Based on a study of research partnerships with industry across the higher education sector in three high technology fields in South Africa, the paper identifies five key tensions, the resolution of which shapes the way partnerships are facilitated and constrained in distinct institutional contexts. The paper highlights the significance of policy coherence between organizational levels within an institution, the importance of seeking a balance between financial and intellectual research imperatives, the necessity of promoting a strategic balance between the forms of partnership that are allowed and encouraged to develop, and the need for flexible regulation within institutions to provide levers and incentives without being heavy-handed or constricting. (Contains 2 notes.)