Comparative Analysis of the Level of Satisfaction with the Services Received at the Business Incubators (Hazleton, PA, USA and Gliwice, Poland)

Radosław Wolniak,Bożena Skotnicka-Zasadzień,Michalene Eva Grebski

doi:10.3390/su11102889

Radosław Wolniak, Bożena Skotnicka-Zasadzień + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/su11102889

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Abstract

This paper consists of a detailed comprehensive analysis of the client company satisfaction of services received at business incubator centers in the United States (USA) and Poland. This paper also includes how clients rated the importance of different services, which were provided to them at two business incubator centers; clients were generally satisfied with the services they received from the business incubators. Some services were not offered at both incubators to the same extent, which created discrepancy in the assessment results. The clients at the CAN-BE business incubator center already received extensive help from volunteers as well as Penn State faculty and students. However, the highest priority is still assigned to further increase those services. The client companies at the TECHNOPARK business incubator center received very limited help from volunteers, faculty, and students, as they assigned a low priority to those resources. The reason for that may be a lack of exposure and lack of understanding of the extremely valuable services provided by an incubation center. The aim of this article is to compare, analyze, and evaluate the operation of the GLIWICE TECHNOPARK and Hazleton, PA, USA incubation centers from a client satisfaction point of view.

Highlights

Speaking, an incubator is a mechanism in which babies born prematurely are kept warm and safe in a controlled environment
This study focused on two business incubator centers: CAN-BE in Hazleton, PA, United States (USA) and TECHNOPARK in Gliwice, Poland
Both centers provide a wide variety of services to client companies in the pre-incubation, incubation, and post-incubation stages

Summary

Introduction

An incubator is a mechanism in which babies born prematurely are kept warm and safe in a controlled environment. New organizations are born and kept safe by an array of support services provided by an incubator center. Business incubator centers are widely used to provide a good environment for new organizations. It is not easy to grow a new organization. The effectiveness of the incubator center depends on the level of services provided by it. Without the appropriate services on all stages of incubation process, it cannot be useful and cannot fulfill its role as a safe environment for a growing organization. It is difficult to achieve a sufficient level of economic development without using business incubator centers. On all stages of the process, we think that incubator centers should achieve a good satisfaction level from their clients

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