1 Introduction

Nowadays, in order to maintain or even increase their market position, companies are forced to adopt strategies that keep up with society's continuous changes, many of these changes being linked to technological progress. This factor has given rise to a different form of company creation, the so-called spin-offs.

Spin-off companies appeared in the US in the 1920s and became popular in the 1950s. In the European Union, the sixth Directive was issued in 1982 to coordinate the national legislation of member states and make spin-off transactions economically efficient. Date from which spin-offs become more popular in European Union countries.

In the literature, two types of spin-offs are identified, business/corporate and academic. An academic spin-off originates from a university and/or public research and development institution (Eiriz et al. 2012; Dzurpka and Vajda 2014). This results when one or several elements, working in these institutions, acquire technological knowledge or create a new technology or a new product, which will give rise to a new company, created with the help of the business incubator, generally existing in these institutions (Dzurpka and Vajda 2014; Di Gregorio and Shane 2003).

A business spin-off arises from another private company, the parent company, which, in order to concentrate its business area and create value, transfers the business area unrelated to its own to the spin-off (Ozbek 2020; Veld and Veld-Merkoulova 2009). The spin-off shares are distributed to the shareholders of the parent company and the spin-off becomes an independent company, a factor that distinguishes them from subsidiary companies.

It can be said that there are three common factors that lead to the creation of a spin-off (Nkongho and Makina 2020). First, the parent company transfers to a spin-off a business area that does not belong to its medium and long-term strategy (Daley et al. 1997). Second, the non-diversification of the business area allows investors, current or potential, to have a better understanding of the company's information and strategies (Bergh et al. 2008), reducing their risk and consequently lower cost of capital for the company (Bergh et al. 2008). Third, the corollary of the two previous factors is that the spin-off and parent company's market value increases, increasing shareholder wealth (Miles and Rosenfeld 1983).

The aim of this study is to analyze the influence of the parent company on the performance of business spin-offs. To this end, we intend to: (1) identify the factors that influence the creation of the spin-off, (2) know the resources, tangible and intangible, transferred by the parent company to spin off and (3) evaluate the spin-off performance in the post-spin-off period. The business world is increasingly competitive and the turbulence that arises causes unpredictability as to possible changes in the market. Many companies resort to the creation of spin-off companies as a way of responding to new commercial demands. This study seeks to answer several questions that arise with the creation of this type of company. This study is deemed essential given the lack of research in this area in Portugal and worldwide. Additionally, there are fewer studies on entrepreneurial spin-offs than on academic spin-offs (Poehlmann et al 2020; Shin and Keun Tae Cho 2020). This gap in the literature justifies the relevance of this article. It allows ascertaining the role of the parent company in spin-off practice, where one can assess the tangible and intangible resources, displaced by the parent company and evaluate its performance. This research is extremely pertinent given that there are few existing studies that assess the behavior of spin-offs in the post-spin-off period (Bruneel et al. 2012; Chu et al. 2010). This theme is current and crucial for the shareholders of the parent companies, who will also be shareholders of the spin-off. On the other hand, the results of this study are relevant not only for researchers in the field but also for all managers and shareholders who, by analyzing the before and after the spin-off's independence, shall be able to use this information to equate strategies to be implemented.

The methodology used is a quantitative study with descriptive design through a survey distributed by email with the access link to the questionnaire through Google Forms. The respondents in the sample are those who hold management positions in the US and Canadian spin-offs.

This article first presents the theme, the objectives and the importance of the research. The second part refers to the literature review, where the theoretical aspects that support the case study will be highlighted. The third part presents the methodology to achieve the proposed objectives and the sample under analysis, to subsequently present the empirical results.

2 Literature review

Although the literature mentions several spin-off classifications, only the corporate spin-offs that are the object of this article are analyzed.

A business spin-off is a company that arises from a business idea based on knowledge and skills developed in the parent company, which assumes the role of incubator similar to what happens with start-ups. The parent company provides technical support and resources; technological, financial and human (Borges and Filion 2013; Parhankangas and Arenius 2003) necessary to strengthen the spin-off. For Doloreux and Gubeli (2005) a spin-off is a high-tech company, with intellectual capital derived from research and development (R&D) developed in the parent company (Hessels et al. 2021). By gathering prior knowledge, the spin-off is able to add value to the products and/or services offered, thus allowing it to position itself with a competitive advantage in the market, with a positive impact on its growth and performance (Chai et al. 2018; Penela et al. 2019; Helm et al. 2018; Law and Yu 2018; Shin and Keun Tae Cho 2020; Poehlmann et al. 2020).

After separation, the spin-off becomes an independent company with an independent board of directors and management team (Chemmanur and Paeglis 2005; Zarea Fazlelahi et al. 2022). Despite the spin-off autonomously exploring new knowledge and enjoying freedom from the parent company (Bernardt et al. 2002), it continues to use it to implement its objectives in the post-spin-off period (Tübke 2004). Hence, the spin-off's total independence from the parent company is still questionable (Chemmanur and Paeglis 2005; Zarea Fazlelahi et al. 2022).

From the literature review, it can be concluded that there are different factors that could lead to the creation of a spin-off, depending on the constraints of the parent company. Noteworthy are the concentration of the business area, the reduction in agency costs, the reduction in risk for the company and for investors (Boreiko and Murgia 2013), the reduction in the size of the company (Wachtell and Rosen 2014), restructuring (Penela et al. 2019), tax benefits (Shin and Keun Tae Cho 2020) and increased wealth and shareholder returns (Poehlmann et al. 2020).

Regardless of these factors, this decision only exists if it is beneficial to its shareholders, as the main objective of financial management is to maximize their and the company's value, which may arise from several factors. The shares arising from the creation of the spin-off are distributed by the shareholders of the parent company as a form of dividends in stock, but tax-exempt (Veld and Veld-Merkoulova 2009; Poehlmann et al. 2020; Shin and Keun Tae Cho 2020).

The creation of the spin-off reduces the size of the parent company with advantages for the company and for the shareholders. Companies with very different business areas present greater risk compared to companies with more concentrated business areas, hence the spin-off favors the reduction in the business areas of the two companies and thus reduces the risk (Boreiko and Murgia 2013) with beneficial effect on operating income (Slovin et al. 1995). Strategy that is an investment opportunity for many investors (Wachtell and Rosen 2014). At the same time, the larger the size of the company, the greater the information asymmetry. The spin-off, by reducing the size of the parent company, improves the quality of information, benefiting current and potential investors via risk reduction and, consequently, lower cost of capital for the company (Krishnaswami and Subramaniam 1999). Reducing agency costs helps both companies improve their operational performance (Cumming and Mallie 1999) and simultaneously increases equity efficiency (Choi 2019; Wachtell and Rosen 2014). One way for companies to circumvent anti-concentration laws is through the division of the business area (Canina and Klein 1998). Pöhlmann et al. (2021) found that there are crucial factors for the success of spin-offs, such as age, initial size, introduction of novelties in the market, as well as the parent company's commercial contacts. The reduction in the size of the parent company makes it less attractive, protecting it from hostile takeover bids, without, however, reducing the value for its shareholders as they keep shares in the spin-off (Sullivan and Cromwell 2010).

It can also be mentioned that the concentration of the business area allows the company to be restructured, reducing internal bureaucracy and adapting its capital structure to the business area, with the consequent reallocation of debt, which in some cases, part of it is transferred to the new company. It is thus concluded that the creation of a spin-off does not generate direct gains for the parent company, but these gains are obtained indirectly (Daley et al. 1997).

The creation of a spin-off can also be a way of overcoming conflicts that may eventually exist between parent companies and their subsidiary, providing the opportunity for the latter to be independent (Sullivan and Cromwell 2010).

For Luc and Filion (2002) highlight the positive aspects of creating the spin-off for the parent company: (1) greater focus on its business area, (2) increase in products/services offered, (3) exploration of new markets with the creation of spin-off, (4) increased bargaining power with suppliers, (5) maintenance of jobs, with the transfer of some workers to the spin-off, (6) attraction of more specialized human resources with greater knowledge and (7) appreciation of the company's social role.

The success of a spin-off depends, among other factors, on the resources that are transferred from the parent company during a certain period so that it becomes independent and strong, but also on its employees, who most often come from of the parent company and were trained in it. The parent company transfers resources to the spin-off before it becomes independent (Moog and Soost 2020), but, in some cases, they continue after independence (Penela et al. 2019). The transferred resources can be tangible or intangible and these are identified on the company's balance sheet. However, there are other resources, in addition to those identified as human capital, innovation capabilities (Clarysse et al. 2011), customer service reputation, databases and the information system, company culture, among others. (Holloman et al. 2013). Bernardt et al. (2002) group the resources transferred by the parent company into five categories: financial, human (Chu et al. 2010), social, physical and organizational. Human resources include the experience and intelligence of employees who were trained at the parent company (Holloman et al. 2013). Social capital includes the network of customers and suppliers that are associated with the new company due to the reputation of the parent company (Bernardt et al. 2002). Organizational resources include informal and formal relationships between groups within the company (Holloman et al. 2013).

It is concluded that the spin-off is one of the strategies used by the parent company to promote entrepreneurship. Some authors note that spin-offs have high growth rates and substantially lower mortality rates than other companies, in addition to representing an important source of innovation and a more efficient response to new market needs (Law and Yu 2018; Helm et al. 2018; Chai et al. 2018; Penela et al. 2019).

It should also be noted that society, notably businesses, have recently witnessed an unprecedented change (Fülöp et al. 2022). The pandemic by COVID-19 changed the way of commerce, as mandatory confinement forced the closure of physical shops. Businesses, as well as customers, had to adapt to this new reality, and we saw the growth of online commerce, which was for some time almost the only form of commerce. Spin-offs were not unaware of this new reality, as adaptation was crucial to the development of their activity/business. These companies offer high technology products whose target market is essentially the young, who are responsible for the largest percentage of online purchases. To this end, spin-offs had to adapt to market needs and demands and to their customers' specific culture. The easiness of use, trust, mobility, and customer involvement influences the behavioral intention of the customer to use online commerce, but the usefulness and customization do not influence the behavioral intention (Akram et al. 2021).

3 Methodology and sample

From the literature review, it is concluded that the spin-off is a company created by the parent company, but independent of it, a characteristic that distinguishes it from a subsidiary. The option for the creation of a spin-off comes from advantages, for the parent company and for its shareholders.

The main objective of this work is to analyze the influence of the parent company on spin-off performance. To achieve this objective, the following research questions are defined:

[Q1]: What factors influence the creation of the spin-off.

[Q2]: What resources were transferred from the parent company to the spin-off.

[Q3]: What is the relationship that the spin-off maintains with the parent company in the post-spin-off period.

[Q4]: How does the spin-off perform in the post-spin-off period and its future prospects.

The analysis developed intends to respond to the stated questions. To this end, a survey was structured based on the survey developed by Cardoso et al. (2021) and on the literature review. This, in addition to the questions that characterize the spin-off, includes structured questions to answer the stated research hypotheses.

The population of this study are spin-off companies incorporated in Canada and the USA between the years 2018 and 2020. In the research, intentional sampling was used, as the questionnaire was sent by email and completed by employees of the spin-offs that occupy director/management positions in these companies. Of the 155 e-mails sent requesting the completion of the survey, a response was obtained from 31, which represents the sample under analysis. The distribution of the survey started in January 2021 and the last collection took place in January 2022. This twelve-month period is justified by the fact that there are different stages for completing the survey. When potential respondents did not respond to the survey by a certain date, a new e-mail was sent, asking for it to be completed, but with a new, longer date.

In certain questions, respondents mark their degree of importance, using the liker scale. When the results have a mean value greater than three, it can be gauged that, on average, the respondents agree, and when the mean value is less than three, on average, there is a disagreement.

The companies that make up the sample are analyzed confidentially, a requirement imposed by the respondents, hence their activity is not identified, only that they belong to the secondary and tertiary sector. For this same reason, the characterization of the sample under analysis in this study will not be performed.

In the statistical treatment of the data and hypothesis testing EViews 9 is used. The research defined a confidence interval of 95% and a statistical significance level of 5% for the statistical test, Student's T, in the evaluation of the statistical significance of the variables under analysis.

4 Empirical results

To assess the degree of agreement of respondents to factors that influence the parent company to create the spin-off, a set of statements is provided for respondents to rate on a scale of one to five, from strongly agree (5 points), to not agree neither disagree (3 points) and strongly disagree (1 point). The statements with an average value above 3, it is concluded that, on average, the respondents agree, conversely, those with a value below 3, the respondents disagree. Table 1 presents the results of each of the statements, in which it appears that there are different reasons for creating a spin-off, as analyzed in the literature review (Law and Yu 2018; Poehlmann et al. 2020).

Table 1 Factors that influence the creation of a spin-off
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Based on the question of which factors influence the parent company to create the spin-off, a set of statements is provided for respondents to identify their degree of agreement. The scale used is the Liker scale, ranging from 1 to 5, from totally agree (5 points), to neither agree nor disagree (3 points) and totally disagree (1 point). If the mean value of the statement is above 3, it follows that on average, respondents agree, on the contrary, if the mean value of the statement is below 3, respondents disagree.

The last option—Others, allows the interviewee to identify another factor that influences the creation of the spin-off, but not listed in the previous ones.

The table shows the mean (M) and standard deviation (S.D.) for each statement according to the Liker scale.

From Table 1, the factors that most contributed to boosting the parent company to create a spin-off were the concentration of its business area, which reflected in the reduction in its risk (4.56) and consequently in the maximization of shareholder value (4.80) as well as avoiding conflicts between the two companies (3.19).

The concentration of the business area for the parent company is relevant when the business areas are very different requiring different strategies and different markets.

Another widely identified factor is the maximization of the company's market value and respective value for the shareholders, which is not surprising as this is one of the financial management objectives. Boreiko and Murguia (2013) find that after the spin-off announcement, there is an increase in the share price, due to the preference of investors for shares of companies with little diversified business areas (Wachtell and Rosen 2014), but also because these companies have less information asymmetry, attracting investors. It should be noted that shareholders see their wealth increase not only through the increase in the price of their shares, but also through dividends in action, as they receive shares from the spin-off. One way to overcome the conflicts between the parent company and the spin-off, as they have different strategic objectives, is to make the spin-off an independent company (Sullivan and Cromwell 2010).

The other factors presented in Table 1, despite contributing to the creation of the spin-off, are less relevant, except for tax evasion. All respondents strongly disagree (1.00) that tax evasion influences the creation of the spin-off. However, it is not known whether the respondents did not identify it for fear of being interpreted as less ethical behavior.

It is concluded that with the creation of the spin-off, two companies emerge, independent of each other and with the opportunity to grow in a way that is adequate to their business area, adopting specific policies, such as: risk reduction, maximizing the market value of the company, adequacy of the strategy in terms of capital structure, reallocation of liabilities, reduction in bureaucracy and conflicts and consequently the reduction in the cost of capital.

Table 2 aims to assess the degree of agreement of respondents to challenges faced by spin-offs.

Table 2 Challenges faced by the spin-off
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Based on the question of the main challenges faced by the spin-off, a set of statements is provided for respondents to identify their degree of agreement. The scale used is the Liker scale, ranging from 1 to 5, from totally agree (5 points), to neither agree nor disagree (3 points) and totally disagree (1 point). If the mean value of the statement is above 3, it follows that on average, respondents agree, on the contrary, if the mean value of the statement is below 3, respondents disagree.

The last option—Others, allows the interviewee to identify another factor that influences the creation of the spin-off, but not listed in the previous ones.

The table shows the mean (M) and standard deviation (S.D.) for each statement according to the Liker scale.

Table 2 shows that respondents agree with all the challenges listed, with an average ranging from 3.12 to 4.27, only two have a higher average, but not much, compared to the others. Hence, it can be concluded that spin-offs, after their constitution, face a set of challenges. The high competition in the spin-off market may lead to a decrease in its market share. At the same time, it will have to carry out an efficient management of its resources and cumulatively, it will also have to efficiently manage its human resources. The resources transferred by the parent company are crucial for the success of the spin-off, but after the separation, they find that the resources transferred by the parent company are insufficient, forcing their managers to allocate them efficiently to overcome this limitation. In this allocation, it is important to prepare employees for the new company and relocate them to the right place. Sometimes, these companies find it difficult to retain their best employees, as they feel insecure in the recently created company, which encourages them to move to other companies, namely their competitors, hence the difficulty in retaining good employees.

After the separation, the two companies have a less diversified business area and less information asymmetry, consequently the risk is lower and there is a greater probability that profitability will increase, hence the greater vulnerability to hostile takeovers (Halai 2015). Sales of the products or services marketed by the spin-off through the parent company may not be beneficial to the selling company, as part of the proceeds from these sales may be appropriated by the parent company.

Table 3 presents the resources that the parent company transferred to the spin-off.

Table 3 Resources transferred from parent company to spin-off
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Based on the question of the resources that the parent company transferred to the spin-off, a set of statements is provided for respondents to identify their degree of agreement. The scale used is the Liker scale, ranging from 1 to 5, from totally agree (5 points), to neither agree nor disagree (3 points) and totally disagree (1 point). If the mean value of the statement is above 3, it follows that on average, respondents agree, on the contrary, if the mean value of the statement is below 3, respondents disagree.

The table shows the mean (M) and standard deviation (S.D.) for each statement according to the Liker scale.

In Table 3, none of the respondents mentions the non-transfer of resources from the parent company to the spin-off (1.00), and they recognize that the most transferred resources are knowledge (4.87), followed by human resources (4.52) and financial (4.17).

It is not surprising that the most mentioned resource are knowledge and humans, as these are interconnected. The human resources transferred from the parent company to the spin-off were trained in the first company and carry with them the knowledge acquired in that company. For Poehlmann et al. (2020) these human resources transferred by the parent company can influence the spin-off results. The greater the transfer of these resources, the better the spin-off adaptation after independence, thus contributing to the spin-off's better performance.

Financial resources are crucial for the company's solvency in the short term.

It can be concluded that the spin-off has an advantage over other companies, as the parent company transferred resources so that it can assume its independence and acquire a strong position in the market.

Table 4 presents the type of collaboration that the parent company grants to the spin-off after its independence.

Table 4 Parent company collaboration with spin-off after independence
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Based on the question of the type of collaboration granted by the parent company to the spin-off after independence, a set of statements is provided for respondents to identify their degree of agreement. The scale used is the Liker scale, ranging from 1 to 5, from totally agree (5 points), to neither agree nor disagree (3 points) and totally disagree (1 point). If the mean value of the statement is above 3, it follows that on average, respondents agree, on the contrary, if the mean value of the statement is below 3, respondents disagree.

The table shows the mean (M) and standard deviation (S.D.) for each statement according to the Liker scale.

After the separation, the parent company continues to collaborate with the spin-off (Table 4). The most identified type of collaboration is the parent company continuing to work together to develop new products/services (4.09). The parent company, even after the spin-off separation, continues to assist in its management (3.08), providing its distribution channels for the sale of products (3.11), or alternatively as a customer (2.98) or supplier of the created company (3.66). Sapienza et al. (2004) argue that this type of parent company collaboration could positively influence spin-off growth. While for Poehlmann et al. (2020) this collaboration can cause the spin-off managers to inertia, as they do not feel the need to look for new customers, markets or products.

It should also be noted that all respondents totally disagree with the statement that the parent company has ceased to maintain any relationship with the spin-off, which obtained an average of one.

Spin-offs have a higher survival rate than other companies, a fact that is justified by the ongoing relationship with the parent company and also because the spin-off has access to resources from the parent company (Tubke 2004). It can then be concluded that the parent company continues to have a spin-off collaboration/help attitude even after its independence. All respondents strongly disagreed that the parent company is no longer cooperating.

One may thus conclude that even after the separation of the two companies, the parent company continued to collaborate with the spin-off. According to Bernard et al. (2002) the image of the parent company influences the spin-off's success, namely in terms of access to clients, suppliers and financiers. However, it may or may not be beneficial. The continuation of the relationship between the two companies may cause the spin-off to stall in the search for new clients, suppliers or even new markets since the mother company is always a safe source of business (Parhankangas and Arenius 2003).

Table 5 presents the main changes that occurred in the spin-off's performance when it becomes independent from the parent company.

Table 5 Changes in spin-off performance after independence from parent company
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Based on the question of what changes in spin-off performance after independence from the parent company, a set of statements is provided for respondents to identify their degree of agreement. The scale used is the Liker scale, ranging from 1 to 5, from totally agree (5 points), to neither agree nor disagree (3 points) and totally disagree (1 point). If the mean value of the statement is above 3, it follows that on average, respondents agree, on the contrary, if the mean value of the statement is below 3, respondents disagree.

The table shows the mean (M) and standard deviation (SD) for each statement according to the Liker scale.

It can be concluded from Table 5 that most respondents agree that the spin-off does not show any changes in performance after becoming independent (4.77). However, they also mention positive aspects for the spin-off performance, greater management focus on the business area (4.21), greater freedom to implement policies/strategies (4.18), increase in the company's value (3.89) and continues to improve performance (3.95).

It can be said that the focus on the spin-off's business area is beneficial as it helps not to present performance drops when it became independent and will simultaneously contribute to increase the results. When the spin-off becomes independent from the parent company, it is not surprising that it has greater freedom to implement its policies/strategies, as it will not have to obey the parent company's strategies. This fact was confirmed by Chemmanur and Paeglis (2005).

The prospects for the future of the spin-off are presented in Table 6.

Table 6 Prospects for spin-off growth
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Based on the question of prospects for the future of the spin-off, a set of statements is provided with which respondents identify the degree of agreement. The scale used is the Liker scale, ranging from 1 to 5, from totally agree (5 points), to neither agree nor disagree (3 points) and totally disagree (1 point). If the mean value of the statement is above 3, it follows that on average, respondents agree, on the contrary, if the mean value of the statement is below 3, respondents disagree.

The table shows the mean (M) and standard deviation (SD) for each statement according to the Liker scale.

All respondents place the spin-off growth as their main objective and as such have several perspectives for the future of the spin-off; however, they have different visions of how they will achieve this objective (Table 6).

It should be noted that none of the interviewees indicated that they did not have any perspective for the growth of their company (1.00), which is synonymous that they believe in the spin-off and make every effort to grow, however with different perspectives, such as share market, size and profitability.

The optimization of the cost structure helps to increase the company's competitiveness and thus capture; new customers, a wider geographic market and consequently become the market leader and/or increase market share. One of the spin-off's characteristics is to produce high technology products. Given the constant progress of today's society, the spin-off to maintain its position in the market or even grow will have to have the development of new technology as a strategy. To do so, you need to make new investments and can create a new business area.

5 Conclusion

A spin-off company is born from a business idea based on knowledge and skills developed in the parent company. The spin-off, in most cases, is in markets or market segments, characterized by great technology and as such, resulted from research and development carried out in the parent company. But, due to the characteristics of this market, or because they operate in a very different business area from the parent company, they did not arouse the mother's immediate interest and as such they decided to create a new company, the spin-off. During the spin-off creation period, the parent company transfers to it several tangible or intangible resources. After this period, the spin-off becomes independent from the parent company, the so-called post-spin-off period. However, many authors argue that despite independence, spin-offs continue to seek the help of the parent company to implement their objectives in the post-spin-off period, hence this independence is questioned.

The purpose of this investigation is to assess the parent company's influence on the spin-off. To achieve this objective, research questions were defined such as the reasons for the creation of the spin-off, the resources transferred by the parent company, the type of relationship between the two companies and evaluation of the spin-off's performance in the post-spin-off and future prospects.

The conclusions obtained based on the survey of 31 respondents, sent by email to those who hold management positions in the US and Canadian spin-offs between January 2021 and January 2022 are:

  1. (1)

    The two main factors that triggered the creation of the spin-off were the maximization of shareholder value (4.80) and the concentration of its business area, which reflected in the reduction in risk (4.56). Another factor, also identified by the respondents, was the avoidance of conflicts between the two companies.

  2. (2)

    The challenges that spin-offs face is varied and vary from company to company. However, the most identified by respondents was aggressive competition (4.27) and resource allocation (4.02).

  3. (3)

    The parent company transfers all types of resources, knowledge, human, financial and physical to the spin-off.

  4. (4)

    Most respondents say that even after the spin-off independence, the parent company continues to be their collaborator, working together to develop the products/services offered (4.09). This fact is not in agreement with some authors who argue that after the separation of the parent company, the spin-off becomes an independent entity (Tübke 2004; Chemmanur and Paeglis 2005; Poehlmann et al. 2020). According to the survey, most remain dependent on the parent company.

  5. (5)

    Respondents acknowledge that the spin-off's performance did not change after becoming independent from the parent company (4.77). However, some changes in the spin-off were mentioned such as greater focus on its business area (4.21) and greater freedom in its management (4.18). The least identified change by respondents was the increase in value of the spin-off after independence from the parent company.

  6. (6)

    It was unanimous in the interviewees that the main objective of the spin-off is the growth of the company; however, this unanimity no longer exists on how to achieve this objective. They defend different ways to achieve growth, namely with new investments (3.94), a larger geographic market (3.85), developing new technologies (3.70), attracting new customers (3.56) among others.

With the phenomenon of globalization, commercial dependence and constant turbulence in the markets, organizations feel insecure about the future. It is urgent to find new dynamics to face the adversities that may arise in an increasingly competitive business world.

One of these strategies is undoubtedly the creation of spin-off companies in order to find other alternatives that meet the demands of parent companies.

Firstly, this study is fundamental as there is a lack of scientific articles related to this company model, particularly in Portugal. On the other hand, it is of great relevance to companies since it allows one to investigate the influence of the parent company on the spin-off's performance and to assess the resources, tangible or otherwise, transferred by the parent company to the spin-off and to evaluate this company's performance in the post-spin-off period. Furthermore, this investigation is extremely timely given that existing studies do not analyze spin-off behavior during the post-spin-off period. The theme, besides being current, is crucial to the parent company's shareholders who will also be shareholders of the spin-off. On the other hand, this information will enable organizations to equate strategies to be implemented. The results of this study are relevant not only for researchers in the field but also for managers and shareholders by analyzing before and after spin-off independence.

As a limitation of this study, we can point out the sample by questionnaire, which assesses behavioral aspects, hence the information collected depends on the honesty of the interviewees. Respondents may not be truthful in the answers, indicating what should be desirable and not veracity/reality. To try to overcome this limitation, respondents were asked to provide more genuine information about their perceptions, highlighting the importance of this attitude for the reliability of the research, in addition to the fact that the data are treated anonymously. Another limitation is the sending of the questionnaire by e-mail to the respondents, as there may be a probability of misinterpretation of the questions. It can also be mentioned that the sample under analysis is small, with only 31 respondents.

The results found and the limitations of the research generate additional questions for future research. The analysis carried out refers to two countries, in which it will be interesting to analyze in other countries, namely in countries with different economic conditions and to check if the results are identical or if they change according to the economic conditions of each country.