Commercialization strategies for academic research in the field of sport

Global crises have transformed the development of the national economy into a major problem. One way to achieve economic development is to improve the commercialization mechanisms of academic research. Considering the significance and status of universities, academic and research centers in meeting the needs of society and moving towards the production of capital from the knowledge produced in these centers, it is necessary to introduce commensurate with the structural, environmental and human conditions of these centers for commercializing academic research. The present study seeks to provide commercialization strategies for academic research in the field of sport. The study employed an applied, descriptive-survey research method. It also a qualitative research and field-library in terms of data collection. The study was conducted in the framework of a qualitative approach by applying grounded theory (Glaser). In the present study, semi-structured interviewing technique was employed as data collection instrument whose data was analyzed using open, axial and theoretical coding. The statistical population of the study consisted of faculty members of physical education colleges, academic entrepreneurs, academic inventors in the field of sport, and faculty members of the National Elite Foundation. The sampling was conducted using theoretical sampling and purposive judgmental method and continued until theoretical saturation was reached which included 22 experts in total. Qualitative results revealed that commercialization strategies comprise 57 concepts, 10 categories (educational, research, human resources, managerial, marketing, personality, communication, policy, legal-regulatory, financial and hardware-software) and 6 dimensions (intra-organizational, individual, intra-organizational, legal, facility-equipment, economic). Senior academic and government executives should always be keen to use these strategies to commercialize and generate wealth for researchers and scientists.