Talent management at science parks: Firm-university partnerships as a strategic resource for competitive advantage creation in the information technology sector in Vietnam

Talent attraction has been confirmed to be one of the crucial human resource strategies during the Science Park development. Skilled workers with expertise, knowledge, and innovation are required for tenant firms to survive and gain competitive advantages in the increasingly intense information technology (IT) industry. This study aims to contribute to our knowledge of talent attraction management in Science Parks, emphasizing the interaction between universities and research institutes, which are confirmed to be the primary source providing talented individuals. The fundamental logic is that a Science Park's connection to universities may improve innovation capacity, eventually gaining competitive advantages. The data collection comes from 178 senior managers of various IT firms located at two Science Parks in Vietnam, Quang Trung Software City, and Saigon Hi-Tech Park. A partial least squares structural equation modeling approach was used to estimate the measurement and causal relationships. The findings revealed that IT firms should consider two critical elements when enhancing their competitiveness through talent acquisition: the network attractiveness dimension and university-based expertise. Additionally, information gained through firm-university partnerships significantly contributes to both innovation capacity and competitive advantages.