University–Industry Collaboration and Sustainable Organizational Resilience: The Mediating Role of Relationship Quality and the Moderating Effect of Institutional Alignment

Abstract

As firms increasingly rely on external partnerships to navigate complex and volatile environments, understanding the distinct pathways through which such collaborations may relate to resilience has become essential. However, despite growing interest in interorganizational collaboration, limited research has explicitly examined how university–industry collaboration relates to organizational resilience, as prior studies have predominantly focused on innovation and performance-related consequences. This study examines whether university–industry collaboration is associated with organizational resilience, conceptualized as a micro-foundation of sustainable development. Specifically, it investigates the mediating role of relationship quality within the university–industry collaboration and resilience nexus and the moderating effect of institutional alignment. The proposed research model and hypotheses were tested using survey data collected from 220 firms operating in science and technology parks (STPs) in Türkiye through partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) with SmartPLS. The results indicate that university-industry collaboration exhibits a significant association with organizational resilience, which is also linked to long-term sustainability at both firm and systemic levels. Furthermore, relationship quality serves as a distinct mediating pathway linking university–industry collaboration with organizational resilience. In addition, institutional alignment shows a significant moderating role in this relationship, such that higher alignment between university and industry partners strengthens the collaboration–resilience linkage. This study offers an early empirical attempt to conceptualize university–industry collaboration as an external driver associated with organizational resilience while delineating the distinct processes of mediation and moderation. Drawing on institutional theory and relational coordination theory, the findings elucidate the distinct institutional and relational pathways through which collaborations are associated with organizational resilience. For managers and policymakers, the study underscores the importance of investing in high-quality relationships and institutional congruence to better leverage collaborative partnerships for sustainable organizational resilience.