Depuis quelques années, de nombreuses interrogations persistent concernant la mise en œuvre du dispositif de la responsabilité sociale des entreprises (RSE) dans les petites et moyennes entreprises (PME) et notamment sur le rôle des structures d’accompagnement dans le développement des pratiques de RSE en PME (Allet, 2017). Pour ces raisons et parce que la RSE devient aujourd’hui une pratique importante pour les PME, l’objectif de cette thèse est non seulement de mettre en évidence le rôle des structures d’accompagnement dans l’implication des PME dans les pratiques de RSE, mais également de comprendre le processus de création de sens et d’engagement responsable du dirigeant de PME ayant bénéficié d’une sensibilisation à la RSE. La notion de RSE est abordée sous l’angle du sensemaking, permettant ainsi de comprendre les mécanismes mises en œuvre pour appréhender la vision idiosyncrasique du dirigeant dans le processus de l’engagement responsable. A la suite de trois études réalisées, des données ont été recueillies auprès des incubateurs, entrepreneurs et dirigeants de PME ayant bénéficié d’un accompagnement à la création d’entreprise. Les résultats mettent en évidence que malgré les diversités d’entrées et les différentes façons de l’aborder, il existe une sensibilisation formelle et dissociée de la RSE dans les structures d’incubation. Ainsi, l’entrepreneur (futur dirigeant de PME) sensibilisé pendant cette période d’incubation est susceptible de développer dans ses pratiques futures, un engagement formel et intégré. Ces mêmes résultats laissent à croire que, même si l’incubateur joue un rôle de facilitateur dans l’engagement RSE du dirigeant, les croyances et les valeurs (variable culture) de ce dernier sont déterminant de son comportement responsable. / In recent years, many questions have been raised concerning the implementation of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and in particular the role of business incubators in the development of CSR practices. In SMEs (Allet, 2017).For these reasons, and because CSR is now becoming an important practice for SMEs, the objective of this thesis is not only to highlight the role of business incubators in the involvement of SMEs in CSR practices, but also to understand the process of sensemaking and CSR involvement of SME manager who have benefited from CSR awareness. The CSR notion is approached from the angle of Sensemaking, allowing to understand the mechanisms used to understand the idiosyncratic vision of the SME manager in the process of CSR commitment. Following three studies, data were collected from incubators, entrepreneurs and managers of SMEs who benefited from support for business start-ups. The results show that despite the diversity of inputs and the different ways of approaching it, there is a formal and dissociated sensitization of CSR in business incubators structures. As such, an entrepreneur (future SME manager) who is sensitized during the incubation period is likely to develop in his future practices, a formal and integrated commitment of CSR. Furthermore, the results suggest that, even if the business incubator plays a facilitating role in the CSR commitment of SME manager, his beliefs and values (cultural variable) are determinant of his responsible behavior.

This work presents the interaction and contribution to business development supported by ITSM Incubator Company and Federal University of Santa Maria (UFSM) to businessmen from small companies of technological base incubated at ITSM Incubator Company. Through a case study of the ITSM and its companies incubated and graduated, we studied what ITSM Incubator Company and UFSM supported and helped about management knowledge to businessmen and their companies. We decided to study that because people at universities and in companies have discussed a lot about enterprise and innovation in recent years. The university has been seen as a good alternative to solve social and economical problems and a source of innovation and competitiveness by the society, specially the business one. The technological incubator is used so that the university and ITSM Incubator Company can increase and qualify their interaction in order to contribute to the creation and maintenance of competitive companies on the market. Through questionnaires and interviews to businessmen and the manager of ITSM and teachers from UFSM, we could notice that ITSM has been succeeded in the development os small business but the University is still limited in relation on the relationship and real contribution to the companies. In order to create more competitive companies at ITSM Company it is necessary to correct some aspects such as the lack of a project of regional development, the strong dependence of ITSM in relation to UFSM and the low interaction of ITSM Incubator Company with its own companies graduated. / O trabalho apresenta a interação e a contribuição ao desenvolvimento empresarial proporcionado pela Incubadora ITSM e pela UFSM aos empresários das pequenas empresas de base tecnológica incubados da referida incubadora. Através de um estudo de caso envolvendo a ITSM e suas empresas incubadas e graduadas, procurou-se verificar o que a Incubadora e a Universidade proporcionaram em termos de ganhos de apoio e conhecimentos gerenciais aos empresários e suas empresas. Tal temática provém do fato de a questão do empreendedorismo e da inovação terem assumido espaço destacado nas discussões nos meios acadêmico e empresarial nos últimos anos. A universidade passou a ser vista pela sociedade, especialmente a empresarial, como uma alternativa na busca de soluções para problemas sociais e econômicos e como fonte de inovação e competitividade. Para que as duas entidades possam aumentar e qualificar sua interação surge a figura da incubadora tecnológica, que visa, entre outros aspectos, contribuir para a criação e manutenção de empresas competitivas no mercado. Através de questionários e entrevistas aos empresários e gerente da ITSM, além de professores da UFSM, chegou-se à conclusão que a ITSM está sendo bem sucedida no desenvolvimento de pequenas empresas, ao contrário da UFSM, que ainda apresenta limitações quanto à interação e contribuição efetiva às empresas. Questões como a falta de um projeto de desenvolvimento regional, a forte dependência da ITSM em relação à UFSM e a baixa interação da Incubadora com suas empresas graduadas também foram aspectos observados e que precisam ser corrigidos, para a criação de empresas mais competitivas na ITSM.

[pt] Essa pesquisa visa analisar o processo de internacionalização de empresas incubadas de base tecnológica e o papel do período de incubação nesse processo. O referencial teórico foi baseado nas teorias comportamentais da internacionalização de empresas e em entrevistas com especialistas da área. Foram analisadas quatro empresas, da Incubadora Tecnológica da PUC-Rio, utilizando o método do estudo de caso. A partir da análise dessas entrevistas foi possível observar que, em relação ao processo de internacionalização, duas teorias comportamentais predominam: a Teoria das Redes e a Teoria das Born Globals. Com relação a influência do período de incubação no processo da internacionalização, percebeu-se que, especificamente para o processo de internacionalização dessas empresas, o fato de ter sido incubada foi pouco relevante. Entretanto, para o processo de formação da empresa como um todo, o período de incubação foi identificado como importante, sendo o ambiente de network da incubadora e a associação à credibilidade da universidade os fatores mais relevantes para as empresas. Assim, essa pesquisa buscou contribuir para ampliar a discussão sobre a internacionalização das empresas incubadas de base tecnológica, que exercem um importante papel na economia do país. / [en] This research intends to analyze the internationalization of incubated technology-based companies and the influence of the incubation period in this process. The theoretical model was based on behavioral theories of the companies internationalization and interviews with specialists in entrepreneurship and internationalization. Were analyzed four companies of the Technology Incubator at PUC-Rio, using the method of case study. From the analysis of these interviews was possible to observe that, for the internationalization process, there is two predominant behavioral theories: the Theory of Networks and Theory of Born Globals. Regarding the influence of Incubation period in the process of internationalization, it was noticed that, specifically for the internationalization process of the companies, the fact of having been incubated was unremarkable. However, for the formation process of the company, incubation period has been identified as important, being the network environment of the incubator and the association s with the University, the factors most relevant to businesses. So, this research wished to contribute to the discussion about the internationalization of companies incubated basic-technology, which is an important role in the economy.

This dissertation is about the development of a set of key success factors for business incubation in South Africa and testing them on the Godisa case. It contains background information regarding the historical development and current state of business incubation in the world and in South Africa. A review of published literature provided a list of many different success factors that have been identified by researchers in other countries. These success factors were considered in terms of the current state of the business environment in South Africa and a group of twelve success factors were identified that are key for business incubation in South Africa. These success factors were then tested on the Godisa initiative. Godisa is a Sotho word, which means “nurturing and growing”, which is the main aim of Godisa for technology-intensive start-up businesses. Godisa is an initiative of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the European Union (EU). Initially there were eight centers under Godisa. The Department of Trade and Industry also decided that four of the incubators that were initiated under DTI should fall under Godisa. Godisa is an independent trust, which does not exercise direct control over the incubator centers, its role is to give them support (financial and non-financial) and advice. Most of these centers are registered either as section 21 companies or as trusts and have their own board of directors. In most cases there are other partners besides the government, which are also giving support (mostly in-kind). The research was conducted in twelve centers located in different provinces and focusing on different technological sectors. Ten of these centers are already incorporated into Godisa. The other two are still in the process of being incorporated. One of the centers is a demonstration center, another an innovation support center. Eight of the centers are pure incubators. The remaining two centers fall into the category of hybrid incubators, which means they do a combination of incubation, technology transfer, demonstration and research and development. Three sets of questionnaires were formulated in accordance with the study model. The first questionnaire was for the Godisa Manager, whose responses were of a qualitative nature to provide information about the overall programme. The second questionnaire was for the incubator managers, which required a combination of qualitative and quantitative responses. The third questionnaire was for the entrepreneurs: a combination of incubatees and graduates from the incubators, which also required both qualitative and quantitative responses. Descriptive statistics was utilized to analyse the results from the questionnaires. Furthermore bivariate statistics was used to test the relationship between success and the success factors. Each of the twelve success factors represented independent variables and success was the dependent variable. Success was measured in by sales per investment in the case of incubator centers and by sales per entrepreneur for entrepreneurs. Mann-Whitney and Kruskal Wallis tests were used to test the significance of the relationships. The final discovery was that seven of the twelve success factors also applied to the Godisa case study. Relevant conclusions and recommendations for policy makers were made. / Dissertation (MSc (Technology Management))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Graduate School of Technology Management (GSTM) / unrestricted

The humble beginnings of business incubators date back to the 1970s in the USA and United Kingdom, where abandoned industrial buildings were converted to rent out to small businesses. South Africa (SA) was first introduced to business incubation in the 1980s when the Small Business Development Corporation (SBDC) established a number of business ‘hives’ and provided business space to entrepreneurs to operate their businesses. In their most basic form, business incubators provide a safe and nurturing environment for entrepreneurs to establish their small businesses. While in incubation, the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are supported with a number of services which assist their growth and development until they are able to exit the incubator as sustainable and viable businesses. Global incubator models have matured significantly, and now include assisting with business idea generation, accelerating business start-ups and commercialisation processes, and identifying high-growth orientated SMEs to assist them with gaining market access. The establishment of business incubators was a government-driven initiative, and more than 33 SME incubators exist in SA. Most of the incubators are government-funded, and have focused on the establishment and growth of SMEs to act as a catalyst to promote economic development and alleviate socio-economic challenges such as unemployment and poverty. Despite these noble objectives, incubation in SA has not been fully utilised, and a high SME failure rate still prevails in the country. One of the reasons for SME failure may be ascribed to the lack of an enabling SME incubation environment in SA. When compared to other developing countries such as Brazil with as many as 400 incubators, it is clear that the SA incubation industry still needs further development. The purpose of this study therefore was to ascertain the best practices of global business incubators in both developed and developing countries, and how SA incubators could learn from these best practices to create a more conducive and enabling SME incubation environment. Background literature on business incubation with a specific focus on best practices in world incubators in both developed and developing countries, was reviewed. Some of the literature reviewed included Aernoudt (2004), Buys and Mbewana (2007) and Chandra (2009). From the literature review, four main best practice areas were identified, namely strategic focus, sources of funding, incubator services, and the role of government. The study followed a qualitative approach, and an interview schedule was developed to seek the perceptions of incubator managers on how the four identified best practices can be utilised to create an enabling SA incubation environment. A survey was conducted by interviewing 14 incubator managers (twelve government and two private) in SA. Data was collected over a six-month period, using face-to-face and telephonic interviews. Data was analysed using the content analysis, constant comparison, grounded theory and case study methods. The biographical profiles of the incubator managers and incubators were presented in case studies. An initial analysis was made to identify themes and sub themes within the four best practices explored, using the constant comparison method. Thereafter a provincial comparative analysis was made, as well as a comparison of government funded versus privately funded incubators. The findings suggested that there is a relatively high turnover in incubator management, and that they often do not have incubator management experience. A provincial comparison of SA incubators revealed that their strategic focuses are greatly influenced by the industry prevailing in the various provinces. All SA incubators provide pre- and post incubation services, but few are utilising virtual incubation. Most SA incubators are government-funded, and some use a hybrid funding model. It was evident that most SA incubators are aware of government policies and programmes available to assist them on local, provincial and national levels. A comparison of the best practices of two developing countries and three developed countries, as well as suggestions made by SA incubator managers indicated that SA has indeed followed best practices from both developing and developed countries, but there are areas of non-alignment which provide scope for improvement, to create a more conducive and enabling incubation environment. This study recommends that incubators should have an entrepreneurial focus, and reposition and align their strategic focus with government policies and instruments. SA incubators must pursue opportunities for virtual incubation as well as linkages with academic institutions, in order to offer value-added services such as research, development and commercialisation of the product ideas. Incubators in SA must pursue a hybrid funding model with a combination of government and private funding, and generate some or their own income. With regard to the role of government, it is recommended that the roll-out of more industry-specific incubators be privatised, and that an overseeing body for incubation be established.

Business incubators, as recognised in their contemporary form, have a history dating back to the 1970s in the United Kingdom and the USA. South Africa is no stranger to this concept of business incubation either: Since the 1980s the Small Business Development Corporation (SBDC) operated business “hives” as clusters of small enterprises. Business incubators are support facilities that empower and stimulate small-entrepreneurial businesses – from the financially vulnerable start-up period, until the time that the fledgling company is ready to operate more autonomously. Business incubators provide, as part of their services, affordable space, financial-management services, sound business advice and other development services. Incubation stimulates the development of small-entrepreneurial businesses and, to this end, helps stimulate the economy. Thus, for South Africa to invest in the development of small growing businesses, is to invest directly in its larger economy and to address its own development challenges like employment-creation, income-generation and the alleviation of poverty. It is in this context that this study discusses the development challenges of one of the rural areas in South Africa, Oudtshoorn, and aims to provide a viable strategy of business incubation for this area, in anticipation that in future lessons can be drawn from this and applied to other rural areas. Oudtshoorn is a town in the Klein Karoo, in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. The strongest sectors in Oudtshoorn’s economy are agriculture and tourism. These two sectors should provide the basis for an empowering business incubator to strengthen and enhance smaller businesses in the town. The study focuses on the development challenges of South Africa and, in particular, a rural town such as Oudtshoorn, the importance of investing in small entrepreneurial businesses so as to strengthen the country’s economy. the nature an significance of a business-incubation strategy for the Oudtshoorn area. Background literature on South Africa’s development challenges was collated as well as information gathered on small-business support and incubation in particular. Literature was retrieved from local institutions as well as national and international sources. Case studies of incubators in South Africa and in other countries were included to enhance the understanding of the importance of business incubation. In addition, the researcher’s close networks with the Oudtshoorn municipality, the local Red Door office and the different role-players in the small-business support sphere allowed for an in-depth assessment of support for such an incubation project and the critical obstacles it may encounter en route.

The concept of innovation hubs are increasingly being adopted by different sectors as a means to accelerate innovation. Previous research on innovation hubs have focused on large-scale and trans-regional hubs on its managerial practices instead of its geographical situation. This paper studies an innovation hub in the Northern Swedish city of Skellefteå, in a region historically relying on heavy industry trying to transform into a high technology economy. The study aims to answer the research question: “what are the challenges and opportunities in building and managing an innovation hub to foster innovation in a geographically isolated region with a relatively small population?” To answer this question, interviews with stakeholders in the innovation hub has been conducted as part of a qualitative case study. The results indicate that the region’s large heavy industry companies provide a fertile ecosystem for startups in the digital industry by enabling the necessary supporting industries and infrastructure. Meanwhile, the lack of certain important elements needed in the startup process, most prominently private funding in the form of angel investors and venture capital, pose challenges to the development of the digital startup community in the region.

The diploma thesis focuses on business incubators and the impact they create on the region's competitiveness. The primary purpose of the paper is to analyze the activity of business incubators and to demonstrate, using real examples, positive contribution of their activity on the regional competitiveness. A method, I intend to use, is application of theory covered in theoretical part on my practical part. The basis for analyzing the particular incubator are information collected from the questionnaire survey, structured interviews and documents available.

The aim of the Master's Thesis is the application of strategic analysis tools on the Creative Incubator Project in Pilsen. To define creative incubators and understand the recent emergence of business incubators specializing in the area of cultural and creative industries, the evolution of the concept will be described. The second part of the thesis starts with the presentation of the methodology and proposes possible applications of strategic management for creative incubators. The Creative Incubator Project in Pilsen is then described in greater detail and examined by selected methods of strategic analysis. To gain better understanding of macro environmental factors, the PEST analysis is applied. To describe micro environment, a series of analyses is used: Porter five forces model, Blue Ocean Strategy and stakeholder analysis. The strategic analysis is concluded with the SWOT analysis that sums up the findings of preceding chapters and should provide the incubator management with a sound base for strategy formulation.

Este trabalho teve como propósito verificar como as incubadoras tecnológicas brasileiras contribuem para a internacionalização das empresas incubadas na percepção dos gestores das incubadoras. Para tanto, foi realizada uma pesquisa descritiva com 40 incubadoras tecnológicas brasileiras (50% da população) e que atenderam aos seguintes critérios: estar em efetiva operação há um tempo superior a dois anos e com pelo menos uma empresa graduada. . A partir das entrevistas, identificou-se que 40% das incubadoras da amostra possuem programa formal voltado para a internacionalização das incubadas e 60% das têm empresas que iniciaram processo de internacionalização. A pesquisa forneceu indicações de ações e serviços que são efetivos na internacionalização das empresas. As ações e serviços que se mostraram mais relevantes à internacionalização das empresas foram: utilização de critérios de seleção como orientação internacional dos empreendedores; tolerância dos empreendedores ao risco; pró-atividade dos empreendedores; experiência dos empreendedores no setor; produtos e serviços inovadores; diferenciais e recursos únicos; proporcionar capacitação em gestão de tecnologia e inovação, gestão mercadológica, gestão da qualidade, gestão de distribuição e logística, e sobre o mercado externo; proporcionar às empresas incubadas participação em programas formais de internacionalização; consultorias, assessorias ou serviços de importação e exportação; de transferência internacional de tecnologia; divulgação dos projetos e produtos das empresas incubadas no exterior; identificação e prospecção de negócios e parceiros no mercado externo; acesso das empresas incubadas a recursos para exportação, investimentos estrangeiros e capital de risco; proporcionar às empresas incubadas fortalecimento e ampliação das redes internacionais com outras empresas, parceiros, associações e redes de incubação, instituições de ensino e centros de pesquisa internacionais; participação da incubadora em redes nacionais e internacionais e possuir equipe, assessores e consultores com redes internacionais de relacionamentos de negócios. / This study aimed to see how, in the perception of their managers, technology incubators in Brazil contribute to the internationalization of incubated firms. To this end, we performed a descriptive study of 40 technology incubators in Brazil (50% of the population) who met the following criteria: being in effective operation for a period longer than two years with at least one graduated company. The interviews showed that 40% of the incubators in the sample have formal programs focused on the internationalization of the companies within the incubator and 60% have companies that have begun the process of internationalization. The survey provided indications of what actions and services are effective in the internationalization of enterprises. The actions and services that were found to be most relevant to the internationalization of enterprises were: internally; the use of a selection criteria by entrepreneurs as an international guide, the entrepreneurs’ risk tolerance, the proactivity of entrepreneurs, the experience of the entrepreneurs in the industry, innovative products and services, unique differentials and features, to provide training in technology management and innovation, marketing management, quality management, distribution and logistics management; and regarding the external market; to provide incubated companies the opportunity to participate in formal internationalization programs, import and export consultancy or advisory services, international technology transfer, dissemination of projects and products of the incubated companies abroad, identification and prospecting of business and partners in foreign markets, access of the incubated companies to resources such as export financing, foreign investment and venture capital, to provide incubated companies expansion through international networks with other business partners, associations and incubation networks, educational institutions and international research centers, participation of the incubated company in national and international networks and having staff, advisors and consultants with international business network relationships.