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      • Open Access Article

        1 - Introduce and Using the Approach of Positive Deviance in Identifying Potentials for Performance Improvement of the Tenants of Yazd Science and Technology Park
        Mohammad Saleh Oliua Ali Haji Gholam Sayazdi Abbas Zareu Benadkoki Shahram Shokohi Daruosh Pourserahian
        In Incubators of Science and Technology parks (STPs) manifold services are presented to develop tenant institutes. There are always a few tenants institutes perform distinctively and distinguished outcomes from others, despite of similarities of services to all of them. More
        In Incubators of Science and Technology parks (STPs) manifold services are presented to develop tenant institutes. There are always a few tenants institutes perform distinctively and distinguished outcomes from others, despite of similarities of services to all of them. In this research, Positive Deviants (Problem Solving Technique identified in 1990) has been used to achieve the main factors of prosperity of such bold tenants and try in recognizing solutions for distributing them to others. This research has been done in Information and Communication Incubators of Yazd Science and Technology Park (YSTP). By four essential and methodological phases, “Define”, “Determine”, “Discover”, and “Design”, Implemented solutions and behaviors of prosperous tenants to overcome difficulties and enhance developments have been recognized. Besides, using the technique “House of Quality” some findings and solutions (by changes in key processes of YSTP) is suggested to generalize the research results to other tenants. Finally, some recommendations have been added to this study. Manuscript profile
      • Open Access Article

        2 - Managing the Stakeholders Network in Technology Business Incubators
        Hasan KIhakbaz Jafar Eyvazzpour
        The Technology Business Incubators (TBIs) provide an effective means to link technology, capital and know-how in order to accelerate the development of new technology-based companies, leverage entrepreneurial talent, and thus speed the exploitation of technology. The TB More
        The Technology Business Incubators (TBIs) provide an effective means to link technology, capital and know-how in order to accelerate the development of new technology-based companies, leverage entrepreneurial talent, and thus speed the exploitation of technology. The TBIs assist emerging businesses through an array of business support services, developed by incubator management such as assistance in developing business and marketing plans, building management teams, obtaining capital, and ease of access to a range of other more specialized professional services. In addition, incubators provide flexible space, shared equipment, and administrative services. Therefore, the TBI goal is to produce successful firms that will leave the incubator financially viable and freestanding. To address this goal, involvement and support of stakeholders, consisting of sponsors drawn from the local business community, government, the broader community, venture capital providers, technopreneurs, incubator managers and staff are vital. The stakeholders in an incubator will help sustain its financing, offer assistance to its client companies, serve on governing boards, and play generally a key role in the incubator's success. The purpose of this paper is to explain the reason for involving stakeholders in TBI management and necessity of establishing a healthy relationship with them, based on an appropriate set of expectations regarding the nature of the relationship. Manuscript profile
      • Open Access Article

        3 - Developing a Framework for Evaluation of Incubators Performance
        Hassanali Aghajani Autefeh Talebzadeh
        Business incubators are now recognized in both developed and developing countries as important instruments for promoting entrepreneurship development and technological innovation, specialy at the small and medium enterprise level. Development and proliferation of busine More
        Business incubators are now recognized in both developed and developing countries as important instruments for promoting entrepreneurship development and technological innovation, specialy at the small and medium enterprise level. Development and proliferation of business incubators has generated an intense debate around their performance and usefulness between opponents and advocates of these organizations. Differing in perspectives, researchers have used different groups point of view to evaluate incubators performance. They have also limited their studies to particular type of incubators. Reviewing relevant literature in Iran and the world, this article has provided an integrated multidimensional framework to evaluation of incubators performance. The proposed framework suggests the performance of incubators can be evaluated in four areas: Management and staff, infrastructure, services and outputs. Performance in management and staff can be assessed in terms of management functions and learning and growth, in infrastructure in terms of location and space, and facilities, in service area in terms of business start up and business assistance, and performance in output can be evaluated in terms of business (companies), products (and/or services) and people. To evaluate each area of performance, generic measures have been derived from literature. The proposed framework can be used as a useful tool and a guideline to evaluate incubators performance by their managers, stakeholders and sponsors, particularly in Iran, in order to internal and external benchmarking and rising competition among and promoting competitiveness of incubators. Manuscript profile
      • Open Access Article

        4 - The key factors in the admission process of tenant companies in incubators
        Hamid Mahdavi Mahmood Sheykh zeynaddin Fakhreddin Ashrafi zadeh
        The admission process in ISTT, which has been formed during 6 years, is performed based on three key factors that have been defined in this paper. These factors include a business plan, a technology-based business idea, and the entrepreneurial team. The initial admissio More
        The admission process in ISTT, which has been formed during 6 years, is performed based on three key factors that have been defined in this paper. These factors include a business plan, a technology-based business idea, and the entrepreneurial team. The initial admission process that was done based on trial and error, is now consist of information, negotiation and interview, filling the forms, consultation, correcting the forms, submission of documents, initial investigation, determining the judges, technical and economic interviews, filling the judgment forms, second investigation, analysis and final decision-making in admission committee. The Admission Committee practices the policies defined by ISTT's scientific council and leads the companies toward ISTT objectives. In all stages of admission and assessment process, there is an atmosphere of training and improving, instead of only competition and selection. Even those companies that will not be accepted in the admission process, they will learn and be guided to remove their shortcomings. In most cases the view of all the members of the admission committee are similar and at the same level, and this makes the final decision making easier. The presence of two judges, one with a technology approach (scientific), and the other with an economic approach (familiar with market), among the members of the committee is a determining factor in selecting applicants for settlement in the incubator. Although this current admission trend is based on the general global experiences of other incubators, it has not drawn directly from a single model. It has been completed gradually based on the realities and conditions of the region Manuscript profile
      • Open Access Article

        5 - Performance Assessment of Incubators and Science Parks by Technology Level Index
        MOrteza Rasti bozorgi hamid Mahdavi Ghasem Moslehi
        Self assessment is an interesting subject for all managers, especially for the managers of incubators. The incubator performance assessment by indexes (IPAI) is a simple, interesting and effective method for measuring the performance index of an incubator. The system is More
        Self assessment is an interesting subject for all managers, especially for the managers of incubators. The incubator performance assessment by indexes (IPAI) is a simple, interesting and effective method for measuring the performance index of an incubator. The system is based on changing the scope of performance of several indicators to fixed scales (metrics), weighing them and combining them. Strategic evaluation is basically consists of three basic activities which are investigating the principles of the companies or organizations strategies, comparing the ideal and real results and making improvements. This paper focuses on the second part to make sure that the performance adjusts correctly with the planning programs. This paper is going to introduce an index for measuring and assessing the level of technology improvement in Isfahan Science and Technology Town (ISTTs) Incubator and Science Park. It also addresses the methodology used for these calculations. Measuring the indicators for ISTTs incubator will be discussed at the final part of this paper as a case study. Manuscript profile
      • Open Access Article

        6 - Innovation Development Early Assessment System to be Used in ISTT Pre-incubation and Incubation Admission System
        Hamid Mahdavi MOrteza Rasti bozorgi Ghasem Moslehi
        We are living in a world where the complexity of cause and effect relations is in a continuous increase. The owners of the new ideas, their supporters and the beneficiaries encounter different questions for starting a new business activity. The questions such as Will th More
        We are living in a world where the complexity of cause and effect relations is in a continuous increase. The owners of the new ideas, their supporters and the beneficiaries encounter different questions for starting a new business activity. The questions such as Will this idea become successful or not? or What kinds of supports and considerations are necessary for this idea to be successful? are some examples. The idea assessment process is an important and interesting subject for both innovators and incubators managers so that it make the former familiar with the probable strengths and weaknesses and for the latter i.e. the managers of incubators the significance is in admitting the owners of ideas in incubators and starting to support them based on their needs in the early stages of the innovation process. The Innovation Development Early Assessment System has been developed for the assessment of the possibility of commercializing the ideas in the early stages of innovation. This paper will introduce this system and it further addresses the method of improving and developing it as a tool in the hands of the incubators managers helping them in the admission process of companies and helping them to recognize the support services required by their tenants during their residency in the incubator. It will also look at this system as a tool for making the owners of ideas familiar with the probable barriers and obstacles that may lead to their failure. The improvement method proposed for this system has been defined with regard to the existing conditions of the applicants of settlement in the incubator. A case study and the analysis of the results obtained through this system will come at the final part of this paper. Manuscript profile
      • Open Access Article

        7 - Privatization of Incubators; Necessities and Challenges
        Alireza Faraji
        The most important incubators mission is to provide proper basis for establishment, growth and development of new technological private enterprises and to give financial and moral supports to make them successful. Since initial structure of these new enterprises is shap More
        The most important incubators mission is to provide proper basis for establishment, growth and development of new technological private enterprises and to give financial and moral supports to make them successful. Since initial structure of these new enterprises is shaped inside the incubator, financial and moral structure of them is affected with incubator. Verifying this subject with interest to relations between incubator and determinate new units; requirement of incubator to have independence financial resources and to create basis for its own growth and development and experience of successful-abroad-incubators, shows that applyment of private management in state incubators is a favorite strategy to solve a lot of problems; an available and good pattern for determinate units and an optimal structure for incubators management. Manuscript profile
      • Open Access Article

        8 - Technological Synergy: Resources Development model in Developing Countries
        Mausome Madah Bahram Salavati SarCheshmeh
        One of the challenges that most of the governments encounter nowadays, is the category of using the resources for development, in particular, the human resource category. This problem with its multilateral infects, even in industrial and developed countreis, is consider More
        One of the challenges that most of the governments encounter nowadays, is the category of using the resources for development, in particular, the human resource category. This problem with its multilateral infects, even in industrial and developed countreis, is considered as a norm to measure the capabilities of these governments in economical development and an index for specifying social management power. By considering the high amount of humaresource and the specific socio-economical situations in recent years in developing countries, especially Iran, this subject has been chosen as a considerable topic. Now, by considering the need towards job creation and using the humaresource, the trends and solutions suggested are of great importance. This arthicle is an effort, made to develop a specific point of view and approach under the topic of “Technological Synergy” with the objective of designing and expanding the development and composition of resources in develpoing countries. In this method two resources of investment -venture capital and Incubator- are used to describe the above mentioned model. This trend has been described in the three following sectors: Section one is included of concepts, selecting and clarifying the chosen approach along with the use and composition of resources. Section two is included of concepts and characteristics of incubators and VCs as the resources used in the model, and finally in part three as a conclusion the ways of interraction and technologyical synergy model of incubators and VCs has been reviewed. Manuscript profile
      • Open Access Article

        9 - Classification and management of incubators: aligning strategic objectives and competitive scope for new business facilitation
        Maximilian Fenzedwitz Alireza Gharebaghi
        Incubation has recently attracted increased attention as a model of start-up facilitation. Venture capitalists see incubators as a means to diversify risky investment portfolios, and wouldbe entrepreneurs approach incubators for start-up support. Incubators face the cha More
        Incubation has recently attracted increased attention as a model of start-up facilitation. Venture capitalists see incubators as a means to diversify risky investment portfolios, and wouldbe entrepreneurs approach incubators for start-up support. Incubators face the challenge of managing both investment risks and entrepreneurial risks. More than a thousand incubators have been established in the last few years, most of them as regional business incubators.But new types of incubators are emerging. These incubators pursue different strategic objectives, apply different skills and competencies, and serve different markets. As a consequence, they have developed a new understanding of their sources of competitive advantage and business models. Based on 41 interviews with incubation and R&D managers, this paper outlines five incubator archetypes: the university incubator, the independent commercial incubator, the regional business incubator, the company-internal incubator and the virtual incubator. We describe a generic incubator business model, which is refined for different value propositions to customers and other major stakeholders. We conclude that whether an incubator is for profit or not, it should be run as a business. We also summarise some implications, for operational and strategic management of incubators, as well as policy and strategy consideration for universities, venture capital ties, municipalities, corporations and other parent insituations of incubators. Manuscript profile
      • Open Access Article

        10 - Designing the Business Model for Virtual Incubator in Iran
        Amir Maniyan Maryam Khodadad Barmi Ayob Mohamadian
        Business incubator is economic development tools that provide a set of business support resources and services for accelerate to growth and success of entrepreneurial companies. Today, advancement of the internet and moving the businesses toward cyberspace set up a virt More
        Business incubator is economic development tools that provide a set of business support resources and services for accelerate to growth and success of entrepreneurial companies. Today, advancement of the internet and moving the businesses toward cyberspace set up a virtual incubator can be very important, So in other countries are considered. In order of increasing competition firms in various industries and Existing dynamics in business environments, designing the business model can be introduction for starting a successful business. According to this, Attention to business model for virtual business incubators is important. This paper is designing the business model for virtual business incubator in Iran. This design is done by study of related literature, interviews with experts and benchmarking results of several successful virtual business incubators in the world. Currently, there are many models to identify the components of business model and their relationship but Osterwalder 9 element model is known as the most popular and most perfect version. In this paper, the ontology Osterwalder is used in order to designing the business model for virtual business incubator. This design can be efficient step to starting the operational of this national project and can be followed productivity, Enhancing organizational performance and profitability Manuscript profile
      • Open Access Article

        11 - Investigation of Factors Affecting Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Development in Agricultural Knowledge-Based business (Case Study: Tabarestan Technology Incubator)
        mohammad mehdi mardanshahi
        Today, in many of developed and developing countries, the agricultural sector plays an important role in food production, employment and trade. Furthermore knowledge- based companies are as a key option to produce wealth in developing countries and the effective role of More
        Today, in many of developed and developing countries, the agricultural sector plays an important role in food production, employment and trade. Furthermore knowledge- based companies are as a key option to produce wealth in developing countries and the effective role of information and communication technology in business development has become more evident. Therefore the purpose of this study was to Investigation of Factors Affecting Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Development in Agricultural Knowledge-Based business.This research is descriptive-survey based on the method of doing and in terms of target, is functional. The research instrument used was a questionnaire. Its validity was confirmed by a panel of experts and also its reliability was reported 0/793 (the Cronbach's alpha). The population of this study included 24 managers of Agricultural Knowledge-Based business, based at Tabarestan Technology Incubator. They were selected by Census method. Data analysis was carried out in two parts: a description and analysis was performed using the SPSS21 software. The results showed that Infrastructure factor is the most important component in the development of Information and Communication Technology. The Computers and Internet are the most important of Infrastructure factor and they have a fundamental role in developing business, especially agricultural knowledge-based businesses. Manuscript profile
      • Open Access Article

        12 - Identifying and Prioritizing the Influencing Factors on the Development of Incubators of University Technology Units (Case Study: Incubator of Technology Units in Guilan University)
        Roozbeh Habibi Zahra Asghari Kamran Jafari
        Today, incubators play a very important role in the economic and industrial development of developed and developing countries. Incubators are designed to support educated entrepreneurs and provide the growth opportunities for new companies by providing them general faci More
        Today, incubators play a very important role in the economic and industrial development of developed and developing countries. Incubators are designed to support educated entrepreneurs and provide the growth opportunities for new companies by providing them general facilities. Identifying and studying the various factors that are affecting the development of entrepreneurship and incubators can be effective in policy making for the promotion of entrepreneurial activities. The present study sought to identify the factors affecting the development of incubators, identifying 36 factors and categorizing them in six categories containing company general characteristics, manpower characteristics, infrastructures, market and competition, financial affairs and environmental factors. The statistical population of the study consists of 6 experts from the incubator of Technology Units of the University of Guilan. Prioritizing 36 factors using the analytic network process methodology indicates that five factors: supporting mechanisms (government and university), the existence of experienced consulting teams, organizational structure of companies based in incubators, the field of activity of these companies and their age have the highest priorities than other factors, in other words, they have the greatest impact on the development of incubators. Of course, given that the prioritization of these factors has been used by experts in the incubator of Technology Units of the University of Guilan, it can not be fully generalized to other Centers. Manuscript profile
      • Open Access Article

        13 - Extracting the Performance Indicators Based on BSC Model for SMEs Residing in Technology Incubators
        Iman Shariat Reza Ghanbari Seyed Mousa Siadati Saed Sedigh
        Science and Technology Parks (STPs) and incubators, as major contributors to the economic development of the regional business enterprises, are committed to provide targeted support for entrepreneurs, improve manufacturing efficiency, and create economic growth in the c More
        Science and Technology Parks (STPs) and incubators, as major contributors to the economic development of the regional business enterprises, are committed to provide targeted support for entrepreneurs, improve manufacturing efficiency, and create economic growth in the community. In order to improve the impact of these supports, STPs and incubators periodically evaluate the activities of residents and, after identifying strengths and weaknesses, provide services tailored to each company's needs. However, it is worthy to ask, what indicators should the evaluation system include that can reflect a true and more comprehensive picture of the company's condition with presenting the company's core needs to the incubator manager? Therefore, in this research some general models of performance evaluation have been reviewed, and because of the benefits of BSC model, especially its compatibility to manufacturing SMEs, this system has been used for the principle of the current study. Then, based on 17 years experience of Khorasan Science and Technology Park in unlocking the region's manufacturing potential, and the opinions of experts in other incubators in the country and around the world, 104 critical indicators have been identified in evaluating the manufacturing SMEs. These indicators also were ranked using U Mann Whitney and Friedman statistical tests. The results showed that the "customer and market" is more important than the other three perspectives in BSC model, and "Market research" and "CEO capability and expertise" are the most important indicators and sub-indicators, respectively. Manuscript profile