Abstract
PurposeConsistent with the knowledge spillover theory of entrepreneurship, the purpose of this paper is to recognise the complementary entrepreneurial role of knowledge transfer intermediary organisations in the context of two Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries: Poland and the Czech Republic.Design/methodology/approachThe aim was achieved through empirical studies relying on multiple-case study methodology and cross-case analysis covering 21 cases of commercialisation intermediary institutions. It was assumed that institutional and geographical conditions can impact the knowledge-based opportunity exploitation between different national economies.FindingsResearch confirmed that scientists in Poland and the Czech Republic are the central figures of the commercialisation process in terms of entrepreneurial opportunity recognition; however, they need support from intermediary organisations in many other entrepreneurial activities. The history of knowledge commercialisation and its intermediating entities in these countries is relatively young and spin-off company creation is not a common practice. Expertise knowledge, creativity and self-confidence admitted, by the respondents in both countries, can be an optimistic sign for the future efforts in fostering innovativeness of CEE countries. Stronger support of formal institutional framework and policies in those countries is expected.Originality/valueScience commercialisation has lately attracted much attention, but only a few studies have tried to develop conceptual frameworks considering knowledge-based entrepreneurship and knowledge commercialisation in their relations and subsequential roles. Also, over the past couple of years literature in this area has expanded mainly relying on observations in the USA and Western European countries. Hence, this study allowed to collect findings from CEE countries for which data are still insufficient but can significantly contribute to the theory development. Also, some recommendations for policymakers arise from this study. Further research could validate the results in an extensive quantitative study.
Highlights
There has been a growing interest in international studies concerning research productivity and the effects of scientists’ work through the commercialisation process (Moutinho et al, 2016; Reyes, 2016; Hayter et al, 2018; Suhaimi et al, 2020)
Research commercialisation through the intellectual property creation, knowledge transfer and new venture formation is closely related to both knowledge-based entrepreneurship (KBE) and academic entrepreneurship, which are both related to the phenomenon of entrepreneurship
Based on a literature search in leading management and commercialisation journals, we identified articles that used empirical data from science entrepreneurship and commercialisation to explore the role of knowledge transfer intermediary organisations in different countries, especially in Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries
Summary
There has been a growing interest in international studies concerning research productivity and the effects of scientists’ work through the commercialisation process (Moutinho et al, 2016; Reyes, 2016; Hayter et al, 2018; Suhaimi et al, 2020). Research concentrates on internal factors, such as scientists’ intentions or motivations to commercialise their research results (Miranda et al, 2017; Nguyen et al, 2018; Neves and Brito, 2020) or on the complementary role of intermediary organisations, which support academics in the commercialisation process (O’Gorman et al, 2008; Clayton et al, 2018) Such intermediaries are generally seen as operating “behind the scenes” and their effectiveness is not fully recognised (Clayton et al, 2018) while their activities can be, in many cases, crucial for the success of science commercialisation, and they should exactly respond to the deficiencies in entrepreneurial capabilities of individual scientists or scientific teams. Intermediaries can even act as institutional entrepreneurs (Poppen and Decker, 2018), so it is not so obvious, who realise subsequent entrepreneurial functions in the commercialisation process
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