Does team diversity really matter? The connection between networks, access to financial resources, and performance in the context of university spin-offs

Abstract

University spin-offs (USOs) are an important driver for innovation, along with economic and social development. Hence, understanding which factors help them perform successfully is crucial, especially regarding their peculiarities in a scientific environment. This study focuses on essential factors such as team composition and diversity in USOs in the biotech sector in 64 founding teams in Switzerland and Germany. By identifying the team composition, and going beyond the usual team characteristics, along with checking in parallel for network and financing effects, the paper adds empirical evidence to the ongoing debate if and how team diversity in USOs affects the performance of this special group of newly founded firms. We test our hypotheses with the partial least squares method (PLS). Our results from the mediation model show how the diversity of teams is related to networks and financial resources and affects the performance. In addition, our study reveals the direct and indirect effects of team diversity on success in USOs. This way we contribute to the ongoing discussion on performance investigating the sources of team effects more in detail.

The question of where: entrepreneurship education beyond curricular practices

“…Sample and procedures SEM procedures were employed with partial-least squares modeling (PLS-SEM) based on the work of Hair et al (2017). As the purpose was to identify new actors in UBEEs, PLS-SEM was chosen due to its better fit for theories still under development, with new measurement models to be validated, and its usefulness in social sciences research since it can deal with non-normal data (Hair et al, 2019;Moog and Soost, 2020). The present study is not aimed at causal relations or mediator/moderator effects, but at validating a model that amalgamates several specific EE activities already presented in different studies.…”

Empirical evidence of the parent company's influence on spin-off: from creation to performance

“…The success of a spin-off depends, among other factors, on the resources that are transferred from the parent company during a certain period so that it becomes independent and strong, but also on its employees, who most often come from of the parent company and were trained in it. The parent company transfers resources to the spin-off before it becomes independent (Moog and Soost 2020), but, in some cases, they continue after independence (Penela et al 2019). The transferred resources can be tangible or intangible and these are identified on the company's balance sheet.…”

Process and Variance Research: Integrating Research on University Spinoff Evolution

“…At the growth phase, the effect of some individual factors has also been studied in the variance perspective research (10 studies). The growth of spinoffs is enabled by personal and other networks established by the actors , the dynamics and diversity of the management team (Diánez-González and Camelo-Ordaz, 2016), founding team heterogeneity (Vanaelst et al, 2006), and diversity of founding team composition (Moog and Soost, 2022;Tagliazucchi et al, 2021). The founding team's intention to form alliances also play an important role in spinoff growth (Grandi and Grimaldi, 2003).…”