The past decades have witnessed a surge of research interest in academic engagement, largely focusing on academic entrepreneurship. However, academics also engage through other forms of knowledge application, broadly referred to as academic engagement. Drawing on the domain of academic engagement, in the last years arise an innovative form named Proof-of-concept (PoC) characterized by the interaction between many actors coming from different contexts, as researchers, professionals, managers and entrepreneurs.
This paper aims to review and analyze organizational mechanisms in proof-of-concept projects (PoCP). It develops the theoretical literature on PoC, particularly in the context of university-industry relations in academic engagement. Through a systematic literature review (SLR), the paper examines 85 published articles.
Findings show that literature on PoC is fragmented; various definitions of PoC are used and different typologies of PoC need the adoption of different organizational mechanisms. The research identifies areas that are currently underdeveloped. While the knowledge management framework is lacking in the reviewed literature, our findings highlight a growing interest in this area.
Recent studies reveal a call from the literature to identify knowledge integration issues and mechanisms for successful PoCP in academic engagement field. This paper provides an overview of the current state of research on PoCP and outlines new research opportunities, focusing on underexplored areas within the academic engagement field.