between the cognitive distance of TTO staff and TTO efficiency, taking into account an appreciation of the potential, indirect benefits of TTO characteristics is recommended by Siegel et al (2004).  
Although, in some countries integrated and separated TTOs can coexist (Fisher and Atkinson-Grosjean, 2002), Debackere & Veugelers (2005) suggest that creating a specialised, decentralised technology transfer office is instrumental to secure a sufficient level of autonomy to develop relationships with industry. This structure provides a better buffer against possible conflicts of interest between commercialisation and the research and teaching activities of a university (Etkowitz, 2003) and is used to pool resources from across the university. However universities, in general, are more diverse players in the innovation process than smaller and more specialised medical research organisations.  Therefore, the ability to form long lasting, mutually agreeable relationships is limited by the size and diversity of the university, rather than the size of the TTO as suggested by Siegel et al (2003).  Analysing the effectiveness of the TTO structure and strategies becomes more difficult, and arguably requires more diverse methodology, when dealing with more specialised TTOs such as those found within the sample of medical research organisations in this article.  
Our sample of research institutes supports a variety of integrated and separated TTO structures, and also, as institutes, they are considered differently from universities as they are significantly smaller and grouped around a common research discipline (medical research) and business goal.  These institutes therefore balance the academic/business divide whilst never fully integrating with either. As neither solely research nor business organisations, maintaining a positive public „image‟ is particularly important to research institutes in order to reach both fundraising and/or philanthropic goals.  In a review of the organisational factors necessary to influence knowledge transfer, Jacobson et al (2004) outlined a need for further studies where institutional and organisational influences induce researchers‟ engagement in knowledge transfer activities (Jacobson et al., 2004).  Likewise, there was an expressed need for qualitative evaluations to assess the extent changes in the identified domains actually improve knowledge transfer efforts.  As such, the evolution and dynamics of technology transfer under these unique institutional structures is relatively unexplored. 
In this research, the „boundary‟ as defined by Etkowitz (2003) as mediating the difference between the research and commercial activities of the research organisation, is institutional: where some research organisations choose to outsource their commercial activities (separation) and other choose to incorporate a permanent TTO within the organisation (integration). This research will investigate the benefits of integration versus separation of the technology transfer office within smaller, more specialised research organisations.  To achieve this, we analyse the structure and strategies of current technology transfer efforts in five Australian medical research institutes.  This research is one of the first qualitative studies to explore the roles and interactions of researchers and organisational TTOs. 
2.0 Methods 
2.1 Participating Institutes 
Five Australian medical research organisations participated in this study.  Of these, three organisations (INT-1, INT-2 & INT-3) supported their own, integrated TTO (Integration model). Two institutes (SEP-1 & SEP-2), however, used separated TTO expertise for their commercialisation activities (Separation model). In this research, the “boundary” as described by Etzkowitz (2003) as necessary to distinguish between an integrated and a separated TTO, is institutional. 
2.2 Interviews 
Semi-structured interviews were employed and framed around the main concerns from the literature regarding commercialisation in research previously discussed in Derrick & Bryant (2012).  This research was concerned with personal accounts of attitudes, beliefs, interpretations, motivations and behaviour of the office professionals and researchers within each participating organisation.  More importantly, it was concerned with how researchers and the staff of the integrated TTOs (INT-1, INT-2 & INT-3) interact. 
In total, 82 researchers (Researcher) and 4 TTO staff (TTOStaff) were interviewed.  Of the researchers, all were Laboratory heads and were recipients of at least one government funded grant.  This ensured that all participants had managerial level experience. For the interviews with TTO staff, as not every institution had the same number of personnel in each TTO specific care was taken when analysing the results. All interviews were conducted in person, recorded and transcribed for analysis. 
2.2.1 Interview analysis 
The two sets of interviews (researchers and TTO staff) were initially coded separately to ensure that codes and themes were developed separately and did not influence each other. In addition, interviews from different organisations were also initially coded separately in order to identify institute-specific themes.  Themes identified within each set of interviews were compared independently and the strong and reoccurring themes, identified during the analysis were analysed further to test their levels of validity and reliability. 
For the researcher interviews, the themes related to researcher values of commercialisation have been previously described in Derrick & Bryant (2012).  Additional themes that were explored in 
relation to this paper were: researcher‟s impressions and opinions of their organisation‟s TTO 
arrangements; their level of engagement and interaction with the TTO and the TTO staff; and their level of satisfaction (or not) with the TTO.  
In contrast, the interviews with the integrated TTO staff were analysed for themes related to the barriers associated with working with researchers (past and current); and their impressions of how research works and how this presents obstacles for efficient technology transfer.  More concretely, TTO staff was asked about the specific strategies of the TTO; their impression of their success and how they thought this reflected on the reputation of the TTO within the organisation.  
During the interviews, participants were asked to use examples where possible and specific attention was paid to places in the interviews where researchers discussed the TTO and TTO staff; as well as when the TTO staff described their experiences with the organisation‟s researchers.  The themes and descriptions of the interactions were then cross referenced between the two sets of interviews.  This cross-referencing served as a triangulation tool (for the examples used by researchers and TTO Office staff) as well as a method to allow the further development of themes from the combined interviews. 
In the sections outlined in the results below, case evidence is presented in terms of the key themes identified from the interviews.  These themes include: Researcher concerns about commercialisation engagement (using Researcher interviews); and the strategies of the TTOs (combining Researcher and TTO staff interviews).  Both these themes are discussed in light of the response of researchers towards commercialisation when it is not successfully managed (combining Researcher and TTO staff interviews). 
3.0 Results 
3.1 Researcher concerns about commercialisation 
Commercialisation is still considered by researchers as a new influence in research. In fact, when asked about the role of commercialisation in research, researchers mentioned that its role was at a time considered a “dirty” aspect to research and that commercialisation was something that researchers only did if they could not be successful; “...if you went back into the 80‟s in Australia the culture with regards to commercialisation was very much –„the poorer the scientist, the better the research‟” INT-1-Researcher -01. Researchers were not expected to personally profit from their research. For commercialisation, “disinterestedness” was valued highly as no scientist should have a vested financial interest in their research. This sentiment however has changed dramatically; “...when I started in research, commercialisation was a dirty word whereas commercialisation now is very much highly regarded.” INT-3-Researcher
04. However, researchers still approach commercialisation with a level of “cautious scepticism”. They acknowledge that despite commercialisation being a method of linking research with patient outcomes, they are still acutely aware of the potential risks. These include; the researcher and the industry partners having different research goals and the fear of losing control of the research path. Despite these fears, the evolving maturity of the internal TTOs appeared to reduce the perception of risks associated with commercialisation. As a result success stories emerge that silenced research “myths”.  This gradually attracted more researchers to the commercialisation process. 
“I think here it’s developed quite rapidly over the last decade or so and its [TTO procedure] becoming lots more streamlined in terms of procedures and forms for viewing potential IP to getting it ratified and getting lawyers to draw up patents if it looks as if it is a viable entity.” INT-2-Researcher-06. 
Institutes also ensure that researchers remain involved in the research as well as maintain a level of “scientific integrity” by placing distance between the researcher and the forefront of industry. This, at least, relays concerns researchers may have about industry partners dictating the direction of the research; 
“…we go to a lot of effort to make sure that the tail doesn‟t wag the dog, If a major pharmaceutical company or industry came to us saying “we want you to do research on x.” If that wasn‟t exactly what we wanted to do anyway, we wouldn‟t even contemplate it.” INT-1-Researcher-01. 
A major concern of researchers about engaging in commercialisation is the risk associated with the freedom to publish their results. Internal rumours abound with reports of commercial partners delaying the publication of scientific articles because of commercial conflicts. With publication still regarded as the primary indicator for career advancement, researchers were unwilling to engage with activities perceived to interfere with their professional ambitions. However for the researchers interviewed at organisations with an integrated TTO, this is not a concern. In fact, very little publication disruption was experienced by researchers; 
“If I‟m working on a paper that is really cutthroat and in a competitive field so I have to get it out quickly, sometimes it can make me feel really anxious but the thing is that we‟ve got a lawyer [in the TTO] here and we can make up the contract and it says that if a publication is coming out they [the commercial partner] is bound to check it and approve it within a couple of days so that is fine.” 
INT-1-Researcher-04. 
In contrast, the quote below demonstrates that this publication delay seemingly imposed by commercial partners is a real concern for some researchers who are involved in commercialisation. 
“The only thing they require is that if we write a publication they want to see the manuscript before we submit it. Initially we were fearful that maybe they would sit on it for a very long time but it actually turned out to be much better than we thought. The last manuscript that we sent to them they okayed it for sending off within 24-48 hours of us sending it to them, that‟s a heck of a lot better than I feared so we haven‟t had any problems” INT-3-Researcher-11. 
Differences between institutes were observed in researcher attitudes towards commercialisation, in relation to publication delays. When this theme was further investigated, each institute’s success in communicating the benefits and advantages of commercialisation in research were greater if that institute supported an integrated commercialisation reference point as the TTO. 
Researchers at the INT-1, an institute which supports an integrated TTO, had a positive attitude towards the role of commercialisation in research. For INT-1 specifically, the institute has developed a reputation for their commercialisation success and for transforming the culture of the institute.  This is mainly due to the success their researchers have had with past commercialisation ventures but also because of the range of incentives the INT-1 offers researchers who engage with commercialisation. This sharing of success of the commercial partnerships benefits both the researcher and the institution. This suggests to researchers not involved in commercialisation, the benefits of commercialisation, adding to cultural acceptance of commercialisation and encouraging other researchers to engage. 
Conversely, for SEP-1, an institute with a separated TTO (Separation Model), researchers overwhelmingly believe that their ability to formally and informally communicate their research, is restricted by commercialisation engagement. Publication delays were perceived as longer for researchers at SEP-1 who were involved in commercialisation compared with the perception of delays for researchers at the INT-1, INT-3 or INT-2; 
“Part of the agreement, of all commercial agreements, that you have a 60 day 
clause that any work that you are going to publish needs to be run past by them within 60 or 30 days of submitting it.” SEP-1-Researcher-26. 
Another disadvantage of communicating research while involved in commercially funded research described in the interviews, was that despite this researcher not involved with commercialisation; “…When you try and discuss it [your research] with other people, you can’t anymore because people now repeat the same experiments over and over again because no-one actually tells you what they have already been done.” SEP-1-Researcher-20. It seems that without the continual presence of an integrated TTO, researchers here are sensitive to the actions of other, commercially engaged researchers and are sensitive therefore also to negative reports of commercialisation (myth making). 
At SEP-1, there have been a number of negative experiences with publishing and commercial involvement. This fails to positively promote the benefits of commercialisation to other researchers. Researchers at SEP-1 feel restricted in their freedom to publish their results if their research is engaged with commercialisation. This indirectly dissuades other researchers from considering commercialisation in the future. 
“ …‟commercial in confidence‟ means that you can’t publicly present your data to other researchers but if we set that aside and think of more general ways in which it might affect communication, then I think that it probably tends to inhibit free communication because purely academic researchers would tend to free-associate when they are chatting to their colleagues or with people at meetings which is often how good ideas emerge.” SEP-2-Researcher-6. 
This researcher is not involved in commercialisation but views it as inhibiting the role of a researcher to communicate his research to other parties freely and inhibits the development of „good ideas‟. 
During the interviews researchers were asked about their experiences with “withholding behaviour”, in order to determine whether the practice of withholding information, results, methods or reagents was commonplace in Australian medical research. Some researchers indicated that they thought withholding behaviour in research was against the “spirit of research” believing that every piece of information available should be used for the benefit of public health as a whole. 
“If someone asks for our results or reagents we will give it to them...that is what research is all about. That’s the spirit of research and I know that the reagents that I will give will contribute to someone else’s research and maybe even a cure for cancer.” SEP-1-Researcher-5. 
A researcher recalled his experience at conferences where presenters would withhold information, frustrating other researchers from the field. Researchers believed that withholding such information would considerably slow the progress of research whereas others believed that competition in research is a catalyst for bigger discoveries; “People are constantly evasive 
about materials, it’s an integral part of competitive research....information is at the heart of research and people tend to keep information to themselves.” INT-3-Researcher-5. Most researchers described the nature of research as “mostly still collegial” where open and fair communication in research was still practiced. However the willingness of researchers to share results and other information had reportedly decreased; 
“Research is still largely collegial but it is different....there is also that the 
competition is stronger. I think people’s willingness to give you reagents and willingness to share things with you has probably dropped a little bit but I think that it is still largely collegial.” INT-3-Researcher-04. 
Despite stating the above, this researcher also noted that she would be unwilling to freely share information with any of her competitors. This dual loyalty was a common trend amongst researchers; 
“In terms of a reagent certainly if it wasn‟t patented or hadn‟t been published nevertheless, because we are working in this field if somebody asks for it [the reagent] we wouldn‟t give it to them until we had filed a provisional patent and published it...not just commercialisation that has inhibited it, its competition as well.” INT-3-Researcher-04. 
However, many of the researchers who indicated that they regularly withhold results also mentioned that if a Material Transfer Agreement (MTA) is in place and fostered by the integrated TTO, they have little aversion to sharing. These MTAs are preferred by researchers to protect results and to ensure that their real competitors do not have access to their research; “We have used MTA’s for vectors and things. It is actually a good mechanism to stop people passing things around without you knowing it.”INT-3-Researcher-13. The MTA’s are administered by the integrated TTO on the researchers’ behalf. On one hand, researchers invoke MTA’s in order to protect themselves and their data from being used without proper recognition. On the other hand, researchers admitted to using MTA’s in order to establish large collaborations with other research groups, perceived as essential to publish in higher impact journals (Derrick and Bryant, 2012). They felt that with more authors, “big research” can be produced. Also, any successes from MTA-related materials would be attributed back to the individual researcher and their institution, thereby adequately acknowledged. 
“You do say to people sometimes that there has to be a MTA. That basically just 
means that if they use something and get some benefit from it that that will accrue back to the institution and me. Most people don’t have any problems with that.” INT-1-Researcher-07. 
The MTA has allowed research to remain “mostly collegial” but the efficiency of implementing an MTA is considered essential. The integrated TTO is adept when aiding researchers with MTAs when needed and the ease with which researchers referred to their use of the MTAs reflects the trust and maturity of the sample of integrated TTOs. 
3.2 Structure of the TTO: Integration versus Separation 
Both INT-2 and INT-3 have hosted integrated commercialisation offices since 2000.  Previously, technology transfer was handled by an external company.  At INT-3, the current TTO manager was initially hired as a consultant to develop the TTO.  However, introducing the researchers and institute to the concept of commercialisation as a “partnership” with research has been difficult; 
“…It has been a steep learning curve for the institute; backing 1986 through to 
about 1999 they [the institute] had a company called [XX] doing all of this tech transfer, in the classic sense of “tech transfer”. So it meant that the institute itself had been protected all the way through the nineties from issues of translation and commercialisation…” INT-3-TTOStaff-01. 
External companies might have succeeded in protecting the institute prior to having an integrated TTO, but acting externally as the TTO made it difficult to bridge the gap between researchers, the institute and this external entity.  Hiring the person who consulted the institute on the development to manage the TTO is advantageous.  This allows the independent consultant to manage the TTO as originally advised without adhering to separate corporate goals.  The aims of the TTO to work in partnership with the researchers of the institute; “My job is to maximise, or at least enhance the chance of translational research” INT-3-TTOStaff-01. INT-3-TTOStaff-01 explains how this “enhanced chance of translational research” is not always measured in dollars.  Instead, he emphasises the importance of communication of INT-3‟s research stakeholders to increase the effectiveness of translational research. This includes creating opportunities for researchers to network with businesses that can assist in research translation. 
In contrast, at INT-2, establishing the TTO was a similar experience to INT-3, although when the contract with the external company ended; INT-2 did not immediately establish its own integrated TTO.  Instead, INT-2 engaged yet another external organisation to handle its technology transfer activities.  This arrangement was again disadvantaging the institute as the level of interaction between the TTO and researchers was separated, further interrupting the evolution of the TTO as becoming an internal part of the institute.  As explained below, another disadvantage of the external partnership was that a lot of intellectual property was invested back into the external company rather than back into INT-2.  As a result the researchers were not involved in commercialisation successes, inadvertently affecting the reputation of commercialisation amongst researchers at the institute. 
“A lot of technology from INT-2 was put into the CRC. INT-2 in its own right would not drive commercialisation or a fair proportion of its own IP. [External TTO-Entity] would do that and I don’t think that it did it very well as they didn‟t involve the researchers very effectively.” INT-2-TTOStaff-01. 
Despite the lack of involvement by researchers in the past, the integrated TTO now recognised that communication with researchers was essential to engage them with future commercialisation ambitions.  It was hypothesised that if INT-2 had initially integrated the TTO, not only would their commercial intellectual property portfolio be larger but also the TTO would be more mature, having developed firm relationships with the institute’s researchers. 
“...I do know that those sorts of arrangements are not healthy for a research institute that wants to drive its own commercialisation agenda. If they didn‟t have these frivolous interruptions INT-2 would be further along and more mature in relation to commercialisation.” INT-2-TTOStaff-01. 
An institute that runs its own commercialisation agenda has the advantage of maturing alongside the scientific community, maintaining the best interests of the institute, and also the advantage of working with the institute’s researchers.  
This also has an educational advantage where the integrated TTO can work with the researchers about commercialisation and its role in their research. From the interview analysis, the absence of external company interruptions and by integrating the TTO sooner, INT-2 researchers would have been more relaxed about commercialisation’s role in their research. 
At the INT-1, the TTO has always been integrated internally.  The current TTO has been working at INT-1 for 4 years and prior to this; the manager was an eminent scientist who established the TTO in 1997.  When he left the institute considered outsourcing the TTO but decided to remain integrating it internally.  The importance of maintaining a relationship with the institute and its researchers, was recognised and this could be achieved by an internal presence; “… I actually deliberately put together a team approach to how we handle everything.” INT-1-TTOStaff-01. The team comprised of people from a variety of different backgrounds including staff with sufficient scientific expertise as a method to build relationships and communicate with the researchers was recognised; “So whilst I say I’m not a scientist, I recognise the importance of having a scientist on our team.” INT-1-TTOStaff-01. 
A training program about commercialisation for researchers has the advantage of teaching the researchers about issues surrounding commercialisation was advantageous and allowed researchers an opportunity to engage with the TTO and voice their commercialisation concerns.  For the TTO, this training program provided researchers with the correct information about commercialisation, promoted the function of the TTO; and the TTO can assist researchers in their commercialisation endeavours. 
The specific strategies used by integrated TTOs to facilitate researcher engagement with commercialisation are outlined in the section below. 
3.3 Three successful strategies of integrated TTOs 
Despite negative association about commercialisation from researchers, the TTO is still required to interact with them. There are 3 main strategies used by the TTO in order to increase their effectiveness and improve interaction with researchers. These include; (1) Establishing partnerships and becoming a recognised member of the organisation‟s research community; (2) Educating researchers about the importance of commercialisation; and (3) Altering TTO guidelines to accommodate the professional needs of researchers. Another strategy, the distribution of incentives was identified.  These results are only briefly mentioned in this article and are explored more thoroughly in Derrick & Bryant (2012).  
Traditionally, commercialisation is not well regarded by researchers and therefore it is important to develop and maintain good relationships with the researchers, and not be considered as a hindrance; 
“Everything is based on empathy and personal chemistry. So, each scientist you have to treat totally on their terms. At the end of the day they are the prima donnas, the propeller heads, they have egos as big as the Grand Canyon some of them. You just have to work exactly on their terms. Which means a slightly different style of relationship for each scientist and how you add value for them” INT-3-TTOStaff-01. 
The reference in the above quote to “a slightly different style of relationship for each scientist…” highlights the benefits an integrated TTO can have for research organisations.  By allowing the proximity and time necessary to build a relationship and to understand the nuances of individual researchers, the TTO is able to target those aspects of the commercialisation process that are considered by an individual researcher as a barrier to successful engagement. 
Researchers were asked what other aspects of communication were important to when interacting with the integrated TTO. Although general communication was regarded as important, it was more important for the office’s to maintain the trust of the scientist by acting as an ally; “Trust is the other crucial thing so you end up being regarded as an ally, an asset rather than a hindrance.” INT-3-TTOStaff-01. At INT-3, as mentioned above, it is important for the officer to work on the researcher‟s terms to be seen as an ally to the research process. Similarly, at INT-2, the TTO Staff member considers himself as more than an ally.  He considers his role as that of a partner in the scientific research process, always ensuring that there is sufficient data for a preliminary patent; 
“We see our role as a partner, rather than getting a hand ball over the fence and running with it....there are times that we want to be out in the front office but most times we are in the back office yelling and encouraging instructions saying “why don‟t you try this”. That is the model I adopt anyway.” INT-2-TTOStaff-01. 
This hands-on model contrasts with INT-3‟s model which is more non-interventionist. However, the INT-2 method emphasises the importance of positively engaging researchers. The TTO at INT-2 takes a long term approach by educating and guiding its researchers about commercial opportunities for their research from the grant writing stage up to the product development stage, reminding the researchers that the TTO is there to work for them; 
“…you need a positive engagement with the research and the researchers. You need to be there working for them, to be seen to be working for them and that’s a lot of work.” INT-2-TTOStaff
01. 
INT-2-TTOStaff-01 sees the role as building positive relationships with the researchers that are open and relaxed. Otherwise, as described below, INT-2-TTOStaff-03 may find out about a particular technology second-hand and therefore not eligible to be commercialised, disrupting the commercialisation process. 
“A lot of it is developing that relationship so that they trust you because they have two options when they publish a paper, publish a poster or do anything communicative. They can give you a call first and ask you what you think or you can find out three months later, or not at all…” INT-2-TTOStaff-03. 
In the absence of a positive relationship, researchers regard commercialisation as an intrusion and counterintuitive to the objectives of scientific research. To achieve the reputation of “working for the researchers”, INT-2-TTOStaff-01 approaches the task of commercialisation using a “cradle to grave” approach.  This helps to nurture the relationship with the scientist. The strength of this relationship reinforces a good experience with commercialisation and researchers more aware of the TTO’s role in the research process. 
“For commercialisation my philosophy is that you need a little bit of cradle-tograve approach in that you need to work with researchers right at the beginning, when the grant is written, in terms of discussing commercial opportunities right through to seeing if something comes out of it, submitting a patent with them, 
discussing the commercial opportunities…If you just came up for three months saying essentially “what have you got?” Then that is not the same?” INT-2TTOStaff-01. 
At INT-1 however, the office enforces a teamwork approach to the commercialisation process with clear roles for each participant. The TTO even employs a staff member with a strong scientific background to participate in meetings and provide a translational buffer between the researcher and the TTO. This strategy echoes Siegel & Waldman‟s (2003) recommendation that TTO staff possess an academic priority as a priority to reduce the cultural divide between researchers and a TTO (Siegel and Waldman, 2003). 
“…when we have a potential new discovery we all sit down together at that initial 
meeting so that they actually understand us and the patenting process timelines but not because they have to do anything and I think this is a really important point.” INT-1-TTOStaff-01. 
In contrast to the INT-2, INT-1-TTOStaff-01, is not involved in the initial grant writing stage of the research, but instead emphasises that the office does not interfere or try to “direct” the research. By removing the TTO’s influence from the initial research planning stage, INT-1TTOStaff-01 attempts the raise the reputation of the TTO by emphasising to the researchers that commercialisation is available but it is not essential for all INT-1 researchers; “...they are researchers and that is what they should be. So our office in no way shape or form tries to direct their research in an overt way.” INT-1-TTOStaff-01. If they are seen to be directing the research, the TTO runs the risk of damaging the relationship by the appearance to assert themselves on the scientific decision making process. Likewise, any appearance of or “myth” of directing any individual researcher can negatively impact their reputation with all researchers of the institute. 
These separate roles for researchers and the TTO helps to outline the responsibilities of the participants without attempting to “overtly direct” the research. Integrated TTOs ensure that the researcher remains the main protagonist in the commercialisation process, with the role of the TTO to provide the best outcome for the researcher and the institute. 
The positive opinion of commercialisation by researchers in institutes with integrated TTOs, reflects the efforts of the integrated TTO office staff in not only in their increased day to day interaction, but is also the result of an intensive commercialisation education program run in house by the TTO; 
“What I noticed coming in is that they didn‟t really understand what patents and patenting is really about apart from a number that you put at the end of your grant application...what I have done or tried to do is, first of all to educate the researchers about what commercialisation is but that is actually the pointy end of it...” INT-1-TTOStaff-01. 
By educating the researchers about commercialisation, INT-1-TTOStaff-01 feels that this fosters a better relationship between the TTO and researchers. This method is used to not only educate researchers about the potential benefits of commercialisation but also combat “myths” about the restrictions of commercialisation on academic freedom. In addition the training also helps researchers to view commercialisation as something more than a paragraph to be “put at the end of their grant application”. 
The INT-1 is not alone in using such strategies to promote commercialisation to researchers.  At the INT-3, financial incentives are used. However, these financial incentives are not restricted to those involved in commercialisation, but are allocated to the entire institute. This “internal distribution” model for the financial revenues from the institute’s commercialisation activities is particularly important. If all researchers benefit from the institute’s commercialisation activities, it sets a firm precedent for researchers who are not involved in commercialisation of research. Additionally, if all researchers benefit from commercialisation, it reduces the antagonism between the researchers who commercialise their research and the researchers who still view commercialisation as akin to “selling out” in research.  This is encouraging to those researchers in research programs with little opportunity to commercialise who were seen to hold particularly negative views on the role of commercialisation in research (Derrick and Bryant, 2012). This also emphasises the type of financial rewards for researchers that can potentially stem from commercialisation, encouraging future engagement. 
A final strategy employed by the integrated TTO to promote the importance of research commercialisation is by changing their practice towards patent filing and other bureaucratic processes. As discussed in the previous section, one of the major myths among researchers about commercialisation is that it leads to the delay or suppression of published work. However, TTO guidelines specifically allow researchers to publish at the same time as patenting their work. This flexibility is not common in commercialisation procedures, but the integrated-TTO is aware of researchers‟ need to publish and have altered industry practices in order to accommodate for this; “Now people [commercialisation officers] are slowly coming around saying “publishing is important and we just have to get the timing right”.... Publishing always been important and probably in some ways you say that it was more important than the patent...” INT-2-TTOStaff-01. This flexibility directly combats the fears and myths of researchers that their research can either be patented or published but not both. INT-2TTOStaff-01 explains below why these guidelines have been changed; 
“Sophistication -sophistication of the people in the offices is one issue. I think the people who are in these [TTO Staff] positions are slowly becoming a little more experienced.... now they understand is that there is a balance between the two [publishing and patenting], kind of a maturity I think....” INT-2-TTOStaff-01. 
At INT-1, and as a result of the change in her commercialisation guidelines, it is now possible to publish and patent simultaneously. The commercialisation training program has also informed researchers of the internal TTO’s growing sophistication in relation to the need to publish. This is also a strategy to directly combat perpetuating research “myths”. 
In addition to re-evaluating their TTO-practices to accommodate researcher needs, the TTO concentrates on changing the casual nature of internal research communication.  For example, researchers using informal means of communication; “The issue is more probably capturing people who are out and about talking to people and just forget.” INT-3-TTOStaff-03. As a result, the new guidelines allow researchers to publish their work and avoid the problem of people who “just forget” by increasing the speed with which the TTO processes applications. 
“Certainly regarding publications, it’s rare now to miss anything and I don’t think people, and this is the whole point about having a patent attorney who is visible to the scientist, is that they will turn around applications quickly if needed”. INT-1TTOStaff-01. 
By being visible to the researchers, the TTO is actively responsive to researcher requirements even if this means submitting provisional patents within tight deadlines. The willingness to work to these tight deadlines for the researchers reflects the strength of the relationship, and the increased sophistication of TTO procedures. 
“So if a scientist will come in and say that he has to go to a conference in two weeks, the patent attorney is fantastic and we have trained them up -they are part of the team and understand what we are trying to achieve in this office – and so they‟ll get cracking.” INT-1-BD01. 
This allows researchers to continue to publish, patent and continue “chatting to their colleagues or with people at meetings which is often how good ideas emerge.” SEP-1-Researcher-6. 
The integrated TTO accommodates the need of the researchers to publish and patent by processing preliminary commercialisation applications in a minimum of 48 hours. This good relationship, built on researcher needs first and the needs of the institute second, demonstrates a good working relationship between commercialisation and research in institutes with internal TTOs. 

4.0 Discussion 
4.1 Integration versus Separation of the TTO 
The findings show strong support for the integration model in contrast to previous research arguing that “integration” is likely to produce tension that works against the norms of science. Previous research investigating the junction between science and commercialisation has outlined their differences in culture.  However in this study, when the TTOs were willing to 
change their practices to accommodate researcher needs, the tensions between these “cultures” 
were reduced. This study shows that when cultural norms are altered by the TTO, science and Mode 2 activities are able to work cooperatively internally. 
Three of the participating institutes; INT-2, INT-1 and the INT-3 employ the integration model as defined by Etzkowitz (2003), by establishing their own, integrated TTO. Despite Etzkowitz (2003) recommending the separation model, these three institutes have chosen to negate this by attempting to reduce the “distance” between scientific research and entrepreneurialism by incorporating the TTO in house. In contrast, two other institutes, EXT-1 and EXT-2, use the separation model, where the “financial interest” is separated from the “research interest” by defining boundaries or creating structures that mediate between the two activities. For both EXT-1 and EXT-2, the boundaries are organisational, where the research of the institute is conducted separately to the TTO interests of their affiliated universities. There is tension; however, with the mediating structures that Etzkowitz (2003) recommended.  For both EXT-1 and EXT-2, no mediating/liaison personnel or structures were identified between the institute and the body responsible for promoting commercialisation of their research. Interestingly enough, for the researchers at EXT-1 and EXT-2, a difference in the understanding and appreciation of the role of commercialisation in research was detected. The researchers at EXT1 and EXT-2 were not uniformly against the idea of commercialisation but their outlook for the future of research and industry seemed more pessimistic than with the other institute’s researchers. In contrast, researchers from the INT-3, INT-2 and INT-1 were more open to the role of commercialisation in research. For these researchers who work with an integrated TTO, the negative opinion towards research commercialisation was considered as a thing of the past. The researchers here both acknowledge and embrace the role commercialisation will play in helping them translate their research. Those who work with a separated TTO did not comprehend the value that commercialisation would bring in translating their research to patients. Instead, they focused on expressing the negatives described in the literature, such as restrictions to publishing and the shifting of research agendas. In addition, the continued reference to the increased “maturity” and “sophistication” of the TTO is particularly poignant as it reflects an ongoing and fluid, “earning of respect” between researchers and TTO staff.  Future research is needed to monitor this evolving maturity of the TTO and any parallel cultural change towards the relationship between research and commercialisation activities, within research organisations. 
Without an integrated TTO, there are no professionals nearby to mediate researchers‟ fears about commercialisation. There are therefore, indirect advantages to having an internal technology transfer representative present both for the scientific researchers as well as to the evolution of research institutes to M2 behaviours, especially in regards to social reflexivity. In this study the existence of these indirect benefits promoted the integration model over the separation model, especially within smaller, more specialised research than in the larger, more diverse universities. 
The above cases describe the ways similar research organisations outline a number of different strategies of engaging researchers with technology transfer. Promoting a balance between the commercial and scientific activities has been described as potentially painful and difficult to achieve (Ambos et al., 2008) and currently there are mixed reviews about the capability of universities to develop commercialisation capabilities (Gittelman and Kogut, 2003; Krimsky, 1991; Markman et al., 2008; Owen-Smith and Powell, 2003; Slaughter and Leslie, 1997; Stern, 2004). The heart of the challenge is in essentially to take an institute that is equipped for and accustomed to doing academic research and ask it to build a capacity for commercialisation of technology and ideas (Ambos et al., 2008). In particular, the challenge is extended by asking the researchers to develop the simultaneous capacity for the two categories; academic rigour and commercialisation. It has been reported that the failure of attempting to balance these is related to a number of factors including lack of adequate university structures and policies as well as career tracks and training for individuals (Ambos et al., 2008). 
4.2 TTO’s strategies combat researcher commercialisation “myths” 
Many academic researchers still hope that the changes in the institutional landscape will have a limited impact on ability to conduct research and that the number of new actors (including industry influences and representatives) will remain small [15]. It is also suggested that the way in which M2 behaviours such as commercialisation becomes established in a particular content will be determined by the strategies used by institutes to adapt themselves to the new, M2, situation. For the participating institutes in this study, this has been achieved by combining three distinct strategies; first, office staff and policies surrounding the role of the integrated TTO; secondly, monetary incentives for commercialisation; and finally, an understanding of the importance of both the scientist’s need to publish and also the institute’s need for the scientist to publish.
A strategy used by the integrated TTO identified in this study was related to the TTO staff and policies. Despite the small size of each integrated TTO studied, each recognised the importance of having both an appreciation and understanding of the institute’s research. The managers of these offices have been described in the literature as the quintessential boundary workers who are charged with translating academic research into intellectual property (Fisher and Atkinson-Grosjean, 2002). This boundary role is successful in a number of ways but a number of officers participating in this research described the importance of combining trust and scientific integrity as a method of engaging with their institute’s researchers. 
Another strategy identified was that the integrated TTO understands of how important publishing is to their researchers and institute. This reflects the recommendation by Musico (2010) who stated that TTO Staff must show “respect” for the academic world. Perhaps the greatest disincentive towards engaging with commercialisation for researchers was the “myth” that is meant that they would restrict their freedom to communicate. Much of the literature describes the potential threats to researcher autonomy. Secrecy, withholding behaviour and communication restrictions are three different issues that have been described extensively in the literature. In addition, empirical research has shown that a large number of researchers are involved in withholding data from other researchers or delaying publication because of their commercial interests (Blumenthal et al., 1997; Blumenthal et al., 1996; Campbell et al., 2002; Campbell et al., 2000). This literature has generated a lot of fear among researchers about the trade-offs that commercial engagement demands. Within this study, researchers were more than aware of these possible interruptions to their scientific practice if engaged with commercialisation. In fact, in some cases the concept of delaying publication as a result of commercial involvement was still daunting to some researchers. However, these fears have been quickly dispelled by the “maturity” and the “professionalism” of the integrated TTO that acts both as a buffer for the researchers, as a facilitator of the commercialisation process, and as an internal commercialisation ambassador. The example of the ease with which the integrated TTO was capable of processing preliminary patents and MTAs was reflected in the interviews with the researchers. Researchers referred to the process of establishing MTAs in a casual manner, reflecting perhaps the ease in which researchers can access advice from their integrated TTO and in which the TTO can process any required MTAs.  In addition, no withholding behaviours or negative attitudes were encountered in this study.  Its absence is related to the professionalism of the integrated TTO where the TTO will adapt their behaviour to suit the needs of the researchers.  This was described across all internal TTOs and was not unnoticed by the researchers and this professionalism and flexibility alleviates the propagation of commercialisation “myths”. Indeed, the success of the integrated TTOs lies in their flexibility to adapt to the scientific needs of the organisation‟s researchers to become an accessible partner in the research process. 
The indirect advantage of maintaining an integrated TTO to mediate commercialisation “myths” is one that has been overlooked in previous studies of TTOs. The indirect benefits associated with this ongoing mediation, does not occur when the TTO is outsourced.  In this study, the institutional separation between the academic and commercial activities of research resulted in a researchers exhibiting more negative attitudes towards commercialisation than those at organisations with an integrated TTO. 

5.0 Conclusion and recommendations 
In relation to the TTO we recommend research organisations adopt the integration model. Indirect benefits are associated with this model including (1) a more positive collective opinion towards the role of commercialisation in research and (2) an increased level of willingness to participate in commercialisation. Fears such as the skewing of research priorities towards the more applied research and the restrictions on scientific publishing, can be quelled by the professional behaviour of the integrated TTO Staff. However, an essential component of an institute’s integrated TTO is that the officers should be prepared to alter their practices to accommodate the academic needs of researchers. Adaptation of the TTO to researcher needs promotes commercialisation involvement and does not disrupt the publishing aspirations of researcher, thereby promoting the advantages of commercialisation and negating researcher fears. These recommendations ensure that research organisations gain the maximum benefit from the commercialisation of their research. 
References 
Ambos, T.C., Makela, K., Birkinshaw, J., D'Este, P., 2008. When does university research get commercialised? Creating ambidexterity in research institutions. Journal of Management Studies 45, 1424-1447. 
Blumenthal, D., Campbell, E.G., Anderson, M.S., Causino, N., Seashore Louis, K., 1997. Withholding research results in academic life science: Evidence from a national survey of faculty. The Journal of the American Medical Association 277, 1224-1228. 
Blumenthal, D., Campbell, E.G., Causino, N., Seashore Louis, K., 1996. Participation of life science faculty in research relationships with industry. The New England Journal of Medicine 335, 1734-1739. 
Campbell, E.G., Clarridge, B.R., Gokhale, M., Birenbaum, L., Hilgartner, S., Holtzman, N.A., Blumenthal, D., 2002. Data withholding in academic genetics: Evidence from a national survey. The Journal of the American Medical Association 287, 473-480. 
Campbell, E.G., Weissman, J.S., Causino, N., Blumenthal, D., 2000. Data withholding in academic medicine: charateristics of faculty denied access to research results and biomaterials. Research Policy 29, 303-312. 
Debackere, K., Veugelers, R., 2005. The role of academic technology transfer organisations in improving industry science links. Research Policy 34, 321-342. 
Derrick, G., E., Bryant, C., 2012. The role of research incentives in medical research organisations. R&D Management 43, 75-86. 
Etzkowitz, H., 2000. Academic interrupted: Normative change in science. The Journal of Science & Health Policy 1, 115-140. 
Etzkowitz, H., 2003. Research groups as 'quasi-firms': the invention of the entrepreneurial university. Research Policy 32, 109-121. 
Fisher, D., Atkinson-Grosjean, J., 2002. Brokers on the boundary: Academy-industry liaison in Canadian universities. Higher Education 44, 449-467. 
Friedman, J., Silberman, J., 2003. University technology transfer: Do incentives, management and location matter? The Journal of Technology Transfer 28, 17-30. 
Gittelman, M., Kogut, B., 2003. Does good science lead to valuable knowledge? Biotechnology firms and the evolutionary logic of citation. Management Science 49, 366-382. 
Hatakenaka, S., 2006. Development of third stream activity: Lessons from international experience. Higher Education Policy Institute. Oxford. 
Jacobson, N., Butterill, D., Goering, P., 2004. Organisational factors that influence universitybased researchers' engagement in knowledge transfer activities. Science Communication 25. 
Krimsky, S., 1991. Academic corporate ties in biotechnology: a quantitative study. Science, Technology & Human Values 16, 275-287. 
Markman, G.D., Gianiodis, P. T., Phan, P. H., & Balkin, D. B., 2005. Innovation speed: Transferring university technology to market. Research Policy 34, 1058-1075. 
Markman, G.D., Siegel, D.S., Wright, M., 2008. Research and technology commercialisation. Journal of Management Studies 45, 1401-1423. 
Muscio, A., 2010. What drives the university use of technology transfer offices? Evidence from Italy. Journal of Technology Transfer 35, 181-202. 
O'Gorman, C., Byrne, O., Pandya, D., 2008. How scientists commercialise new knowledge via entrepreneurship. Journal of Technology Transfer 33, 23-43. 
Owen-Smith, J., Powell, W.W., 2003. The expanding role of university patenting in the life sciences: assessing the importance of experience and connectivity. Research Policy 32, 16951711. 
Sampat, B.N., 2006. Patenting and US academic research in the 20th century: the world before and after Bayh-Dole. Research Policy 35, 772-789. 
Shane, S., 2004. Academic entrepreneurship: University spinoffs and wealth creation. Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd, Cheltenham, UK. 
Siegel, D.S., Thursby, J.G., Thursby, M.C., Ziedonis, A.A., 2004. Organisational issues in university-industry technology transfer: an overview of the symposium issue. The Journal of Technology Transfer 26, 5-11. 
Siegel, D.S., Waldman, A., 2003. Assessing the impact of organisational practices on the relative productivity of university technology transfer offices: an exploratory study. Research Policy 32, 27-48. 
Slaughter, S., Leslie, L.L., 1997. Academic capitalism: Politics, Policies and the Entrepreneurial University. The John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Maryland. 
Stern, S., 2004. Do scientists pay to be scientists? Management Science 50. 
ntists? Management Science 50.