Search results

Analyzing the association between the entrepreneur’s background and product innovation, this paper aims to propose that some entrepreneur’s features are associated with the product innovation in incubated companies.

The study involved 95 technology-based firms incubated in Brazil. Questionnaires were sent to 461 technology-based incubated firms of the state, of which 112 have responded; however, only 95 met the established criteria, which was analyzed by logistic regression.

It was found that companies whose entrepreneurs have technical academic education closer to the Exact Sciences promote more innovation in products, regardless the size of their companies. In addition, in smaller firms, besides the technical background closer to the Exact Sciences, the entrepreneur's experience in the company also showed positive association regarding the intensity with which such firms innovate in products.

Results indicate that entrepreneurs who were selected taking into account their technical background closer to the Exact Sciences are more likely to contribute to the product innovation in their companies. Therefore, investing in their businesses will also increase the likelihood of success in the efficient allocation of the incubator resources.

The originality of this paper is reflected by the presentation of relations between entrepreneur’s background and product innovation in technology-based incubated firms in an emerging economy, highlighting the value of some characteristics of entrepreneur’s background to promote product innovation.

Analisando a associação entre o background do empreendedor e a inovação em produtos, este artigo propõe que algumas características do empreendedor estão associadas com a inovação de produtos em empresas incubadas.

O estudo envolveu 95 empresas de base tecnológica no Brasil. Questionários foram enviados para 461 empresas incubadas de base tecnológica no estado de São Paulo, das quais 112 responderam. Contudo, apenas 95 satisfizeram os critérios estabelecidos na pesquisa, as quais foram analisadas por meio da regressão logística.

Foi identificado que empresas cujos empreendedores possuem formações acadêmicas mais próximas das ciências exatas promovem mais inovações em produtos, independentemente do tamanho da organização. Além disso, em empresas menores, além da formação acadêmica próxima das ciências exatas, a experiência do empreendedor na empresa também mostrou associação positiva com relação à intensidade com a qual tais empresas inovam em produtos.

Os resultados indicam que os empreendedores selecionados, com formação técnica mais próxima das ciências exatas, têm maior probabilidade de contribuir para a inovação de produtos em suas empresas. Portanto, investir nesses negócios aumentará a chance de sucesso na alocação eficiente dos recursos da incubadora.

A originalidade do artigo consiste na apresentação de relações entre o background do empreendedor e a inovação de produtos, em empresas de base tecnológica incubadas, em um país emergente. Isto realça o valor de algumas características do empreendedor para promover a inovação de produtos.

Analizando la asociación entre el fondo del emprendedor y la innovación en productos, este artículo propone que algunas características del emprendedor están asociadas con la innovación de productos en empresas incubadas.

El estudio involucró a 95 empresas de base tecnológica en Brasil. Los cuestionarios se enviaron a 461 empresas incubadas de base tecnológica en el estado de São Paulo, de las cuales 112 respondieron. Sin embargo, sólo 95 cumplieron los criterios establecidos en la investigación, que se analizaron a través de la regresión logística.

Se ha identificado que las empresas cuyos emprendedores poseen formaciones académicas más cercanas a las ciencias exactas promueven más innovaciones en productos, independientemente del tamaño de la organización. Además, en empresas menores, además de la formación académica cercana a las ciencias exactas, la experiencia del emprendedor en la empresa también mostró asociación positiva con relación a la intensidad con la que dichas empresas innovan en productos.

Los resultados indican que los emprendedores seleccionados, tomando en consideración su formación técnica más cercana a las ciencias exactas, son más probables de contribuir con la innovación de productos en sus empresas. Por lo tanto, invertir en estos negocios aumentará la probabilidad de éxito en la asignación eficiente de los recursos de la incubadora.

La originalidad del documento es reflejada por la presentación de relaciones entre el fondo del emprendedor y la innovación de productos en empresas incubadas de base tecnológica en una economía emergente, resaltando el valor de algunas características del fondo del emprendedor para promover la innovación de productos.

Microenterprises (MEs) are vital to the growth and prosperity of economies around the world. All levels of society, from universities to national governments, have collaborated to improve the chances of survival and future growth of these businesses. The threat to life is serious, and unless concerted action is taken, the situation will spiral out of control. Policymakers and business leaders must work together to address the sustainability crisis. The study, therefore, set out to determine how various entrepreneurial skills (such as creativity, collaboration, networking, and risk-taking) affect the long-term viability of MEs. The overall objective of the study was to determine the importance of innovative problem-solving, collaboration, networking, and willingness to take calculated risks of microentrepreneurs for the long-term success of their businesses. A total of 274 microentrepreneurs in rural areas of the Ancash region of Peru were surveyed in the grocery, hardware, clothing, and food service sectors. The survival of the MEs was tested on four dimensions: innovation, leadership, networking, and risk-taking. According to the results, MEs managers can increase their longevity by cultivating creative skills, strengthening leadership as a key to business sustainability and survival, maximizing the use of networks to gain a market advantage and expand their customer base, and employing calculated risk-taking.

The purpose of this article is to summarize the basic literature and concepts of innovation and entrepreneurship, emphasizing the relevant studies for Latin America. The authors aim to assess the role of Latin America in the world innovative activity utilizing the production of USPTO patents.

To achieve the first objective, the authors review and summarize the relevant literature for innovation and entrepreneurship in Latin America. They also introduce each of the papers included in the current special issue of Academia. To achieve the second objective, the authors use the production of USPTO patents by Latin American residents, and examine those levels to the rest of the world.

The authors find Latin America to be a marginal contributor to the world innovative activity. Although the region represented 8.7 per cent of world GDP in 2011, it only generated 0.19 per cent of the world patents registered at the USPTO between 2008 and 2012, and only 0.17 per cent of all patents registered since 1976. However, countries such as Costa Rica and Uruguay have larger levels of patent production by 100,000 inhabitants with 7.05 and 4.72 for 1976-2012.

This introduction introduces work that continues the intense discussion on innovation and entrepreneurship in Latin America. It is to the extent of the authors' knowledge, one of the first attempts to measure the level of innovation at the regional level, and compare the performance of different countries. This special edition has implications for individuals, firms and governments striving to introduce new products, services and processes in a region that has historically confronted important barriers to innovation.

En esta introducción presentamos algunos conceptos básicos sobre innovación y empresariado, y hacemos énfasis en la literatura que ha estudiado estos fenómenos en América Latina. Evaluamos, además, el papel de América Latina en la actividad innovadora mundial, utilizando la producción de patentes registradas en la Oficina de Patentes y Marcas de Estados Unidos (USPTO), y encontramos que América Latina desempeña un papel marginal con relación a otros centros mundiales de innovación. Finalmente, se presentan los artículos de este número de la revista Academia. Esta edición especial tiene implicaciones prácticas para individuos, empresas y gobiernos, que quieran introducir nuevos productos, servicios, y procesos desde una región que históricamente ha tenido que enfrentar barreras a la innovación.

This chapter explores how the recognition of opportunities regarding developing technology and entering a new market is influenced by the systemic effect of social forces. These include institutions, social networks and the entrepreneur’s cognitive frames. This study adopts a longitudinal perspective by capturing and analysing the phenomenon in two moments: first, when the businesses started to operate domestically and second, when they began to internationalise. The cases of five Brazilian technology firms are analysed. The findings reveal the systemic and mutually reinforcing effect of these social forces on the recognition of opportunities. The entrepreneurs’ cognitive frames were particularly vital in recognising opportunities to enter the Brazilian market. The institutional support provided by universities along with government mechanisms and entrepreneurs’ social networks were essential to accrue experiential and non-experiential knowledge of international markets, therefore contributing to the recognition of international opportunities. The temporal perspective employed in this research assists the understanding of how historical events shape entrepreneurs’ capabilities to recognise and change company discourse to pursue the recognition of international opportunities. The results provide guidelines for researchers, practitioners and policy-makers, particularly in the emerging economies in Latin America, to support the growth and flourishing of entrepreneurial ventures through pursuing international opportunities.

Entrepreneurship and family businesses are fundamental factors in economic activity since, through the generation of new ideas, it is possible to generate new businesses that trigger employment, innovation, and economic growth. Recently, an emphasis on seeing both research streams from a kaleidoscope perspective has given new insights into the development and evolution of this area. Thus, exploring the differentiation between true and false entrepreneurs seems vital for today's efficient allocation of resources. A theoretical model is proposed, including micro, meso, and macro analytical spheres, adding the behavioral aspects that determine whether a person is a true or false entrepreneur and the effects that can have on the business. To observe the viability of the approach, the case of an enterprise, called “family business S,” is examined. Specifically, the results show the feasibility of applying the analytical proposal to observe the positive and negative behaviors of the family business. In the case of S, these are false entrepreneurs, given that free time and unemployment were the main reasons for starting the company, but they lacked the will and long-term vision. Also, a novel view on how to diagnose a real entrepreneur for taking over a family business is proposed, where a clinical history approach might help in the succession process.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the literature on the representation of the quadruple and quintuple helix (QQH) in innovation environments such as incubators and science and technology parks (STPs).

The authors used the integrative review as a methodological approach and systematized studies regarding the main research objectives; theoretical approaches; methodology and study object; QQH representation, by identifying actor, performance and main results; and additional contributions to the QQH model.

As a result, the authors noticed a lack of standardization on the representation of the quadruple helix, but the example of associations and community centers as representatives of the civil society. The quintuple helix does not have an actor that represents the environment, but STPs foster sustainable actions, encourage the generation of green companies and stimulate sustainable practices among established companies.

Based on changes in the economic and social scenarios, new theoretical approaches emerge to explain the innovation process, such as the QQH. Incubators and STPs are favorable settings for interactions, according to the new models; however, there is a lack of studies addressing this topic in such environments. Hence, this study contributes to understanding the existence and performance of QQH, by showing how these new helices were identified, in addition to advancing the subject in innovation environments such as incubators and STPs.

The aim of this paper is to analyze the impact of the implementation of a psychological assistance program on new entrepreneurs in a business incubator of a public university located in an emerging economy. The methodology was an intrinsic case study through qualitative approach. The findings suggest that this program had a positive impact on new entrepreneurs; it promoted a space for reflection, motivation and perseverance; it encouraged them to handle different emotions or factors to achieve its business targets. Thus, it helped them to improve the chances of success of their start-ups by learning and strengthening key psychological entrepreneurial competences.

Internationalisation became an important component of science parks (SPs) practices. In recent years, they have started to include, among the portfolio of their services, the support and fostering of their tenant firms’ internationalisation, such as soft-landing programmes and international immersion experiences for start-ups. Thus, the main aim of this chapter is to analyse these internationalisation practices in the light of the network and internationalisation theories. Based on an exploratory multiple case study the authors conducted in three Brazilian SPs located in the South of Brazil (Rio Grande do Sul State) – Tecnopuc in Porto Alegre, Tecnosinos in São Leopoldo and Feevale Techpark in Campo Bom. The authors provide evidences on how cohesive internal and external ties, networks as well as the level of specialisation are the key drivers of the internationalisation process of SPs and their tenant firms.

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 innovation-oriented social networks created within technology-based incubators are shaped.

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.

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.

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.

The aim of this paper is to contribute to understanding of the process of innovation in the biotechnology companies operating in Brazil. The paper identifies the most critical factors in the innovation process of the enterprises in this sector; the paper then analyses the dynamics of the sector and the contribution of the universities and incubators to the innovation process and also evaluates how these elements affect the management process of the technological innovation within and outside the organization.

The research was of the qualitative exploratory type and involved seven case studies of biotechnology companies of different sizes, acting in various sectors, having undergone or not an incubation process. For interpretation of the results, content analysis was utilized.

The study indicated that, among the many obstacles to innovation, access to finance is the most critical. Partnerships have been adversely affected due to institutional and regulatory factors, namely a lack of clear laws and rules regarding intellectual property. The companies have sought to compensate by making their internal processes agile, creating flexible organizational structures and an organizational environment favourable to innovation, which is internalized, as a practice, in a tacit manner.

Limitations are associated with the case study methodology: the results presented pertain to the companies studied, and, therefore, cannot be generalized or extended to other companies or areas.

The management process of innovation occurs in an informal and less than systematic manner. The innovation process in Brazilian biotechnology companies benefits from a pro‐active posture adopted by them to manage and learn from adversity.

The paper increases understanding of the innovation process in Brazilian biotechnology companies.