University-industry collaboration refers to the interactions between industry and any part of the higher education system involving knowledge or technology transfer (Bekkers & Bodas Freitas, 2008; Siegel et al., 2003). Collaboration between academia and industrial sectors has always been one of the most important issues which could facilitate the knowledge transfer activities between academia and industry that has undeniable positive effects for both sectors such as facilitating the social and economic development of nations (Dellano and Del Guides, 2015; Anatan, 2015; Safari, Ghazizadeh and Taheri, 2013; Omar, Shanableh and Hamad, 2010; Fayouzat and Taslimi Tehrani, 2007).

During recent decades, the developed nations have identified cooperation between industry and public research institutions as a major policy priority (Abramo, D'Angelo and Di Costa, 2011; OECD, 2007). Therefore, responding to societal pressure to enhance HEIs’ contributions to local and national economic development, academia around the world have substantially expanded their collaborations with business, (Bertoletti and Johnes, 2021; Al-Tabbaa & Ankrah, 2016) resulted in a faster growth rate for joint applications with industry (Eurostat, 2020). Despite this, the great disparities among European regions show that there is no one-size-fits-all policy to promote university-industry collaboration thus requiring a deep understanding of the regional institutional context.

In Sweden establishing a strong connection and collaboration between government, business and the tertiary education has been a long lasting history and it has been recognized as an effective strategy to increase employment rate, productivity and social cohesion (European Commission, 2011). Swedish major policies on university-industry cooperation date back to World War II (Perez Vico,  & Hallonsten, 2019). So as Sweden has established a successful cooperation between these two parties, it can be helpful for experts in other countries, specially developing countries, to figure out how university-industry cooperation works in Sweden. That could provide a good pathway and inspired strategies for them to improve collaboration between university and industry in their countries.

This paper therefore, aims to investigate the effectiveness of university-industry collaboration policies and strategies in Sweden based on which we try to answer the following questions:

1. How universities are connected to industry in Sweden (Policies, Mechanisms and Strategies)?
2. How effective is the Swedish UIC policies and practices?
3. What are the most concerning challenges in connecting universities to industry in Sweden?

In regards to the chosen theoretical background, this study is based on Quintuple helix model of cooperation and interactions between the universities and industry. This model was created through developing Triple helix model by Otzkowitz & Leydesdorff, and then Quadruple Helix model by Carayannis and Campbell by adding a fifth helix, which is natural environment, to the model of knowledge and innovation. In Quintuple helix model, 5 institutes including university, industry, government, society and environment are involved in collaboration between university and industry (Otzkowitz & Leydesdorff, 1995 & 2000; Carianians & Campbell; 2010; Carayannis, Barth & Campbell, 2012). In this model, an attempt is made to establish a stable balance between these 5 institutions for development. Therefore, the society is dependent on the environment. In addition, the society can be developed by establishing relations and interactions with the environment (Zarghami, 2017). Furthermore, In Quintuple helix model, environment and society are considered as the key elements and subsystems in producing knowledge and innovation. Leydesdorff (2012) has stated that there is not necessarily a suitable model with specific involved institutions for university-industry relations, but any other institution can be involved in this type of relations according to the circumstances and also it can play an important role in it. In order to answer the research questions, researchers try to figure out if Sweden was conducting Quintuple helix model of cooperation and interactions between the universities and industry.

A case study has been conducted in order to provide methodology. One large-scale public and international industry was selected as the case and 4 universities in the west and south of Sweden which had collaboration with the selected industrial sector were chosen as well. Participants were selected based on their job and professional experiences. They included 15 experts in university-industry cooperation including heads of the HR and R&D Units and university professors as well as the students who all were engaged with this collaboration closely. A purposive sampling technique was used for picking the participants in the research in which they were chosen by theoretical sampling method which was followed by implementation of snowball approach throughout the process. Data were collected via semi-structured interview protocol and the interviews continued until theoretical saturation was reached. The Interview protocol had 3 sections including the model of cooperation and interaction, evaluation of the collaboration as well as obstacles and challenges of cooperation between university and industry. For gathering the data from participants, the interviews we conducted in person, by making a phone call and also as a written questionnaire which were chosen based on their preference. All the interviews were noted and recorded under permission of participants in the research and in order to consider the ethics of the research, all data which were gathered from participants are presented anonymously. At the end, theoretical saturation reached out by 7 interviews which has been conducted from people working at the industrial sector and 8 participants belonged academic sectors. 3 additional interviews were also performed. For data analysis, categorization and coding (open coding, axial coding, selective coding) were applied. In the first stage of data analysis, 225 primary codes (open codes) from transcription of interviews were extracted. In the next step, by removing, merging and modifying the initial codes, 84 codes were considered as the axial coding. Then, based on the similarities and in order to answer the research questions, codes were grouped and categorized by the selective coding. So, in each category, 1 to 10 main categories were identified. Four criteria of validity or reliability, transferability and verification introduced by Goba and Lincoln have been applied to evaluate the quality and accuracy of data (Salamat, Mir Sepaci and Reshadatjou, 2020; Mohammadpour, 2011).

The results of interviews in Sweden which contained answer for research questions have shown that in Sweden the dominant model used in university-industry cooperation is Quintuple helix model consisting of university, industry, government, environment and society. While participants acknowledged that a single model is not used for all the relationships. They use variety of different models depending on their goals and missions in every collaboration as well as the circumstances and types of cooperation such as Triple model and Quadruple helix model. In Sweden, the relations and interactions between universities and industry are diverse and frequent. As an example industrial branding, industrial and academic doctoral courses, student support, foundation-based industrial schools, partnerships, research collaborations, services and facilitation, educational collaborations and employment collaborations are some of these interactions. While these interactions are bilateral and active, it means that each type of relationship is based on the needs of the university or industry bilaterally, and also in all types of communication, both industry and academia play active role. Analyzing the data indicated a satisfactory, efficient and effective cooperation between university and industry which has been supported very well by the Swedish government. Some of the most concerning challenges in connecting universities to industry in Sweden consist of bureaucracy, failure of communication networks, time management, structural differences, restricted rules and restrictions on establishing some collaborations. In order to improve the quality of the collaboration between the university and the industry in Sweden, certain strategies have been used which involve opting optimism towards these cooperation, having strategic planning and foresight, database of basic data, existence of job opportunities and the possibility of employment for the students and graduates, flexibility, active two-sided cooperation, formation of cooperation based on network of relationships.

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