This chapter lays the theoretical foundation for the framework which will be the point of departure for the empirical research. Firstly, it deals with the concept of Industry–University partnerships as Innovation drivers in the industry. Next, it reveals the implications emerging from the literature discussing the various sources of competitive advantage of organizations. In the next subchapter, the essential arguments and theoretical propositions of the alternative approach are presented—namely, the Practice-Based approach—to the competitive advantage of organizations, its various streams, paradigms, and implications for the author’s theoretical framework. The following subchapter is devoted to the introduction of the theory the study will most extensively hinge on—Cultural–Historical Activity Theory (CHAT). In particular, the chapter addresses its origins, presents the central propositions and principles of this theory, introduces the view of an organization as an Activity System, and presents the concept of activity networks. The concluding subchapter reveals the implications for the empirical analysis of University–Industry Partnerships defined as activity networks. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021.
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