University and business cooperation offers many benefits not only for the parties involved. It translates into innovation and competitiveness of the economy. The relationship encounters many barriers that are related to the environment (both internal and external) in which it is implemented. The aim of the article is to identify the determinants of university-business cooperation (areas of cooperation, barriers, motivations) and to point out recommendations from the perspective of scientists in Poland and the United States (USA). The experience of USA researchers can be used as a background for considerations about cooperation between universities and business in Poland, and as an example of good practices for the purpose of supporting and improving the analyzed relationships. The article focuses on selected determinants of university and business cooperation: areas of cooperation, barriers limiting it, motivations for cooperation and the possible options for its improvement (recommendations of researchers). In order to achieve the assumed goals, an individual, in-depth interview was conducted with the use of a questionnaire as the research tool. The presented results of the research showed significant differences between the models of university and business cooperation in Poland and the USA.

Changes in the environment of industry may affect the expectations related to the competencies of the employees. Changes to the education system and curricula may be required. The main purpose of this research paper was to analyze the expectations of the industries related to competencies of graduates of engineering programs. The paper presents preliminary research. The survey was conducted at twenty-eight companies within the area of technical university in Poland. Based on the survey, data was collected related to the level of preparation of engineering graduates as well as the industry expectations related to the preparation of engineering graduates. This was done for the purpose of determining the gap between industry expectations and the level of preparation of the engineering graduates. Enterprises expect a wide range of competences from engineering graduates. The most important areas of competence included soft competences and practical knowledge and skills. The biggest gap between industry expectation and graduate’s preparation are the soft skills. Recommendations were suggested which would be incorporated in the engineering curriculum for the purpose of continuous quality improvement.

Despite the abundance of researches on innovation and green innovation, there remains a necessity to further research in this field. This is particularly crucial in regions like Central and Eastern Europe, including Poland. This publication is a part of research on business innovation utilizing public funds. The paper aims to pinpoint directions for further empirical research on innovation within enterprises funded publicly. Empirical research was conducted using a database of 95 projects, all of which were included in the lists of projects selected for funding under the Opolskie Voivodeship Regional Operational Programme 2014-2020 (Enterprise investments in innovation). The vast majority of projects involve products/services/technologies that are innovative not only regionally and nationally, but also globally. The innovation of the solutions applied was assessed as high. On the other hand, the green innovation of applied solutions was assessed as average. This opens up an interesting field of research into the barriers to green innovation. The data shows that none of the projects implemented by SMEs was implemented as a partnership (SME Cooperation). In the case of large enterprises, 76% of projects were implemented in cooperation with SMEs and/or NGOs and/or research institutions. Interesting line of research could be the evaluation of the barriers for cooperation between SMEs when implementing a green innovation project.

Wydawnictwo Naukowe Uniwersytetu Szczecińskiego

Purpose: The purpose of the article is to review NPD models and identify critical success factors for new product development in the chemical industry. Design/methodology/approach: The systematic review of the literature was applied in the paper and the AHP method was used to build a hierarchical model for determining the importance of CFSs. Findings: The paper characterizes the concepts of new product development and general models of new product development. Older (pre-2000) and newer generation studies were included among the models described. Data analysis of new product development studies in the chemical industry was carried out. Based on the literature analysis, key factors determining the success of a new product were selected, with a division into general and typical elements of the industry in question. Research limitations/implications: The prioritization of CFSs will allow in the next step the analytic hierarchy process of NPD models, on the basis of which it will be possible to determine which of the analyzed models is most suitable for chemical products. Practical implications: Most chemical products are designed using trial-and-error techniques based on experimentation, making NPD in the chemical industry more iterative. This often involves generating a huge number of chemical components, and this means that the search area can be very large. It is therefore reasonable to look for decision support tools to facilitate the selection of necessary components. The selection of chemical product ideas should be based not only on an analysis of what is possible to produce, but also on an analysis of what the market would like to buy. The specifics of chemical products and changes related to 21st century trends are forcing the determination of appropriate CFSs for the chemical industry. Originality/value: The chemical industry is one of the world’s key industries, whose products are used in almost every area of life. Despite this high relevance, there has been no attempt to date to systematize the issues of developing new product lines or portfolios in this industry. Keywords: new product development model (NPD), critical success factors (CFSs), analytic hierarchy process (AHP), prioritization, chemical industry. Category of the paper: research paper, general review.

The aim of the paper is an analysis of cooperation between enterprises and universities from a business perspective in Poland and the United States (USA). The article focuses on selected determinants from a business perspective. The determinants of the enterprises and university cooperation included areas of cooperation as well as the motivations and barriers for cooperation. Extended interviews were conducted in Poland and the USA using a questionnaire as the research tool. The results of the research showed differences between the enterprises and universities cooperation in Poland and the USA.