Abstract
The intermediaries are important organisations in mitigating systemic failures. Few of such failures are those of university–industry linkages (UILs). Although there are several previous studies, they did not pay adequate attention on how these intermediaries accumulate their capabilities that are necessary to perform their roles over time. This study will try to partially fill in such gap by investigating capabilities-building processes of intermediaries. The intermediaries in Hard Disk Drive (HDD) industry in Thailand was selected as a case study. Qualitative data was collected from 20 semi-structured and in-depth interviews of intermediaries’ management, university researchers and industrial companies in the intermediaries’ networks. The findings show that the intermediaries play consulting, brokering, mediating and resources providing roles. They assist to increase levels of interactions between university and industry, transform informal to formal relationships and nurture potential human resources for the industry. However, performing such activities depends on the intermediaries’ capabilities. Four key capabilities encompass network capabilities, coordination capabilities, knowledge-building capabilities and management capabilities. Underneath them, strategic capabilities, depending on leadership, engender the intermediaries’ visions and strategies. Human resources development is stimulated through individual and collective learning. These four capabilities are embedded into the existing organisational systems by using mentoring and on-the-job training for newcomers, building up the database system and arranging meetings for knowledge sharing on a regular basis. However, discontinuity of government supports leads to a decrease in network members, transformation of formal relationships back to informal ones and the close down of intermediary.
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