In research policy, the "Valley of Death" is a familiar lament. We assume that with enough tax credits or grant schemes, the bridge from discovery to market will build itself. Yet beneath the surface lies a more fundamental disconnect: the tension between what we can see as the "sociology of the academy" and the "epistemology of the engineer".

Australia’s innovation economy is shaped by a structural management deficit that separates discovery from execution. This Insight explains why founders who generate breakthroughs often lack the management skills required to build a resilient business, and why capability-building programs misdiagnose the challenge. The divide is visible in startups, SMEs, and university spin-outs, where the transition from research or prototyping into scale demands architectural management ski

Academic “studies” fields have emerged because complex problems exceed traditional disciplinary boundaries. They create intellectual trading zones that integrate economics, engineering, sociology, and policy. The Insight explains how this shift reflects Boyer’s scholarship framework and why universities and governments must rethink siloed structures.