How can academic-policy collaboration be more effective? A stewardship approach to engaged scholarship in the case of SME internationalization

In response to calls for more policy-relevant academic research, this paper undertakes a stewardship approach to examine an engaged scholarship policy programme targeted at supporting the internationalization of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in Scotland, namely the Global Companies Development Programme (GCDP). The study was undertaken by academics and included a combined formal evaluation and research study, a follow-up workshop and group interviews over a ten-year-period. This study extends the stewardship approach to the engaged scholarship context. The findings suggest that stakeholders view their collaboration as a “supra-organizational” formation through which they can identify and empathize with its objectives; require skilful boundary spanners who consistently promote the objectives of the collaboration in the participating organizations; and, accentuate effective knowledge generation and transfer to SME internationalization activities that reflect the outcomes of their collaboration. We discuss policy implications for the development of private-public and inter-agency partnerships.