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Although business incubators are a widely recognized form of entrepreneurial support, this paper aims to challenge the assumption that incubation is necessarily beneficial for early-stage entrepreneurs, and considers cases where, due to variability in the motives and behaviours of entrepreneurs, incubation may be unwarranted or even undesireable.

This study presents a theoretically derived typology of incubated entrepreneurs, based on their entrepreneurial competence and capacity for learning, which asserts that incubation may be unwarranted or even undesireable for three of the four proposed entrepreneur types. Qualitative data from interviews with entrepreneurs and managing directors from 10 business incubators is used to illustrate the existence of these types.

The data provides evidence of entrepreneurial types whose incubation may be counterproductive to the goals and objectives of their host incubators.

Implications for incubator management (intake screening and ongoing monitoring of portfolio) are developed and aimed at improving the outcomes of business incubation for stakeholders.

The paper contributes to the incubation typology literature by challenging a widely held assumption that entrepreneurs have the potential to benefit from incubation and by reconceptualizing incubators as “crucibles” that perform a critical function in distinguishing high-potential entrepreneurs.

With practical entrepreneurship capabilities becoming ever more important for all university graduates, whether they are starting their own business or adding value to an organisation by innovating, improving, and problem-solving, what role do business incubators (BIs) play in helping to develop these capabilities for students? This chapter aims to better understand the role of BIs as extra-curricular entrepreneurship activity in universities through a narrative account of business incubation practice in three institutions – two in England and one in Australia. Utilising a practice-led methodology, the study is underpinned by social capital theory and a critical realist ontological perspective on incubation’s mechanisms, processes, and structures. Across these examples, there are common underpinning principles of entrepreneurial learning and socio-economic development. However, there are differences in implementation regarding space for incubation. Where the BI is on campus and closely integrated with extra-curricular entrepreneurship activity, this results in a cohesive graduate startup community and ongoing peer support. With no BI present, the opposite is observed. The chapter argues that without the infrastructure to build and maintain a community of nascent entrepreneurs to benefit from sustained peer learning, there can be negative impacts on the entrepreneurs and a visible gap affecting the entrepreneurial ecosystem. The chapter concludes with a practice note providing practical considerations for university BIs in communicating the significance of the incubator peer group to prospective entrepreneurs to improve realistic expectations and potentially improve their reach to entrepreneurs who may be experiencing isolation during their startup journey.

This study explores the enablers of students “entrepreneurial intentions by identifying the factors that raise students” interest in embracing an entrepreneurial career.

Entrepreneurship education is increasingly attracting attention as a means of fostering entrepreneurial activity and creating a culture of innovation. Developing students' entrepreneurial intentions is critical to promote entrepreneurship. This research is built on a mixed method approach of partial least squares structural equation modelling and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis.

The factors that influence students ‘entrepreneurial intentions are identified: business incubation programmes, non-reimbursable grants for entrepreneurial students, networking events to promote entrepreneurship, mentoring services, innovation labs for business idea validation and entrepreneurship courses. This knowledge can help develop effective entrepreneurship education programmes. The study also provides actionable insights for educational institutions and policymakers. It underscores the need for innovative educational platforms such as entrepreneurial bootcamps. It also highlights the value of advanced learning environments such as decision theatres to foster a culture of entrepreneurship and innovation.

The study contributes to the body of knowledge on entrepreneurship education. It highlights the need for a multidisciplinary approach to understand the factors that shape students’ entrepreneurial intentions.

This study analyzes the role of regional cooperative banks in identifying and financing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from a proximity perspective. Access to finance is a major challenge for SMEs. Regional cooperative banks can remove this barrier based on cooperative bank's characteristics and geographic proximity to SMEs. Understanding the interplay between these financial actors and firms can contribute to a better support of SMEs development.

The results are based on a case study of eight SMEs located in southwestern France. Interviews were conducted with two regional cooperative funds and eight SMEs. The interview guide included questions related to the company, the projects financed and how financing was accessed.

Results reveal that a combination of three forms of proximity allows regional cooperative banks and SMEs to establish effective financing operations. They show that regional cooperative banks are key players in the existing financing mechanisms for SMEs. Such financing is often used to gain access to larger players at a later stage. The findings suggest the need for public policies that promote the integration of financing actors in regional ecosystems to advance SMEs' development.

This article examines how SMEs access financing, with a focus on regional cooperative banks, which have received little attention in the literature. Moreover, the relationships between these actors are studied through the lens of proximity. Regional cooperative banks are able to finance projects that may have been overlooked by traditional banks due to trust-building local dynamics.

This paper deals with types and actors of entrepreneurship in and around academia in Russia, as well as with institutional settings of the entrepreneurial activity of academic faculty.

This paper is based on a series of semi-structured interviews using the purposive snowball method (2022–2023). The respondents are either engaged in different kinds of entrepreneurship in and outside universities in Moscow and Nizhny Novgorod or experts in entrepreneurship in and around academia.

A double mixed embeddedness driven approach to the typology of diverse forms of entrepreneurship in and around academia are shown in the context of the temporality as well as of the micro-, meso- and macro-level institutions, such as the low demand in innovations in the economy; uncertainty of property rights; limited interest of university administration in academic entrepreneurs or its focus solely on students' entrepreneurship; and necessity entrepreneurship motives on the micro-level. The research limitations of the study are the small number of observations and the localisation of the panel in only one country.

The research limitations of the study are the small number of observations and the localisation of the panel in only one country.

The “Special Military Operation” and its consequences would hinder bottom-up academic entrepreneurship in the country, while pushing universities to launch R&D with the big industry, and forcing many faculties to non-academic entrepreneurship.

For the first time, the broad variety of entrepreneurial activities of academic staff including the specifics of non-classical forms of entrepreneurship in and around academia and their embeddedness into different contexts are discussed.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of customer-focus on small medium enterprise (SME) performance from the perspective of a resource-based view (RBV).

This research study implemented a survey strategy to gather data from 255 respondents on the registered list of Ghana Enterprise Agency (GEA) in the eastern region of Ghana. Scales used to gather data were operationalized from previous research studies. A structural equation modeling (SEM) path analysis was used to estimate the impact of customer-focus on the performance of SMEs.

The outcomes of this study indicate that customer-focus has a significant positive impact on SME performance, hence backing the current demand for investigating the distinct influence of customer-focus on SME performance. The results show that customer-focus has a positive and significant relationship with financial performance, customer performance, internal business process performance and learning and growth performance, thus supporting the literature on the positive impact of customer-focus on SME performance. Therefore, customer-focus determinants used in this study, including co-creation, networking ties, customer insight and artificial intelligence marketing (AIM), are critical to the optimization of SME performance.

Notwithstanding the importance of this research study mentioned earlier, the study has limitations. Notably, the sample size of this study can be increased to capture SME respondents in other geographical zones that were not included in this study. Future research studies may address how business environment conditions moderate the relationship between customer focus and performance, and also the cause-effect of the relationship between customer focus and business environment conditions on SME performance.

The practical implications consist of two main items. First, this study empowers SME owners and managers to develop a customer focus technique as a central strategic goal in their quest for SME performance optimization. Second, SME owners and managers should progressively exploit the four determinants of customer focus which include co-creation, networking ties, customer insight and (AIM in order to accrue important resources for effective utilization of their customer focus competences as a way to enhance their performance.

This study is targeted at the sound development of SMEs to bring about poverty alleviation and employment. Poverty, unemployment and poor living standards are recognized as vital social challenges in most emerging economies. The establishment of customer focus as an important strategic capability provides opportunities for SME survival, profitability and growth.

Generally, the findings of this research study provide a strong backing to RBV perspective and the proposition that customer-focus and its determinants (i.e. co-creation, networking ties, customer insight and AIM) should be acknowledged as a vital strategic resource for optimizing the performance of SMEs. This research study also provides new knowledge contribution to the present body of knowledge on customer-focus orientation and management literature, particularly in the context of an emerging economy.

This research aimed to examine the impact of input, process, output, productivity and outcome variables on university research performance and the indicators that represent them in order to improve academic quality and contribute to government policy.

The quantitative approach was used through a survey method that obtained samples using questionnaires from 150 leaders of research institutions and continued analysis using the structural equation modeling-partial least square (SEM-PLS) to test the developed model.

Except for the relationship between process and productivity variables, all variable relationships had a positive and significant effect. Furthermore, the input, process, output, productivity and outcome variables each include seven, twelve, four and ten indicators.

This study has several ramifications because it provides a clear policy input and advances science. As a prelude to developing research performance assessment tools that take into account variances in a tertiary institution, this research aids in the implementation of national policies for assessing research performance in postsecondary institutions.

To improve the accuracy of the information acquired, we conducted a survey among the heads of research units at various higher-ranking Indonesian universities, taking into consideration their skill and experience in leading research organizations and conducting research. Other than that, our belief in the originality of our manuscript is strengthened by the way we applied systems theory to construct a performance evaluation model that examines each contribution made by each system aspect.

This research aimed to examine entrepreneurial fear of failure and entrepreneurial well-being from the perspectives of incubated and nonincubated startups during crises.

Data were collected by distributing online questionnaires to 152 respondents comprising 43 incubated and 109 nonincubated startups in Indonesia. A multivariate discriminant analysis procedure was used to examine the interrelationships between both groups at the discovery, validation, customer creation and construction stages.

The result showed a significant difference between these startups at various stages, which was analyzed to provide insights into the relevant dimensions of fear of failure for startups. The essence of entrepreneurial well-being during crises is in accordance with the role of business incubators in an emerging market economy.

Startups need to innovate in order to grow while considering other factors such as work-life balance and financial resource availability. This is important to ensure they have sufficient motivating dosage of fear of failure.

The present study evaluates incubated and nonincubated startups in an emerging market economy by using both the entrepreneurial fear of failure and well-being to capture possible differences between groups. The context of pandemic crises helps us formulate appropriate approaches taken by incubators and startups in the future crises.

The commercialization of research produced by universities constitutes a core facet of academic entrepreneurship (AE). Academic literature reveals the need to shed light on entrepreneurial processes in higher education institutions (HEIs). This study intends to fill this gap by researching the mechanisms for facilitating AE and the variables that can moderate the relationship between such mechanisms and AE in Portuguese HEIs.

Our research model aims to assess the mechanisms of academic entrepreneurship (AE) within a sample of 125 Portuguese public higher education institutions (HEIs). To test our research hypotheses, we employed a structural equation model (SEM) using the partial least squares (PLS) method. Additionally, our evaluation examines the potential moderating effects of incubator programs, support initiatives, and proof-of-concept programs (PoCs). Our research model seeks to evaluate the mechanisms for facilitating AE and explore the effects of including incubator programs, support initiatives, and PoCs as moderators. The seven variables (Research mobilization, Unconventionality, Industry collaboration, University policies, Incubator programs and support initiatives, Proof-of-concept programs, and academic entrepreneurship) were measured using a 7-point Likert scale.

The results revealed that different drivers of AE influence the creation and development of entrepreneurial activities. Our findings also show the moderating effects of incubator programs, support initiatives, and proof-of-concept programs on AE. We find that incubator programs, other support initiatives, and PoCs maintain a moderating effect on AE and benefit their respective HEIs.

The study examines only the Portuguese HEI context. Therefore, generalizing these results necessitates reservations. However, the responses came from various actors in HEIs, from different academic backgrounds and research interests. This makes the results more generalizable. Limitations are evident in external validity, given that we gathered the data over a relatively short period.

Observed factors are explored to gain a deeper understanding of their influence on the mechanisms of AE. The implications arise from the new perspective presented and the methodology used to identify mechanisms capable of fostering AE. We hope this research will encourage other researchers to study this topic further.

the engagement of universities at the global level should be emphasised in future policy. While universities in innovation systems often have a local focus, their engagement in innovation ecosystems transcends the boundaries of geographic locations.

PoCs had a significant positive moderating effect on the impact of research mobilization and university policies on AE. Thus, we find interactions between universities and industry boost AE. This study demonstrates how AE benefits HEIs by extending orientation towards mobilizing research, unconventional approaches, cooperation with industry, and university policy implementation. We thus advocate a new approach, demonstrating the influence that the mobility of research, unconventionality, industry collaboration, and university policies hold over AE.

In order to address the gender divide in technology entrepreneurship, we explore how different national contexts impact policies and policy implementation. We investigate how transnational concerns (macro level) about women’s low participation in (technology) entrepreneurship are translated and implemented amongst actors at the meso level (technology incubators) and understood at the micro level (women tech entrepreneurs).

We adopt gender institutionalism as a theoretical lens to understand what happens in the implementation of gender equality goals in technology entrepreneurship policy. We apply Gains and Lowndes’ (2014) conceptual framework to investigate the gendered character and effects of institutional formation. Four countries represent different levels of gender equality: high (Norway and Sweden), medium (Ireland) and low (Israel). An initial policy document analysis provides the macro level understanding (Heilbrunn et al., 2020). At the meso level, managers of technology business incubators (n = 3–5) in each country were interviewed. At the micro level, 10 female technology entrepreneurs in each country were interviewed. We use an inductive research approach, combined with thematic analysis.

Policies differ across the four countries, ranging from women-centred approaches to gender mainstreaming. Macro level policies are interpreted and implemented in different ways amongst actors at the meso level, who tend to act in line with given national policies. Actors at the micro level often understand gender equality in ways that reflect their national policies. However, women in all four countries share similar struggles with work-life balance and gendered expectations in relation to family responsibilities.

The contribution of our paper is to (1) entrepreneurship theory by applying gendered institutionalism theory to (tech) entrepreneurship, and (2) our findings clearly show that the gendered context matters for policy implementation.