The network mediation of an incubator: How does it enable or constrain the development of incubator firms' business networks?

Abstract

Incubators are organisations or structures that usually offer five types of services in order to accelerate start-up development: access to physical resources, administrative services, access to financial resources, assistance with start-up procedures and access to networks. The aim of the present paper is to investigate the mediating role of the incubator. More specifically, it examines how the incubator's mediation is related to incubator firms' development of broader business networks. The primary data comprised 34 face-to-face interviews with 19 respondents from an incubator and its incubator firms and with other actors with which the incubator had a relationship. The paper offers three conclusions concerning how the network horizon influences the incubator's capacity to mediate relationships, the necessity for incubator firms to be proactive in order to utilise the mediation activities of the incubator and the influence of public-funding agencies in the development of incubator firms, which is based on their role as third actors in connected business relationships.

Interactions between university spin-offs and academia: a dynamic perspective

“…The contribution of this paper responds to the calls made for more process-oriented studies focussing on interaction and start-ups (Ambos and Birkinshaw, 2010;Landström et al, 2012;Aaboen et al, 2017;Shih and Aaboen, 2019). A relationship view (Aaboen et al, 2011;Öberg and Shih, 2014;Baraldi and Havenvid, 2016) is taken to provide new insights into the role of academia for the development and growth of new research-based businesses.…”

“…Research has been conducted on, for example, the way intermediaries help in start-up processes (Cantú, 2015;Shih and Aaboen, 2019), how incubation occurs (Baraldi and Havenvid, 2016) and how USOs need to involve potential customers and users and frequently also suppliers, in the development of ideas from academia (Öberg and Shih, 2014). The connection to business actors has been noted as a challenge.…”

Network orchestration: new role of business incubators?

“…In addition, the categories of mediation, support, assignment of infrastructure and services and encouragement of cooperation were associated with the value offer of the incubator. It is observed that these activities are present in literature (Chandra et al, 2014;Cantú, 2017;Shih & Aaboen, 2017) as actions focused on the needs of incubated companies and not on activities focused on their networks. Therefore, it is questionable whether such categories are, in fact, from the incubator's actions in the formation and development of networks, or if they are reconfigurations of services already offered to incubated companies, but with greater scope.…”

Factores habilitantes del emprendimiento de base tecnológica en instituciones de educación superior con limitada trayectoria emprendedora en Colombia

“…The technological environment is wellknown as ever-changing at the business level, highly influenced by the development of scientific advancements, which lead to recurrent changes in business models, production processes, and the value offer to customers (Autio, 1997;Shih and Aaboen, 2019;Martínez, Guillo, and Santero, 2019). That field recognizes TBE's ability to strengthen a country's business fabric because it offers the market services and products of extraordinary capabilities and novel solutions to unsatisfied and emerging needs, based on innovation and undoubted economic and social impact.…”