Elisa Villani

Understanding Value Creation in Public-Private Partnerships: A Comparative Case Study

Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) are an important form of hybrid organization that may, if properly designed and managed, generate innovative solutions to complex problems by combining different institutional logics. Using data from a comparative case study of the creation of two PPPs in the Italian healthcare sector, we draw on ideas from business model design and organizational hybridity to explore how complexity can be managed inside PPPs and how this drives the creation of value for stakeholders. We link the literature on hybrid organizations with the one on business models by looking at the organizational mechanisms and processes that are implemented in PPP project governance, assets and processes. We go on to develop a theoretical model showing how effective business model design can help to bridge different logics and create value for stakeholders in the creation and operation of PPPs. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Supporting academic entrepreneurship: cross-country evidence in Europe

TTOs have been considered the most important instrument for universities to support and develop academic entrepreneurship. Various policies and instruments can be implemented by TTOs to support the commercialization of academic knowledge. We focus on factors such as TTOs’ governance and their internal organization, the mission/ strategy underlying their activities, and the national and specific constrains under which they work to better understand the role of TTOs and the role of universities as facilitators (or inhibitors) of academic entrepreneurship. Using the data from a survey developed under the FinKT (Financing Knowledge Transfer in Europe) project, we provide evidence on the support that academic, European TTOs offer to academic entrepreneurship using a cross-country lens.

Entrepreneurial Team Composition and Strategic Choice: A Configurational Analysis

The composition of entrepreneurial teams has a significant impact on the success and development of new ventures. We enrich the discussion on the benefits of homogeneity or diversity in entrepreneurial teams. Using data from PSED II, we investigate the relationship between new venture team (NVT) composition and performance. By identifying six distinct team configurations, we demonstrate that teams need a certain degree of homogeneity, but if a certain threshold is satisfied, heterogeneity can be an advantage. The combination of high team cohesion and a deep and broad stock of experience is a superior configuration, as well as homogeneous teams that are highly educated. We further contribute to a better understanding of start-up strategies and time-to-market by developing new insights in the trade-off between homogeneity and heterogeneity.