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I have some difficulty accepting the basic premise that collaborations between businesses and universities fail because academics don¡¯t understand the needs of small and medium-sized enterprises (¡°Think business, not ¡®shiny things¡¯¡±, News, 30 July).

The article says: ¡°Ben McLeod, senior associate at Beauhurst, said the ¡®cultural differences¡¯ between businesses and academics were huge: academics enjoy asking questions and creating ¡®new shiny things¡¯ but small and medium-sized enterprises are ¡®driven by profit¡¯ and ¡®creating a business that creates revenue and drives a product into the market¡¯.¡±

Bearing in mind the sample size ¨C 30 SMEs ¨C these comments about the different motivations of academics and SME owners and managers would seem more like opinions than sound, survey-based conclusions. They certainly ignore the many commercial spin-offs from universities and the many social enterprises that flourish in the SME sector.

My experience is that factors such as timescales (responsiveness) and cost base both also have a significant influence on the ability of the two organisations to work together.

Wilf Marshall
Via timeshighereducation.co.uk