Academic Entrepreneurial Behavior: Birds of more than one feather

Abstract

While Entrepreneurial behavior involves starting and running a new venture (Gartner, 1988), it seems that Academic entrepreneurial behavior (AEB) is somewhat unique as it extends beyond a focus on startups to include both commercial and non-commercial activities (Abreu and Grinevichb, 2013). Additionally, AEB is influenced by both financial and non-financial rewards (Lam, 2010). Despite these differences, studies of AEB have typically focused primarily on academics who have participated (or intend to participate) in a university spinout, as if all academic entrepreneurs are birds of the same feather. Expanding the unit of analysis to also include academics not participating in commercial activities could provide insights for the development of AEB. An in-depth qualitative analysis of 30 life science academics in Australia indicates the presence of four distinctive categories of AEB: non-entrepreneurial, semi-entrepreneurial, pre-entrepreneurial and entrepreneurial. More interestingly, the same academic can exhibit different AEB in relation to different research project(s) and depending on the available support mechanisms (particularly financial). Our findings suggest that AEB is not necessarily driven by opportunity recognition, and research on the topic must consider other factors beyond the individual academic, such as the project and funding mechanisms.