José Manoel Carvalho de Mello

University start-ups for breaking lock-ins of the Brazilian economy

Brazilian universities were created initially with a teaching mission, later incorporating research activities along with the implementation of graduate programs. Recently, new public policies supporting the innovation process have been implemented to encourage universities to assume a more active role and expand their relationship with the productive sector commercializing the results of their research activities. The purpose of this paper is to describe and better understand the features of the Brazilian university system and the specific ways in which these three missions emerged as a function of the different phases of development that Brazil has experienced. Special emphasis is given to the incorporation of the third mission, under their traditional and advanced forms. Copyright , Beech Tree Publishing.

Brazilian Universities and Their Contribution to Innovation and Development

Brazilian higher education institutions (HEIs) have been established since the first half of the nineteenth century under the format of colleges of medicine, law, or engineering. Brazilian universities (HEIs with a poly-disciplinary structure), however, were established more recently. The first university was created in 1920, in Rio de Janeiro, by the Federal Government and, in 1934, the State of Sao Paulo created its own university, which remains a Brazilian landmark of teaching and research.

Social innovation in a developing country: invention and diffusion of the Brazilian cooperative incubator

The incubator model of a support structure to develop high-tech firms from academic research was imported from the USA to Brazil, where it serves a variety of economic and social purposes. The Brazilian cooperative incubator is a creative reinterpretation of the business incubator model to advance social innovation. It addresses issues of social exclusion, poverty and unemployment by empowering favela residents to create their own jobs. Having diffused broadly, the Brazilian cooperative incubator allows us to address the issue of growth in social enterprises. This paper employs a triple helix dynamic model, including government (local, regional and national), academic (different types of universities, industry (firms of varying scale and sector, industry associations) and NGOs (non governamental organizations) to explain the diffusion and expansion of this innovation in social entrepreneurship.

Entrepreneurial Capabilities and Organizational Transformation: Entrepreneurial Evolution at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.

The Brazilian government has been fostering innovation through policies aimed at transferring technology from publicly funded science and technology organizations to the market. One response to this initiative has been an attempt by some universities to transform themselves into entrepreneurial institutions. In this paper the authors use a longitudinal case study to analyse the organizational transformation at the Alberto Luiz Coimbra Institute for Graduate Studies and Research in Engineering (COPPE) of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro to become entrepreneurial. The analysis focuses on the entrepreneurial capabilities developed by this academic unit. It was found that the main capabilities developed were managing the university interface with outside parties; integrating public policy initiatives; supporting entrepreneurial activities; technology transfer; and managing shared resources. These five capabilities are interrelated and their development has occurred in tandem with the organizational transformation of the university.

Social Development as an Academic Mission of Brazilian Universities: Public Policies and the Case of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro

This chapter explores to what extent public policies foster inclusiveness at higher education institutions in Brazil. It also looks at the role of Brazilian higher education institutions in inclusive and social development, often referred to as the third mission of universities. The analysis of public policies for higher education and Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) for social development reveals a fragmented environment, with little interaction between the initiatives in place. Based on the analysis of the specific case of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, it is clear that, although successful examples of integrating teaching and social development can been found, examples of research and extension activities focusing on social development are exceptions. Moreover, they are the result of individual efforts, not of institutional or government policy. The lack of institutionalization and the isolation in which these actions are carried out make such initiatives fragile and dependent on the individuals who created them.

Resource Endowment from Parent Organization to Academic Spin-Offs: The Case of the COPPE/UFRJ

How spin-offs access resources from their parent organization along the process of setting up of the new venture? This is the main question explored in this article. We use an institutional perspective and the resource based view to analyse resource endowments received for 30 spin-offs from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, in Brazil. Our findings shows that the spin-offs studied have accessed a set of resources from the parent organization and that the profile of these resources changes within the entrepreneurial orientation of the university. We could identify different configuration of resource endowments for academic spin-offs, in different institutional and organizational contexts.

Les universités brésiliennes et leur apport à l’innovation et au développement

Les etablissements d’enseignement superieur bresiliens (EES) existent depuis la premiere moitie du dix-neuvieme siecle sous la forme de facultes de medecine, de droit ou d’ecoles d’ingenieurs. Les universites bresiliennes (c’est-a-dire les EES pluridisciplinaires) ont, elles, ete fondees plus recemment. La premiere universite a ete creee en 1920 a Rio de Janeiro par le gouvernement federal. En 1934, l’etat de Sao Paulo a etabli sa propre universite, qui est encore aujourd’hui la reference bresilienne en matiere d’enseignement et de recherche.