Knowledge Bank

Working with large, complex organizations like The Ohio State University can be a barrier to maximizing the collaborative potential of corporate partnerships. The absence of a unified process and strategy can often lead to confusion, competing priorities and ultimately stifled momentum of even the most exciting of projects. The Corporate Engagement Office at Ohio State was created to help partners of the university better access resources across campus through a one point-of-contact model. Using existing best practices from across campus, the business community, and similar research universities, Corporate Engagement works as a concierge to provide the highest levels of customer service to both internal and external partners when creating opportunities for collaboration and information exchange. Corporate Engagement helps navigate and connect resources by identifying the most appropriate connections in any given circumstance, enabling internal partners to serve as subject matter experts. This strategy helps manage the project funnel while aligning organizational goals and objectives across units. An organization's ability to create a successful engagement model can be a determining factor of its effectiveness. We believe that we have a model that can be adapted for organizations of any size. Using a formula based on a strategic framework, with a reliance on collaborative relationships and a commitment to a unified purpose, organizations can embrace their full potential.

AUTHOR AFFILIATION: Matthew Mcnair, Vice President, Economic and Corporate Engagement, mcnair.25@osu.edu (Corresponding Author); Eddie Pauline, Director, Business Development.