Technology business incubators and industrial development: resource‐based view
| Pages | 245-267 |
| Published date | 09 March 2012 |
| Date | 09 March 2012 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/02635571211204281 |
| Author | Nisakorn Somsuk,Jarunee Wonglimpiyarat,Tritos Laosirihongthong |
| Subject Matter | Economics,Information & knowledge management,Management science & operations |
Technology business incubators
and industrial development:
resource-based view
Nisakorn Somsuk
Department of Industrial Engineering, Thammasat University,
Bangkok, Thailand
Jarunee Wonglimpiyarat
College of Innovation, Thammasat University, Bangkok, Thailand, and
Tritos Laosirihongthong
Department of Industrial Engineering, Thammasat University,
Bangkok, Thailand
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to determine enabling factors influencing the success of
technology business incubators (TBIs) with respect to existing and acquired resources, and describe
how these enabling factors have been implemented in practice.
Design/methodology/approach – The potential enabling factors were identified based on the
literature review through the lens of the resource-based view (RBV) perspective. The Q-sort method
was then applied to classify those factors according to the experts’ opinions, for evoking group
consensus on the classifications. Finally, a Thailand science park incubator was taken as a case to
illustrate the applicability of the findings.
Findings – The strategic resources and their categories which can be considered as TBIs’ enabling
factors were found through the RBV theory. They are important to TBIs’ success and improvement of
technology-based SMEs’ competitive advantage.
Research limitations/implications – Because of the lack of international comparisons and the
experts’ panel selection bias, attempts to generalize the findings should be made with caution.
Practical implications – The findings have been formulated into a set of comprehensive
recommendations for all stakeholders (mainly public policy makers), which will help to enhance the
development of business incubation in Thailand.
Originality/value – The paper presents an approach to determine enabling factors influencing the
successful TBIs, coming from the RBV perspective.
Keywords Thailand, Businessdevelopment, Science parks,Technology business incubators,
Enabling factors,Q-sort, Resource-based view
Paper type Research paper
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/0263-5577.htm
The authors would like to thank Thammasat University and the National Research University
Project, the Higher Education Commission of Thailand for financial support throughout the
research project. The authors also thank practitioners who gave their insight experiences during
the panel session. This work was supported by the Higher Education Research Promotion and
National Research University Project of Thailand, Office of the Higher Education Commission.
The authors would also like to thank Thammasat University for partial supporting.
Technology
business
incubators
245
Received 21 March 2011
Revised 31 August 2011
Accepted 31 August 2011
Industrial Management & Data
Systems
Vol. 112 No. 2, 2012
pp. 245-267
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
0263-5577
DOI 10.1108/02635571211204281
Introduction
Small and medium enterprises (SMEs), especially technology-based firms, have be come
an integral part of the regional and world economy development
(Ni, 2006; Sun et al., 2007). Start-ups (or new ventures) are usually characterized by
the paradigms liability of newness and resource poverty (Lendner, 2004, 2007).
Start-ups often lack technical and marketing capabilities, besides they also suffer from
poor management, inability to find early stage financing, and high overheads (Hackett
and Dilts, 2004). Therefore, start-ups are faced with how to access the (technological
and) financial resources and commercialization capabilities necessary to bring a
product to market (Lin et al., 2011).
Technology business incubators (TBIs) are seen as a mechanism that could create
supportive and entrepreneurial environments for technology-based start-ups, helpi ng
them to increase their survival rates. TBIs are designed to offer start-ups the
technological support and services, and a solution in bridging the knowledge gap
(Lalkaka, 2006) to help them develop their own viable businesses, by providing a
resource-base necessary for supporting their development in early and critical stage.
Many TBIs have been established in hoping to promote national economic growth.
To promote the success of TBIs in emerging markets, it is therefore important for the
incubator management team or policy makers to understand the necessary resources
required to support the development of their start-ups in order to help them to become
viable businesses.
In this paper, the potential enabling factors influencing the success of TBIs are
determined based on the literature review. Resource-based view (RBV) is used as a
theoretical basis to identify these enabling factors and the Q-sort method is then applied
to categorize these factors into four categories. A TBI in the Science Park of National
Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA), Thailand called Thailand
Science Park Incubator (TSP-I) is then examined to illustrate the applicability of each
category of resources.
This particular TBI is selected because the TSP-I, first, is a good representative
example of the non-profit incubator funded by the government since it demonstrates
substantial degrees of complexity both in terms of incubation and performance in the
emerging markets. Second, the TSP-I is considered as a well-established incubator in
Thailand. Finally, the TSP-I plays an increasing role in contributing to the Thai
entrepreneurial, venture capital, and economic and industry development.
The results obtained from this study will not only further our understanding of the
operational and strategic resource management in TSP-I, but will also lead to
recommendations and suggestions for all stakeholders (mainly public policy makers),
which will help to enhance the development of business incubation in Thailand.
Literature review
Historical development of business incubators
The first business incubator was established as the Batavia Industrial Center in 1959 in
Batavia, NY, USA (Lewis, 2002). In the 1960s and 1970s, business incubation programs
diffused slowly, and typically as government sponsored responses to the need for
urban economic revitalization, but in the 1980s and 1990s the rate of business
incubator diffusion increased significantly because of three main reasons (Hackett and
Dilts, 2004): the passage of the Bayh-Dole Act in the US Congress (in 1980), which led
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