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The paper aims to explore the nature of initiatives and strategies of inter-organizational cooperation to cross the valley of death in the biopharma industry.

The authors conducted an exploratory case study analysis in the Biopharma Innovation Ecosystem in Greater Boston Area (USA), which is one of the oldest, and most successful IE in the US, specialized in the Biopharma domain, by conducting a round of expert interviews with key informants in the area, chosen as representatives of the different types of actors engaged in the drug development processes at different stages.

Main findings suggest that cooperation can contribute to surviving the valley of death by reducing the barriers within the drug development pipeline through the promotion of strategic relationships among actors of different nature, including the establishment of government-led thematic associations or consortia, agreements between university and business support structures, proximity to venture capitalist and the promotion of a general culture of academic entrepreneurship within universities.

The authors believe that this paper contributes to the literature by shedding light on the nature of the specific cooperative initiative the barriers in drug development and help to survive the valley of the death.

The purpse of this study is to examine sustainable technology development (STD) during the “Valley of Death” phase encountered by university startups undertaking intellectual property rights (IPR) commercialisation.

A comprehensive literature review was conducted after searching for relevant documents across multiple databases. Semi-structured interviews with university startup founders were also conducted as part of a qualitative case study.

This study resulted in two significant findings. First, the Valley of Death has been redefined in the specific context of IPR commercialisation by university startups. Second, the sustainable technology development framework (STDF) has been conceptualised to enhance the success rate of IPR commercialisation by university startups. The authors also identified three essential components of STD in the context of university startups: market development, technical efficiency and business sustainability.

This exploratory research involved a thorough literature analysis. Given that only one qualitative case study was conducted, data saturation was not achieved. Further empirical research is needed to validate the conceptualised STDF.

The validated STDF will be a useful tool for enhancing the success of IPR commercialisation by university startups.

While others have focused on innovating business models, this study focused on an underexplored area: the sustainability of technology development during the commercialisation of IPR by university startups during the Valley of Death phase.

The purpose of this paper is to empirically test if the interaction between universities and spin-offs, as proxy of knowledge translation (KT), which is based in particular on negotiation, semantics and pragmatics, has a positive impact on spin-off performance – in terms of greater distance from the “valley of death” – and allows access to credit and financial instruments.

The authors adopt an appropriate nonparametric conditional efficiency approach for panel data. The authors provide a unique picture of the innovation environment in Italy using an original dataset. These data provide information regarding the intensity of interaction between universities and spin-offs along with financial balance datasheet of the spin-offs. The nonparametric approach is particularly suitable for nonlinear relationships typical for this type of data.

The results of the analysis confirm that the translation of knowledge, based on negotiation of interests, semantics of the text and pragmatism, favored by the interaction between universities and spin-offs, improves the productivity performance of the spin-off by allowing them to move away from the “valley of death”. Therefore, universities must pay particular attention to the way they work with spin-offs by making use of the translation of knowledge, based on semantics and pragmatism, in order to encourage an understanding of knowledge, sharing of interests among the partners and stakeholders of the spin-off, often belonging to different backgrounds. These are processes that favor the transfer and development of research outcomes to the market, improving the spin-off competitiveness of the territory and strengthening relations with universities and their stakeholders (banks and financial intermediaries, local and national politicians, institutions and the community at large).

Implications for research can be identified at policy and managerial level and refer to the effectiveness of the so called “Third Mission”, university entrepreneurship through the creation of profitable spin-offs which contribute to innovation, and to the socioeconomic development of the territory. In turn, spin-offs with good performances are more likely to have access to external financing to allow the growth of their business in the market. Further studies can investigate the organizational way of the universities that promote these virtuous results, distinguishing them by spin-off efficiency clusters.

For universities, the results make it possible to envisage organizational processes to support spin-offs that are important both for compliance with the regulations and for the Third Mission. Researchers, teachers and PhD academics have the opportunity to exploit the results of their innovative research on the market. Spin-offs and start-up founders should note that the results of scientific transfer can create value for the firm and the territory. Useful information also derives for banks and financial intermediaries that intend to improve the credit risk assessment of the spin-offs during the loan assessment phase.

The value of the work entails in offering a unique overview of university innovation, through an original dataset and a robust methodology. By adopting a different approach, the contribution of KT at national level was assessed, measuring the impact on the technical performance and on the probability of survival of the companies. Originality of the paper lies not only in the approach but also in the fact that this is the first attempt to use the KT as a key factor for the economic sustainability from a financial perspective of start-up companies.

This paper aims to seek answers to the question: What are the relevant factors that allow not-for-profit innovation networks to successfully transition new technologies from proof-of-concept to commercialisation?

This question is examined using the knowledge-based view and network orchestration theory. Data are collected from 35 interviews with managers and engineers working within seven centres that comprise the High Value Manufacturing Catapult (HVMC). These centres constitute a not-for-profit innovation network where suppliers, customers and competitors collaborate to help transition new technologies across the “Valley of Death” (the gap between establishing a proof of concept and commercialisation).

Network orchestration theory suggests that a hub firm facilitates the exchange of knowledge amongst network members (knowledge mobility), to enable these members to profit from innovation (innovation appropriability). The hub firm ensures positive network growth, and also allows for the entry and exit of network members (network stability). This study of not-for-profit innovation networks suggests the role of a network orchestrator is to help ensure that intellectual property becomes a public resource that enhances the productivity of the domestic economy. The authors observed how network stability was achieved by the HVMC's seven centres employing a loosely-coupled hybrid network configuration. This configuration however ensured that new technology development teams, comprised of suppliers, customers and competitors, remained tightly-coupled to enable co-development of innovative technologies. Matching internal technical and sectoral expertise with complementary experience from network members allowed knowledge to flow across organisational boundaries and throughout the network. Matrix organisational structures and distributed decision-making authority created opportunities for knowledge integration to occur. Actively moving individuals and teams between centres also helped to diffuse knowledge to network members, while regular meetings between senior management ensured network coordination and removed resource redundancies.

The study contributes to knowledge-based theory by moving beyond existing understanding of knowledge integration in firms, and identified how knowledge is exchanged and aggregated within not-for-profit innovation networks. The findings contribute to network orchestration theory by challenging the notion that network orchestrators should enact and enforce appropriability regimes (patents, licences, copyrights) to allow members to profit from innovations. Instead, the authors find that not-for-profit innovation networks can overcome the frictions that appropriability regimes often create when exchanging knowledge during new technology development. This is achieved by pre-defining the terms of network membership/partnership and setting out clear pathways for innovation scaling, which embodies newly generated intellectual property as a public resource. The findings inform a framework that is useful for policy makers, academics and managers interested in using not-for-profit networks to transition new technologies across the Valley of Death.

Following the triple helix (TH) model and the way knowledge is transferred into the industry domain, this chapter aims to define features interface that should be implemented in order to facilitate the University–Industry (UI) relationship and thus encourage the spin-off creation.

In order to support this relationship, a new business model configuration of an entrepreneurial ecosystem is proposed, aiming at creating a sustainable environment, where business entities can grow. The field of the Governance of Entrepreneurial Ecosystems is also investigated in order to define a framework for launching, developing, and sustaining a company over time.

This chapter presents a case study developed within the University of Salento (Italy). It capitalizes results from three different research analyses, based on questionnaires and interviews with actors of the spin-off network (professors and researchers, graduating students, admin-tech staff of the Technology Transfer Office, spin-offs’ CEOs/Associates, and R&D managers of external companies) and on results coming from scientific publications and regional/national reports in the innovation context.

A research methodology based on semantic network analysis and sentiment analysis has been applied in order to identify which features an interface should implement in order to facilitate the UI relationship and encourage the spin-off creation.

To support the start-up overcoming the “death valley,” the creation of a link between the strategy used to transfer value to the market and the phase of innovation is proposed inside the business model configuration. Some aspects of a governance model of an entrepreneurial ecosystem were also presented in order to support the business evolution of a single business entity and assuring sustainability over time.

The economic impact of scientific research is receiving widespread attention all over the world, with interest being paid to research results that could potentially contribute to economic growth. There have been various policy responses in many African countries to facilitate the nation’s transition from a production-based to an innovation-based economy, especially in the universities. The effort is, however taken for granted that scientists (researchers) are now having academic entrepreneurship mindset. The purpose of this paper is to attempt at developing a model that integrates individual, organisational and institutional determinants of academic entrepreneurship, which can facilitate the ability to cross the “valley of death”.

The paper reviews the theoretical and empirical literature to establish the factors that influence the capacity of academic researchers to discover and exploit opportunities for converting knowledge into commercialisable products.

The findings indicate that exploitation of entrepreneurial opportunities is driven by the extent of previous collaboration with industry, cognitive integration and prior entrepreneurial experience. Moreover, the university institutional environment must encourage and facilitate the creation of university spin-offs.

The paper and the proposed framework are based on theoretical suppositions related to the determinant factors underlying the formation of academic entrepreneurial intentions. Therefore, an empirical analysis is required to measure each factor proposed in this model.

Considering the present weak national innovation system and university-industry linkages, universities in developing countries will require more than the production of potentially useful knowledge. There is need for conscious efforts by the university administration to put in place mechanisms that will facilitate the commercialisation of knowledge being produced in the university, encourage active participation in designing marketable products, as well as playing a leadership role in ensuring successful commercialisation.

The findings and framework developed in this paper can serve as an input to the design of policies that can stimulate the entrepreneurial activity of the academic researchers so that they can further contribute to technological development and economic growth in African countries.

Majority of the empirical studies on entrepreneurship in developing countries have not attempted to understand the entrepreneurial intention of university academic (researchers). But the current efforts of integrating economic development as an additional function to research and teaching of the universities in developing countries requires that they should operate more entrepreneurially. Therefore, this paper is proposing a framework that might stimulate the creation and development of entrepreneurial university thereby making the university to effectively fulfil its teaching, research and entrepreneurial missions.

This paper provides an overview of the current body of knowledge surrounding the human response to change and transition. Models of the change process, as perceived by diverse and seemingly unrelated disciplines, are identified, compared, and contrasted by tracing the evolution of these models from seminal works through contemporary research. Surprisingly, a majority of the models studied were found to share two important characteristics: they follow Lewin’s 1952 three‐phase model of change; and they describe a degradation of capabilities in the intermediate stages of the change process. In a practical example, the authors explain their experimental verification of the change models’ applicability to an organizational change involving the introduction of teams. The interrelationship of developmental and change models is discussed. Finally, the importance to leaders and managers of developing an understanding of the current state‐of‐the‐art in human response to change and transition is discussed.

This article is aimed at improving understanding of the possibilities and implications of using patents as a teaching instrument for universities in developing countries in order to enable undergraduate business students to discuss critical issues associated with the commercialization of technological innovations.

This study is based on an explorative case of an experiential teaching exercise involving undergraduate students addressing the development of business plans addressing the commercialization of patents. In this way, we proposed the POSTE model to provide a pathway to knowledge creation by integrating entrepreneurial competences of entrepreneurship competences with existing practices.

Given the complex nature of the patenting process, the experiential exercise proposed by this study contributes to enhance IP commercialization capabilities of undergraduate students by simulating decision-making regarding market size, user requirements, product pricing, competitors, substitute products, time-to-market, product production arrangements and strategic use of the terms of a patent.

One limitation of this research involves the impossibility of completely addressing the venture launch gap. Despite the realistic learning experience based on a real patent, as students do not own the intellectual property rights (IPRs) associated with the patents used in the course, it is not possible to implement the business models developed during the course.

Since patent documents are freely available and companies are increasingly dependent on intellectual property (IP) assets to remain competitive, our study provides evidence that patents can provide a rich source of information that can be used to simulate venture creations by taking into consideration economical, strategical, and legal skills needed to bridge the technology commercialization gap.

Given the lack of courses addressing intellectual property in the wide majority of Brazilian undergraduate courses, the teaching experience described in this study contributes to raise the sense of urgency for the commercialization of patents among college students, as a means of turning technology into business.

Despite of the growing correlation between IP and competitiveness, teaching methods relying on IP data, such as patents, industrial designs and trademarks, in research institutions located in developing countries have received limited treatment in the extant literature.

The knowledge generated by academics in the field of management is often criticized because of its reduced relevance for professionals. In the review of the literature, the authors distinguish between three streams of thought. The review of the literature and the understanding of the research streams that have been addressed by the academic–practitioner gap in management has allowed to clarify that what truly underlies each of these approaches is a different assumption or paradigm from which the management science focusses.

This paper reviews the main approaches that have analysed this topic, drawing a number of conclusions.

The knowledge generated by academics in the field of management is often criticized because of its reduced relevance for professionals. In the review of the literature, the authors distinguish between three main perspectives. The review of the literature and the understanding of the research streams that have been addressed by the academic–practitioner gap in management has allowed us to clarify that what truly underlies each of these approaches is a different assumption or paradigm from which the management science focusses. To represent the findings of the literature review in this sense, the authors will present, first, a model that serves as a framework to interpret the different solutions proposed in the literature to close the gap from a positivist paradigm. Subsequently, they question this view through a reflection that brings us closer to a more pragmatic and interpretive paradigm of management science to bridge the research–practice gap.

In recent studies, researchers agree that there is an important gap between management research and practice, which may bear little resemblance to each other. However, the literature on this topic does not seem to be guided by a rigorously structured discourse and, for the most part, is not based on empirical studies. Moreover, a sizeable body of literature has been developed with the objective of analysing and contributing solutions that reconcile management researchers and professionals. To offer a more systematic view of the literature on this topic, the paper classifies previous approaches into three different perspectives based on the ideas on which they are supported. Finally, the paper concludes with some reflections that could help to reorient the paradigm from which the management research is carried out.

The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to investigate project management dimensions while constructing the Panama Canal from the end of ninetieth century to the start of twentieth century and then benchmarking against the Palm Diera Island at the lapse of a century. Second, to highlight issues of project management, specially the risk management with its economic, social and political domains at the construction site and in France and America.

The case study research method of qualitative research has been adopted when comparing two mega projects executed in different time and space. For the Panama Canal project documentation investigation was performed. However, a semi-structured interview data collection method was adopted for the Palm Diera Island project. A comparative study of two projects helps in deeper understanding of cross-project management dimensions.

The research reveals that the French team failed to complete the Panama Canal construction project due to inadequate planning, inappropriate design, lack of risk management, health and safety of the staff and non-availability of finances. However, the Americans successfully completed construction of the canal within budget and time and this was due to the support of change in the purpose of the canal construction adding to achieve its commercial objectives and at the same time strengthen its naval presence. American took its construction as a national objective than the individual enterprise as executed by the French team.

Data collection for the Panama Canal was limited to only historical data available from the literature as documentary investigation. The researchers visited the canal to get in-depth understanding of the construction practices and the scale of construction. However, for the Palm Diera project, data collection was limited to three key personnel interviews.

The Americans were successful in completing the canal due to the US Government control on management and finances of the canal construction and lessons learned during the French construction period. The paper serves as a benchmark for project management dimension in two different regions in different times. The paper bears economic implications for the construction of the mega projects both in South America and the Middle East. Cost overrun construction of the Panama Canal during the French period influenced political spectrum in France resulting into the defeat of the government. During the American period of construction first time out of country visit by the sitting president of the USA reflects its economic and social importance. The valley of death was converted into the valley comfort during the American period resulting into social welfare of the workers. Completion of the canal by the Americans helped them secure operations of the Panama Canal for the next 100 years, contributing to its economic and naval strength.

The paper reveals that safety and social implications for the work place in two different regions and at two different times. The impact of safe and improved working conditions at Palm Diera Island resulted into no injury or loss of life, however, during the Panama Canal construction more than 30,000 workers died affecting not only families of the respective workers but their nations as well. The impacts of both the projects on the society were also significant. The public opinion against the construction of the canal during the French period of construction was so significant that they had to abandon their construction equipment at the site. On the contrary, completion of construction of the Panama Canal during the French period helped secured political mileage for President Roosevelt and his party.

The paper benchmarks two different mega projects with different scope executed in two different regions at the lapse of a century. No such research work was found to have compared project management dimensions of two mega projects at the lapse of a century and in two different regions.