Frank Roche

Delineating the Anatomy of an Entrepreneurial University: The Massachusetts Institute of Technology Experience

In many universities, heads, administrators and faculty seek to increase the propensity to engage in commercialization of research activity through the spinoff of new companies. The highly complex mechanism of spinoff generation is typically considered the result of either the characteristics of individuals, organizational policies and structures, organizational culture, or the external environment. Explanations of spinoff activity have in the main focused on only one of these dimensions at a time. In this paper we integrate these four dimensions of academic entrepreneurship to develop a more systemic understanding of spinoff activity at the university level. Using the case of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), a top spinoff generator in the United States, a systemic analysis is presented. We identify the inter-related factors that have contributed to successful academic entrepreneurship in MIT. We argue that MITs success is based on the science and engineering resource base at MIT; the quality of research faculty; supporting organizational mechanisms and policies such as MITs Technology Licensing Office; and the culture within MIT faculty that encourages entrepreneurship. However, to understand why MIT has developed these resources and organizational mechanisms, it is necessary to understand the historical context and emergence of MIT, and in particular the historical mission of the university, the role of key individuals and university leaders in supporting this mission, and the impact of past success at commercialization activity. Finally, we suggest that MITs success needs to be understood in the context of the local regional environment. We argue that university administrators and academics can learn from the case of MIT, but that efforts at transposing or replicating single elements of MITs model may only have limited success, given the inter-related nature of the drivers of spinoff activity.

Decision Comprehensiveness and Corporate Entrepreneurship: The Moderating Role of Managerial Uncertainty Preferences and Environmental Dynamism

Although comprehensiveness is considered among the most salient and enduring strategic decision-making characteristics in organizations, its influence on firm behaviour has remained elusive. As a first step, our study builds and tests a model that specifies the influence of comprehensiveness on the firms pursuit of corporate entrepreneurship. Our core argument is that while comprehensiveness helps decision-makers gain the knowledge needed to escape the ignorance and overcome doubt associated with this pursuit, this beneficial influence is conditional upon managerial uncertainty preferences, together with the level of dynamism in the external environment. Findings from a large sample study of CEOs from 349 SMEs provide general support for this argument and associated hypotheses.

Public and private sector entrepreneurship: similarities, differences or a combination?

Purpose – While the term “entrepreneurship” is not exclusively a private sector phenomenon, it is usually associated with private sector business activity and more specifically with small to medium enterprises. However, over the last two decades it has appeared in the public administration literature with increasing frequency. The recent research in public sector entrepreneurial activity makes an exploratory comparative analysis of the key components that are applicable from private sector entrepreneurship timely as the topic is emerging as an area of academic inquiry and research. The purpose of this paper is to provide a comparative analysis of private and public sector entrepreneurship using an analytical model from private and public sector entrepreneurship.Design/methodology/approach – A clear understanding of the research issues involved requires an appreciation of the nexus between private sector entrepreneurship and the more limited research field of public sector entrepreneurship. The paper ident...

FACILITATING PUBLIC SECTOR CORPORATE ENTREPRENEURSHIP PROCESS: A CONCEPTUAL MODEL

The research to date in the literature has not provided a consensus on the nature of public entrepreneurship. Many authors relate the concept of entrepreneurship to only the private sector and dismiss the idea of public sector entrepreneurship. Others argue that the introduction of entrepreneurship into the public sector is inimical to its basic goals, concept and values. This paper proposes a conceptual model that explains the public sector corporate entrepreneurial process based on a review of past theoretical and empirical research. To date, very little research exists which attempts to establish a theoretical framework or model that illustrates the various components, including environmental and organizational characteristics, that effect the corporate entrepreneurship process within the public sector. The model is intended to depict key corporate entrepreneurial dimensions that relate to entrepreneurial behavior within the public sector organization. The proposed model delineates the antecedents and consequences of corporate entrepreneurship within the public sector.

CHANGE MANAGEMENT THROUGH ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN PUBLIC SECTOR ENTERPRISES

Corporate entrepreneurship has been of interest to academics, business leaders and government officials over the past four decades, particularly in terms of enhancing organizational performance. Although the understanding of corporate entrepreneurship continues to develop, the research usually focuses on private sector business activity. The research to date has not provided a consensus on the nature of public sector corporate entrepreneurship. Even though in recent years the topic has appeared in the public administration literature with increasing frequency, public sector corporate entrepreneurship remains poorly defined and its interpretation fragmented. In this study, public sector corporate entrepreneurship is investigated by developing and testing an integrative model using data obtained from 134 public sector state and semi-state enterprises in Ireland. The results indicate public sector organizations can manage change through entrepreneurship when they adapt to a munificent environment and when the decision-making style and control system is aligned. Public sector organizations focusing on corporate entrepreneurship (renewal) are at least marginally positively associated with organizational performance (growth and development) a primary policy goal particularly in the current economic climate. The article concludes by discussing the implications for theory, practice and future research areas.

Reconceptualizing executive environmental scanning and search: Implications for international leadership research and practice

This chapter attempts to reinvigorate scholarly interest in executive scanning by outlining a model to guide future research on executive search within the context of international strategy. Executive scanning has received considerable empirical attention but only limited theoretical attention. Most of this research has studied scanning as the receipt rather than the search for information. Based on the application of learning theory, we outline a model advancing two broad categories of executive search exploitative and explorative, consisting of six specific search behaviors. We advance search as integral to managerial decisions relating to the various aspects of internationalization, notably choice of location, corporate strategy, and mode of entry. The implications for future research are presented.

Building Technology Transfer within Research Universities: Fostering cross-campus entrepreneurship – Building technology transfer within UCD to create a start-up environment

In this chapter we discuss the emergence of commercialization activity, and specifically the TTO and ILO functions, in University College Dublin (UCD). This case emphasizes (1) how a public university has sought to encourage commercialization activity and the organizational structures developed to support commercialization; (2) how, over a period of twenty years, the TTO and ILO functions and commercialization activity evolved in the absence of what might be considered many of the university attributes, such as high levels of funded research, typically associated with high levels of commercialization; (3) how policies aimed at encouraging the commercialization of university research were embedded within a broader industrial development strategy associated with both attracting inward FDI (foreign direct investment) and developing indigenous entrepreneurial activity in emerging sectors; and (4) how a new president in a traditional public university has sought to emphasize the contribution the university makes to economic development as a means for engaging in a significant restructuring of the university and the adoption of policies that seek to maximize research activity, in particular in emerging sectors such as biotechnology and ICT, to develop external linkages with industry, and to promote commercialization.