ENHANCING ACADEMIC RESEARCHERS’ PERCEPTIONS TOWARD UNIVERSITY COMMERCIALIZATION

Commercialization of university’s research has drawn growing attention of late as it is increasingly seen as drivers to local economic growth. However, current studies have focused mainly on factors affecting commercialization assuming their presence would encourage greater commercialize activities. While this assumption is satisfactory, anecdotal evidences indicated that the presence of those factors sometimes do not improve commercialization. We argued that this anomaly is due to the influence of university researchers’ perceptions toward commercialization which manipulate their propensity to engage in this activity. This paper begins by reviewing the various mechanisms to commercialization in Malaysia universities. The impact of perception on commercializing activities formed the second part of the analysis. Recommendations to enhance commercialization within a university environment are also highlighted.