What matters in business incubation? A literature review and a suggestion for situated theorising

Abstract

Purpose-The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to provide a critical assessment of the literature on business incubation effectiveness and second, to submit a situated theoretical perspective on how business incubation management can provide an environment that supports the development of incubatee entrepreneurs and their businesses. Design / methodology / approach-The paper provides a narrative critical assessment of the literature on business incubation effectiveness. Definitional issues, performance aspects and approaches to establishing critical success factors in business incubation are discussed. Business incubation management is identified as an overarching factor for theorising on business incubation effectiveness. Findings-The literature on business incubation effectiveness suffers from several deficiencies, including definitional incongruence, descriptive accounts, fragmentation and lack of strong conceptual grounding. Notwithstanding the growth of research in this domain, understanding of how entrepreneurs and their businesses develop within the business incubator environment remains limited. Given the importance of relational, intangible factors in business incubation and the critical role of business incubation management in orchestrating and optimising such factors, it is suggested that theorising efforts would benefit from a situated perspective. Originality / value-The identification of specific shortcomings in the literature on business incubation highlights the need for more systematic efforts towards theory building. It is suggested that focusing on the role of business incubation management from a situated learning theory perspective can lend itself to a more profound understanding of the development process of incubatee entrepreneurs and their firms. Theoretical propositions are offered to this effect, as well as avenues for future research.

How network-based incubation helps start-up performance: a systematic review against the background of management theories

“…After all, as the earlier generations of incubation were found to improve start-up performance only marginally (Schwartz 2013), the network-based generation was expected to be superior in achieving that aim. The increased attention on network-based incubation resulted in a rich and broad variety of approaches, conceptualisations and insights (Theodorakopoulos et al 2014). However, as the field of literature grew, two major shortcomings emerged.…”

Capacidade De Inovação Nas Empresas Incubadas

“…Considerando a literatura existente, o conceito de incubação de empresas refere-se a um processo concentrado em sustentar empresas no estágio inicial de sua atividade, oferecendo um ambiente configurado para protegê-las contra falhas e orientá-las em um caminho de crescimento, desenvolvimento e fortalecimento, preparando-as para sobreviver ao mercado (THEODORAKOPOULOS et al, 2014).…”

Análise da Percepção dos Gestores e Empreendedores de um Parque Tecnológico e de uma Incubadora Empresarial

“…O tema referente as incubadoras de negócios é relevante aos empresários, e este está evoluindo de forma heterogênea, além do foco tradicional, no desenvolvimento regional e universitário (HAUSBERG; KORRECK, 2017). A incubação de negócios é um esforço conjunto: desenvolver novas empresas, no início das atividades, num ambiente controlado; oferecer a infraestrutura; e apoiar e orientar em direção ao crescimento (THEODORAKOPOULOS, KAKABADSE;MCGOWAN, 2014).…”