University capabilities in facilitating entrepreneurship: A longitudinal study of spin-off ventures at mid-range universities

This paper investigated how universities facilitate the process of spin-off venture formation based on academic research. Building on a capability perspective, we add to the literature on university characteristics and resources by exploring how the university context impacts the entrepreneurial process. We based our study on two mid-range universities and followed the start-up process of four spin-off ventures. Based on the results of our longitudinal study, we propose a set of three university capabilities that facilitate the venture-formation process: (1) creating new paths of action, (2) balancing both academic and commercial interests, and (3) integrating new resources. Each capability is particularly important for specific phases in the venturing process. Our findings suggest that these capabilities are dependent on prior spin-off experience and reside within several actors both inside and outside of the university. Furthermore, universities with weaknesses in the identified areas can take strategic action to develop these capabilities to some degree.     

Opening the ivory tower's door: An analysis of the determinants of the formation of U.S. university spin-off companies

This paper presents findings from an analysis of the determinants of the formation of university spin-off companies within the university's research park. We find that university spin-off companies are a greater proportion of the companies in older parks and in parks that are associated with richer university research environments. We also find that university spin-off companies are a larger proportion of companies in parks that are geographically closer to their university and in parks that have a biotechnology focus.     

The governance and performance of Xerox’s technology spin-off companies

Companies that conduct internal research cannot fully specify the output from that research in advance. Inevitably, spillovers may result. A company might choose to create a technology spin-off company to realize value from such research spillovers. But how is such a spin-off to be governed? Effective spin-off governance structures in a highly uncertain environment must promote experimentation and adaptation, in order to unlock the latent value in a technology. These can conflict with structures intended to manage coordination with the parent firm’s complementary assets.This paper analyses 35 spin-off organizations that arose from the Xerox Corporation. Xerox’s own initial equity position is negatively correlated with the subsequent performance of its spin-offs, but this is due not to their equity per se, but Xerox’s practices in managing its spin-offs. Spin-offs with a higher percentage of venture capital investors on their Boards were associated with higher financial performance, while spin-offs with a Xerox insider as CEO were associated with lower financial performance. Qualitative interview data suggest that Xerox’s practices caused its spin-offs to search locally near Xerox’s own business, while spin-offs governed by outside investors’ practices searched a broader space for commercializing their technologies.     

The economic impacts of academic spin-off companies, and their implications for public policy

The importance of academic research (“AR”) to economic growth is widely accepted but quantification of incremental impacts, and their attribution to any one country's expenditures, is difficult. Yet quantitative justification of government AR funding is highly desirable. We therefore attempt to quantify one impact which can be directly and causally attributed to one country's funding: spin-off companies. We focus on AR in the non-medical natural sciences and engineering (NSExm) in a whole country, Canada. ‘Applied’ disciplines are sometimes assumed to be the most commercializable, so we also separately investigate an especially ‘basic’ science, physics. Using a novel methodology, we estimate the lifetime impacts of companies spun-off directly from AR performed in 1960-1998, and compare the impacts with all government funding, direct and indirect, over the same period. This picks up virtually all funding and most company-formation since WWII, up to 1998. Such long-term studies are rare but essential, since we show that successful spin-offs grow (often exponentially) over several decades.With very conservative assumptions, and allowing for the time value of money, the impacts exceed government funding by a substantial margin. Physics actually fares 30-60% better than the combined NSExm; this reflects more successful companies, rather than greater numbers, and therefore does not seem inconsistent with earlier studies on company numbers. Firm lifetimes are long, with Canadian impacts truncated primarily by some foreign acquisitions.We argue that the spin-off impacts represent incremental contributions to GDP, much larger (even on a time-discounted basis) than the government funding and directly attributable to it; governments will also receive more in additional tax than they spent. The impacts therefore provide a quantitative justification for the public investment, allowing the much more important (but less quantifiable) long-term benefits to be regarded as a ‘free’ bonus. The very good showing of physics also suggests that reduced emphasis on basic work or on the basic disciplines could actually weaken the commercialization of AR.     

大学衍生企业创生及其成功的政策原则

基于已有学术研究成果制定相应的激励政策,是促进大学衍生企业发展的重要途径。本文通过构建三层次概念模型并综述国外研究成果,发现国家的知识产权制度、商业化政策和大学的创业政策、资源与文化能推动衍生企业创生,大学孵化机构的支持和衍生企业的经营管理模式对企业成功至关重要。在此基础上提出促进大学衍生企业创生及其成功的政策原则,以期对我国的科技创业及相关政策制定提供参考。     

科技期刊学术编辑绩效考核体系的创新与完善

【目的】 构建合理的科技期刊学术编辑绩效考核体系,有效激发编辑的工作热情和信心。【方法】 首先,通过文献调研法整理归纳学术编辑的工作重点;其次,使用平衡计分卡的4个维度进行绩效考核指标筛选,并选用SMART法进行指标优选;再次,根据职位分析法和专家评价法,优选出态度维度与能力维度的主要指标;最后,运用层次分析法和权值因子法进行指标权重分配。【结果】 构建出能够体现学术编辑工作价值的绩效考核体系。【结论】 学术编辑的绩效考核体系能够为促进科技期刊发展发挥重要作用。     

The influence of university departments on the evolution of entrepreneurial competencies in spin-off ventures

The influence of the university department upon spin-off venture evolution is complex and dynamic. We examine how the university department context influences the spin-off process from the perspectives of both the spin-off venture and the department. By comparing the development of entrepreneurial competencies within spin-offs based in different departments at the same universities we observed significant differences in early venture performance. Small differences in initial departmental support from management and senior academics for gaining commercial experience and spending time exploring the commercial opportunity were seen to have a major impact upon the subsequent spin-off development path. Supported ventures gained momentum as the department helped develop entrepreneurial competencies and influenced how these competencies were developed from external actors outside the department. By contrast, a lack of departmental support for entrepreneurship severely constrained the evolution of spin-offs regardless of university level policies and practices. This emphasizes the need for a shift in focus from the well-studied university level to the relatively neglected department level to help explain institutional differences in university spin-off activity.     

Mid-range universities’ linkages with industry: Knowledge types and the role of intermediaries

We analyze how mid-range universities can contribute to industrial change through the transfer of tacit and codified knowledge in the areas of spin-offs; licensing and patents; contract research, consultancy and reach-out; and graduate and researcher mobility. We use archival, survey and interview data relating to mid-range universities in mid-range environments in the UK, Belgium, Germany and Sweden. Our findings suggest that mid-range universities primarily need to focus on generating world-class research and critical mass in areas of expertise, as well as developing different types of intermediaries. Mid-range universities may need to develop a portfolio of university-industry linkages in terms of the scope of activities and the types of firms with which they interact. We also show that different intermediaries have important roles to play in developing university-industry linkages for mid-range universities.     

Implications of managerial control on performance of Dutch academic (bio)medical and health research groups

Our paper examines the relationship between managerial control and research performance of academic groups. An understanding of the determinants of research performance is a prerequisite for designing effective micro- and macro-research policies. The paper focuses on Dutch medical and health research groups. Our paper addresses the following question: do (certain) research management activities enhance the performance of academic groups? A quantitative approach was used to gather data from research leaders in 160 groups. Correlation analysis and multivariate linear regression analysis show that several aspects of research management have a positive relationship with research performance. Furthermore, this study reveals that managerial choices of Dutch (bio)medical and health research leaders give rise to differences in performances measures. Additionally the disciplinary setting is found to have an impact on relationships between managerial control and performance. The paper concludes by giving suggestions for further research as well as considering possible implications for research policy.     

Strategic knowledge management, innovation and performance

Our aim is to shed light on the consequences of knowledge management (KM) strategies on firm's innovation and corporate performance. Organisations are not aware of the real implications that KM may have. Based on an empirical study consisted of 310 Spanish organisations and structural equations modelling, results show that both KM strategies (codification and personalisation) impacts on innovation and organisational performance directly and indirectly (through an increase on innovation capability). Also, findings demonstrate a different effect of KM strategies on diverse dimensions of organisational performance. Our conclusions may help academics and managers in designing KM strategic programs in order to achieve higher innovation, effectiveness, efficiency and profitability.     

融资约束、政府补贴与产学研合作创新绩效

本文以广东省产学研合作项目为例,分析和探讨了企业所面临的融资约束程度对由企业主导的产学研合作项目创新绩效的影响,同时分析了政府补贴对该影响的调节作用。研究结果表明,企业所面临的融资约束程度对由企业主导的产学研合作项目的创新绩效具有显著的负向影响,而政府补贴则对该影响具有显著的正向调节作用,即政府补贴可以在一定程度上缓解融资约束对产学研合作创新绩效的负向影响。同时从所有制的角度来看,与国有企业相比,政府补贴对非国有企业在产品创新方面所面临的融资约束问题改善的作用更为明显,而对专利研发方面所面临的融资约束问题改善的作用相对较小。     

The moderating role of internal and external resources on the performance effect of multitasking: Evidence from the R&D performance of surgeons

R&D employees frequently must split their limited time between explorative R&D and exploitative operative tasks. This article explores the influence of this multitasking (pursuing both R&D and operations) on employee R&D performance. The article also analyzes how the relationship between multitasking and individual R&D performance interacts with the degree of access to internal and external resources. We hypothesize that multitasking positively affects R&D performance. Furthermore, we assume that the internal resources (funding, facilities, and support) are increasingly relevant when employees combine R&D and operative activities. However, multitasking employees may show less of a need for external resources (access to networks) in comparison to more focused colleagues. The results of a survey of 332 surgeons from 20 academic medical centers in Germany support our hypotheses. We conclude that managers should ensure that their R&D workforce is also involved in daily operations. Output will be optimized if these employees are not only engaged with explorative tasks but are also involved in exploitative activities. However, managers should also ensure that the appropriate organizational support is provided to individuals who attempt to combine exploration and exploitation. Multitasking individuals benefit the most from access to internal resources, whereas external resources are more efficiently allocated to explorative-only employees.     

创业导向与大学衍生企业绩效关系研究——基于学术型创业者资源支持的视角

 基于资源视角拓展了创业导向与创业绩效的经典模型,通过数据调查实证检验了学术型创业者资源支持、创业导向以及衍生企业绩效三者之间的关系,由此得出了相应的结论：（1）学术型创业者资源支持与创业绩效正相关,创业导向与创业绩效正相关;（2）创业导向在学术型创业者资源支持与衍生企业绩效之间起中介作用。学术型创业者获取资源的支持行为越多,创业导向越能促进绩效的改进。     

Substitutability and complementarity of technological knowledge and the inventive performance of semiconductor companies

This paper analyses whether complementarity and substitutability of knowledge elements are key determinants of the firm's inventive performance, in addition to the more conventional measures of knowledge stock and diversity. Using patent data from 1968 to 2002 in the semiconductor industry, we find that the overall level of complementarity between knowledge components positively contributes to firms’ inventive capability, whereas the overall level of substitutability between knowledge components generally has the opposite effect. Yet a relatively high level of substitutability is found to be beneficial for explorative inventions. These results suggest that a firm's inventive capacity significantly depends on its ability to align its inventive strategies and knowledge base structure.     

University invention and the abolishment of the professor's privilege in Finland

In 2007 Finland changed ownership rights to inventions from its employees – “the professor's privilege” – to universities. We investigate how this change affected academic patenting using new data on inventors and patenting in Finland for the period 1995–2010. Matched sample panel data regressions using difference-in-differences show that patenting by individuals dropped by at least 29 percent after 2007. Unlike other countries studied, in Finland the reform was known before implementation. Adding the period after announcement to the reform period increases the drop in academic patenting to 46 percent. Our and others’ results call into question whether the European reform of the professor's privilege were good innovation policy.     

政府部门卓越绩效评价模式应用的必要性分析

为了实现政府机构高效、绩效化运行,进一步加快服务型政府建设进程,引入卓越绩效评价模式是当务之急。把卓越绩效评价模式运营过程的价值理念和实施过程应用于政府机构对于政府全面绩效管理起到宏观指导价值以及应用参鉴意义。通过卓越绩效评价模式可以提升政府部门工作效能、加快行政管理体制改革步伐以及实现透明、绩效型政府。     

竞争战略、企业绩效与持续竞争优势——来自中国上市公司的经验证据/FONT

摘要：基于中国上市公司2000-2006年的财务数据,利用验证性因子分析技术构建了两个因子以反映公司竞争战略是倾向于差异化还是低成本,在此基础上考察战略定位对公司短期绩效和长期绩效的影响。研究发现：低成本战略和差异化战略均能给上市公司带来短期竞争优势,但采用差异化战略的企业其短期获利能力显著高于采用低成本战略的企业;低成本战略创造的竞争优势难以持续,而差异化战略建立起来的竞争优势则具有可持续性。总体而言,差异化战略在创造竞争优势方面优于低成本战略。     

政府、企业、金融机构科技金融投入的创新绩效

以2005-2015年中国省域的政府、企业与金融机构对科技创新的投入数据为支撑,构建区域科技金融投入创新绩效评价指标体系,运用数据包络分析方法（DEA）进行实证研究,深入探讨科技金融投入对科技创新绩效的影响,并从省域和东中西部地区等多个角度对我国区域科技金融投入创新绩效进行评价。实证研究结果表明我国科技金融投入创新绩效综合效率平均值历年呈稳步上升趋势;省份、区域间科技金融投入的创新绩效产出结果差距较大,东部地区明显优于其他区域;本研究针对区域科技金融投入创新绩效与地区经济发展水平间的相关性进行了分析,进一步探析了区域科技金融投入创新绩效差异的原因,并针对研究结果提出相关政策启示。     

政产学三螺旋对创业型人才培养绩效的影响

加强高校与政府、产业之间的多重联动与资源协同,对于加快培养高校创业型人才具有重要的促进作用。基于三螺旋理论,构建了政产学参与度、师生创业相关能力、创业型人才培养绩效以及政产学协同情境影响的概念模型,提出了师生创业相关能力作为中介变量、政产学协同度作为调节变量的假设,并通过大规模问卷调查的数据进行了验证。结果显示：政产学参与度对创业型人才培养绩效有显著的正向影响;师生创业相关能力在“政产学参与度 – 创业型人才培养绩效”的关系中起部分中介作用;政产学协同度对“政府/高校参与度 – 创业型人才培养绩效”的关系有显著的正向调节作用。论文的理论探讨和实证研究拓展了三螺旋理论的研究范围,深化了高校创业型人才培养的理论研究。