Abstract
Extant literature on the antecedents of university spin-off (USO) business performance has developed with the aim of highlighting those drivers that could foster the performance of such firms, focusing on a variety of factors. Less interest has been devoted to the market orientation–performance relationship, despite the positive link frequently found in the marketing literature. The aim of the present paper is therefore to fill this gap and investigate the relationship between market orientation (MO) and USO performance using the Netval database of Italian research spin-offs. To measure MO, we adopted an ad hoc questionnaire, and after testing its validity with a factor analysis, we performed a regression model. The results show that MO, particularly some of its components (customer intelligence generation, intelligence dissemination, integration and inter-functional coordination), has an impact on business performance. This contribution presents some valuable research implications useful for academics, but professionals from new high-tech ventures and technology transfer offices may also benefit from this knowledge.
Highlights
While most of the previous studies examined larger companies, our study focuses on university spin-offs (USOs), offering empirical evidence of the positive relationship between market orientation (MO) and business performance in the context of new ventures stemming from academic departments and research laboratories
Regarding the first research question, our study highlights the existence of four MO dimensions relevant for USOs: dissemination, integration and interfunctional coordination (DIIC), competitor intelligence generation (CIGE), proactive customer intelligence generation (PCIG) and responsive customer intelligence generation (RCIG)
Taking up the second research question, we may conclude that the relationship between university spin-offs’ MO and performance may be more complex than that analysed in this study, our research provides some empirical evidence suggesting that better performance may be achieved by USOs adopting a “market orientation” in running their business
Summary
Difficulties developing and maintaining a sustainable competitive advantage over time appear to be widespread (Di Gregorio and Shane 2003; Mustar et al 2008; Yagüe-Perales and March-Chordà 2012; Buratti et al 2014a, b, 2015). Based on this evidence, some studies have tried to highlight the possible causes of such performance limitations (among others: O'Shea et al 2005; Wu 2007; Fitza et al 2009; Helm et al 2010; Hesse and Sternberg 2017), pointing out, among their weaknesses, the way such firms are run. Academics may be skilled at innovating within the research domain; yet, this may be of little use for identifying opportunities within the commercial context (Lockett et al 2005; Rasmussen et al 2011)
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