MODELLING AND MEASURING THE CAPABILITY OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY CREATION IN INDIAN HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTES

Abstract

The importance of Intellectual Property (IP) creation, protection, and commercialization requires no introduction. In the knowledge economy society, creation of new knowledge and its proper commercialization will help a nation to progress on the economic ladder. Higher education institutions (HEIs) are increasingly expected not only to conduct education and research, but also to play an active role in the economic, social and cultural development of their regions. Therefore, HEIs around the world are moldings themselves into these new expectations. Some of the European, American and even Asian countries have developed a good enabling environment to leverage the strength of their HEIs for IP creation and its monetization. The importance of HEIs regarding IPR in economic growth has not been well-established in existing literature. There is lack of consensus among the researchers about the role of HEIs in economic development with reference to IPR creation. The disagreement among the research studies aimed at identifying universally accepted common factor on IP creation capability. There are no studies in developing nations which empirically test the traditional academic motivations (i.e., eponymy, prizes and publication) for patenting. There is a need of identifying the role of non-monetary rewards in academic IP creation for formulating effective incentive policy. The IP creation in Indian HEIs is very low. At the same time there are no measurement criteria available to measure there IP creation potential. Therefore, it is important to study IP creation potential/capability of HEIs to enhance their indirect contribution in economic activity. No suitable empirical scale is developed for different geographical and disciplinary settings especially in Indian context. The majority of academic literature focused on the IP creation in academic institutes is from developed countries and the applicability of the findings of such research to Indian scenario is limited. Studies do not suggest any empirical model that relates critical factors of Intellectual Property creation capability (IPCC). There are no studies which identify the dimensions of IP creation capability in knowledge-based environment especially in higher education. Researchers acknowledged that patenting by Indian academic institutions is in a nascent stage and requires further strengthening. There is a need to formulate policies & strategies for enhancing academic patenting in Indian Universities. Studies related to IPR in India do not give importance to IP iv creation capacity. For enhancing activities related to academic patenting strategies are to be formulated. Based on the existing knowledge gaps, the study maps the economic contribution of HEIs in global perspective, identifies critical factors for IP creation, and proposes a structured model for IPCC with respect to Indian conditions. Because of the complexity of the research problem, pragmatic research approach is used to carry out this research. This research study approached the idea of triangulation to achieve the research objectives and to increase the validity of the findings. We have applied three types of triangulations i). data triangulation i.e. use of variety of data sources; ii). methodological triangulation i.e. use of multiple methods to study a research problem; and iii). theory triangulation i.e. the use of multiple perspectives to interpret the results. Based on the suitability, the different research tools are applied for achieving specific research objectives. Like secondary data analysis is used for mapping the economic contribution of HEIs with respect to IP. Interpretive Structural Modeling is applied on the qualitative data gathered through expert elicitation for identifying and finding inter-relationship between the enablers and barriers of IP creation in Indian HEIs. This is followed by MICMAC analysis to propose a four layered ISM model. Factor analysis followed by SEM to prepare a scale for measuring IPCC and testing. Soft System Methodology (SSM) suitable for assessment of complex administrative system with diverse alternatives is applied to propose strategies for enhancing IP creation in Indian HEIs.