'Meet the parents': the importance of 'pre-conception' conditions in facilitating high-technology spin-out companies

Thelma Quince

Working Papers from Centre for Business Research, University of Cambridge

Abstract: Encouraging the spinning out of high tech companies from higher education institutes (HEIS) is now a major tenet of industrial policy in the UK and other European countries. New enterprise formation is seen as a vehicle for technology transfer and the commercialisation of research by universities, and independent and government funded research institutes. Despite the proliferation of schemes and mechanisms supporting would-be entrepreneurs and their nascent enterprises, we are still some way from identifying the factors making for success. Understanding any scheme aimed at generating new technology based firms (ntbfs) requires a holistic approach which considers the nature of the parent research organisation, the local economic context, the specific objectives of the scheme and the changing needs of new enterprises. The nature of the parent is particularly important in setting what may be seen as 'pre-conception' conditions: namely inspiration, motivation, willingness to take risk and identification of potential idea. This paper describes differences found in these pre-conception conditions in a number of research organisations in the UK.

Keywords: entrepreneurship; new technology based firms; business incubation; research organisations; organisation culture (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: L52 M13 O32 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2002-06
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ent
Note: PRO-1
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