Technology-based business incubators

Abstract

Purpose-Technology-based incubators depend on high-level knowledge to constantly meet the demands of the market. Incubators offer a variety of specialized services to help startups increase the chances of crossing the valley of death. These services include infrastructure, access to a professional network of mentors and an intensive support of a consultant team to help with managerial and legal challenges. Therefore, it is critical to incubators to develop both highly skilled teams of consultants and social environment that facilitates communication. The purpose of this paper is to understand how innovationoriented social networks created within technology-based incubators are shaped. Design/methodology/approach-Data were collected in five incubators participating connected to federal universities from the state of Minas Gerais. The network attributes collected in the survey were placed in a matrix form. The mapping and measurement of the relationships between individuals were developed using the Ucinet software. Ucinet enables the analysis of attributes (attitudes, behaviors and characteristics) characterized as relational (contacts, ties and relationships). The software also includes the Netdraw network visualization tool, which enables the creation of matrices and graphical network maps. The measurements of centrality, closeness and intermediation were analyzed to assess the intra-organizational social network. Findings-The results indicate that although the flow of communication does not follow the formal hierarchy, the interaction between team members to spontaneously exchange ideas, information and experiences is rare. The workers are so concerned about their timely tasks, that they have few opportunities to exchange information and knowledge. The coordination is carried out by university professors, who also perform other tasks (e.g. teaching, research and administration activities) besides those related to the incubators. The results also suggest that in the technology-based incubators studied, besides dealing in an innovative environment, the distribution of tasks and responsibilities are still rigid and traditional. Originality/value-By analyzing the degree of the relationship between team members, the proximity and the level of intermediation of co-workers, it is possible to see how the incubators workers interact, thereby identifying the flow of information. This study offers implications for theory and practice. To the theory, this study adds to the discussion of intra-organizational social network of technology-based companies in the Brazilian context. To practitioners, this research sheds light on the importance of the social network built within the organization to promote effective communication and knowledge sharing.

Patent Value Promotion Based on the Technology Proximity Network: An Empirical Analysis of Artificial Intelligence for Healthcare

“…Aharonson and Schilling (2016) explored the mechanisms of technology agglomeration, knowledge spillover, and technology pattern evolution through the measurement of patent distance. Miranda and Borges (2019) found that centrality affected the flow of information during innovation incubation, and the closeness of the centrality structure is one of the main reasons. Unfortunately, there is not much literature explaining that proximity centrality increases the patent value, but some studies have provided evidence that closeness centrality has a positive impact on industrial economic development.…”

Technology-based business incubators: the impacts on resources of startups in Brazil

“…Incubators can be understood as institutions that catalyze new business, linking the protected environment of incubation to the competitive external environment (Anprotec, 2019; Hillemane et al. , 2019; Miranda and Borges, 2019), increasing the chance of survival of startups, reducing initial risks and being a source of resources (Alon and Godinho, 2016).…”

Orchestrating frugal eco-innovation: the plethora of challenges and diagnostics in lean startups of emerging economies

“…Given the nature of the data involving the concept of frugal and eco-innovation, the purposive sampling technique (Creswell & Poth, 2016) was adopted to reach our data source with experience in field innovation management. Thirdly, based on transcribed data collected from interviews, coding was done using NVivo 12, a widely used software to analyse heterogenous qualitative data sets (Miles & Huberman, 1994), to explore the major themes. Qualitative data were analysed through a process of iteration, contextualised within an emerging structure of theoretical reasoning.…”

“…Earlier research found profitability, age and firm size significantly influence business durability. However, interest in innovation as a decisive factor has increased recently (Miranda & Borges, 2019;Ortiz-Villajos & Sotoca, 2018). Integrating innovation with sustainability (Forcadell, Aracil, & Úbeda, 2019) addressed the challenges faced by innovative startups due to the global environment's deterioration (Hepburn, Pless, & Popp, 2018).…”