Success of University Spin-Offs: Network Activities and Moderating Effects of Internal Communication and Adhocracy

ISBN-13: 9783835008533 / Miękka / 2007 / 279 str.

Opis

University spin-offs contribute effectively to economic prosperity and job creation. These independent entities are formed to commercialize technologies originating from publicly funded research institutions and fulfill several functions. University spin-offs increase the technological effectiveness of an economy and contribute to the competitiveness of a nation. They foster regional development by establishing themselves in close proximity to their incubator organizations thereby attracting other high-technology companies to the region. They achieve abo- average growth rates and promote higher innovation efficiency. In a discussion on the function of publicly financed research and regional economic development, sp- offs are regarded as instruments to support their incubators and therefore legitimize further support for academic institutions. However, only limited research providing further insight on the phenomena of university spin-offs is available. Empirical evidence on the factors influencing the success of spin-offs is scarce. The Institute for Innovation Research of the Kiel University has been working towards improving the current fragmented findings through its own research efforts. Manoj Gupte contributes to the research field with an in-depth study providing empirical results on the influence of internal management activities on the growth of university spin-offs. He explicitly incorporates contextual factors into his framework.

Spis treści

Importance of university spin-offs for the economy and for academic institutions Summary of empirical studies Dilemma of resource poverty Accessing external resources through networks and network activities Distributing knowledge through internal communication Flexible organizational culture: adhocracy Empirical analyses on selected factors influencing the success

O autorze

Dr. Manoj A. Gupte promovierte bei Prof. Dr. Achim Walter am Lehrstuhl für Gründungs- und Innovationsmanagement der Universität zu Kiel. Er ist Direktor der CFDtech Solutions Ltd. India und derzeit als Projektleiter Business Development bei der Voith Industrial Services Holding GmbH tätig.

Blurb

University spin-offs encourage economic development and support universities. Identifying factors that influence the success of university spin-offs is therefore beneficial to enhance economic development and to sustain the importance of universities. However, few factors internal to the company have been identified until now.

Drawing on a database of 107 university spin-offs whose founders participated in structured face-to-face interviews, Manoj A. Gupte analyzes how the management of university spin-offs can overcome the dilemma of resource poverty. He shows that the success of spin-offs can be actively influenced through network activities by accessing critical resources external to the company. In addition, internal communication and an adhocracy culture create an environment in which the growth of a spin-off through external resources is enhanced. The hypotheses of the study were tested by moderated multiple regression analyses (OLS). Interaction effects were, furthermore, analyzed by simple slope analyses.