TY - JOUR

T1 - Alternative growth patterns of university spin-offs

T2 - why so many remain small?

AU - Hesse, Nora

AU - Sternberg, Rolf

N1 - Funding information: This work was prepared in the context of the research project “University spin-offs in Lower Saxony and their regional economic impact: empirical evidence from Hannover and Göttingen”. It was funded from 2010 to 2013 by the Ministry for Science and Culture of Lower Saxony, Germany, grant no. AZ. 76202-17-5/09. Our special thanks go to the research team member Arne Vorderwülbecke as well as the interviewees for spending their valuable time and sharing their deeply interesting insights. Furthermore, we would like to thank Jürgen Brünjes at the German Centre for Research on Higher Education and Science Studies (DZHW), Christoph Alfken and other colleagues at the Institute of Economic and Cultural Geography of the Leibniz Universität Hannover as well as the participants at the 17th Annual Interdisciplinary Entrepreneurship Conference (G-Forum 2013) and 17th Uddevalla Symposium 2014 for their valuable comments on an earlier draft.

PY - 2017/9

Y1 - 2017/9

N2 - The aim of this paper is to provide explanations for alternative growth patterns of university spin-offs using qualitative research methods. By matching the willingness of academic entrepreneurs to the ability of university spin-offs to grow, four basic types of university spin-offs are derived: ambitious, unwilling, saturated and impeded university spin-offs. By combining theoretical considerations from a specific concept of growth phases and empirical regularities from 68 university spin-offs we construct eight different subtypes of university spin-offs. The results show that the majority of university spin-offs either lacks entrepreneurial growth intentions or is impeded by reasons caused by personal characteristics of the academic entrepreneur, the university spin-off or the external environment. Some subtypes like life stylists, entrepreneurial academics and late bloomers face problems or share attitudes that are very specific in the context of university spin-offs. This paper contributes to the literature on university spin-off growth by providing an in-depth analysis of the underlying reasons for the founders’ willingness and ability to grow or not to grow. This study also reflects the heterogeneity of university spin-off growth and considers the evolutionary perspective. Growth is not only understood as a consequence of an economic process but also a personal and social process. In this way, this study augments the existing concepts of growth phases.

AB - The aim of this paper is to provide explanations for alternative growth patterns of university spin-offs using qualitative research methods. By matching the willingness of academic entrepreneurs to the ability of university spin-offs to grow, four basic types of university spin-offs are derived: ambitious, unwilling, saturated and impeded university spin-offs. By combining theoretical considerations from a specific concept of growth phases and empirical regularities from 68 university spin-offs we construct eight different subtypes of university spin-offs. The results show that the majority of university spin-offs either lacks entrepreneurial growth intentions or is impeded by reasons caused by personal characteristics of the academic entrepreneur, the university spin-off or the external environment. Some subtypes like life stylists, entrepreneurial academics and late bloomers face problems or share attitudes that are very specific in the context of university spin-offs. This paper contributes to the literature on university spin-off growth by providing an in-depth analysis of the underlying reasons for the founders’ willingness and ability to grow or not to grow. This study also reflects the heterogeneity of university spin-off growth and considers the evolutionary perspective. Growth is not only understood as a consequence of an economic process but also a personal and social process. In this way, this study augments the existing concepts of growth phases.

KW - Academic entrepreneur

KW - Business development

KW - Entrepreneurship

KW - Growth ability

KW - Growth intention

KW - University spin-off

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85007507136&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1007/s11365-016-0431-6

DO - 10.1007/s11365-016-0431-6

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85007507136

VL - 13

SP - 953

EP - 984

JO - International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal

JF - International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal

SN - 1554-7191

IS - 3

ER -