Lise Aaboen

Exploring university-industry collaboration in research centres

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore university‐industry collaboration in research centres.Design/methodology/approach – The paper builds on an explorative study of three research centres at a technical university in Sweden, using in‐depth interviews. The three research centres, Alpha, Beta and Gamma, have various degrees of involvement with industry.Findings – A total of four broad forms of collaboration are suggested: distanced, translational, specified and developed collaboration.Research limitations/implications – The paper shows that the different institutional logics of academic actors, industry actors and funding agencies can be present in collaborations in (at least) four different ways resulting in four different types of research processes. Since not all actors are likely to be equally satisfied in all types of collaborations, the continued development of the research centres will be at risk.Practical implications – If the role of the research centre is to be a forum for collaborati...

Forces affecting one Lean Six Sigma adoption process

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify forces (in the form of converters and inhibitors) of Lean Six Sigma adoption by studying the gradual adoption of Lean Six Sigma in a medium-sized Swedish manufacturing company. The paper suggests how the converters and inhibitors interact toward increased maturity of the adoption and, in this case, stagnation thereof. Design/methodology/approach – Thirteen interviews were recorded and analyzed to identify converters that were moving the process forward or backward, as well as inhibitors that caused it to linger. Findings – It was discovered that activities that had initially moved the process forward were not sufficient to move it beyond its current point. However, an increased knowledge of Lean Six Sigma throughout the organization now prevents the process from moving in the opposite direction. In this medium-sized Swedish manufacturing company, Lean Six Sigma becomes a framework for thought and communication during Lean work. Research limitations/implic...

1 Initiation of Business Relationships in Start Ups

During the last few years, several authors have recognised the need for more research into how start-ups or new business ventures initiate new relationships. Aaboen, Dubois and Lind (2011) studied how start-up firms develop their initial customer relationships and resource base in close interaction with customers. Furthermore, La Rocca, Ford and Snehota (2013) argued that even though developing new business relationships is demanding for all types of firms, it is particularly critical for start-ups because their offerings are likely to be less developed than the offerings of established firms. Thus, it is a newly developed interest to study, understand and manage the process of initiating business relationships for start-ups.

Towards incubator facilitation of technology transfer

This paper explores incubator facilitation of technology transfer for their New Technology-Based Firms (NTBFs). Empirical evidence gathered from six interviews with incubator managers, together with a survey of 131 NTBFs in incubators in Sweden, in 2005, and the findings made in a survey of 273 NTBFs situated inside-and-outside Science Parks in 1999, are used for the exploration. It is suggested that incubators do facilitate technology transfer for their NTBFs. It is further suggested that the development towards increased ability to facilitate technology transfer will continue as a results of the efforts made on the incubator and systemic level.

Nourishment for the piggy bank:facilitation of external financing in incubators

In this paper, we argue that incubators facilitate access to external financing for their incubatees. Incubators use a wide range of activities to facilitate the accessing of external financing from public and private sources. We have grouped these into two sets of activities. The general activities aim to develop the conditions for external financing through information, education of incubatees, network-building and lobbying activities. The specific activities aim to assist the individual incubatee in their pursuit of external finance through help in application procedures, establishing need for capital, making contacts with the best public or private investor, etc. Based on the survey data, we have also shown that it is more common for incubatees to attract external capital compared to non-incubator firms. The incubatees seem especially successful in attracting public capital. The incubatees also attract more private external capital, however, the observed frequency of private capital in the incubatees are low.

Start-ups initiating business relationships: process and asymmetry

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to develop an understanding of how start-ups initiate business relationships and to identify the subprocesses that characterise business-relationship initiations in a start-up context. Design/methodology/approach The paper builds on business-relationship initiation models, develops a theoretical framework of relationship initiation and its subprocesses and, in a multiple-case study, applies this framework to seven relationship initiations by start-ups. Findings The key findings of this study describe the process of business-relationship initiation by start-ups, which comprise six subprocesses. The authors’ detailed and structured initiation-process analyses show how the initiation process occurs in a start-up context and how start-ups develop their relationships. The authors’ analyses also reveal typical patterns and critical issues, such as asymmetry, that characterise start-ups’ business-relationship initiations, particularly with bigger players. Research limitations/implications This paper develops a model of the relationship-initiation process, uses it in a start-up context and identifies the critical characteristics, including asymmetry, of start-up initiations; these contributions address both the literature on start-ups and the literature on relationship initiation and development. Originality/value This paper is the first to focus on how start-ups initiate business relationships; previous studies of business-relationship initiation have focussed on mature firms. Using the industrial marketing and purchasing approach, the paper contributes to shifting the focus from interactions between resource entities to relationship-initiation processes in the context of start-ups.

Introduction: Starting Up in Business Networks—Why Relationships Matter in Entrepreneurship

Few people would object to the contention that relationships matter in entrepreneurship. In the research field of entrepreneurship, there has been increasing attention to the social relationships of the entrepreneur and to the role of networking in starting up a business (e.g. Fayolle, Jack, Lamine & Chabaud, 2016; Hoang & Antoncic, 2003; Hoang & Yi, 2015; Jack, 2010). Research has shown that social relationships and the networks of entrepreneurs matter because they are resource entrepreneurs that can leverage in the starting-up process. Instead of focusing on the social relationships, this book focuses on the initial customer and supplier relationships of a start-up developed at an early stage and examine why these are important in starting up a new business venture.