Role and contributions of an incubator in academic intrapreneurship – An examination

Abstract

Over the past two decades, the changing mission and goals of universities have led to a surge in the literature on academia. However, academic intrapreneurship has not received sufficient attention. Very little is known about how intrapreneurial processes and activities are facilitated and supported in academia. Many universities have established incubators to support entrepreneurship on their campuses. However, incubators' role and contributions in facilitating intrapreneurship in the academic environment are underexplored. The present study addresses this gap. Specifically, the study's research objective is to examine an incubator's role and contributions in academic intrapreneurship. It examines the case of an incubator housed in a business school environment and leverages the academic intrapreneurship literature as its theoretical anchor. Qualitative thematic analysis was conducted on the primary data collected by interviewing 34 individuals who represented all the facets of the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Secondary data that included annual reports, articles, and information from incubator websites, startups, and other ecosystem stakeholders provided additional data for the analysis. The study revealed that the incubator has acted as an enabler for the diversification of the host institution, as a vehicle for developing intrapreneurial capabilities, and as a conduit for organizational learning. It contributes to the academic intrapreneurship literature by explaining how an academic incubator can facilitate the development of academic intrapreneurship and intrapreneurial capabilities in academia. The study outcomes also provide pragmatic directions and insights to the management of universities and incubation centers housed within them, the incubation management personnel, prospective entrepreneurs, and all the ecosystem stakeholders in areas relevant to their operations.