Magnus Klofsten

Entrepreneurial Intent among Students in Scandinavia and in the USA

An application of the theory of planned behaviour is developed here to analyse factors influencing entrepreneurial intent among university students. The study provides a test of the robustness of the intent approach using international comparisons. The samples are from Finland (Helsinki University of Technology), Sweden (Linkoping University), USA (Stanford University and University of Colorado, Colorado Springs), and the UK (London Business School). The international comparisons indicate a good robustness of the model. Perceived behavioural control emerges as the most important determinant of entrepreneurial intent.

Creating a Bridge between University and Industry in Small European Countries - The Role of the Industrial Liaison Office

The frequent and intermittent need for new scientific knowledge has resulted in an increasing focus on links between industry and academic institutions. This has been particularly pronounced in the flows of knowledge between the two partners, which may lead to considerable diffusion of scientific and technical knowledge, particularly into the small firm sector. This development could be of particular benefit to smaller peripheral economies, which have demonstrated low levels of indigenous industrial technological development. As a result, universities could become increasingly important for local economic development in smaller countries on the periphery of Europe. However, a greater understanding is required of the pro-active role that the university itself can play in developing strong linkages with industry, particularly through mechanisms such as the Industrial Liaison Office (ILO). In particular, there needs to be an examination of the strategies and policies that are undertaken to increase the process of technology transfer from academia into local indigenous business within smaller countries. This paper will therefore examine the role that universities play in the regional economic development in two contrasting small countries of Europe, namely Sweden and Ireland. Drawing on interviews with key individuals in the processes of technology transfer between academia and industry (including ILOs), as well as secondary data, it will examine the general role and function of the industrial liaison office and how this has changed. It will also discuss the involvement of the university in different types of industrial links, the main opportunities and barriers to the development of links between university and industry, the benefits to the university from industrial links, and the perception of industry’s assessment of the relationship with universities. The research will provide valuable insight into the role of universities in developing innovation and entrepreneurship within the smaller and peripheral countries of Europe and will determine whether these universities are undertaking a pro-active role in encouraging the growth of innovative indigenous industry. This may have significant policy implications, especially with regard to the development of specific regional programmes to encourage academic-based entrepreneurship.

The Business Platform: Developing an Instrument to Gauge and to Assist the Development of Young Firms

The research presented here addresses the following problems we perceive in research on the development of young firms. First, we feel there is a lack of holistic yet quantifiable and generalizable ways in which to assess the state of newly started firms. Quantitative research typically relies on additive models that are unable to explain more than half of the outcome variance at the most. Holistic approaches tend to be qualitative and therefore have unknown generalizability. Second, we feel there is a lack of action–oriented assessment models that are firmly anchored in research. Research models typically take a passive prediction position and often build on relationships that give little hands–on advice to managers. Numerous practical tools for assessing and developing firms during their early development can be found in how–to literature, but these typically are not anchored in systematic research and therefore have unknown validity. Hence, what we set out to do in the research presented in this article is to develop a quantifiable, holistic, and research–based instrument for assessing and assisting the development of young firms.

Training entrepreneurship at universities: a Swedish case

In Sweden today there are many initiatives to stimulate individuals to act in an entrepreneurial manner, including professorships in entrepreneurialism at universities, new courses and training programmes, while firms such as Ericsson, Telia and Saab have established “innovation units” to stimulate new ideas and utilize the energy and ideas of their employees. The purpose of this article is to describe and analyse such an initiative: the Entrepreneurship and New Business Development Programme (the ENP‐programme) for the training of individuals in the start‐up of new technology‐based or knowledge‐intensive enterprises. The model has been developed by the Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Linkoping University and a private network of enterprises. This article begins with a comprehensive discussion on what characterises entrepreneurs and what implications this has in the training of individuals. Subsequently, the ENP‐programme, feedback from the participants in the programme, and what characterises a successful entrepreneurship programme are presented.

Innovation Support for New Technology-based Firms: The Swedish Teknopol Approach

Small and medium sized firms in general and new technology-based firms in particular, serve as promoters of future economical growth. Therefore, it is of crucial importance to understand and satisfy their needs for innovation support services in regard to both the type of service and quality of delivery e.g. confidentiality, speed & rpar;.1 Drawing upon a database of 259 new technology-based firms NTBF and 106 researchers, we have identified four needs bundles: marketing, technology, financing and soft service support. We have evaluated the effectiveness of the Swedish Teknopol scheme to meet these needs based upon 35 in-depth interviews with NTBFs. The conclusions of the evaluation are presented both for policy makers and NTBF managers.

Stimulation of technology-based small firms—A case study of university-industry cooperation

It is well known that owner-managers of technology-based firms usually have superior technical skills but are less competent in the area of business development. Consequently, in order to address these weaknesses, it has been suggested that an important part of support activities for these firms should be oriented towards the development of their management and business competences. As such, this paper describes a successful model which has been developed over a 10-year period to stimulate the growth and development of small technology-based firms. Four types of interrelated activities are in operation: entrepreneurship and new business development programmes, development programmes, management groups, and club/networking activities. The success of these stimulating activities can, above all, be related to five factors: an ability to meet real needs, a core group, a clear focus, credibility, and close relations between the stimulation organization and the university. One important task for researchers and practitioners is to understand the mechanisms behind these criteria for success.

Institutional Forces The Invisible Hand that Shapes Venture Ideas

Institutional theory is employed for examining how and to what extent external pressure leads to changes in the venture idea during the start-up and early life of new, knowledge-intensive ventures. From a population of 321 young, knowledge-intensive firms that underwent a training program at Linkping University, Sweden, structured telephone interview data were obtained from 167 firms. The results confirmed that the venture idea had undergone more change in ventures that had more external owners, a dominant customer, and an incubator location. The results imply that institutional theory is a meaningful tool for understanding why and how venture ideas change over time.

New Venture Ideas: An Analysis of Their Origin and Early Development

One of the requirements for starting a firm is an idea that can be developed into a business opportunity. This paper focuses on the early development of a firms business idea and the factors that affect this process. The assumption is that the founders of the firm have a core importance in the formulation of the first draft of the idea, but that the continued development and polishing that turns the idea into a business opportunity occurs in interaction with a number of actors in the market such as clients, financiers, suppliers, and other collaboration partners. Five wholly newly started knowledge-intensive firms—A-TV, A-Tech, S-Tire, M-Qon and M-Point, all of whom are spin-offs from Linköping University or from firms—are analysed. The results of the study agree with previous research on business opportunities and ideas and the link to the skills base of the founders, environmental effects, and changes in the idea over time. Practical and theoretical implications of new venture idea development and entrepreneurship training are presented.

Growing the Linköping Technopole—A Longitudinal Study of Triple Helix Development in Sweden

In the context of successful examples of regional development in Sweden, the Linköping region is often named. Whilst maintaining a historical reputation for culture and learning, Linköping has developed, during the last thirty years, as a major centre within Sweden for technological growth, especially in the creation and development of new technology-based firms. This high technology environment has been further enhanced by the presence of a growing international university, a number of significant multinational high-technology companies and the location of several public sector research establishments. Previous research on regional development suggests that this milieu could be characterised as a ‘technopole,’ namely an arena where these organisations co-operate with each other in a formal or informal way to develop the technological capability of the region. This paper sets out to examine and describe the different ‘actors’ that have contributed to the recent development of Linköping as one of the fastest growing technological regions in Europe. The linkages between the actors are examined in detail. The results of the study indicate that one of the most important actors behind the positive development is the university. In addition, the development that has taken place over the last thirty years can be likened to a spiral where success begets success to foster a positive entrepreneurial climate.

An Entrepreneurial University Strategy for Renewing a Declining Industrial City: The Norrköping Way

Norrköping, a small urban area formerly dependent upon old labour-intensive industries, has developed a knowledge-based renewal strategy inspired by ideas emanating from its superseded local economy. Using a longitudinal case study, this paper explicates the dynamics of change among a triple helix of university, industry and government actors that involved building consensus within the city and with its neighbouring city of Linköping. The keys to success have been cross-institutional entrepreneurship, aggregating regional and national resources to realize a unique, locally generated strategy rather than adopting the usual list of hot high-tech topics such as information technology, biotechnology or alternative energy, and striking a balance between intra-regional competition and collaboration in order to achieve common objectives and avoid any stasis arising from hyper-competitiveness. This paper utilizes a triple-helix “spaces” framework and makes comparisons with other relevant cases to develop a theoretical model of regional renewal through the hybridization of old and new industrial and knowledge elements.