Business incubators: the impact of their support

A New Technology-Based Firm (NTBF) is a significant enabler of job creation and a driver of the economy through stimulating innovation. In the last two decades, we have seen an enormous development of the NTBFs. However, the liability of smallness, newness, and weak networking ties are three important obstacles in the early stages of an NTBF’s lifecycle. Consequently, there is a high rate of failure among NTBFs.A remedy to avoid these failures is in using the support and resources by Business Incubators (BIs). BIs provide supportive services to promote the NTBFs capabilities and to help them address their liabilities.So far, there is almost no reliable evidence on the effectiveness of BIs on the performance of NTBFs. Therefore, we aim to identify the supportive activities by BIs and, to understand to what extent the supports by them have a serious impact on the performance of their NTBFs. Building on qualitative and quantitative research methods, a model to measure the impact of support by BIs on the performances of NTBFs is developed, and tested among Dutch and German NTBFs. The research results provide practical guidelines for the management teams of the incubators, which can increase the effectiveness of their performances. The research reported in this thesis has been founded by the Initial Training Networks (ITN) as part of the Marie Curie program. The research is part of the larger project: A Networked and IT-enabled Firm’s Perspective on Crisis, project number: FP7 PEOPLE-2012-ITNAlgorithms and the Foundations of Software technolog

An Examination of the determinants of entrepreneurship in Thai high technology start-ups

This study advances understanding of the complexity of sustaining growth in high technology-based businesses. The study builds on the conceptual and applied insights on business growth from the entrepreneurship literatures to develop a model. The model is developed to investigate the impact of determinants subsumed under the three key-based factors, entrepreneurship, innovation and firm growth dynamics on the firms’ innovative entrepreneurial activities that might lead to enhanced economic growth This thesis uses both qualitative and quantitative methods to describe the determinants and test the relationships. The quantitative survey collected data from 521 young Thai start-ups. The qualitative study involved interviews with the CEO/owners of seven high-tech firms in Thailand. The quantitative and qualitative evidence from these firms led to a much stronger explanation of the performance of the high-tech sample. This thesis has significant theoretical and practical implications. From a theoretical viewpoint, this study provides detailed evaluation on the growth determinants from a developing country perspective. The results shown that the young high-technology firms in Thailand were similar to firms that had been examined in the literature with regard to their characteristics, innovation and firm growth dynamics but differed with regard to the utilisation of the key firm based factors subsumed under the three key-based factors, entrepreneurship, innovation and firm growth dynamics. From a practical viewpoint, these findings indicate that the competitiveness of young technology-based firms can be enhanced by developing critical capabilities to assist the right strategies for better performance. The thesis provides important new insights into this group of firms in a developing country. The analysis of the empirical and qualitative results showed the role and impacts of the determinants on the firms’ sustainable growth and highlighted the importance of the managerial ability to dynamically manipulate these key firm based determinants to sustain growth

Comparison of awarded university business incubators: Italy and Turkey.

Based on the diffusion and the effects of university business incubators this thesis work examining university business incubators based on their networking activities in respect to different geographical scopes and intentions of the networking. A large and growing body of literature has investigated on networking activities of university business incubators and outputs of networked incubators. Networking is one of the main competitive advantages of all models of business incubators and also it has a huge impact on the development of the entrepreneurial environment. However, to the author ́s best knowledge, very few publications can be found available in the literature that addresses the issue of the geographical scope of networking how it differentiates its’ development structure. Due to this reason, the objective of this thesis is aiming to analysis the networking activities in different geographical scopes; local, national and international and how do they structure in two different countries. Sample university business incubators are from two different countries, one from ‘developed country’ and one from ‘developing country’ to illustrate the main partners of both incubators according to their geographical scopes, how do they create those partnerships, what are the main activities that they realize together, is there any intermediate third parties and government policies behind of it. What kind of activities are conducting in both university business incubators in order to become more international and finally in respect to their networking activities what kind of industrial partners both UBIs have and how do they create those relationships. This study has determined the relationship between all the partners of a university business incubator and incubator itself. In consideration of previous academic studies about the topic and contributions of this thesis work, now we can gain a better understanding of cause-effect relation of partnership choices and activities in diversified geographical scopes of a university business incubator.ope

The impacts of engagement in science park collaborative network on innovation capabilities and financial performance of tenant firms

This study aims to examine how engagement in science park collaborative network (ESPCN) influences innovation capabilities and financial performance of on-park firms. Based on the survey towards Beijing and Shanghai science parks in China, it explores how science park ecosystem creates value for their hosted firms. This research address three research questions, including (1) What should the measurement scale of ESPCN entail in order help tenants exploit benefits associated with science park location? (2) What is the impact of ESPCN on innovation capabilities and financial performance of tenant firms? (2) What are individual impacts of four dimensions of ESPCN on innovation capabilities and financial performance of tenant firms

Does Founders’ Human Capital Matter for Innovation? Evidence from Japanese Start-ups

Using a sample from an original questionnaire survey in Japan, this paper explores whether and how founders’ human capital affects innovation outcomes by start-ups. The results provide evidence that founders with greater human capital are more likely to yield innovation outcome. However, because certain types of founders’ human capital may boost R&D investment, which possibly results in innovation outcomes, we estimate the determinants of innovation outcomes by an instrumental variable probit model taking into account the endogeneity of R&D investment. Our findings suggest that specific human capital for innovation, such as founders’ prior innovation experience, is directly associated with innovation outcomes after start-up, while generic human capital, such as founders’ educational background, indirectly affects innovation outcomes through R&D investment.Start-up, Founder, Human capital, Innovations, R&D investment

Team collaboration capabilities as drivers for innovation performance: The case of Spanish technology-based startups

[ES] Las Startups de Base Tecnológica (SBT) son nuevas empresas emprendedoras lanzadas típicamente por un equipo con el propósito de llevar productos o servicios innovadores al mercado y lograr la escalabilidad de sus modelos de negocios. Hoy en día, se reconoce ampliamente que las SBT desempeñan un papel muy importante en la economía como fuente de innovaciones disruptivas y radicales y en la creación de nuevos empleos. Sin embargo, la mayoría de las TBS se enfrentan a retos significativos asociados con conflictos que surgen entre los miembros del equipo y con cambios en el entorno, aspectos que afectan a su rendimiento de innovación y supervivencia. De hecho, a pesar de la potencial novedad de sus productos y servicios, muchas SBT fracasan e incluso desaparecen y con ellas también sus innovaciones. En esta tesis proponemos el concepto de "Capacidades de Colaboración en Equipo" (CCE) referido a la interacción entre los miembros del equipo de una SBT como una condición organizativa esencial que permite la construcción de nuevas capacidades dinámicas estratégicas. En concreto, la tesis se centra en la relación entre CCE, capacidades operativas y resultados en innovación. Consideramos cuatro elementos como las dimensiones principales de las CCE, que comprenden: la confianza, la comunicación, la resolución de problemas y la eficacia del equipo. En primer lugar, la confianza del equipo, que les permite estar abiertos a compartir sus ideas, tener confianza y expresar sus sentimientos y comentarios constructivos. En segundo lugar, la comunicación, que consiste en fomentar el intercambio abierto de ideas e información que beneficien a los proyectos y a la organización. En tercer lugar, la resolución de problemas, que fomenta el establecimiento de protocolos para dar solución a los desacuerdos que puedan surgir a diario. En cuarto lugar, la eficacia del equipo para lograr los objetivos, resolver tareas difíciles a través del esfuerzo conjunto, gestionar problemas inesperados, ser competente y aumentar la autoeficacia para realizar las tareas y la gestión eficiente de los recursos. El estudio empírico se basa en una encuesta con el objetivo de identificar las CCE y sus relaciones con las capacidades operativas y los resultados en innovación de las SBT. Se obtuvieron 45 respuestas válidas de SBT, en su mayoría empresas que han participado en programas de aceleradoras como STARTUPV, EIT Climate KIC Valencia Accelerator Program y Fundación Repsol Entrepreneurs Fund, Social NEST y el Parque Científico de Madrid. La muestra incluye SBT con actividades centradas en el desarrollo de productos y servicios en una amplia gama de sectores, incluyendo medio ambiente, energías renovables, tecnologías limpias, transporte, consultoría, servicios de gestión industrial, arte, ocio y entretenimiento. Dadas las condiciones particulares de nuestra muestra y el tipo de datos recopilados a través de la encuesta, utilizamos la técnica de modelos de ecuaciones estructurales (SEM). Este método permite una estimación basada en componentes para el modelado de causa-efecto con variables latentes. El modelo ha sido estimado utilizando el software Smart PLS 3. Los hallazgos sugieren que el desarrollo de CCE en las SBT contribuye a la creación de nuevas capacidades operativas que resultan en mayores resultados en innovación. Asimismo, proponemos futuras líneas de investigación sobre el papel de las CCE en las colaboraciones externas. Por ejemplo, se podría estudiar la existencia de iniciativas públicas que tengan en cuenta las fases críticas del desarrollo de las SBT, como por ejemplo la promoción de la atracción de talento y el fomento de esquemas de compensación que lo retengan. Finalmente, se plantea estudiar la colaboración entre las SBT y otros agentes externos en proyectos de innovación abierta. Consideramos que estas colaboraciones favorecerían su supervivencia y competitividad.[CA] Les Startups de Base Tecnològica (SBT) són noves empreses emprenedores llançades típicament per un equip amb el propòsit de portar productes o serveis innovadors al mercat i aconseguir l'escalabilitat dels seus models de negocis. Hui dia, es reconeix àmpliament que les *SBT exerceixen un paper molt important en l'economia com a font d'innovacions disruptivas i radicals i en la creació de noves ocupacions. No obstant això, la majoria de les *TBS s'enfronten a reptes significatius associats amb conflictes que sorgeixen entre els membres de l'equip i amb canvis en l'entorn, aspectes que afecten el seu rendiment d'innovació i supervivència. De fet, malgrat la potencial novetat dels seus productes i serveis, moltes SBT fracassen i fins i tot desapareixen i amb elles també les seues innovacions. En aquesta tesi proposem el concepte de "Capacitats de Col·laboració en Equip" (CCE) referit a la interacció entre els membres de l'equip d'una SBT com una condició organitzativa essencial que permet la construcció de noves capacitats dinàmiques estratègiques. En concret, la tesi se centra en la relació entre CCE, capacitats operatives i resultats en innovació. Considerem quatre elements com les dimensions principals de les CCE, que comprenen: la confiança, la comunicació, la resolució de problemes i l'eficàcia de l'equip. En primer lloc, la confiança de l'equip, que els permet estar oberts a compartir les seues idees, tindre confiança i expressar els seus sentiments i comentaris constructius. En segon lloc, la comunicació, que consisteix a fomentar l'intercanvi obert d'idees i informació que beneficien als projectes i a l'organització. En tercer lloc, la resolució de problemes, que fomenta l'establiment de protocols per a donar solució als desacords que puguen sorgir diàriament. En quart lloc, l'eficàcia de l'equip per a aconseguir els objectius, resoldre tasques difícils a través de l'esforç conjunt, gestionar problemes inesperats, ser competent i augmentar la autoeficacia per a fer les tasques i la gestió eficient dels recursos. L'estudi empíric es basa en una enquesta amb l'objectiu d'identificar les CCE i les seues relacions amb les capacitats operatives i els resultats en innovació de les SBT. Es van obtindre 45 respostes vàlides de SBT, en la seua majoria empreses que han participat en programes d'acceleradores com STARTUPV, EIT Climate KIC València Accelerator Program i Fundació Repsol Entrepreneurs Fund, Social NEST i el Parc Científic de Madrid. La mostra inclou SBT amb activitats centrades en el desenvolupament de productes i serveis en una àmplia gamma de sectors, incloent medi ambient, energies renovables, tecnologies netes, transport, consultoria, serveis de gestió industrial, art, oci i entreteniment. Donades les condicions particulars de la nostra mostra i el tipus de dades recopilades a través de l'enquesta, utilitzem la tècnica de models d'equacions estructurals (SEM). Aquest mètode permet una estimació basada en components per al modelatge de causa-efecte amb variables latents. El model ha sigut estimat utilitzant el programari Smart PLS 3. Les troballes suggereixen que el desenvolupament de CCE en les SBT contribueix a la creació de noves capacitats operatives que resulten en majors resultats en innovació. Així mateix, proposem futures línies d'investigació sobre el paper de les CCE en les col·laboracions externes. Per exemple, es podria estudiar l'existència d'iniciatives públiques que tinguen en compte les fases crítiques del desenvolupament de les SBT, com per exemple la promoció de l'atracció de talent i el foment d'esquemes de compensació que el retinguen. Finalment, es planteja estudiar la col·laboració entre les SBT i altres agents externs en projectes d'innovació oberta. Considerem que aquestes col·laboracions afavoririen la seua supervivència i competitivitat.[EN] Technology-Based Startups (TBSs) are newly emerged entrepreneurial ventures typically launched by a team with the purpose of bringing innovative products or services to market and achieving the scalability of their business models. Today, it is widely recognized that TBSs play a very important role in the economy as a source of disruptive and radical innovations and creation of new jobs. However, most TBSs face significant challenges associated with conflicts among team members and with changes in the environment, which affect their innovation performance and survival. In fact, despite the potential novelty of their products and services, many TBSs fail and even disappear together with their innovations. In this thesis we propose the concept "Team Collaboration Capabilities" (TCCs) referred to the interaction among TBS team members as an essential organizational condition to allow the construction of new strategic dynamic capabilities. In particular, the thesis focuses on the relationships between TCCs, operational capabilities and innovation performance. We consider four elements as the main dimensions of TCCs: trust, communication, problem solving and team efficacy. Firstly, team trust, which allow team members to be open to sharing their ideas, be confident and expressing their feelings and constructive feed-back. Secondly, team communication that encourages open sharing of ideas about information that favors the commitment between members and benefit the projects and the organization. Thirdly, team problem-solving encouraging the establishment of protocols that give solutions to the disagreements that may arise in the daily basis. Fourthly, team efficacy in achieving teams' goals, solving difficult tasks through joint efforts, manage together unexpected problems, be competent and increase the self-efficacy to perform the tasks and the efficient management of resources. The empirical study is based on a survey of TBSs based in Spain, aimed to the analysis of TCCs and their relationships with the operational capabilities and the TBS innovation performance. We draw on 45 valid responses of TBSs. Most of the companies in our sample were participants in accelerator programs such as STARTUPV, EIT Climate KIC Valencia Accelerator Program, Fundación Repsol Entrepreneurs Fund, Social NEST and Scientific Park of Madrid. The sample covers TBSs with activities focused on the development of products and services in a wide range of sectors, including environment, renewable energies, clean technologies, transport, consulting, industrial management services, art, leisure and entertainment. Given the particular conditions of our sample and the type of data collected through the survey, we use structural equation modeling (SEM). This method allows a component-based estimation for cause-effect modeling with latent variables. The model has been estimated using Smart PLS 3 software. The findings suggest that the development of TCCs in TBSs contribute to building new operational capabilities that result in greater innovation performance. We also propose future lines of research for the role of TCCs in external collaborations. For example, to assess public initiatives that take into account the critical phases of TBSs development, the promotion of talent attraction and the furtherance of compensation schemes that retain it. Finally, it would be interesting to study the collaboration between the TBSs and other external agents in open innovation projects. We believe that these collaborations would favor their survival and competitiveness.La investigación que condujo a los resultados de esta tesis doctoral fue financiada en su totalidad por mi beca para estudios en el extranjero otorgada en México por el Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACyT).Lopez Hernandez, AK. (2019). Team collaboration capabilities as drivers for innovation performance: The case of Spanish technology-based startups [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/121143TESI

Efficiency determinants of technology transfer offices : empirical analysis and correlation with innovation policies in Portugal and Switzerland

Tese de mestrado. Inovação e Empreendedorismo Tecnológico. Faculdade de Engenharia. Universidade do Porto. 200

Resource acquisition and relationships in new technology-based firms

This thesis explores resource acquisition in science and technology-based entrepreneurial firms. Success and failure of these firms have been found to be intimately related to their resources, and conversely the lack thereof, as well as to the relations by which access to external resources is granted. Two areas of relevance to resource acquisition are of particular concern to this thesis: the role of personal relations and board ties. The thesis includes four appended studies, each dealing with aspects of the areas of interest. Study I and II apply a case-methodology to investigate the role of personal relations for resource acquisition in Swedish university spin-offs and corporate spin-offs respectively. Study III is a theoretical paper that, building on theory and the findings in study I and II, seeks to address the role of personal relations in NTBFs more generally. Study IV, finally, builds on a large sample of firms started in the Swedish ICT-sector between 1997 and 2003, and investigates the role of boards and direct board ties for resource acquisition in these firms. The findings of these studies support indications in the previous literature that personal relations are very important for NTBFs in their struggle to attract resources in the early phases. The findings also contribute to the literature by pointing to the variety of uses of these relations by themselves and as a generative mechanism for other means of resource acquisition. As such the findings also suggest potentially long lasting effects of these personal relations on, for example, network development, the efficiency of the firms operations, the adaptability of these firms, and hence also on the growth of these firms. It is argued that the benefits and constraints of personal relations are particularly important in new technology-based firms where high uncertainties, and possibly unavailable product and factor markets, may deprive these firms of the option to form alliances for long periods of time. Finally, the findings of this thesis also contribute to the literature on boards and interlocking directories by assessing the hitherto largely unattended role of such ties in new firms. The results indicate that boards and board ties to firms are important for the growth of NTBFs, and it is argued that appointing appropriate board members may be important both as means to access knowledge directly, as well as to communicate with and access resources from firms within the same industry. From the point of view of theory, the results call for more research on personal relations to better understand the growth and failure of entrepreneurial firms, and in particular NTBFs. From a policy perspective it is important to note that much knowledge transfer occurs on individual rather than on organizational levels. The effectiveness of current, centralized mechanisms could thus be increased if they were to be restructured according to a regime that is based on coordination and facilitation of relations among actors. Finally, for NTBFs, the cost to build and maintain relations to acquire resources, especially research, must be contrasted with the risks of becoming too dependent on any one relation. Also, while NTBFs may need to bootstrap activities, it is important to bootstrap the right activities and not to cut on, for example, investments in good and skilled people

Igniting technological modernization through science towns and technology parks: the case of Russia

Since the turn of the 21st century, the Russian state has attempted to address the country’s excessive dependence on natural resources. It has implemented an ambitious programme of economic modernization, including giving innovation more policy prominence and boosting state funding for research and development (R&D) and innovation. The programme includes a plethora of new initiatives, including innovation strategy documents, R&D funding for institutions, and state support for innovation infrastructure (e.g. clusters, science towns, and science and technology parks). However, despite investing substantial resources in science and technology since 2000 in a variety of forms and with an impressive legacy of scientific R&D from the Soviet period, Russia is still faring comparatively poorly in innovation outcomes, such as the number of innovative enterprises and international patent registrations. This thesis attempts to understand why Russia is performing comparatively poorly in innovation outcomes. It takes a multidisciplinary approach to examine why Russia is not doing as well in economic catch up and innovation as, for example, China. Following Taylor’s (2016) emphasis on the political economy of science, technology, and innovation policies, it suggests that a country’s political economy model is an important driver of innovation performance. The thesis finds that Russia has implemented a wide range of approaches to accelerate growth based on innovation and knowledge and provides new empirical material on Russia’s science towns and technology parks. Yet for all the good intentions and effort, Russia’s larger political economy model, as analysed here, has substantially hindered its rate of innovation and diffusion into commercial enterprises. The challenge of technological modernization is a matter of public concern and a problem to be solved by a diverse range of institutions and societal actors. Accordingly, technological modernization is enlightened by several conceptual perspectives. The five most helpful perspectives used in this thesis are certain modernization theories; rent-seeking (who benefits from modernization processes); neo-Schumpeterian and co-evolutionary growth approaches; innovation systems and innovation policies; and finally, sistema (Ledeneva, 2013), a political economic approach that explains key aspects of Russia’s current authoritarian system