A acirrada competição é o novo regulador da ordem econômica. Nesse cenário, o Brasil deve aproveitar as oportunidades dessa nova dinâmica empresarial, aprimorando as características que permitirão o desenvolvimento de um desempenho superior para suas organizações. Empregar o potencial empreendedor existente no País, através de mecanismos de apoio que permitam o desenvolvimento de organizações inovadoras é um caminho próspero ao crescimento econômico sustentável. Assim, o escopo dessa pesquisa consiste em investigar a performance empreendedora e inovadora dos ambientes de incubação, através do estudo do perfil, dos processos e do ecossistema das incubadoras de empresas e suas respectivas incubadas. Trata-se de um estudo exploratório, realizado por meio de pesquisa multi-caso, envolvendo cinco incubadoras de empresas de um total de 32 que compõem a Rede Gaúcha de Incubadoras de empresas. Selecionadas conforme os critérios de antigüidade, quantidade de incubadas e número de graduadas, buscou-se através das entrevistas com o gerente da incubadora e com os proprietários de duas empresas incubadas, explorar os atores, o funcionamento e a rede de stakeholders que formam as incubadoras mais ativas e representativas do Rio Grande do Sul. Os resultados apontam as peculiaridades intracaso e o cruzamento das informações intercaso a fim de destacar pontos similares e divergentes das incubadoras e das empresas incubadas, retratando a realidade desse ambiente, suas vantagens e carências sob a ótica do empreendedorismo e da inovação como alternativa ao desenvolvimento sustentável. / Submitted by Marcelo Teixeira (mvteixeira@ucs.br) on 2014-05-19T18:16:21Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Luciana Ribeiro Chalela.pdf: 3624149 bytes, checksum: 8537cd0c0ac80258926d196ccea566d3 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2014-05-19T18:16:21Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Luciana Ribeiro Chalela.pdf: 3624149 bytes, checksum: 8537cd0c0ac80258926d196ccea566d3 (MD5) / Close competition is now the new regulator of the economical order. In this scenario, Brazil must take advantage of the opportunities of these new managing dynamics, improving their characteristics which allow the development of a superior performance for the organizations. To enhance entrepreneurial and innovative potential, through support mechanisms that allow the development of the organizations, is a prosperous way to reach a sustainable economical growth. Consequently, the objective of this research is to investigate the entrepreneurial and innovative competitiveness belonging to business incubator environments. The research methodology, according to its objectives, refers to an exploratory study; and in relation to its procedures, refers to a multi-case study. The results consist in an analysis of the most outstanding and representatives cases of the business incubators of Rio Grande do Sul, finding similar and different points the incubators and hosted companies showing the realities of these environments, their advantages and needs under the entrepreneurship and innovation perspectives as an alternative for sustainable development.

A acirrada competição é o novo regulador da ordem econômica. Nesse cenário, o Brasil deve aproveitar as oportunidades dessa nova dinâmica empresarial, aprimorando as características que permitirão o desenvolvimento de um desempenho superior para suas organizações. Empregar o potencial empreendedor existente no País, através de mecanismos de apoio que permitam o desenvolvimento de organizações inovadoras é um caminho próspero ao crescimento econômico sustentável. Assim, o escopo dessa pesquisa consiste em investigar a performance empreendedora e inovadora dos ambientes de incubação, através do estudo do perfil, dos processos e do ecossistema das incubadoras de empresas e suas respectivas incubadas. Trata-se de um estudo exploratório, realizado por meio de pesquisa multi-caso, envolvendo cinco incubadoras de empresas de um total de 32 que compõem a Rede Gaúcha de Incubadoras de empresas. Selecionadas conforme os critérios de antigüidade, quantidade de incubadas e número de graduadas, buscou-se através das entrevistas com o gerente da incubadora e com os proprietários de duas empresas incubadas, explorar os atores, o funcionamento e a rede de stakeholders que formam as incubadoras mais ativas e representativas do Rio Grande do Sul. Os resultados apontam as peculiaridades intracaso e o cruzamento das informações intercaso a fim de destacar pontos similares e divergentes das incubadoras e das empresas incubadas, retratando a realidade desse ambiente, suas vantagens e carências sob a ótica do empreendedorismo e da inovação como alternativa ao desenvolvimento sustentável. / Close competition is now the new regulator of the economical order. In this scenario, Brazil must take advantage of the opportunities of these new managing dynamics, improving their characteristics which allow the development of a superior performance for the organizations. To enhance entrepreneurial and innovative potential, through support mechanisms that allow the development of the organizations, is a prosperous way to reach a sustainable economical growth. Consequently, the objective of this research is to investigate the entrepreneurial and innovative competitiveness belonging to business incubator environments. The research methodology, according to its objectives, refers to an exploratory study; and in relation to its procedures, refers to a multi-case study. The results consist in an analysis of the most outstanding and representatives cases of the business incubators of Rio Grande do Sul, finding similar and different points the incubators and hosted companies showing the realities of these environments, their advantages and needs under the entrepreneurship and innovation perspectives as an alternative for sustainable development.

The purpose of this study is to develop a conceptual model based which examines the influence of various antecedents of the business incubation process. The conceptualized model will be tested empirically using data collected from North American business incubators. The data used are from the National Business Incubator Association's State of the Industry survey. The Partial Least Squares method of analysis is used to explore the identified antecedents, and is used to test validate the model. While a number of resources were identified as components of the incubation process and are considered antecedents of incubator effectiveness (e.g., social networking, access to funding, training, manager/staff intervention), the findings indicate the network of professional services (e.g., legal, marketing, MIS advice) assembled in and around the incubator have the most significant impact on incubator effectiveness. Other resources, such as training, links and management resources, can have an impact, but only insofar as they relate to the professional services resources. The application and screening process were confirmed as essential to find clients that have the proper "fit" within an incubator. The findings indicate that the physical and age characteristics of an incubator are not factors in effectiveness, nor is the networking activities among incubator clients, lending support to a burgeoning class of virtual incubators, accelerators and innovation centers. The results support resource-advantage theory as a foundation theory in the incubation process, and give researchers a basis for future work in this area. The study helps fill gaps in academic research on incubators, and confirms previously theorized work on the process of incubation. In practice, incubator managers and stakeholders can use these results to assemble the particular resources they need for their type of incubator, and more effectively select potential clients based on those resources. This should allow a smoother, more even flow through the incubator, a better use of scarce and valuable resources, and likely higher graduation rates. This study is the first empirical analysis of the incubation process to arrive at a statistically-validated model of business incubation.

The field of entrepreneurship research offers differing theories regarding the underlying behaviours of entrepreneurs. These theoretical frameworks describe the behaviours and principal thought processes that entrepreneurs use to create new businesses. The unique attributes of the South African context, characterised by high unemployment and low entrepreneurial activity, together with new business formation make this field of research particularly important. Some of the major theoretical frameworks were reviewed in the study, and a qualitative study was employed using the Grounded Theory approach. Ten successful entrepreneurs were interviewed for the study and the data collected was used to provide insight into their behaviour and particularly sought to determine whether principles from Effectual Theory were present. The findings of the research supported some aspects of the important theoretical frameworks, emphasising the need for a multitude of perspectives rather than a single best framework. Particularly strong evidence of effectual entrepreneurial behaviours were found in the data, supporting the Theory of Effectuation as a construct for new business formation in South Africa. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / lmgibs2015 / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / Unrestricted

D. Tech. (Department Logistics, Faculty of Management Sciences), Vaal University of Technology / The majority of business incubators in South Africa are supported by the Small Enterprise Development Agency (SEDA). However, a notable proportion of business incubators face a number of challenges to growth and development. Despite a number of studies conducted on business incubators generally, little information exists on the framework for the creation of business incubators. The concept of business incubation has gained prominence in academia in recent years as a vehicle for small business development. In view of the growing importance of business incubators, the objective of this study is to develop a framework for the creation of business incubators in South Africa. Business incubator managers, coaches, project specialists, and enterprise development practitioners were selected, being considered the ideal target population for this study. The study adopted a sequential mixed-methods methodology that commenced with a qualitative study and was followed by a quantitative study. For the qualitative study, data were collected from a purposively selected business incubator sample comprising nine participants. The principle of technical saturation was applied to ascertain the adequacy of the sample size. The trustworthiness and credibility of the qualitative study were achieved through pre-testing of the interview guide, bracketing, prolonged engagement with participants, peer debriefing, and researcher reflexivity. The analysis of the qualitative data was conducted using content and thematic analyses. The qualitative element of the study identified incubator prerequisites, situational analyses, operational processes/incubation strategies, and operational outputs as the main determinants of the framework for business incubators. In line with the methodology of the study, the determinants of the framework for business incubators that emerged from the qualitative study were further examined through a quantitative study. The data for the quantitative study were generated from a conveniently selected incubator practitioner sample of 121 respondents, using a structured self-administered questionnaire. Furthermore, the historical evidence method guided the determination of the sample size for the quantitative study. Prior to questionnaire administration of this study a pilot study was conducted to improve the accuracy of the survey instrument. The quantitative section utilised statistical data analysis procedures, descriptive statistics, reliability and validity analysis, correlation analysis and confirmatory factor analysis. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software was utilised to analyse the quantitative data. The results of the quantitative data analysis revealed that the framework for incubation presents incubator prerequisites (incubation entry of incubatees) as the predictor construct. This construct has eight sub-components, which are situational analysis (incubatees’ characteristics), key requirements, operational process, factor components, intellective capabilities, administrative capabilities, market force engineering, and strategic resourcing (impact) with KPIs. The mediating construct is business incubator performance (incubation process—industry coaches, governance structure, and entrepreneurial focus), which in turn leads to monitoring and evaluation (incubation output—graduation phase, impact, and follow-ups). The relationships between these constructs were tested. In order to verify the reliability of the measurement items of the current study, Cronbach’s alpha coefficient, the item-to-total values and composite reliability were computed. The validity of the survey instrument was enhanced through content, convergent, discriminant and predictive validities. In addition, the reliability and validity measures employed in the present study showed that the survey instrument utilised in the quantitative study was both reliable and valid. The study is significant in terms of its theoretical and business incubation policy implications. Theoretically, the study provides a comparative impression of the South African business incubation perspective and current trends in the ecosystem. Thus, future researchers, particularly in developing countries, may use the results of this study as a reference benchmark in terms of literature and research methodology. The various organs of the state, government agencies, as well as non-governmental organisations that are responsible for entrepreneurship development and the creation of additional business incubators, may use the study as a reference point in the generation of different initiatives aimed at improving the small business environment in South Africa.

Thesis (M.Tech.: Entrepreneurship)-Dept. of Entrepreneurial Studies, Durban Institute of Technology, 2003 ix, 90 leaves / The South African economy is unable to support the employment needs of the growing number of graduates. In an attempt to address these needs, the proposed study focuses on the development of an incubator system to nurture young entrepreneurs (graduates), until they are able to survive independently – usually in two to three years.

Thesis (M.Tech.: Entrepreneurship)-Dept. of Entrepreneurial Studies, Durban Institute of Technology, 2003 ix, 90 leaves / The South African economy is unable to support the employment needs of the growing number of graduates. In an attempt to address these needs, the proposed study focuses on the development of an incubator system to nurture young entrepreneurs (graduates), until they are able to survive independently – usually in two to three years.

Thesis (MTech (Business Administration))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2016. / In both developed and developing countries, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) create employment opportunities and can therefore improve the standard of living. The South African Government have embarked on a number of initiatives in support of SMEs. The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the SEDA Technology Programme (STP) have a number of assistance programmes that are being implemented in support of SMEs. Although there have been many varied studies on business incubators, there is still a need for research to determine the importance of entrepreneurial skills for the development of successful incubators.Business incubators are essentially organisations that assist to increase survival rates of innovative start-up companies and support the entrepreneurial process. Incubators provide resources and services to entrepreneurs, including working space or physical offices, technical expertise, management mentoring, assistance in compiling an effective business plan, shared administrative services, technical support, business networking, advice on intellectual property and sources of financing, markets as well as strict admission and exit rules, which are designed to ensure that the incubator concentrates its efforts in helping innovative and fast-growth business start-ups that are likely to have a significant impact on the local economy. This therefore reduces the start-up capital and overhead costs, and allows the entrepreneur to focus on his/her core business whilst receiving operational support and hand-held coaching. The incubator concept supports the clients’ development journey to ensure business sustainability and growth.The main objective of the study is to determine the role that business incubators play in filling entrepreneurial-skills requirements for SMEs in the Cape metropolitan District. The population of this study comprised all the business incubators on the data base of one of the organisations that promotes SME development strategies and programmes in the Cape Metropolitan Area (CAM). All of the five business incubators that were registered on the database of a local organisation, known as Traction, during the course of the investigation, were deemed suitable for the study and therefore comprised the sample, which promotes SMEs’ development. The study utilises a mixed approach of quantitative and qualitative methods to collect data. From a quantitative point of view, questionnaires are utilised, while face-to-face interviews is used as a qualitative method. A maximum of seventy questionnaires is administered to incubated SMEs, 28 questionnaires were returned and all qualified for data analysis. This amounts to a 40% response rate. To complement the survey questionnaire, five face-to-face interviews were conducted with business incubators. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software was utilised to analyse the quantitative data, whereas qualitative data was analysed by means of content analysis and the results for both methods were presented in the format of figures, tables and charts.

Atualmente, o número de incubadoras de empresas brasileiras tem crescido como nunca. Sendo um dos principais mecanismos de auxílio aos empreendedores iniciantes, as ações desenvolvidas junto a estas incubadoras precisam ser muito bem planejadas e posteriormente avaliadas com critérios claros e eficientes. Neste sentido, são propostos, utilizados e analisados: um modelo de plano de negócios para incubadoras de empresas, um método de implantação do plano de negócios em incubadoras de empresas e um sistema de medida de desempenho de curto prazo para se avaliar o impacto que o plano de negócios causa na gestão destas organizações. A experiência desenvolvida junto às incubadoras de empresas paulistas, com a implantação do plano de negócios como ferramenta de gestão, usada pelos gerentes destas organizações no planejamento de suas ações, contribuiu para a melhoria nos seus índices de desempenho e tem servido de base aos seus principais mantenedores - SEBRAE-SP e FIESP - na condução do programa de incubadoras de empresas no Estado de São Paulo. / Nowadays, the number of Brazilian business incubators has been growing as never. Being one of the main mechanisms to aid the beginner entrepreneurs, the actions developed by these incubators need to be very well planned, and evaluated with clear and efficient approaches. In this sense, this work has proposed, used, and analyzed: a business plan model for business incubators, a method to implement the business plan in business incubators, and a short-term performance measure system to evaluate the impact of the business plan in these organizations. The experience that was developed with the business incubators from São Paulo State, with the implementation of the business plan as an administrative tool, used by the managers of these organizations to the planning of their actions, has contributed to the improvement of their performance indexes and it has been used as reference to their main stakeholders - SEBRAE-SP and FIESP - for the conduction of the program of business incubators in the State of São Paulo.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-25T20:19:59Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Silvana Alves da Silva.pdf: 1587314 bytes, checksum: ff7fa54a8b276bf5bc51454fdaa709b0 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-11-11 / In this study, entitled The social role of business incubators in Belo Horizonte: a case study , the author, Silvana Alves da Silva, intended to analyze the symbolic representations of business incubators - especially technology based - on the social role played by them, to permit new ways of getting work, income and new ventures based on technological development and its implications. To achieve the goal, it was realized a case study of the Nascente, business incubator of the Federal Center for Technological Education of Minas Gerais (CEFET-MG). The development of this study was justified because the researcher believes that the contribution of the incubation system for the economic and social development of the country is relevant, especially in a time when the changing in the world of work has brought serious consequences. The hypothesis guiding this study was: the business incubators of technology-based impact positively the society, covering private and public initiatives, both as regards the promotion of new possibilities for developing a self employment through entrepreneurship, as regard to technological development as a generator of new jobs and income. The Sociology of Labor provided the main theoretical basis for understanding the transformations of forms of organization of the work process and its social consequences. The analysis of the Social Sciences led the researcher, whose basic training was accomplished in Administrative Sciences, to reflect on the need of finding other ways of obtaining employment and income and about the specific place determined for the technological development in contemporary society. As a result of this work, it was concluded that there is much to improve in the incubation system in Brazil, so that the social function for which this system has potential becomes effective. Without ignoring the positive results already achieved by the Nascente, it can be affirmed that the contribution of business incubators, taking into consideration the social potential that they seem to have is still not very significant. They still need to be recognized as the ideal space and, of course, be really prepared to assist in the developing solutions that could become products or processes of social and economic relevance / Neste trabalho, intitulado O papel social das incubadoras de empresas de Belo Horizonte: um estudo de caso , a autora, Silvana Alves da Silva, pretendeu analisar as representações simbólicas das incubadoras de empresas especialmente as de base tecnológica , relativas ao papel social por elas desempenhado, ao viabilizarem novas formas de obtenção de trabalho e renda e novos empreendimentos baseados no desenvolvimento tecnológico e em suas implicações. Para atender o objetivo, foi realizado um estudo de caso da Nascente, incubadora de empresas do Centro Federal de Educação Tecnológica de Minas Gerais (CEFET-MG). O desenvolvimento deste estudo justificou-se pelo fato de a pesquisadora acreditar ser relevante a contribuição do sistema de incubação para o desenvolvimento econômico e social do País, principalmente em um momento em que as mudanças no mundo do trabalho têm trazido sérias consequências. A hipótese condutora deste estudo foi a seguinte: as incubadoras de empresas de base tecnológica impactam positivamente cada vez mais a sociedade, abarcando iniciativas privadas e públicas, tanto no que diz respeito à promoção de novas possibilidades de um desenvolvimento profissional autônomo, via empreendedorismo, quanto no que diz respeito ao desenvolvimento tecnológico como gerador de novos postos de trabalho e renda. A Sociologia do Trabalho forneceu os principais subsídios teóricos para a compreensão das transformações das formas de organização do processo de trabalho e de suas consequências sociais. As análises das Ciências Sociais levaram a pesquisadora, cuja formação de base efetivou-se nas Ciências Administrativas, a refletir sobre a necessidade de se encontrar outras saídas para a obtenção de trabalho e renda e sobre o lugar destinado ao desenvolvimento tecnológico na sociedade contemporânea. Como resultado deste trabalho, concluiu-se que há muito a melhorar no sistema de incubação brasileiro, a fim de que se torne efetiva a função social para a qual esse sistema tem potencial. Sem desconsiderar os resultados positivos já obtidos pela Nascente, pode-se afirmar que a contribuição das incubadoras de empresas, dado o potencial social que demonstram ter, ainda não é muito significativa. Elas ainda necessitam ser reconhecidas como o espaço ideal e, é claro, estar realmente preparadas para auxiliarem no desenvolvimento de soluções que poderão se tornar produtos ou processos de relevância econômica e social