A stakeholder approach towards a consolidated framework for measuring business incubator efficacy

DATA AVAILABITY STATEMENT: The data supporting the findings of this study are securely filed with the authors in accordance with the relevant ethical protocols that guided the study.BACKGROUND: Business incubators (BIs) are considered enablers of the entrepreneurial ecosystem, however there remains a lack of consensus as to whether incubators are effective or even as to how incubator efficacy should be measured. AIM: This study seeks to develop a consolidated framework for measuring the efficacy of BIs using stakeholder theory as its theoretical basis. This study set out to answer the following research questions: • What is the relevance of stakeholder theory to incubator efficacy measurement? • What stakeholder groups are relevant to BIs in South Africa? • What relationships between stakeholder groups and perspectives on BI efficacy exist that would underpin a framework for measuring incubator efficacy? SETTING: Empirical research was conducted with BIs operating within South Africa, with various incubator types, contexts and industry focus included in the study. METHODS: A sample of nine incubator managers were interviewed as part of this exploratory qualitative study, demonstrating the breadth of the incubator industry in South Africa. RESULTS: A framework comprising two distinct but related perspectives on incubator efficacy is proposed. Further to this, two additional concepts – incubator-stakeholder conflict and restrictive incubator context – were identified. CONCLUSION: This study proposes a consolidated framework for measuring the efficacy of BIs, considering a variety of stakeholder perspectives, and may inform policymakers regarding business incubation in the future. CONTRIBUTION: This study identifies and defines incubator-stakeholder conflict as a concept, making a theoretical contribution to the field. Additionally, the study proposes a comprehensive stakeholder-based framework proposed for measuring incubator efficacy.https://sajesbm.co.za/index.php/sajesbmBusiness ManagementSDG-09: Industry, innovation and infrastructur

A stakeholder approach towards a consolidated framework for measuring business incubator efficacy

Background: Business incubators (BIs) are considered enablers of the entrepreneurial ecosystem, however there remains a lack of consensus as to whether incubators are effective or even as to how incubator efficacy should be measured. Aim: This study seeks to develop a consolidated framework for measuring the efficacy of BIs using stakeholder theory as its theoretical basis. This study set out to answer the following research questions: What is the relevance of stakeholder theory to incubator efficacy measurement? What stakeholder groups are relevant to BIs in South Africa? What relationships between stakeholder groups and perspectives on BI efficacy exist that would underpin a framework for measuring incubator efficacy? Setting: Empirical research was conducted with BIs operating within South Africa, with various incubator types, contexts and industry focus included in the study. Methods: A sample of nine incubator managers were interviewed as part of this exploratory qualitative study, demonstrating the breadth of the incubator industry in South Africa. Results: A framework comprising two distinct but related perspectives on incubator efficacy is proposed. Further to this, two additional concepts – incubator-stakeholder conflict and restrictive incubator context – were identified. Conclusion: This study proposes a consolidated framework for measuring the efficacy of BIs, considering a variety of stakeholder perspectives, and may inform policymakers regarding business incubation in the future. Contribution: This study identifies and defines incubator-stakeholder conflict as a concept, making a theoretical contribution to the field. Additionally, the study proposes a comprehensive stakeholder-based framework proposed for measuring incubator efficacy

Delamination growth in composite materials

The Double Cantilever Beam (DCB) and the End Notched Flexure (ENF) specimens are employed to characterize MODE I and MODE II interlaminar fracture resistance of graphite/epoxy (CYCOM 982) and graphite/PEEK (APC2) composites. Sizing of test specimen geometries to achieve crack growth in the linear elastic regime is presented. Data reduction schemes based upon beam theory are derived for the ENF specimen and include the effects of shear deformation and friction between crack surfaces on compliance, C, and strain energy release rate, G sub II. Finite element (FE) analyses of the ENF geometry including the contact problem with friction are presented to assess the accuracy of beam theory expressions for C and G sub II. Virtual crack closure techniques verify that the ENF specimen is a pure Mode II test. Beam theory expressions are shown to be conservative by 20 to 40 percent for typical unidirectional test specimen geometries. A FE parametric study investigating the influence of delamination length and depth, span, thickness and material properties on G sub II is presented. Mode I and II interlaminar fracture test results are presented. Important experimental parameters are isolated, such as precracking techniques, rate effects, and nonlinear load-deflection response. It is found that subcritical crack growth and inelastic materials behavior, responsible for the observed nonlinearities, are highly rate-dependent phenomena with high rates generally leading to linear elastic response

Delamination growth in composite materials

Research related to growth of an imbedded through-width delamination (ITWD) in a compression loaded composite structural element is presented. Composites with widely different interlaminar fracture resistance were examined, viz., graphite/epoxy (CYCOM 982) and graphite/PEEK (APC-2). The initial part of the program consisted of characterizing the material in tension, compression and shear mainly to obtain consistent material properties for analysis, but also as a check of the processing method developed for the thermoplastic APC-2 material. The characterization of the delamination growth in the ITWD specimen, which for the unidirectional case is essentially a mixed Mode 1 and 2 geometry, requires verified mixed-mode growth criteria for the two materials involved. For this purpose the main emphasis during this part of the investigation was on Mode 1 and 2 fracture specimens, namely the Double Cantilever Beam (DCB) and End Notched Flexure (ENF) specimens

Urine patch detection using LiDAR and RPAS/UAV produced photogrammetry

In grazed dairy pastures, the largest N source for both nitrate (NO3-) leaching and nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions is urine-N excreted by the animals. Additional application of N on urine patches as fertilizer may increase these losses so adapting N-fertilisation in these areas is necessary. The objective of this study was to examine the use of a tractor mounted LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) system to accurately identify and quantify areas affect by excess N, such as urine and dung. To do so, a controlled experiment was designed in a paddock with no recent exposure to animals or N fertilisation. Synthetic urine was randomly applied within two 20m x 20m blocks and weekly LiDAR scans were taken for 5 weeks. LiDAR based contour maps of the pasture canopy were shown to accurately detect the asymmetric urine patches as well as calculate a percent area of urine based high N as early as one week after a simulated grazing event. Further, weekly flights were taken with a remotely piloted aircraft system (RPAS/UAV) to have aerial footage of the trial. Resulting mosaic of RGB and NIR images were used to create photogrammetric based contour maps. Both approaches (LiDAR and photogrammetry) show no significant difference in the identification and sizing of urine patch cluster

Dynamics in the satellite system of Triangulum: Is AndXXII a dwarf satellite of M33?

We present results from a spectroscopic survey of the dwarf spheroidal And XXII and the two extended clusters EC1 and EC2. These three objects are candidate satellites of the Triangulum galaxy, M33, which itself is likely a satellite of M31. We use the DEep Imaging Multi-Object Spectrograph mounted on the Keck-II telescope to derive radial velocities for candidate member stars of these objects and thereby identify the stars that are most likely actual members. Eleven most probable stellar members (of 13 candidates) are found for AndXXII. We obtain an upper limit of sigma_v < 6.0 km s-1 for the velocity dispersion of AndXXII, [Fe/H] ~ -1.6 for its metallicity, and 255pc for the Plummer radius of its projected density profile. We construct a colour magnitude diagram for AndXXII and identify both the red giant branch and the horizontal branch. The position of the latter is used to derive a heliocentric distance to And XXII of 853 pm 26 kpc. The combination of the radial velocity, distance, and angular position of AndXXII indicates that it is a strong candidate for being the first known satellite of M33 and one of the very few examples of a galactic satellite of a satellite. N-body simulations imply that this conclusion is unchanged even if M31 and M33 had a strong encounter in the past few Gyr. We test the hypothesis that the extended clusters highlight tidally stripped galaxies by searching for an excess cloud of halo-like stars in their vicinity. We find such a cloud for the case of EC1 but not EC2. The three objects imply a dynamical mass for M33 that is consistent with previous estimates.Comment: 14 pages, 14 figures, revised for MNRAS publicatio

Analysis of subcellular metabolite levels of potato tubers (Solanum tuberosum) displaying alterations in cellular or extracellular sucrose metabolism

The expression of a heterologous invertase in potato tubers (Solanum tuberosum) in either the cytosol or apoplast leads to a decrease in total sucrose content and to an increase in glucose. Depending on the targeting of the enzyme different changes in phenotype and metabolism of the tubers occur: the cytosolic invertase expressing tubers show an increase in the glycolytic flux, accumulation of amino acids and organic acids, and the appearance of novel disaccharides; however, these changes are not observed when the enzyme is expressed in the apoplast [Roessner et al. (2001). Plant Cell, 13, 11-29]. The analysis of these lines raised several questions concerning the regulation of compartmentation of metabolites in potato tubers. In the current study we addressed these questions by performing comparative subcellular metabolite profiling. We demonstrate that: (i) hexoses accumulate in the vacuole independently of their site of production, but that the cytosolic invertase expression led to a strong increase in the cytosolic glucose concentration and decrease in cytosolic sucrose, whereas these effects were more moderate in the apoplastic expressors; (ii) three out of four of the novel compounds found in the cytosolic overexpressors accumulate in the same compartment; (iii) despite changes in absolute cellular content the subcellular distribution of amino acids was invariant in the invertase overexpressing tubers. These results are discussed in the context of current models of the compartmentation of primary metabolism in heterotrophic plant tissues