Knowledge Networks and US University Incubator Program Success: A study of the impact that internationalization of knowledge networks has on the success rate of US University Incubator Programs

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2020-01-09

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Southern New Hampshire University

Abstract

Innovation drives change, and the speed of change in business is ever increasing. Technology advancements permit this change to take place globally. Research has demonstrated the correlation between innovation and a firm’s competitive advantage. This dissertation seeks to examine how knowledge management is best leveraged for the purposes of global innovation.

University incubator programs offer an observable, controlled environment for this study. These programs seek to insulate startups from the mundane business requirements (facilities, equipment, accounting, etc.) so that they can focus on innovation. These programs also provide a natural network of academic support (professors), industry expertise (business contacts) and financing (external entrepreneurs and investors). This dissertation will examine the knowledge networks of a large number of US university incubator programs to assess how these networks, and the degree of globalization of these networks, impact incubator program performance.

Researchers of knowledge networks in university incubator programs have acknowledged two consistent gaps; the scope of the research usually measures the performance of a small number of specific start-ups from a very small number of university incubator programs—often from a single incubator program, and the scope of the knowledge networks researched is limited to the university, or at most, the immediate geographic area.

By contrast, this dissertation examines more than two-dozen US university incubator programs contrasting the knowledge network of each incubator program with the others and measuring the performance of each program as a whole. If the knowledge network is engineered in advance and sustained for future use, rather than created organically for each startup only to expire with the departure of the startup from the program, will it increase the success rate of program startups?

Additionally, this study examines the impact that the degree of internationalization of the knowledge network has on the rate of success of the incubator program. As markets become more global, this study addresses the timely question as to whether an incubator program can increase its success rate by expanding its knowledge network internationally.

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