Participant Information Sheet
Understanding Intellectual Property in the Boardroom
Before you decide to take part in this study it is important for you to understand why this research is being done and what it will involve. Please take time to read the following information carefully and discuss it with relevant colleagues. A member of the team can be contacted if there is anything that is not clear or if you would like more information. Please take the necessary time to decide whether or not you wish to take part.
Purpose of the study
The purpose of this project is to enhance the understanding of what executives need to know about intellectual property (IP) to make better business decisions.
The research is planned to be completed by December 2021.
Please see the Project website here for more details about the project.
Why have I been chosen?
You have been chosen as a valuable participant for this research because of your expertise in dealing with and managing IP related matters within a corporate setting and your experience of IP relevant discussions with C-level executives in relation to business decision making.
Do I have to take part?
Taking part is entirely voluntary and refusal or withdrawal will involve no penalty or loss, now or in the future.
What are the possible benefits of taking part?
Access to the findings from this research with insights about what executives really need to know about IP to make better business decisions further tools for decision making.
What will happen if I take part?
If you decide to participate, then you will be taken through a digital questionnaire to fill your responses to a set of few carefully constructed questions.
You can fill the questionnaire wherever you are and at any time of your convenience.
What do I have to do?
You will be asked to write in the questionnaire a brief description of specific situations where things went wrong, could have been avoided (or turned out much better) or more value could have been created if a particular executive would have understood the full implications of IP. The questionnaire has a preamble to explain the context and the purpose of the study and guide you through filling the responses.
Are there possible disadvantages and/or risks in taking part?
There are no major disadvantages and/or risks in taking part. There is a risk involved if you disclose any information that your company considers sensitive. We have put the following risk mitigation measures in-place:
- Clear instructions are provided to respondents in the questionnaire to describe the IP situations to the extent you think appropriate to disclose binding your employment contract with your company.
- All details collected will be kept strictly confidential and will not be shared or disclosed to anyone outside the project.
- All data collected will be anonymized before publication in any form. Only the socio-demographic details like years of experience, qualification, etc will be used for such as for grouping and analyzing the responses.
Will me taking part in this project be kept confidential?
Yes, your participation in this project will be kept confidential. We ensure that any response is treated with the highest academic standard of confidentiality and research integrity. We ensure full anonymity and you are not asked to provide any personal data. All the data collected will be stored in the secured, password protected storage facility maintained by the project partner, the University of Cambridge. No one other than the project members including partners from the University of Cambridge (UK) and Chalmers University of Technology (Sweden) has access to the storage. All data collected will be anonymized before publication in any form.
What will happen to the results of the research project?
Results will be used as an input to design course structures for education and training purposes, presented at conferences, working papers, internal meetings among other partners of the project and written up in academic or industrial journals.
Who is organising and funding the research?
This is a joint research project of Cambridge University’s Innovation and IP Management (IIPM) Laboratory and the Innovation and IP (IIP) research group at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden. The project partners do not receive any external funding for this project.
Ethical review of the study
The project has received ethical approval from the Engineering Research Ethics Committee of the University of Cambridge.
Contact for further information
Dr. Frank Tietze
Lecturer in Technology and Innovation Management
Head, Innovation and Intellectual Property Management (IIPM) Laboratory
Centre for Technology Management, Institute for Manufacturing, University of Cambridge
17 Charles Babbage road, Cambridge CB3 0FS, United Kingdom
T: +44 (0) 1223 338083
