Abstract
A wealth of research in the past decades has examined born globals or international new ventures, which are firms that from inception view the whole world as a market and as a source to access resources. Many of these firms build their competitive advantage on high-tech knowledge. However, although many studies have shown how born globals can achieve success if they access resources through their relationships from actors in their networks, few studies have explored the relationship between born globals and universities. Universities are important actors in creating new technology knowledge, and many studies have shown how new firms, or so-called university spin-offs (USOs), are formed around universities. The current study explores why some USOs are successful in their international growth strategy and discusses the factors that influence and facilitate the internationalization process. The study investigates 10 USOs around the newly established Halmstad University in Sweden and finds that universities have a positive effect on firm creation and initial international growth. The regional competence base increases from the establishment of a local university, primarily by strengthening the regional human capital and by increasing university research. This study shows that researcher entrepreneurs’ ventures start as born globals, but that these firms do not continue to grow. Born global business models, per se, do not lead to competitive advantage and successful internationalization. Instead, a strategy built on customer focus and an ability to adapt to different customer demands lead to growth, and the location of growth is dependent on the size of the home market. This study also shows that student entrepreneurship can be a successful growth strategy for USOs focusing on both international and local markets.
Eine Menge von Forschung in den letzten Jahrzehnten haben “Born Globals” oder “International New Ventures” untersucht, das heisst Firmen, die von Anfang an die ganze Welt als ein Markt und als eine Quelle zu Zugang zu Ressourcen sehen. Viele dieser Firmen bauen ihre Wettbewerbsvorteile auf High-Tech-Wissen. Allerdings, obwohl viele Studien gezeigt haben, wie Born Globals Erfolg erzielen können, wenn sie Zugang zu Ressourcen durch ihre Beziehungen mit Akteuren in ihren Netzwerken suchen, wenige Studien haben die Beziehung zwischen Born Globals und Universitäten erforscht. Universitäten sind wichtige Akteure bei der Erzeugung der neuen Technologie Wissen, und viele Studien haben gezeigt, wie neue Firmen, oder so genannte Universitäts-Spin-offs (USOs) im Umfeld von Universitäten gebildet werden. Die aktuelle Studie untersucht warum einige USOs in ihrer internationalen Wachstumsstrategie erfolgreich sind, und diskutiert die Faktoren, die den Process der Internationalisierung beeinflussen und erleichtern. Die Studie untersucht 10 USOs in Umgebung der neu gegründeten Universität Halmstad in Schweden und stellt fest, dass Universitäten eine positive Wirkung auf Firmengründungen und das Initial des internationale Wachstums. Die regionale Kompetenzbasis nimmt von der Einrichtung einer örtlichen Universität zu, in erster Linie durch die regionale Stärkung des Humankapitals und durch Erhöhung der universitären Forschung. Diese Studie zeigt, dass Ventures der Forscher Unternehmer fangen als Born Globals an, aber dass diese Unternehmen nicht zu wachsen fortsetzen. Born Globale Geschäftsmodelle (oder Unternehmungsmodelle), per se, führen nicht zu Wettbewerbsvorteil und erfolgreiche Internationalisierung. Stattdessen wird eine Strategie für die Kundenorientierung und die Fähigkeit drauf unterschiedliche Kundenanforderungen anzupassen, zu Wachstum führen, und die Lage des Wachstums auf die Größe des Heimatmarktes abhängig ist. Diese Studie zeigt auch, dass Schüler Unternehmertum eine erfolgreiche Wachstumsstrategie für USOs auf beiden internationalen und lokalen Märkten konzentriert sein kann.
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Notes
The words spin-off and spin-out are used inconsistently among different authors in previous research, but a spin-off is usually connected with the start-up of a new firm, whereas a spin-out focuses on technologies or knowledge transferred from existing organizations (Lindholm Dahlstrand 2004). A spin-out could for example include academic research that is transferred to and commercialized in an already existing firm. Therefore, we use the term spin-off in this article to indicate our focus on new firm creation.
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The authors thank the KK foundation and the Swedish Research Council for financial support.
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Andersson, S., Berggren, E. Born global or local? Factors influencing the internationalization of university spin-offs—the case of Halmstad University. J Int Entrep 14, 296–322 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10843-016-0182-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10843-016-0182-z
Keywords
- International entrepreneurship
- Academic entrepreneurship
- Born globals
- University spin-offs
- Student entrepreneurs
- International new ventures