Integration of SE Research and Industry: Reflections, Theories and Illustrative Example

Currently, there is limited literature in Software Engineering (SE) that sheds light on the success factors and challenges for knowledge transfer between SE scientists and practitioners. Upon reflections on personal experiences from both academia and industry, this paper attempts to underpin some of the challenges for a successful collaboration, and relate them back to existing theories in the fields of Management, Medicine and Social Sciences. Furthermore, strategies for overcoming some of the challenges are provided and illustrated via a simplified example within the topic of Software Evolution. The intention of this paper is to establish a dialogue for an overall strategy within our field, by providing an illustrative example, and to promote a deeper reflection on the term 'knowledge transfer', which has predominantly focused on an unidirectional knowledge flow from academia to industry.