Toward a balanced framework to evaluate and improve the internal functioning of non-profit economic development business incubators. A study in Belgium

Johanna Vanderstraeten, Paul Matthyssens and Arjen Van Witteloostuijn

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, 2014, vol. 23, issue 4, 478-508

Abstract: Non-profit organisations, such as economic development incubators, may adapt the balanced scorecard and strategy map in their efforts to improve their internal functioning. In this paper, we employ qualitative research among non-profit economic development incubators in Antwerp, Belgium, to modify these tools. By adapting these frameworks, we extend the current incubator literature where predominantly individual measures (such as tenant survival or the incubator's occupancy rate) are employed to evaluate incubator performance. Incubator managers and their funding organisations may use our adapted strategy map and balanced scorecard to uncover the incubator's internal processes that need improvement. The evaluation tools allow them to go beyond the objective and individual performance measures that often are used to evaluate the incubator's performance. The tools can also be used to benchmark several incubators and help funding organisations to make more informed resource allocation decisions.

Keywords: business incubators; internal functioning; evaluation tools; incubator performance; BSC; balanced scorecard; strategy maps; non-profit; not-for-profit; Belgium; economic development incubators; individual measures; tenant survival; occupancy rates; incubator managers; funding organisations; objective performance measures; individual performance measures; benchmarking; resource allocation. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.inderscience.com/link.php?id=65684 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ids:ijesbu:v:23:y:2014:i:4:p:478-508

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business from Inderscience Enterprises Ltd
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sarah Parker ().