Management Knowledge Partnerships
In the past, KTPs have mostly been science and engineering orientated, however £25m (approx.~250 projects until 2023) has been made available nationally to support mKTPs and projects can range from: operations management, supply chain and business process improvements; organisational/behavioural psychology & cultural change; benchmarking, competitor analysis and best practice capture; alternative business models and associated profit margins; to post-COVID recovery and resilience, ‘new normal’ executive leadership skills, operations, decision making, strategy remote working, dispersed teams management, skills, innovation & wellbeing. To date, only about 40 projects have been taken up by business.
The mKTP is for businesses (up to 500 employees) who have an innovation or strategic management project that could benefit from some outside expertise (a university).
The aim of a KTP is to transfer knowledge and expertise to an organisation from experts in a University through a newly hired graduate Associate who works with the company for the period of the project.
The Associate has access to university academic expert knowledge, skills, and resources to help accelerate innovation to create strategic agility and impact. The expertise is embedded in the company, contributing to sustainable, positive change.
Questions a business needs to ask for a mKTP to be appropriate are:
- How does the project fit the strategic aims of the company?
- What is innovative about the project?
- What knowledge is to be transferred and why does the company need it?
- What is the academic challenge of the project?
Benefits to the company:
- What is the anticipated financial payback?
- What capability(ies) will be increased?
Approximate costs:
- Typically, £30k a year for an SME (@33% contribution) Companies with 250+ employees contribute 50% towards the project costs.
- Programme can be for between 1-3 years
Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTPs), over the last 40 years, have helped around 12,000 companies innovate for growth and today around 800 organisations are involved with KTPs.
Katrina Woodward
Strategic Partnership Manager (Construction & Sustainability)
Nottingham Trent University
Research and Strategic Partnership Development
Katrina.Woodward@ntu.ac.uk
