Business incubators: mechanisms to boost business innovation capacity. Analysis of business incubators in the Community of Madrid

Abstract

Objective: This research describes and validates how business incubators act as dynamic mechanisms that promote the innovation capacity of companies. Methodology: There are two parts. First, a review of the literature related to entrepreneurship, mainly from reports of organizations focused on entrepreneurship such as Funcas, GEM, European Commission, Spain Emprende, etc ... and, second, a Delphi analysis was carried out by entrepreneurship experts with different training and professional experience, from business incubators of the Community of Madrid, as it is the effect of business incubators on the innovation capacity of companies in Madrid that is under study. Results: The experts believe that the projects created in the business incubators are innovative projects that allow the implementation of technological advances or new forms of business organization reducing costs and development time. Their main purpose is to seek and help innovative projects that create a much more solid and dynamic business ecosystem and to lower the level of uncertainty. Therefore, the relationship between business incubators and innovation capacity (CTI) is clear, as they are among the best tools to allow innovation capacity to grow continuously and effectively, without the need for large investments. Limitations: As with any qualitative study, despite the attempt to quantify the results through the arithmetic mean, the results are restricted to interpretation, as the subject studied is of social interest but is not a topic of mass dissemination. To broaden responses and ensure the quality of our study, the Delphi methodology was chosen, and this restricts the number of respondents. Although we tried to expand the profile of our panel as much as possible, any bias and subjectivity that may exist cannot be removed completely. Due tothe cultural background, age or gender of the experts, this methodology is very dependent on the wording of the questions and how they are interpreted. Practical implications: This research allows for a greater understanding of the capacity for innovation of business incubators in Madrid, based on the opinion of experts in the areas of business incubators and entrepreneurship, with the main purpose of learning more about the functions and advantages of business incubators. Thus, entrepreneurs can better benefit from them and both private and public institutions can promote them.