We live in a rapidly changing global competitive environment where new knowledge is created, disseminated, and commercialized to provide innovative products and services. In this global competitive environment where the rapid developments are experienced in the fields of science and technology, countries must increase their ability to produce new knowledge and to commercialize it by converting new technologies to take quick and competitive steps. In contrast to most researches conducted in the private sector, the main purpose of researches carried out in universities is to produce new academic knowledge. For this reason, universities are the primary source of new knowledge production.Therefore, University spin-off companies are an important agency for dissemination and commercialization of new knowledge. What about innovative start-ups? Are they important agencies for dissemination and commercialization of new knowledge like university spin-offs? Or they are really different?
Dear Yesim,
University spin-offs, as you said, is an important agency for commercialization of new technology. Some universities, for example, Beijing university, Stanford, and MIT are universities which have structured to make new knowledge into products and services through spin-offs. These spin-offs , in reciprocity , provide funds to generate more Knowledge (i.e., Dell computers of Stanford). Basis for growth of University and spin-off collaboration is reciprocity.
The one difference between university spin-off and private sector innovation is mode of investment for R&D. Most of the universities around the world are partly or full funded by public. Then universities are obliged to serve the public. Private sector, on the other hand, invest their own funds to generate knowledge focused on a product or services which they believe bring high dividends and also have en entrepreneurial strategy to protect their technical know-how. However, universities do not focus only on commercialization but on the knowledge, irrespective of the rate of rerun on investment. Also entrepreneurial strategy may not as rigorous as those of private sector. The focus is new knowledge and disseminates that knowledge to public. Entrepreneurial individuals may use this knowledge to gain profit while serving the public.
Because of difference in underlined principles on sincerity and reciprocity, sustainability of new products and service of university spin-offs may be higher than those of private sector although they are sources of innovation
Sure, innovative start-ups not necessarily coincide with university spin-offs.
The attached survey paper can be of some interest to you.
I agree with Francesco,
The first and foremost thing we have to do is to define terms in use: University spin-off and innovative start-ups. I assumed innovative start-ups are coming up without the influence of universities.
The most important difference may be the process of opportunity discovery or the creation. University spin-offs are discovered taking calculable risk while innovative start-ups are creations under uncertainty. The latter's imaginative power could be enhanced, if there are systems in universities to nurture the owners of those innovative-start ups. That may help them discover more opportunities and exploit them rather than creating opportunities under uncertainty.
Upananda
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