Leveraging the triple helix model to upgrade the medical and aromatic plants value chain

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this research paper is to explore innovation activity between the three institutional spheres of government, universities and industry in the Palestinian MAPs sector, with the aim of supporting the growth of the sector through the THM.Design/methodology/approachThe research study employed a qualitative exploratory design. Twelve semi-structured interviews were conducted with participants from the three spheres of the THM related to the agricultural sector. Content analysis was conducted on the data obtained from the interviews, followed by comparative analysis.FindingsSome elements of the THM are present in the Palestinian MAPs sector, but others are missing, preventing its success. An effective policy is an important prerequisite for a THM to survive and thrive. There is a need to clarify the rules of engagement in terms of collaboration between the three institutional spheres. To promote innovation in the sector, there is a need to empower the farmers and cooperatives, improve farming system efficiency, upgrade distributors to logistic service providers, and build hybrid processing models.Practical implicationsThe role of government is to apply policy to facilitate relations and exchanges between the three spheres. Industry possesses the motivation to invest in high-growth potential sectors. Universities could take the opportunity to establish its presence and fine-tune its portfolio of tasks so that industry is aware of these tasks and sees value in them.Originality/valueThe paper discusses the university–industry–government relationships in the framework of a developing and unstable economy such as Palestine.

Challenges to open innovation in traditional SMEs: an analysis of pre-competitive projects in university-industry-government collaboration

“…The mainstream open innovation literature is still insufficient to provide a complete and detailed picture of the factors that hinder the adoption and the implementation of open innovation in SMEs. Van de Vrande et al ( 2009 ) and Bigliardi and Galati ( 2016 ) have shown how specific open innovation practices and/or specific SME characteristics (e.g., size and sector) can generate different barriers, opening the way to more detailed reflections and in-depth case studies that focus on specific aspects related to the challenges SMEs undertake when engaging in open innovation, especially in inter-organisational projects (Santoro et al 2019 ; Sultan 2020 ). Most of the time, inter-organisational projects are structured and coordinated by following logics that are more suitable for large companies than for SMEs, with the result that SMEs tend to occupy weaker network positions and to depend on partners’ strategies instead of having control on the direction of their open innovation efforts (Dodourova and Bevis 2014 ).…”

Understanding the oxygen reduction kinetics on Sr2-xFe1.5Mo0.5O6-δ: Influence of strontium deficiency and correlation with the oxygen isotopic exchange data

“…The mainstream open innovation literature is still insufficient to provide a complete and detailed picture of the factors that hinder the adoption and the implementation of open innovation in SMEs. Van de Vrande et al (2009) and Bigliardi and Galati (2016) have shown how specific open innovation practices and/or specific SME characteristics (e.g., size and sector) can generate different barriers, opening the way to more detailed reflections and in-depth case studies that focus on specific aspects related to the challenges SMEs undertake when engaging in open innovation, especially in interorganisational projects (Santoro et al 2019;Sultan 2020). Most of the time, interorganisational projects are structured and coordinated by following logics that are more suitable for large companies than for SMEs, with the result that SMEs tend to occupy weaker network positions and to depend on partners' strategies instead of having control on the direction of their open innovation efforts (Dodourova and Bevis 2014).…”

University–Industry Linkages in Agriculture: The Case of Palestine

“…Despite the abundant literature on university-industry relationships in developed countries (Ritzen, 2020), the need to bring about the universityindustry-government linkages has been recently grasped in developing countries (Vaaland & Ishengoma, 2016). In Palestine, The weaknesses of UILs are well documented in the literature (Abu Hanieh et al, 2015;Khatib et al, 2013;Morrar et al, 2018;Sultan, 2020). Previous research proposes, among other causes, the lack of policies to facilitate UILs and the state of minimal resources of both Government and universities as determinants for poor collaboration.…”

“…Although UILs offer mutually advantageous arrangements (Davey et al, 2011; Liu et al, 2020), a great deal of complexity exists when managing such cross-sector relationships in developing economies (Plewa et al, 2013). The poor infrastructure and the prevalence of small-scale producers and suppliers in developing countries extend this complexity (Béné, 2020; Sultan, 2020). In response, researchers emphasise understanding the nature of UILs to achieve effective university–industry collaboration (Awasthy et al, 2020; Bloedon & Stokes, 1994).…”

“…However, its healthcare system's fragility makes tuning between the pandemic's economic impacts and healthcare consequences a highly challenging matter (AlKhaldi et al, 2020). On March 5, 2020, the early extreme restrictions on movement and the social distancing procedures imposed by the Palestinian Government to control the spread of coronavirus directly harmed all economic operations, including farmers, the agricultural labour force, and all actors along the agriculture supply chain (Sultan & Sultan, 2020).…”