Analysis of Collaboration Network between University and Industry by Using Network Analysis Approach (Study: University of Hormozgan)

A nation’s progress and development depends on the production of knowledge by its educational centers and turning them into presentable products by the industrial units. To reach this point, a coherent connection between the scientific and industrial units in the country seems natural and inevitable. This research aims at scrutinizing the cooperation network between Hormozgan University and Industry. This study has an applied and practical nature and can be classified as a descriptive and survey-based research. The statistical population for the study includes Hormozgan University faculty members and managers of research centers in a number of Hormozgan organizations. In order to analyze this cooperative network, at first, two sets of questionnaires containing items for studying the network connections were designed. After completing the questionnaires, the data for each network was imported into Excel as a matrix and analyzed by using Visone and NetDraw applications and indexes such as the inner core angle, cutpoints and network densities were derived and computed for the networks. All in all, the cooperation and trust networks analysis indicated that the presented networks had a relatively low central density. The high points of isolation in two networks and the lower density of networks of trust compared to the cooperative networks indicate that the two parties have not been able to develop and establish a good level of satisfaction and trust in the intended cooperative paths and, consequently, it can be maintained that there is an almost weak level of communication and trust between Hormozgan University and business environments (i.e., industry) in these networks.