Managing the process of market orientation by publicly funded laboratories: the case of CSIR, India

User-interaction is the most important ingredient in achieving market orientation. In this paper, perceptions of senior scientists and directors in publicly funded R&D labs in India with primary mission to conduct applied research, were analysed to learn about their interaction with industry. The areas examined included: importance and frequency of labs' interaction with industry; barriers faced by labs in their efforts to interact with industry; and initiatives taken by labs to improve their interaction with industry. Recommendations are presented to improve lab-industry interaction by analysing actions of labs that are more successful in transferring their technologies to industry as compared to their less successful counterparts.