Thesis (M.A.)--Northern Kentucky University, 2009. / Made available through ProQuest. Publication number: AAT 1469758. ProQuest document ID: 1902458221. Includes bibliographical references (p. 23-25)

Within the field of development, participation has become the normative approach in the past two decades. For development projects to be sustainable, the communication must be participatory in nature. For development projects to be sustainable and to actually contribute to the development of communities, communication has to be based on the participatory approach of development communication. Dialogue, empowerment that leads to independence and cultural identity are some of the most important principles of the participatory approach. The importance of communication aimed at development first became apparent during the modernisation paradigm. Modernisation is considered an evolutionary shift from a traditional view to a modern society. Development is seen as synonymous with westernization, industrialization and economic growth. Universities are under pressure from both the government and the industry to help with economic development and deliver graduates that can make a positive difference in their field of expertise (Grimaldi & Grandi, 2005). A university business incubator (UBI) is a business incubator located within a university. University business incubators facilitate and develop conditions and support systems that ensure young entrepreneurs with new ventures will function successfully. Business incubators support these entrepreneurs by giving them access to affordable facilities and resources such as secretarial support and office furniture. The focus is on providing entrepreneurs with specialised support, training and assistance, including research and development, risk capital and networking opportunities (Lalkaka, 1990:25). A UBI uses the university‟s resources, personnel‟s time and knowledge toward economic development efforts, reaping the benefits from the commercialisation of the university‟s own research (Grimaldi & Grandi, 2005; Mian, 1997). The Netherlands Initiative for Capacity development in Higher Education (NICHE) launched a programme in South Africa in February 2009. BEEHIVE (Bridging Business and Education by Establishing a Hub of Innovative Ventures and Expertise) is the university incubator of the North-West University‟s (NWU) Vaal Triangle Campus, which started with the operational phase of the programme in May 2012. The name was changed in 2011 to Bhive for marketing purposes. Against this background, the following research question was investigated: to what extent is the communication between stakeholders of the Bhive UI participatory? The researcher used a qualitative research method in order to collect the data. A literature study was conducted to explore the premises of the nature of the participatory approach in development communication for social change. Interviews with different stakeholders were conducted to determine their perceptions regarding the Bhive UI. Lastly, the researcher observed the Bhive UI over a period of two years. The research findings reveal that within the larger paradigm of heteroglossia there is room for improvement. This study pointed out the various areas for improvement and offered theoretically grounded recommendations. / MA (Communication Studies), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Within the field of development, participation has become the normative approach in the past two decades. For development projects to be sustainable, the communication must be participatory in nature. For development projects to be sustainable and to actually contribute to the development of communities, communication has to be based on the participatory approach of development communication. Dialogue, empowerment that leads to independence and cultural identity are some of the most important principles of the participatory approach. The importance of communication aimed at development first became apparent during the modernisation paradigm. Modernisation is considered an evolutionary shift from a traditional view to a modern society. Development is seen as synonymous with westernization, industrialization and economic growth. Universities are under pressure from both the government and the industry to help with economic development and deliver graduates that can make a positive difference in their field of expertise (Grimaldi & Grandi, 2005). A university business incubator (UBI) is a business incubator located within a university. University business incubators facilitate and develop conditions and support systems that ensure young entrepreneurs with new ventures will function successfully. Business incubators support these entrepreneurs by giving them access to affordable facilities and resources such as secretarial support and office furniture. The focus is on providing entrepreneurs with specialised support, training and assistance, including research and development, risk capital and networking opportunities (Lalkaka, 1990:25). A UBI uses the university‟s resources, personnel‟s time and knowledge toward economic development efforts, reaping the benefits from the commercialisation of the university‟s own research (Grimaldi & Grandi, 2005; Mian, 1997). The Netherlands Initiative for Capacity development in Higher Education (NICHE) launched a programme in South Africa in February 2009. BEEHIVE (Bridging Business and Education by Establishing a Hub of Innovative Ventures and Expertise) is the university incubator of the North-West University‟s (NWU) Vaal Triangle Campus, which started with the operational phase of the programme in May 2012. The name was changed in 2011 to Bhive for marketing purposes. Against this background, the following research question was investigated: to what extent is the communication between stakeholders of the Bhive UI participatory? The researcher used a qualitative research method in order to collect the data. A literature study was conducted to explore the premises of the nature of the participatory approach in development communication for social change. Interviews with different stakeholders were conducted to determine their perceptions regarding the Bhive UI. Lastly, the researcher observed the Bhive UI over a period of two years. The research findings reveal that within the larger paradigm of heteroglossia there is room for improvement. This study pointed out the various areas for improvement and offered theoretically grounded recommendations. / MA (Communication Studies), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Venture capital is associated with some of the most rapidly growing and influential technological companies. The strengths of the venture capital model have been effectively articulated by academics and policymakers. At the same time, venture capital financing became increasingly influential in the deep technology startup ecosystem, and there was a need to investigate the industry's growth impact of financing. Hence, this thesis focuses on the research area that is initiated by Industrifonden, an early-stage venture capital fund in Sweden. This study has chosen to investigate and answer the growth impact analysis in two key areas: timing (is timing of financing an independent factor for the growth of deep tech startups?) and sector based financing (Is Venture capital financing sector based?). The data comes from a cohort of startups (143 startups from 2010 to 2019) that are representative of deep-tech and non-deep-tech firms in Sweden, according to the Retriever Business Database in association with KTH Library. As the performance can be explained through the growth of the firms, the result shows that timing of funding has a statistically significant impact on the growth of the firm. The findings indicate a higher positive correlation between timing and startups’ growth, but sector based financing is statistically insignificant for deep tech startup growth. / Riskkapital är förknippat med några av de snabbast växande och inflytelserika tekniska företagen. Styrkorna i riskkapitalmodellen har effektivt formulerats av akademiker och beslutsfattare. Samtidigt blev riskkapitalfinansiering alltmer inflytelserik i det djupa teknikstart, och det fanns ett behov av att undersöka branschens tillväxtspåverkan av finansiering. Därför fokuserar denna avhandling på det forskningsområde som initierats av Industrifonden, en svensk riskkapitalfond. Denna studie har valt att undersöka och svara på analysen av tillväxtspåverkan inom två nyckelområden: timing (är tidpunkten för finansiering en oberoende faktor för tillväxten av djupa teknikstart?) Och branschfinansiering (är riskkapitalfinansiering branschbaserad?). Uppgifterna kommer från en grupp nystartade företag (143 startups från 2010 till 2019) som är representativa för djup teknologiska och icke-djup tekniska företag i Sverige, enligt affärsdatabasen Retriever i samarbete med KTH biblioteket. Eftersom resultatet kan förklaras genom företagens tillväxt visar resultatet att tidpunkten för finansiering har en statistiskt signifikant inverkan på företagets tillväxt. Resultaten indikerar en högre positiv korrelation mellan timing och startups tillväxt, men branschfinansiering är statistiskt obetydlig för djup teknisktillväxt.