IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/joiaen/v8y2019i1d10.1186_s13731-019-0104-0.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The role of corporate incubators as invigorators of innovation capabilities in parent companies

Author

Listed:
  • Jérôme Gonthier

    (HEC Montréal)

  • Gabriel M. Chirita

    (Université du Québec à Rimouski (UQAR))

Abstract

Companies need to rethink their innovation strategies in an increasingly disruptive business environment. The long-term success of large established companies depends not only on their ability to leverage their current capabilities and improve efficiency but also on taking risks and exploring unknown areas. To meet this challenge, established companies are increasingly relying on corporate incubators to fuel innovation and growth with entrepreneurial mindset. Drawing on Zollo and Winter's (Organization Science_13:339-351, 2002) deliberate learning model in conjunction with Christensen's [Christensen, C.M., Anthony S.D., and Roth E.A, Seeing What’s Next? Using the Theories of Innovation to Predict Industry Change, 2004] resource-processes-values (RPV) theory, this paper attempts to answer the question “how can the entrepreneurial mindset fostered in corporate incubators drive the innovation capabilities in parent companies?” The study of four corporate incubators set up by companies from different industries reveals several factors that enable the entrepreneurial spirit fostered by corporate incubators to boost the innovation capability in their parent companies. These factors comprise the recruitment of employees with entrepreneurial potential, investments in knowledge articulation and codification, and a leadership that legitimizes the incubator as a means for the company to develop new ideas and provide support to entrepreneurs inside the organization.

Suggested Citation

  • Jérôme Gonthier & Gabriel M. Chirita, 2019. "The role of corporate incubators as invigorators of innovation capabilities in parent companies," Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 8(1), pages 1-21, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:joiaen:v:8:y:2019:i:1:d:10.1186_s13731-019-0104-0
    DOI: 10.1186/s13731-019-0104-0
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1186/s13731-019-0104-0
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1186/s13731-019-0104-0?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Thomas Keil & Rita Gunther McGrath & Taina Tukiainen, 2009. "Gems from the Ashes: Capability Creation and Transformation in Internal Corporate Venturing," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 20(3), pages 601-620, June.
    2. Haynie, J. Michael & Shepherd, Dean & Mosakowski, Elaine & Earley, P. Christopher, 2010. "A situated metacognitive model of the entrepreneurial mindset," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 25(2), pages 217-229, March.
    3. Alain Fayolle & Thierry Verstraete, 2005. "Paradigmes et entrepreneuriat," Post-Print hal-02311654, HAL.
    4. Klinger, Bailey & Schündeln, Matthias, 2011. "Can Entrepreneurial Activity be Taught? Quasi-Experimental Evidence from Central America," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(9), pages 1592-1610, September.
    5. Rita Klapper & Catherine Leger-Jarniou, 2006. "Entrepreneurship Intention among French Grande Ecole and University Students: An Application of Shapero's Model," Post-Print hal-00566518, HAL.
    6. Thierry Verstraete & Alain Fayolle, 2005. "Paradigmes et entrepreneuriat," Revue de l'Entrepreneuriat, De Boeck Université, vol. 4(1), pages 33-52.
    7. Rita Klapper & Catherine Leger-Jarniou, 2006. "Entrepreneurship Intention Among French Grande Ecole And University Students," Post-Print halshs-00345299, HAL.
    8. David J. Teece, 2007. "Explicating dynamic capabilities: the nature and microfoundations of (sustainable) enterprise performance," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(13), pages 1319-1350, December.
    9. Maurizio Zollo & Sidney G. Winter, 2002. "Deliberate Learning and the Evolution of Dynamic Capabilities," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 13(3), pages 339-351, June.
    10. Shaker A. Zahra & Anders P. Nielsen & William C. Bogner, 1999. "Corporate Entrepreneurship, Knowledge, and Competence Development," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 23(3), pages 169-189, April.
    11. Kohler, Thomas, 2016. "Corporate accelerators: Building bridges between corporations and startups," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 59(3), pages 347-357.
    12. David J. Teece & Gary Pisano & Amy Shuen, 1997. "Dynamic capabilities and strategic management," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(7), pages 509-533, August.
    13. repec:dau:papers:123456789/2218 is not listed on IDEAS
    14. Criscuolo, Paola & Nicolaou, Nicos & Salter, Ammon, 2012. "The elixir (or burden) of youth? Exploring differences in innovation between start-ups and established firms," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(2), pages 319-333.
    15. Maximilian von Zedtwitz, 2003. "Classification and management of incubators: aligning strategic objectives and competitive scope for new business facilitation," International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 3(1/2), pages 176-196.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Nikolaus Seitz & Erik E. Lehmann & Patrick Haslanger, 2024. "Corporate accelerators: design and startup performance," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 62(4), pages 1615-1640, April.
    2. Tobias Kruft & Alexander Kock, 2019. "Towards A Comprehensive Categorisation Of Corporate Incubators: Evidence From Cluster Analysis," International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 23(08), pages 1-28, December.
    3. Andrew Page & Jonny Holmström, 2023. "Enablers and inhibitors of digital startup evolution: a multi-case study of Swedish business incubators," Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 12(1), pages 1-28, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Swen Nadkarni & Reinhard Prügl, 2021. "Digital transformation: a review, synthesis and opportunities for future research," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 71(2), pages 233-341, April.
    2. Amandine Maus & Sylvie Sammut, 2018. "Business model innovation in incubators: the role played by dynamic capabilities theory," Post-Print hal-02466175, HAL.
    3. Hafeez, Salima & Rana, Asif Mehmood & Chaudhry, Rashid Mehmood & Khan, Muhammad Aslam & Ahmad, H.Mushtaq & Rehman, Kashif Ur, 2011. "Perspectives of entrepreneurial orientation with the quality of life," MPRA Paper 53860, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Ahsan, Mujtaba & Fernhaber, Stephanie A., 2019. "Multinational Enterprises: Leveraging a Corporate International Entrepreneurship Lens for New Insights Into Subsidiary Initiatives," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 51-65.
    5. Fernández-Mesa, Anabel & Alegre, Joaquín, 2015. "Entrepreneurial orientation and export intensity: Examining the interplay of organizational learning and innovation," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 148-156.
    6. van Uden, Annelies & Knoben, Joris & Vermeulen, P.A.M., 2015. "Making Sense of Industry Characteristics as Drivers of Dynamic Capabilites," Other publications TiSEM fbb2a35d-c957-489b-b170-d, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    7. Jim Andersén, 2023. "Green resource orchestration: A critical appraisal of the use of resource orchestration in environmental management research, and a research agenda for future study," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(8), pages 5506-5520, December.
    8. von den Driesch, Till & Eva Susanne da Costa, Maika & Christina Flatten, Tessa & Brettel, Malte, 2015. "How CEO experience, personality, and network affect firms' dynamic capabilities," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 33(4), pages 245-256.
    9. Quan Anh Nguyen & Gillian Sullivan Mort, 0. "Conceptualising organisational-level and microfoundational capabilities: an integrated view of born-globals’ internationalisation," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 0, pages 1-23.
    10. C. Lakshman & Sangeetha Lakshman & Kubilay Gok, 2023. "Managers’ knowledge and customer-focused knowledge management as dynamic capabilities: implications for innovation performance," Asian Business & Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 22(1), pages 246-274, February.
    11. Zhang-Zhang, YingYing & Rohlfer, Sylvia & Varma, Arup, 2022. "Strategic people management in contemporary highly dynamic VUCA contexts: A knowledge worker perspective," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 587-598.
    12. Iman Seoudi & Matthias Huehn & Bo Carlsson, 2008. "Penrose Revisited: A Re-Appraisal of the Resource Perspective," Working Papers 14, The German University in Cairo, Faculty of Management Technology.
    13. Xiao Zhang & Luqun Xie & Jiatao Li & Li Cheng, 2022. "“Outside in”: Global demand heterogeneity and dynamic capabilities of multinational enterprises," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 53(4), pages 709-722, June.
    14. Bağış, Mehmet & Kryeziu, Liridon & Akbaba, Yılmaz & Ramadani, Veland & Karagüzel, Ensar Selman & Krasniqi, Besnik A., 2022. "The micro-foundations of a dynamic technological capability in the automotive industry," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    15. Jasna Prester, 2023. "Operating and Dynamic Capabilities and Their Impact on Operating and Business Performance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(20), pages 1-24, October.
    16. Anja Schulze & Stefano Brusoni, 2022. "How dynamic capabilities change ordinary capabilities: Reconnecting attention control and problem‐solving," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(12), pages 2447-2477, December.
    17. Julia Eichholz & Nicole Hoffmann & Anja Schwering, 2024. "The role of risk management orientation and the planning function of budgeting in enhancing organizational resilience and its effect on competitive advantages during times of crises," Journal of Management Control: Zeitschrift für Planung und Unternehmenssteuerung, Springer, vol. 35(1), pages 17-58, March.
    18. David B. Audretsch & Donald F. Kuratko & Albert N. Link, 2016. "Dynamic entrepreneurship and technology-based innovation," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 26(3), pages 603-620, July.
    19. Verreynne, Martie-Louise & Hine, Damian & Coote, Len & Parker, Rachel, 2016. "Building a scale for dynamic learning capabilities: The role of resources, learning, competitive intent and routine patterning," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(10), pages 4287-4303.
    20. Kindström, Daniel & Kowalkowski, Christian & Sandberg, Erik, 2013. "Enabling service innovation: A dynamic capabilities approach," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 66(8), pages 1063-1073.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:joiaen:v:8:y:2019:i:1:d:10.1186_s13731-019-0104-0. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.