Murray Gillin

Non-local intuition and the performance of serial entrepreneurs

Understanding how and why entrepreneurs decide to pursue one venture as opposed to another has managed to elude entrepreneurship researchers. Of late, there has been a renewed interest in the role and importance of intuition to the entrepreneur. Two recent publications concerning electrophysiological evidence of intuition (McCraty et al., 2004a-b) and the relationship of motivations with spiritual intelligence (Zohar and Marshall, 2000) suggest the need to evaluate how we access our deepest meanings, values, purposes and highest motivations in recognising opportunities. This has shed some light on how we interpret meaning in the world around us and its impact on decision-making. This paper argues that entrepreneurs use all three levels of intelligence: namely intellectual, emotional and spiritual intelligence. Using intuition and value driven motivations, the serial entrepreneur can change a business-as -usual paradigm to a creative business of high growth and spiritual worth. It will be shown that the heart autonomic nervous system is involved in the processing and decoding of intuitive information.

Non-local intuition in entrepreneurs and non-entrepreneurs: results of two experiments using electrophysiological measures

Non-local intuition is the bodys perception of information about a distant or future event that is not based on reason or memories of prior experience. This work reports the results of two pilot experiments testing the measurement efficacy of two computer-administered experimental protocols for studying non-local intuition in entrepreneurs and non-entrepreneurs. Conducted on a small sample of repeat entrepreneurs from the Cambridge Technopol, UK, and a US sample of non-entrepreneurs, both experiments employed electrophysiological measures (skin conductance response and beat-to-beat heart rate) to detect non-local intuition, as used in previous studies. The results are promising: the use of conservative statistical procedure – random permutation analysis – found evidence of non-local intuition in both entrepreneurs and non-entrepreneurs. These results may constitute the first evidence in a population of entrepreneurs that electrophysiological measures appear able to detect intuitive perception of a future event.

A longitudinal comparative study of university research commercialisation performance: Australia, UK and USA

Summary Research commercialisation surveys are now available for Australia for Financial Years (FY) 2000 and 2002. This paper reviews longitudinal comparative data for research commercialisation performance in Australia, the United Kingdom and the USA. It discusses commercialisation performance measures, with a specific focus on entrepreneurial spin-off companies, and performance comparisons are made based on research expenditure in US dollars adjusted for purchasing power parity. Conclusions from these analyses suggest that, in recent years, Australian public agency performance in generating spin-offs per unit of research expenditure, adjusted for purchasing power parity, has been comparable or superior to some universities in other countries reviewed. However, Australian university revenue from intellectual property licensing royalties and research contracts has been below that of other countries studied. Analysis suggests that this results from problems in both demand – low business investment in R&D and hence low technology absorptive capacity – and supply, that is lack of time and lack of incentive to academic researchers to develop contacts with and meet the expectations of industry and other research users for technology that works.

Public research agencies as sources for innovations and the entrepreneurial absorptive capacity of manufacturing enterprises

Summary Literature on technology absorptive capacity for new knowledge has shown business R&D investment, however measured, to be a key factor. Statistical analyses of Australian innovation survey data showed a strong relationship between technology absorptive capacity and the perceived importance of public sector research providers as sources of information and ideas for innovations. The policy implications of these findings are how to better balance government interventions between increased funding for the generation of new knowledge and improving the absorptive capacity for this new knowledge and the associated enterprise entrepreneurial propensity.

The Klofsten Business Platform as a self-diagnostic tool for new technology-based small firms

Summary This paper first reviews available instruments that might be used by new technology-based small firms (NTSFs) as self-diagnostic tools to assess their positioning and plan their future development strategies. It makes a clear distinction between tools that are for self-diagnostic internal use by such ventures and the more established tools, such as Timmons ‘fatal flaw analysis’ and Bell-Mason, designed to assist venture capital investors in decisions whether to invest or not in a new company. The paper then analyses the application of the Klofsten Business Platform with its eight Cornerstones as a comparative diagnostic tool in over twenty case studies to the understanding of the early stages of development of new technology-based spin-off ventures from Australian and Scottish universities. The analysis is longitudinal over a period of up to six years for surviving companies. Survival rates for the sample have been compared with overall survival rates of spin-off and other new ventures in Australia.

Barriers to international trade between Iran and Australia

Abstract The lack of current export knowledge that currently exists between Iran and Australia prompted a study to research further an export culture paradigm. Emphasis was placed upon the link between innovative and entrepreneurial thinking and export culture, and the lack thereof. By applying culture as a bridge to the trading relationship, entrepreneurs can develop mutually beneficial trading relationships between countries, such as Iran and Australia, with different social cultures but very complementary economies.

Entrepreneurial capacity and the new technology-based small firm

Abstract The development of a new technology small firm, such as a spin-off from a university or other public research provider, proceeds through a number of phases. The paper first discusses the concept of requisite holism as applied to the entrepreneurship involved in technological innovation through New Technology-based Small Firms. The various players involved in these various phases include the original “inventor”, technology transfer office staff, the technology champion, the new CEO or surrogate entrepreneur and the first investors). Each of these brings to the new venture specific and differing knowledge resources that are the key elements of the Penrosian bundle of resources that result in competitive advantage. In this paper the data from case studies of the early phases of development of Australian university spin-off companies have been used to explore the relevance of such knowledge resources as the entrepreneurial capacity of the new venture. This analysis supports the definition of entrepreneurial capacity as a set of disparate knowledge resources. Key words: Entrepreneurship, holism, innovation, spin-off.

Parent research provider environments and the early stage development of spin-off companies

Recent research into the early stages of development of new spin-off ventures generated by universities and other public sector research providers has shown how the new ventures development has been closely linked to the research commercialisation and technology transfer strategies, resources, and practices of the parent research provider. Survey and qualitative interview transcript data from 22 case studies of such new ventures in Australia and Scotland have been used to explore the relevance of archetypes for research commercialisation support and how they relate to the organisational paradigms of the various parent research provider organisations.

Sources of Ideas and Knowledge for Innovatory Small Companies: Disaggregation of Australian and Eurostat CIS2 Innovation Survey Data

Summary This study explores the use and importance of university and other public sector research by business enterprises reporting product, process and (in some countries) service innovations, from OECD Innovation Surveys, the European Union, Canada and Australia. The paper tests the Eurostat CIS2 innovation survey conclusion that firms saw public sector research as important according to: whether innovations are world-first; firm size; whether the research could be used by the firm. Analyzing company responses from Eurostat, ABS and Yellow Pages innovation surveys, the paper indicates variations in importance of public sector research by manufacturing sector and firm size. The study concludes that to be effective, increased public sector research expenditure should be linked to increased private sector Rol) expenditure, particularly by SMEs.