Ambidextrous Intellectual Capital in the scientific research: An empirical analysis on university spin-offs

Journal title MANAGEMENT CONTROL
Author/s Fabio Nappo, Federico Schimperna, Maria Schimperna
Publishing Year 2024 Issue 2024/2 Suppl.
Language English Pages 24 P. 199-222 File size 410 KB
DOI 10.3280/MACO2024-002-S1010
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This work aims at analyzing the level of awareness on the topic of planning and control by people with an apical role in research spin-offs, suggesting a framework to increase the survivability of spin-offs. The universities take a strategic role as “knowledge incubators” to ensure competi-tive advantage through the use of their knowledge stock. In this scenario, research spin-offs contribute to the valorisation of intellectual capital in universities. How-ever, Consorzio Netval’s data highlighted that the percentage of spin-offs liquidat-ed from 2000 to 2019 is approximately 72%. The analysis of the literature shows many issues that spin-offs face; however, there is little research on another possible critical issue that this study aims to fill: the difficulties during the phases of research spin-offs’ planning and control, espe-cially in adequately balancing their short and long-term goals. Thus, we submitted a questionnaire to a panel of experts to investigate their view of the management, planning and control systems. Results show a lack of atten-tion to the application of these systems in spin-offs, while acknowledging aware-ness of their importance. On the basis of these findings, we propose a framework to increase the survivabil-ity of research spin-offs, overcoming their main issues. Our framework relies on the application of ambidextrous intellectual capital to spin-offs, considered a valuable solution, given that it combines the attention to the future, typical of spin-offs and start-ups, with the attention to the present, necessary to go beyond the pre-seed phase.

Keywords: spin-off, intellectual capital, ambidexterity, innovation, planning and control; university

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Fabio Nappo, Federico Schimperna, Maria Schimperna, Ambidextrous Intellectual Capital in the scientific research: An empirical analysis on university spin-offs in "MANAGEMENT CONTROL" 2 Suppl./2024, pp 199-222, DOI: 10.3280/MACO2024-002-S1010