 The 'privileged witness': advising scientists to start research-based spin-offsTero Montonen, Päivi Eriksson and Anssi Lehikoinen International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management, 2016, vol. 20, issue 5/6, 402-417 Abstract: The paper explores how a 'privileged witness' (Wright et al., 2007), that is, a business advisor hired by a university, assists scientists in commercialising their research through research-based spin-offs (RBSOs). Prior research on the key actors of RBSOs has focused on what kind of scientists engage in this activity, what motivates them, and how they learn over time. Less research has been done on the micro-level interaction between scientists and those who assist them in spin-off creation. Our study fills this gap in the literature by studying real-life interaction between scientists and a business advisor hired by a university. The primary data for the study consists of tape-recorded discussions. The micro-ethnographic study shows how the business advisor communicates his preferred meanings concerning the RBSO to the scientists, who try to make sense of what an RBSO means and requires from them. Keywords: research-based spin-offs; RBSO; commercialisation; business development; business advisors; scientists; interaction; university research; communication; sensemaking. (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ids:ijeima:v:20:y:2016:i:5/6:p:402-417 Access Statistics for this article More articles in International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management from Inderscience Enterprises Ltd |
Is your work missing from RePEc? Here is how to contribute.
Questions or problems? Check the EconPapers FAQ or send mail to .
EconPapers is hosted by the
School of Business at Örebro University.