Abstract: This paper aims to broaden understanding how strategic opportunities for small business to enhance their competitiveness and improve their performance are multiplied when they are located in a trusted safe environment, such as the university business incubator. Evidence from the study of the evolution of a portfolio of high technology firms, with different market maturity and size, supported by a University Business Incubator in the United Kingdom, shows that the incubator environment can enhance the development of social networks that act to create the circumstances and the prolific environment to “make things happening”. A networked incubator can provide tremendous value to a small firm through connections that might help develop crucial strategic partnerships, recruit key people, and obtain visibility. This paper seeks to add to the university business incubator literature by exploring how such an environment enhances the development of internal networks among small firms, supporting the new entrepreneurs during the vital stages of firm foundation, and then facilitating progress towards growth strategies. The empirical material for this study was gathered from a tenant survey carried out at the University of Southampton Science Park.
Keywords: Networks, business incubators, inter-organisational relationships, networked incubator, university incubators, cooperation.
Title: The concept of engineered serendipity: how business networks develop around the university business incubator
Author: Cravero Irene
International Journal of Thesis Projects and Dissertations (IJTPD)
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