Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between the availability and use of IT solutions for strategic knowledge management (SKM) and the universities’ performance, measured in terms of scientific production. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on the resource-based view (RBV) and the knowledge-based theory, the authors develop a conceptual framework for exploring the effect of SKM based on IT on the organisation’s performance that they empirically test by applying panel data methodology to a sample of 70 Spanish universities over the period 2011-2014. Findings The authors confirm that the SKM based on IT influences the university’s performance. This effect is positive in the case of the IT solutions referred to the infrastructure of data grouping and more evident when the university’s performance is measured by indicators more directly related to scientific quality. Contrary to expected, the percentage of training and research staff that uses institutional tools of collaborative work is negatively related with the universities’ capacity of publication. Practical implications The authors followed the system dynamics approach to identify a causal diagram and a flow sequence that lets them group universities in three different profiles in the knowledge management (KM) flow diagram. Originality/value First, the authors develop a conceptual framework for exploring the effect of SKM based on IT on the organisation’s performance that could be applicable to analyse the case of other knowledge-driven organisations. Second, in contrast with the large number of studies dealing with SKM and performance focused on firms, the authors analyse universities. Third, the authors’ empirical approach used the panel data methodology with a large sample of universities over the period 2011-2014.

Purpose This study aims to determine that the factors that lead to university spin-offs (USOs) high-growth firms (HGFs). In recent years, HGFs have been a topic of growing interest in the field of economic research because of these companies’ capacity for job creation and the dynamism they bring to the growth of the economy. In parallel, companies that are born of knowledge or technology developed at universities, known as university spin-offs, have also received attention from the literature in entrepreneurship. Design/methodology/approach In this study, to analyse the extent to which USOs have become HGFs, a sample of 237 Spanish companies with university origins for a period of study from 2007 to 2014 were used. To contrast the present study’s hypotheses, eight different models were estimated using probit models. Findings The results show that factors such as number of employees, internationalization, profitability and indebtedness positively affect the probability that a USO will become an HGF. However, for age, industry, innovation, the presence of venture capital and productivity, no statistically significant relationship could be found. Originality/value This study contributes to the literature in HGFs and university entrepreneurship in different ways. First, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, no previous studies have analysed the determinants of becoming an HGF from a USO. Second, hypotheses that, until now, had not been analysed in previous studies, in particular the fact of being a knowledge-intensive company, are tested. Third, the results obtained allow the establishment of recommendations to improve policies to support HGF-USO.

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