Pathology of Commercialization Policy-Making of Research in Iran’s Academic System

IntroductionCommercialization of academic research has become a popular interest in most countries of the world. Because the process of commercialization of academic research plays a significant role in the economic development of societies, Thus, universities and higher education institutions are expected not to limit their functions only to teaching and research but also to take a part in production and economic value creation. This function is called the commercialization of research products (CRP). Some studies have shown that on the one hand, cultural and social factors and on the other hand, organizational, financial, and economic factors have a close relationship with the CRP. This evidence shows that it is not enough to formulate policies for CRP, but also providing internal and external infrastructures is a crucial factor.Research Question(s)What are the obstacles which are preventing CRP in Iran’s academic system?Literature Review2.1 Policy-making Approaches in OrganizationsNowadays, what differentiates successful and unsuccessful organizations is not necessarily a quantitative issue. Rather, is a qualitative one, so the nature of the obstacles which the organizations are confronted is the main issue. To clarify the kind of obstacles that hinder CRP, we used Okumus’s conceptual model of Implementing a strategy. The model has four variables: content, context, process, and outcome. The meaning of the content is the strategic orientation that the organization chooses and seeks to follow. Context factors include all the physical, social, and cultural contexts of the organization in which strategies are implemented. The process also includes all the ways and methods that the organization undertakes to implement and operationalize its strategic plans. Finally, the outcome includes all the achievements that the organization achieves after implementing the strategy. In general, we are facing two approaches, the first approach is the strategic evolutionary cycle and the second is the vicious cycle of formalism.MethodologyIn the present study, the researchers used a qualitative approach and an emergent design, which is one of the designs used in the grounded theory method. The study population included all the key informants in the field of CRP. A total of 9 key informants were selected through the theoretical sampling method and by relying on the theoretical saturation. An unstructured interview method was also used to collect data. Member check was also