Simulating academic entrepreneurship and inter-organisational collaboration in university ecosystems, a hybrid system dynamics agent-based simulation

Universities are increasingly expected to actively contribute to socio-economic development. Academic entrepreneurship and the evolution of the entrepreneurial university within ecosystems have received increasing attention from both policymakers and academic communities over the last decades. However, most studies on universities' external engagement have focused on individual activities and single universities, hereby neglecting the feedback effects between different activities and how universities are linked through an overlap of their ecosystems. The result is an incomplete understanding of how universities interact with their ecosystem and the resulting inter- and intra-organisational dynamics. This research addresses this issue by developing a hybrid system dynamics agent-based model, which captures feedback structure and the internal decision-making of universities and companies. Both the conceptual and simulation model are based on a triangulation of the literature, interviews with representatives of Scottish universities, and secondary data for Scottish universities and UK businesses. This research makes several theoretical, methodological, and empirical contributions. From a theoretical perspective, it contributes in two distinct ways to the field of entrepreneurship by defining university ecosystems in new way that provides a basis for future research and developing a multi-modal simulation model that can be applied in tested in different contexts. The methodological contributions to the field of modelling and simulation in management science include a modelling process for hybrid simulations, new practices for modelling the size of agent populations through different designs of stocks and flows in the system dynamics module in hybrid simulations, and complex events for recognising emergent behaviour. Lastly, this research makes two empirical contributions to the field of entrepreneurship. This research shines a light on the dynamics of academic entrepreneurship and how universities can partially overcome a low research prestige to increase academic entrepreneurship. Implications for policy and practice are outlined and opportunities for future research conclude this thesis.Universities are increasingly expected to actively contribute to socio-economic development. Academic entrepreneurship and the evolution of the entrepreneurial university within ecosystems have received increasing attention from both policymakers and academic communities over the last decades. However, most studies on universities' external engagement have focused on individual activities and single universities, hereby neglecting the feedback effects between different activities and how universities are linked through an overlap of their ecosystems. The result is an incomplete understanding of how universities interact with their ecosystem and the resulting inter- and intra-organisational dynamics. This research addresses this issue by developing a hybrid system dynamics agent-based model, which captures feedback structure and the internal decision-making of universities and companies. Both the conceptual and simulation model are based on a triangulation of the literature, interviews with representatives of Scottish universities, and secondary data for Scottish universities and UK businesses. This research makes several theoretical, methodological, and empirical contributions. From a theoretical perspective, it contributes in two distinct ways to the field of entrepreneurship by defining university ecosystems in new way that provides a basis for future research and developing a multi-modal simulation model that can be applied in tested in different contexts. The methodological contributions to the field of modelling and simulation in management science include a modelling process for hybrid simulations, new practices for modelling the size of agent populations through different designs of stocks and flows in the system dynamics module in hybrid simulations, and complex events for recognising emergent behaviour. Lastly, this research makes two empirical contributions to the field of entrepreneurship. This research shines a light on the dynamics of academic entrepreneurship and how universities can partially overcome a low research prestige to increase academic entrepreneurship. Implications for policy and practice are outlined and opportunities for future research conclude this thesis

The dynamics of academic entrepreneurship : connecting universities and the ecosystem

To advance the field of academic entrepreneurship, the system, university and individual level can no longer be treated separately but need to be described and understood as an ecosystem in order to identify drivers and understand the dynamics. This conceptual paper proposes a framework based on feedback thinking, aggregation and complex adaptive systems that connects the university’s and the business’ perspective. A hybrid model with an integrated system dynamics (SD) / agent-based modelling (ABM) approach will then be proposed to operationalise the framework, in which universities are represented as SD modules that shape the environment for the established companies and start-ups, represented as a set of agents. The SD feedback structure acknowledges and reflects the consequences of entrepreneurial activities for and the influence of the ecosystem on the university. First, this framework advances our understanding of ecosystems by formulating a theoretical foundation for an ecosystem model that is capable of representing the interactions between its components. Furthermore, it will allow for the examination of dynamic interplays between universities and their ecosystem. The insights from this model have far-reaching implications for universities, intermediate organisations and policy makers at national and regional levels. Further research trajectories are outlined

Toward an entrepreneurial ecosystem research program

Entrepreneurial ecosystems have become a prominent concept, yet in its current state, the concept itself represents a paradox. While it draws on a rich intellectual history and provides an opportunity to synthesize different strands of research, it is also under-theorized and the mechanisms that govern ecosystem evolution are not well understood. This paper takes stock of recent advancements in ecosystem scholarship and synthesizes the empirical reality of the causal mechanisms. We use these dynamics to position ecosystems in a broader context, within and beyond the domain of entrepreneurship research, and propose a transdisciplinary research program for ecosystem research and practice

Growing Entrepreneurial Ecosystems : A Handbook for HEIs

Scotland has an ambitious goal to become a world-leading entrepreneurial and innovative country. As part of these efforts, Scotland participated in the MIT Regional Entrepreneurship Acceleration Program (REAP) from 2012 to 2014. A key issue identified by REAP was the role of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in Scotland’s innovation-driven entrepreneurial ecosystem. While HEIs have accelerated their engagement with industrial and other external partners and promotion and support of entrepreneurial behaviour among students and staff, particularly in recent years (Universities Scotland, 2018a), the REAP Scotland report identified that there was scope to share best practice. Funded by Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) and led by REAP core team member Prof Jonathan Levie (University of Strathclyde) and the REAP Universities High Level Task Group (UHLTG), four interactive and practice-oriented best practice workshops were conducted to address this issue: ‘Mapping University Ecosystems’ (2015, University of Dundee), ‘Incubators and Accelerators’ (2015, Elevator, Aberdeen), ‘Enterprise Education’ (2016) and an ‘Ecosystem Exchange Activity’ (2018), both at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow). On the basis of these workshops and the state-of-the-art of the academic literature on entrepreneurial universities, this report presents a process-oriented framework for HEI entrepreneurial ecosystems to nurture entrepreneurial activities among staff, students, and graduates. HEI entrepreneurial ecosystems emerge from the “strategic and collective actions of various organizational components [...] in order to maximize both the entrepreneurial and innovative contributions of universities” (Hayter, 2016, p. 634). To enable this: 1. HEIs should understand their own entrepreneurial ecosystem and create a supportive environment for its development. This environment includes an entrepreneurial and innovative culture; policies that support and reward entrepreneurial activities; and efforts to connect staff, students, and alumni; all coordinated and promoted through a clear vision and strategy. 2. HEIs should develop clear internal pathways for entrepreneurial staff, students and alumni and constantly monitor their effectiveness and adjust if necessary. Many HEIs offer a variety of programmes and different ways of supporting entrepreneurial students, staff and alumni. The challenge for most HEIs is to provide a clear path for their constituents in order to help them navigate through the opportunities and resources that are available to them. 3. Technology-based ventures typically need more resources than a HEI on its own can provide. At the other end of the spectrum of external resource need, artists and freelancers can also benefit from connections to the wider ecosystem. HEIs therefore need to collaborate with the wider ecosystem to leverage additional resources. For HEIs, it is important to show how engaging with external organisations can be valuable, to whom they are of value, and how and when this fits within the internal pathway. Furthermore, many HEIs have a particular regional mission. As entrepreneurial ecosystems are increasingly recognised to be regional rather than national phenomena, some HEIs have the opportunity to become leading stakeholders in the entrepreneurial ecosystem of their city or region. We extend those three recommendations and provide a more holistic perspective for Scottish HEIs as a group, enabling them to contribute more to Scotland’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, to implement sustainable policies and structures that link to current national policies, and incorporate lessons that other institutions have learned from experience. In particular, HEIs should take the following steps: 1. There is a continuing need to cultivate collaboration among HEI enterprise-related staff at all levels and between them and relevant ecosystem stakeholders such as the Scottish Institute for Enterprise and entrepreneurial alumni. While innovativeness at the institutional ecosystem level is a necessary ingredient, it is not sufficient. If individual HEIs, like other wider ecosystem stakeholders, are too focused on their own activities and policies, their efforts will remain fragmentary and undervalued. 2. The standard metrics are “convenient to collect, keep the funding bodies happy but do not tell you much about what is really happening” (Graham, 2014, p. 8). While metrics cannot be avoided for HEIs, learning, skills and education must be at the heart of all metrics and both business formation (quantity of entrepreneurship) and start-up performance (quality of entrepreneurship) should be secondary objectives. 3. A more radical concept raised by some participants is ecosystem experimentation, perhaps funded by a prize fund where proposals for experiments that could enhance HEI entrepreneurial ecosystems. Results would be published and successful experiments could be replicated or adapted across the HEI community. While a small series of workshops and events cannot cover all challenges and opportunities, the discussions during the workshops have shown that this series has addressed at least some of the key enterprise issues facing Scottish HEIs. Feedback from all four workshops was very positive. Overall, participants recognised the value in working with like-minded people at different levels in different organisations, the opportunity to make new connections, establish relationships, and to exchange ideas, best practices and learn from each other

Toward an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Research Program

Entrepreneurial ecosystems have become a prominent concept, yet in its current state, the concept itself represents a paradox. While it draws on a rich intellectual history and provides an opportunity to synthesize different strands of research, it is also under-theorized and the mechanisms that govern ecosystem evolution are not well understood. This paper takes stock of recent advancements in ecosystem scholarship and synthesizes the empirical reality of the causal mechanisms. We use these dynamics to position ecosystems in a broader context, within and beyond the domain of entrepreneurship research, and propose a transdisciplinary research program for ecosystem research and practice

Complex events and feedback within and between different levels of aggregation : implications for the development of hybrid SD/ABM simulations

Combining system dynamics (SD) and agent-based modelling (ABM) has a tremendous potential to model complex systems in various fields. Though the number such hybrid approaches is constantly increasing, some of the fundamental issues are still unanswered and compromise the practical applicability . This paper revisits the concept of hybrid simulations with a particular focus of combinations of SD and ABM. The desirability and feasibility of hybrid SD/ABM simulations are addressed, including philosophical, theoretical, and methodological considerat ions. Two key issues that separate SD/ABM from other hybrid simulation approaches are the conceptualisation of feedback across SD and ABM boundaries and inconsistencies with regard to emergent phenomena from the ABM module. A common approach for the interf ace between SD and ABM is aggregating agents' states, but this does not sufficiently address the complexity of dynamic systems with emergent properties. The implications of this issue are illustrated using the example of the collaborations between universi ties and industry. Entrepreneurial activities of universities are modelled using system dynamics and multiple universities interact with a set of agents, representing companies and start-ups in innovation ecosystems. Complex events, a collection of interre lated (simple) events, are introduced as a means to deal with emergent behaviour and feedback within and between different levels of aggregation. This has wide implications for combining SD and ABM but also for the study of complex systems in general. A model development process (MDP) for hybrid SD/ABM simulations that incorporates these ideas is provided based on the case study. The MDP is based on conceptualising feedback using causal loop diagrams before any separation between agents and aggregated variables and the operationalisation of complex events. The paper concludes with directions for future research

OR for entrepreneurial ecosystems : a problem-oriented review and agenda

Innovation-driven entrepreneurship has become a focus for economic development and received increasing attention from policy makers and academics over the last decades. While consensus has been reached that context matters for innovation and entrepreneurship, little evidence and decision support exists for policy makers to effectively shape the environment for growth-oriented companies. We present the entrepreneurial ecosystem concept as a complex systems-based approach to the study of innovation-driven entrepreneurial economies. The concept, in combination with novel data sources, offers new opportunities for research and policy, but also comes with new challenges. The aim of this paper is to take stock of the literature and build bridges for more transdisciplinary research. First, we review emergent trends in ecosystem research and provide a typology of four overarching problems based on current limitations. These problems connect operational research scholars to the context and represent focal points for their contributions. Second, we review the operational research literature and provide an overview of how these problems have been addressed and outline opportunities for future research, both for the specific problems as well as cross-cutting themes. Operational research has been invaluable in supporting decision-makers facing complex problems in several fields. This paper provides a conceptual and methodological agenda to increase its contribution to the study and governance of entrepreneurial ecosystems

University-industry technology transfer : a systems approach with policy implications

The purpose of this paper is to provide a systems perspective of the university-industry technology transfer (UITT) process. Departing from the traditional linear approach to technology transfer, we build a model capturing interactions between a selected number of technology transfer channels and variables endogenous to the technology transfer process. The relationships identified in the model demonstrate that the UITT process and its impact extend well beyond the traditional scope of the university technology transfer offices. A narrow view of the process, one focused on short-term revenue maximisation principles, is inadequate due to secondary system elements that can impact technology commercialisation outcomes. The model suggests, when deciding on licensing, consulting or collaborative research agreements, universities should account for their reputation for technology transfer and R&D as key assets. We show that a technology transfer policy that relaxes licensing terms in favour of industry can have multi-path positive feedbacks on university success

Entrepreneurial ecosystem mechanisms

Entrepreneurial ecosystems have developed from a powerful idea and concept into a transdisciplinary research program, increasing our understanding into entrepreneurship-led development and providing actionable knowledge for improving the conditions for entrepreneurship and development. In this monograph we take stock of the progress to date and synthesize the findings of 181 empirical scientific entrepreneurial ecosystem studies through a systematic literature review. We organize the review around five key mechanisms that explain the nature and development of entrepreneurial ecosystems: (1) interdependence of its elements, (2) upward causation explaining entrepreneurial ecosystem outputs and (3) outcomes, (4) downward causation and path dependence, and (5) inter-ecosystem links. We summarize the findings and outline opportunities for research and discuss policy implications in the light of a transdisciplinary entrepreneurial ecosystem research program