To create value for organizations and strengthen their market competitiveness, the office of technology transfer (OTT) of a university must operate as an entrepreneurial business. As a business enterprise, the OTT's purpose is to create customers. Innovations come from the research laboratories; the marketing from the OTT. To achieve licensing half of its organization's registered patents, an OTT's strategy should be a combination of core technology expertise, resources, and proactive management by the director.

The value of license agreements to small companies [1], and the significance of university inventions in driving product development and stimulating capital investments into start-ups [2], have been reviewed elsewhere. What is often not mentioned is that the OTT is a business unit subject to profit-and-loss measures.

Academic institutions are the lifeblood of technological advances. Somewhere amid basic research lie many embryonic technologies that could yield tremendous return on investment. The university technology transfer system has produced a number of successes, most strikingly the gene-splicing patent [3], which is expected to bring $100 million in royalties over its lifetime.

But the question remains: How can we do better? Future success requires a strong, flourishing relationship between academia and technology companies. The OTT, viewed as an entrepreneurial venture, needs to adopt a business-to-business strategy. This strategy's essence is to identify a fit between the resources and competence of the organization and that of a particular customer segment. This strategy also includes identifying the structure and boundaries of the business in terms of its relationship with others, focusing on core processes, and outsourcing what can be done externally, such as patent function.

We put forth the three Ps: partnering (management), promotion (mindset), and practicality (marketability) [4] to encompass a total approach to the business of technology transfer, with the customer firmly in the center where strategic intent is based primarily around innovation (processes) and marketing (teams).

Building relationships. Both internal and external relationships are essential for success in the technology transfer business.

Work closely with faculty, staff, and university administrators to review technologies of the institution and to assess their commercial potential.

The OTT is no different from a network organization in which cooperative endeavors are the essence of a successful team. Technology management in the context of network organization is centered around core competence and customer base. Its essential role is to promote the institution, innovations, and to keep all the partners and functional units focused on customers, and abreast of breakthroughs and the changing definition of value in the competitive marketplace.

The reputation of an institution is paramount to technology transfer success. Many often overlook promoting the institution and the innovations coming out of it. Promote your organization as a premier location for academic technology transfer capitalizing on its untapped resources of innovative research helping to extract the full commercial value of its products.

Consider accepting, instead of a licensing fee, stock in start-up companies. Also, faculty inventors can share in the benefit via royalties, equity, becoming consultants, or gaining support for their labs in lieu of a licensing fee.

Information technology will play a more prominent role in business functions. Put the OTT of an organization on the Web by establishing a home page. This approach gives not only visibility but also exposure with various business entities providing contacts and access to nonconfidential technologies leading to increased opportunities.

Engage alumni in the intellectual property and business processes to leverage the OTT's resources and expand its domain. These people could be thought of as agents for an ever-expanding network. The OTT office then extends itself beyond regional or national needs and becomes global in nature. One way to become a major technology transfer player is to utilize information technology to identify emerging advances well before they attract attention from the scientific and corporate communities. Work with secondary information services such as the Institute for Scientific Information. When the impact of an institution and its researchers are recognized, one can build on their strengths, contributing to the region's economy and technological progress.

Good technology does not always make a good business. All involved parties understanding that aids the process of evaluating technologies' commercial potential. Technology transfer directors recognize the steps needed to develop an innovation into commercial success, and have the patience and skills to do it. Additionally, they recognize that it takes additional money and time to make a technology more attractive and to strengthen the patent.

The purpose of a business is to create a satisfied customer. Fundamental questions about the organization's capabilities - its resources and skills, and even more basically its values and mission - must be answered before it can match up business strategy with a set of market needs.

The key to successful competition is uniqueness. The criteria for distinctive competence are the following: must be important to customers, ought to be technology based, should apply across multiple products, and should offer access to various market segments. Adopting this approach to planning business strategy combines both customer-centered and competitor-centered analysis, and matches the organization's distinctive competence (competitive advantage) with a set of market needs and wants that is less than completely served by competitors. Here, the goal is a strategy that permits the organization to deliver superior value to a well-defined set of customers in the competitive marketplace. Thus, every project must be approached in terms of the market-driven management concept of the three Cs: customers (partners), company (OTT), and competitors. [5]

The sequence of steps by the OTT to deliver value can be characterized as discovering, developing, and distributing technology. Value is defined in the marketplace, where it is created by customers who perceive value in the organization's product offering. This principle of positioning is important both internally and externally. Internally, it focuses everyone's attention on customer requirements. Externally, it is the means by which the OTT can position itself in the mind of customers. Positioning starts with the product and has three parts: Who is the target customer? Why should the customer buy it? What are we selling?

When an OTT markets a technology the purpose is not to make the sale but to gain a customer and establish an ongoing relationship. Relationship marketing emphasizes personal service leading to repeat transactions. It also implies a degree of trust, particularly during negotiations. With a focus on interactive marketing comes the strategic development of marketing alliances and strategic partnerships, i.e., a business-to-business relationship.

The OTT's role is to promote practical technology and be a partner. The contributing factors of technology transfer management that make the process work include partnering, promotion and practicality. Success means that the OTT, as an entrepreneurial organization, has the following ingredients:

To triumph is to function as a team where cooperation of all players is necessary. With the director of technology transfer at the helm, it follows that the leader should have four major priorities:

To ensure technology transfer success, develop the three P's through strategic planning and suitable control measures.

Association of University Technology Managers - technology transfer links of several universities. Another such site is Using The Internet For Technology Transfer by Lee Katterman.

Association of Federal Technology Transfer Executives - general information and resources.

Technology Business and Industry: Technology Transfer - excellent page of links to general, legal/business, and federal Web sites. Maintained by the State University of New York at Stony Brook.

Intellectual Property Web Sites - academic, commercial, and government resources.

Ben Franklin Technology Center of Southeastern Pennsylvania - a great site for practical information, and an example of the regional economic impact of technology transfer.

Federal Labs and Agencies - from the U.S. Department of Defense's TechTRANSIT site.

U.S. University Web Sites Related to Innovation - maintained by the Alliance for American Innovation.