Thesis (MPhil (Sociology and Social Anthropology))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009. / This study focuses on academic entrepreneurship. It commences with a literature review
on international trends in academic entrepreneurship, with a particular focus on incentive
schemes used by selected countries to encourage innovativeness in academic
institutions. Linkages between these incentives schemes and the improvement in the
level of innovations made are demonstrated. This study will also show that in some
countries, such as Brazil and Finland, these innovation incentives have led to the
formation of start-up companies and an increased number of patents.
The international scenario in academic entrepreneurship is linked to the South African
scenario, as presented in the chapter on the science and technology landscape in South
Africa. The main focus of the South African scenario will be on the National Innovation
Competition (NIC), which is an instrument of the Innovation Fund specifically aimed at
encouraging and providing innovation incentives at the level of higher education
institutions. This research report also provide findings of interviews with different people
within the academic entrepreneurship fraternity as well as an assessment of the
differences between the winning and the non-winning business plans, which are used as
a basis of providing incentives to the winners of the NIC.
Recommendations are made in an attempt to provide solutions to the challenges
encountered in the NIC at both institutional levels, as participants, and at government
level, as funders of the NIC. This will hopefully improve the effectiveness and efficiency
of the NIC. Although the NIC was only started in 2004, it is envisaged that areas of
improvement can be identified at this early stage. This, coupled with the lessons learnt
from the international literature review, will provide a mechanism that will make the NIC
a powerful instrument to encourage innovation at HEI (Higher Education Institution)
level. The conclusions drawn from this report include lessons learnt from the
international literature review.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:sun/oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/1522 |
| Date | 03 1900 |
| Creators | Vutula, Noncedo |
| Contributors | Mouton J., University of Stellenbosch. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Sociology and Social Anthropology. |
| Publisher | Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Rights | University of Stellenbosch |
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