The impact of market orientation on university spin-off business performance

Nicoletta Buratti, Giorgia Profumo, Luca Persico
2020 Journal of International Entrepreneurship  
Extant literature on the antecedents of university spin-off (USO) business performance has developed with the aim of highlighting those drivers that could foster the performance of such firms, focusing on a variety of factors. Less interest has been devoted to the market orientation-performance relationship, despite the positive link frequently found in the marketing literature. The aim of the present paper is therefore to fill this gap and investigate the relationship between market
more » ... (MO) and USO performance using the Netval database of Italian research spin-offs. To measure MO, we adopted an ad hoc questionnaire, and after testing its validity with a factor analysis, we performed a regression model. The results show that MO, particularly some of its components (customer intelligence generation, intelligence dissemination, integration and inter-functional coordination), has an impact on business performance. This contribution presents some valuable research implications useful for academics, but professionals from new high-tech ventures and technology transfer offices may also benefit from this knowledge. Journal of International Entrepreneurship Résumé Une importante bibliographie sur les antécédents de la performance des spin-off universitaires a déjà été développée, dans le but de mettre en évidence les éléments qui pourraient favoriser la performance de ces entreprises, et en mettant l'accent sur divers facteurs. Malgré le lien positif qui est généralement observé dans la littérature marketing, la relation entre l'Orientation Marché (OM) et la performance a été moins approfondie. L'objectif de cet article est donc de combler cette lacune en examinant la relation entre l'orientation marché et les performances des SOU (Spin-Off Universitaires) de la base de données Netval, dédiée aux spin-off de la recherche italienne. Afin de mesurer l'OM, nous avons adopté un questionnaire ad hoc et, après avoir testé sa validité avec une analyse factorielle, nous avons réalisé un modèle de régression. Les résultats montrent que l'OM a effectivement un impact sur la performance de l'entreprise, en particulier sur certaines de ses dimensions (production de renseignements sur les clients, diffusion de renseignements, intégration et coordination interfonctionnelle). Cette étude présente des perspectives de recherche utiles pour les universitaires, mais aussi pour les professionnels des nouvelles entreprises haute technologie et les bureaux de transfert de technologie, qui pourraient bénéficier de ces connaissances. Summary highlights Contributions: The study offers a better understanding of the span of applicability of Market Orientation (MO) concept. While most of the previous studies examined larger companies, our study focuses on university spin-offs (USOs), offering empirical evidence of the positive relationship between MO and business performance in the context of new ventures stemming from academic departments and research laboratories. Moreover, by testing a scale for measuring the level of MO in USOs, it offers a research tool that might be used in future studies on other countries or comparative analyses. Research Questions: Which dimensions of MO are relevant for USOs? How do the different dimensions of MO affect USO business performance? Data: Data were collected through a structured questionnaire, built using both MKTOR and MARKOR scales, submitted on-line, via Google Forms, to the population of the Italian University spin-offs surveyed in the Netval database in 2015. A total of 115 USOs completed the survey. Buratti N. et al. Methods: After the validation of the MO scale through a factor analysis (EFA and CFA), the extracted MO factors have been used in an OLS regression to investigate the impact of MO dimensions on business performance. Results/Findings: The results show that the MO construct in USOs may be split into four dimensions, but not all the dimensions of the MO construct present the same effect on business performance. In particular, responsive customer intelligence generation (RCIG) and dissemination, integration and inter-functional coordination (DIIC) seem to positively affect business performance; proactive customer intelligence generation (PCIG) reveals a negative impact, while competitor intelligence generation (CIGE) presents a non-significant effect on business performance. Limitations: The study takes into account only one financial year. Further studies would benefit from using longitudinal analyses. Another limitation is related to the measurement of firms' business performance. Sales revenues to number of employees is a good measure, but in the future, new measures of business performance should be used, not necessarily linked to financial results. Theoretical Implications: The study adds some reflections within the academic entrepreneurship literature, highlighting the relevance of being market oriented in order to attain better results when exploiting research for commercial purpose. Within the market orientation literature, the study confirms the importance of examining MO in a disaggregated manner and improves the knowledge on its application and measurement in the context of new ventures, such as USOs. Practical Implications: Results may be useful for both entrepreneurial teams of USOs and technology transfer offices, as they highlight the relevance of being market oriented in order to improve the business performance of this kind of firms. Public Policy Implications and Recommendations: Support programs aimed at fostering the setting up and development of USOs should provide guidance and assistance to these firms in order to facilitate their adoption of market-oriented attitudes and behaviours. The impact of market orientation on university spin-off business...
doi:10.1007/s10843-020-00282-4 fatcat:62fjycuhkvfjpf2ogv5gpdd3xy