What Makes Some University Spin-off Firms More Open in Knowledge Collaboration Than Other Ones?
Year: 2012
Type: conference-paper
Abstract: Open innovation is well conceptualized and researched for large established firms, but not for small and young ones. What makes small high-technology firms more open in search behaviour and innovation and others more closed, has remained largely unknown. This particularly holds true for university spin-off firms. The paper fills this gap and deals with the extent to which openness is adopted among university spin-off firms. Openness in this paper is measured by two dimensions, capacity and diversity, and an explanation is sought for the variation in these dimensions. For this purpose we develop a set of models including enabling factors and strategic intentions factors, and we control for competition in the business environment and density in the urban environment. Using an exploratory approach in regression analysis, our models of openness diversity (sources of knowledge use) tend to be stronger than the models of openness capacity (size of external knowledge pool). Openness diversity varies with four enabling factors, i.e., science-driven innovation, size of firm, size of founding team and pre-start experience, and with prospector strategy. Location tends also to be important, with a higher level of openness diversity in rural/peripheral areas. Finally, we develop a framework linking openness dimensions and growth of spin-off firms.
Authors: Q. Ye, M. Taheri, van Geenhuizen
Language: English
Subfield: Strategy and Management
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2118681816