Riassunto analitico
University spin-offs are specific academic ventures representing important technology transfer mechanisms characterized by key scientific knowledge or by technologies resulting from the university research. These ventures are created by individuals coming from the academic environment such as academic researchers and university staff and, generally, they are managed by teams incorporating academic personnel with, in many cases, some non-academic individuals. In this regard, literature has started to investigate whether team composition, and the diversity that it embeds, of these academic spin-offs is a critical factor influencing performance and growth once the venture has achieved the legal constitution. However, investigations are missing on the role of diversity within these teams during the earliest stages of the academic spin-off before the legal inception. Therefore, the aim of this research is to provide preliminary insights on this not-addressed topic by analyzing whether team composition, in terms of diversity, is one of the variables that can affect the constitution, hence the inception, of academic spin-offs by focusing on the variety and disparity attributes of the initial team members. Based on a sample of 307 entrepreneurial initiatives resulting from the academic environment, results suggest that variety and disparity of the academic spin-offs’ teams during their earliest stages are not critical elements affecting the venture’s inception.
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Abstract
University spin-offs are specific academic ventures representing important technology transfer mechanisms characterized by key scientific knowledge or by technologies resulting from the university research. These ventures are created by individuals coming from the academic environment such as academic researchers and university staff and, generally, they are managed by teams incorporating academic personnel with, in many cases, some non-academic individuals. In this regard, literature has started to investigate whether team composition, and the diversity that it embeds, of these academic spin-offs is a critical factor influencing performance and growth once the venture has achieved the legal constitution. However, investigations are missing on the role of diversity within these teams during the earliest stages of the academic spin-off before the legal inception. Therefore, the aim of this research is to provide preliminary insights on this not-addressed topic by analyzing whether team composition, in terms of diversity, is one of the variables that can affect the constitution, hence the inception, of academic spin-offs by focusing on the variety and disparity attributes of the initial team members. Based on a sample of 307 entrepreneurial initiatives resulting from the academic environment, results suggest that variety and disparity of the academic spin-offs’ teams during their earliest stages are not critical elements affecting the venture’s inception.
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