Narrow Results

This chapter explores the attractiveness of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) relative to other regions for trade in services by European firms. Businesses no longer just search for low-cost labor but also seek to tap into the talent markets of emerging countries in knowledge-intensive core business functions. The availability of large talent pools that can be trained and retained is a key deciding factor in the choice of an offshore location, as is the size and the depth of the female labor force. The study finds that the MENA region has the necessary market and labor fundamentals to become a viable near-shoring destination for European firms and that it has a significant advantage associated with its female talent pool. Nonetheless, it also has highly significant disadvantages, due to impediments that women face in joining and staying in the labor market. Overall, the findings suggest that MENA may lose the competition to attract jobs in this growing global sector.

Government support for partnering between BioPharma companies and universities is growing in the UK and some European countries but few studies have explored these partnerships.

Through interviews and a survey of key institutions we explored perceptions of key informants on industry and university partnerships. Study participants identified that partnering helped them to increase innovation in R&D and led them to adopt more open approaches to innovation.

Organisational structures to coordinate and support partnerships; flexibility in operational management to solve problems in establishing and running these partnerships; leadership, especially by investigators to champion and lead collaborations; developing organisational capabilities of universities; and creation of an enabling environment by governments were identified as the critical success factors for partnering. The challenges faced were identified as lack of funding for university research teams; pressure on pricing from industry partners; disagreements on IP ownership; asymmetry of industry and university capabilities in partnering; and lack of administrative support with excessive bureaucracy from universities.