Abstract
Business incubators are structurally complex and have resisted any major change to their internal structure, replicating throughout the world in large numbers, and delivering value through numerous models. A question, thus arises, what specific structural properties of incubators facilitate the organizational form’s replication and performance in a range of institutional contexts? In order to shed light on this question, an exploratory-inductive approach is adopted; and, utilizing the tools of organization theory, the internal environment of the business incubator is de-coded. This draws attention to attributes of the hybrid incubator-form’s internal structural properties that have not been discussed in the past, including de-coupling issues and the mis-alignment of managerial incentives with the actual role of incubating. These properties, rather than impacting incubators’ status, award incubators with ceremonial value and help their managements avoid close inspections of performance. This in turn, it is proposed, has allowed for their rapid replication in a variety of socio- cultural, economic and institutional contexts.
Highlights
Business and technology incubators became popular in the United States in the 1980s and have since spread throughout the world as a means of supporting the development and growth of start-up companies and facilitating the commercialization of scientific and technological innovations (Mas-Verdu et al 2015; Saand Lee 2012)
[DubInc Incubator management (IM)] ‘‘...We do a lot of work with our existing clients and people walking in but there is no way to show the impact of all this effort...we want to start compiling data about our clients and the progress they make...so when we present our case to Enterprise Ireland we will have concrete figures...’’
The two contributions inducted via the analysis of case data and by drawing on the literature on hybrid organizations, highlighted the reasons why incubators’ internal structure remains robust, withstanding all forms of scrutiny and criticism, to replicate, and rapidly spread across the globe, becoming a favorite public policy mechanism for economic regeneration and job creation
Summary
Business and technology incubators became popular in the United States in the 1980s and have since spread throughout the world as a means of supporting the development and growth of start-up companies and facilitating the commercialization of scientific and technological innovations (Mas-Verdu et al 2015; Saand Lee 2012). Sometimes known by other names, such as research parks or innovation centres (Aernoudt 2004), they operate by providing entrepreneurs with an array of targeted resources and services such as low-cost space, shared equipment and services, and a range of administrative, consulting and networking. Their main objective is to produce successful firms that will leave the programme financially viable and freestanding (Bollingtoft and Ulhoi 2012; Grimaldi and Grandi 2005; Hackett and Dilts 2004a). Business incubators-incubation is utilized by a wide range of actors (e.g., public sector science and technology laboratories, academic institutions, development authorities and corporations) in an array of traditional [example: for-profit, not-for-profit, hybrid (Allen and McCluskey 1990) and campus (Mian 1997)] and new [example: virtual (Nowak and Grantham 2000); specialist (Schwartz and Hornych 2008), and the ‘business accelerator’ (Cohen 2013)] models for purposes ranging from economic development to promotion of technology entrepreneurship and innovation (Bruneel et al 2012)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
