Volume 11, Issue 2 (8-2024)
J Entrepreneurial Strategies Agric 2024, 11(2): 147-159 |
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Heidari haratemeh M. (2024). Entrepreneurial Orientation of on Academic Spin - Offs’ in the field of Agriculture Influenced by Structure of Social Networks. J Entrepreneurial Strategies Agric. 11(2), 147-159. doi:10.61186/jea.11.2.147
URL: http://jea.sanru.ac.ir/article-1-385-en.html
URL: http://jea.sanru.ac.ir/article-1-385-en.html
Department of Economics, Naragh Branch, Islamic Azad University, Naragh, Iran
Abstract: (3086 Views)
Extended Abstract
Background: A spin-off is the separation of a subsidiary from its parent company to create a new entity. A situation where an employee or a group of employees leave the parent company and start a company independent of the parent company. A spin-off happens when a mature business, to achieve greater productivity and facilitate affairs, gives up part of its organization and creates an independent entity. Spin-offs are created for two main reasons, organizational entrepreneurship and giving opportunities to creative people in the organization to grow and reducing the management layers of an organization. In the context of academic entrepreneurship, the role of entrepreneurial orientation can be particularly important because academic spin-offs in the field of agriculture, due to their specific nature, may need to formulate entrepreneurial strategies to lead their innovations from the path of commercialization. In addition, agricultural academic spin-offs usually face highly uncertain and competitive environments where the focus is on discovering new opportunities and competitively developing innovations.
Methods: The research method is causal and applied in terms of the purpose. Two researcher-made questionnaires with 30 and 34 items, respectively, and supplementary sources, such as annual reports prepared by incubators and technology parks, were used to collect data. The statistical population of the research was the founders and managers of academic spin-offs (ASOs) established in the last decade, in which 22 ASOs were selected as a sample. The structural equation model was used to study the relationships between variables and test the hypotheses.
Results: Market networks and academic support networks had a positive effect on strengthening the entrepreneurial orientation of ASOs. The size and frequency of the academic support network had a positive and significant effect on entrepreneurial orientation, but the size and frequency of informal networks had no effect. Two models were considered to test the hypotheses. The first model includes only the control variables while the independent variables in the second model are considered to analyze the effect of such variables on the entrepreneurial orientation of ASOs in the field of agriculture. The first model showed that the control variables could explain 6.7% of the change in entrepreneurial orientation by agricultural ASOs. The size of the management team, the age of the ASO, and the size of the ASO had a positive effect on the manifestation of this strategic orientation. According to the hypothesis test, the results extracted from the second model first showed that neither the size of the informal network nor the frequency of the informal network has any effect on the entrepreneurial orientation of agricultural ASOs, contrary to the hypotheses of the study, as a result, rejecting both states a and b of the first hypothesis. Moreover, the size of the academic support network had a positive and significant effect on the entrepreneurial orientation of agricultural ASOs, confirming hypothesis 2a. In addition, similar results can be obtained regarding the analysis of the impact of the frequency of the university support network on the entrepreneurial orientation of agricultural ASOs because a significant and positive relationship was observed between the two variables. Therefore, this result supports hypothesis 2b. The second model also shows the existence of a very important and significant relationship between the size of the industrial network and the entrepreneurial orientation of agricultural ASOs.
Conclusion: The management teams of agricultural ASOs strongly need the presence of industry actors because such representatives can provide the resources, skills, and knowledge necessary for agricultural ASOs. For this purpose, designing large industrial networks with many contacts is considered an effective way of working. In addition, the management teams of agricultural ASOs should not ignore the importance of resources, especially the links owned by university support institutions, and avoid such resources as much as possible. This is because the development and demonstration of entrepreneurial attitudes by agricultural ASOs seem to require a series of resources, abilities, and knowledge that are not available to such people. On the other hand, university support institutions should be aware of its importance as a facilitator, both direct and indirect, and a number of resources and information that seem critical to the entrepreneurial behavior of agricultural ASOs. In this regard, it is worth mentioning that university supporting institutions should play a fundamental role as facilitators of mutual understanding between academic entrepreneurs and industrial representatives, in addition to creating a suitable environment for establishing joint relations with agricultural ASOs. Agricultural ASOs can expand and strengthen trust among agents. For this purpose, it can be a good start to developing programs, activities, or workshops in which managers and representatives of ASOs from agricultural industrial fields can share experiences and mutual needs. Agricultural ASOs are an excellent choice for studying the network theory in practice due to their technological complexity, market dynamics, growth challenges, and changing directions. For this purpose, the present study in the framework of academic entrepreneurship in the field of agriculture expands the emerging research stream by focusing on the role of different types of networks on the behavior of ASOs. It also allows for standing out the relationship of the analysis of the impact of structural elements of networks on the performance of ASOs, where previous research has not addressed such relationships.
Background: A spin-off is the separation of a subsidiary from its parent company to create a new entity. A situation where an employee or a group of employees leave the parent company and start a company independent of the parent company. A spin-off happens when a mature business, to achieve greater productivity and facilitate affairs, gives up part of its organization and creates an independent entity. Spin-offs are created for two main reasons, organizational entrepreneurship and giving opportunities to creative people in the organization to grow and reducing the management layers of an organization. In the context of academic entrepreneurship, the role of entrepreneurial orientation can be particularly important because academic spin-offs in the field of agriculture, due to their specific nature, may need to formulate entrepreneurial strategies to lead their innovations from the path of commercialization. In addition, agricultural academic spin-offs usually face highly uncertain and competitive environments where the focus is on discovering new opportunities and competitively developing innovations.
Methods: The research method is causal and applied in terms of the purpose. Two researcher-made questionnaires with 30 and 34 items, respectively, and supplementary sources, such as annual reports prepared by incubators and technology parks, were used to collect data. The statistical population of the research was the founders and managers of academic spin-offs (ASOs) established in the last decade, in which 22 ASOs were selected as a sample. The structural equation model was used to study the relationships between variables and test the hypotheses.
Results: Market networks and academic support networks had a positive effect on strengthening the entrepreneurial orientation of ASOs. The size and frequency of the academic support network had a positive and significant effect on entrepreneurial orientation, but the size and frequency of informal networks had no effect. Two models were considered to test the hypotheses. The first model includes only the control variables while the independent variables in the second model are considered to analyze the effect of such variables on the entrepreneurial orientation of ASOs in the field of agriculture. The first model showed that the control variables could explain 6.7% of the change in entrepreneurial orientation by agricultural ASOs. The size of the management team, the age of the ASO, and the size of the ASO had a positive effect on the manifestation of this strategic orientation. According to the hypothesis test, the results extracted from the second model first showed that neither the size of the informal network nor the frequency of the informal network has any effect on the entrepreneurial orientation of agricultural ASOs, contrary to the hypotheses of the study, as a result, rejecting both states a and b of the first hypothesis. Moreover, the size of the academic support network had a positive and significant effect on the entrepreneurial orientation of agricultural ASOs, confirming hypothesis 2a. In addition, similar results can be obtained regarding the analysis of the impact of the frequency of the university support network on the entrepreneurial orientation of agricultural ASOs because a significant and positive relationship was observed between the two variables. Therefore, this result supports hypothesis 2b. The second model also shows the existence of a very important and significant relationship between the size of the industrial network and the entrepreneurial orientation of agricultural ASOs.
Conclusion: The management teams of agricultural ASOs strongly need the presence of industry actors because such representatives can provide the resources, skills, and knowledge necessary for agricultural ASOs. For this purpose, designing large industrial networks with many contacts is considered an effective way of working. In addition, the management teams of agricultural ASOs should not ignore the importance of resources, especially the links owned by university support institutions, and avoid such resources as much as possible. This is because the development and demonstration of entrepreneurial attitudes by agricultural ASOs seem to require a series of resources, abilities, and knowledge that are not available to such people. On the other hand, university support institutions should be aware of its importance as a facilitator, both direct and indirect, and a number of resources and information that seem critical to the entrepreneurial behavior of agricultural ASOs. In this regard, it is worth mentioning that university supporting institutions should play a fundamental role as facilitators of mutual understanding between academic entrepreneurs and industrial representatives, in addition to creating a suitable environment for establishing joint relations with agricultural ASOs. Agricultural ASOs can expand and strengthen trust among agents. For this purpose, it can be a good start to developing programs, activities, or workshops in which managers and representatives of ASOs from agricultural industrial fields can share experiences and mutual needs. Agricultural ASOs are an excellent choice for studying the network theory in practice due to their technological complexity, market dynamics, growth challenges, and changing directions. For this purpose, the present study in the framework of academic entrepreneurship in the field of agriculture expands the emerging research stream by focusing on the role of different types of networks on the behavior of ASOs. It also allows for standing out the relationship of the analysis of the impact of structural elements of networks on the performance of ASOs, where previous research has not addressed such relationships.
Keywords: Academic Spin- Offs in the field of Agriculture, Entrepreneurial Orientation, Social Networks, Network Frequency, Network Size
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