Transcript Welcome to SOCI 2P11

Re-inventing collectivism?
Using innovation collectives
to create and grow new technology firms
David Hudson
Sprott School of Business, Carleton University,
Ottawa, ON, Canada
Stoyan Tanev
Institute of Technology Innovation
Integrative Innovation Management Unit
University of Southern Denmark
Odense, Denmark
1
Introduction



Summary of lessons learned from action research
program resulting in a model with 10 hypotheses
examining university spin-off efficiency.
Formation of academic spin-off is conceptualized to be
embedded in a collective that includes entrepreneurs
and those who help them transform their ideas into
ventures.
Ten factors organized into two constructs



idea-venture path
collective structure
The two constructs are identified as determinants of
academic spin-off efficiency.
2
Objective


Examining the factors that affect academic spin-off
efficiency.
Action research program including the launching and
operation of five collectives that support startup
formation over a nine-year period:






Lead to Win 2002 (business creation)
Talent First Network 2002-2006 (OS tech commercialization)
Lead to Win 2009+ (business creation)
Coral CEA 2010+ (Communications Enabled Applications)
1000 KOTS 2011+ (Keystone of the Shelf startups)
All five collectives associated with the Technology
Innovation Management program at Carleton U
3
Action research context


Student entrepreneurs engage into collectives for the
purpose of transforming their ideas into ventures along
a specific idea-spin off path.
A collective is comprised of






student entrepreneurs, academics, mentors
individuals who participate in user involvement initiatives
personnel who work for economic development organizations
providers of incubation services and risk capital
company managers.
Each student entrepreneur leads a self-organizing
team, contributes specific domain knowledge and
professional network ties, and interacts with other
members of the collective.
4
Research model
Idea spin off path
 Product or process

Distinctiveness of offer / operations
 Fit with system level opportunity
 Proper use of OS technology


Learning and acting costs
Ties with external groups

# of external groups
 Strength of ties
Collective structure
 Diversity
Spin-off efficiency
 Cost
 Time

Knowledge
 Payoff horizon


Stakeholder involvement initiatives
Reputation
5
Path-related factors - I

Distinctiveness
Hypothesis 1: The greater the distinctiveness of a venture’s
offer or operational process, the higher the probability of
academic spin-off efficiency.

Fit with system level opportunity
Hypothesis 2: The greater the fit of a venture’s offer to a
system level opportunity being carried out by the collective,
the higher the probability of academic spin-off efficiency.

Use of open source technology
Hypothesis 3: The greater the extent of proper use of open
source technology, the higher the probability of academic
spin-off efficiency.
6
Path-related factors - II

Learning and acting costs
Hypothesis 4: The lower the cost of learning from other
entrepreneurs and venture stakeholders, the higher the
probability of academic spin-off efficiency.

Ties with external groups
Hypothesis 5: The greater the number of groups that an
entrepreneur can access through ties with other members of
the collective, the higher the probability of academic spin-off
efficiency.

Tie strength
Hypothesis 6: The stronger the ties between the
entrepreneur and members of the collective, the higher the
probability of academic spin-off efficiency.
7
Collective -related factors - I

Knowledge diversity
Hypothesis 7: The greater the knowledge diversity of the
collective, the higher the probability of academic spin-off
efficiency.

“Time-to-payoff” diversity
Hypothesis 8: The greater the time-to-payoff diversity of
the collective, the higher the probability of academic spin-off
efficiency.
8
Collective -related factors - II

Stakeholder interaction
Hypothesis 9: The greater the number of stakeholder
involvement initiatives in which an entrepreneur can
participate to shape and harden his opportunity, the higher
the probability of academic spin-off efficiency.

Reputation
Hypothesis 10: The stronger the reputation of the
collective, the higher the probability of academic spin-off
efficiency.
9
Conclusion

Highlighting the importance of the structure of the
collective in which the development of an academic
spin-off occurs



identifying the collective-related factors expected to increase
academic spin-off efficiency
Examining the time and cost efficiency over all the
phases of the development of an academic spin-off, not
just the later phases
Focusing on the results of action research carried out
over a nine-year period

operating five collectives that focused on the creation of
successful ventures
10