A Study of Key Indicators of Development for University-Based Entrepreneurship Ecosystems in Taiwan
-
Ru-Mei Hsieh
and
Donna Kelley
Abstract
Theoretical concepts related to entrepreneurial ecosystems are currently in the initial stages of development and components of university-based entrepreneurial ecosystems (U-BEEs) are yet to be clarified or defined. This study identifies elements of U-BEEs and employs an analytic hierarchy process (AHP) to analyze university-based venture development organizations (VDOs) as research subjects. This study extracted six elements: namely policy, finance, culture, support, human capital, and market, comprising 31 evaluation indicators. The results of this study indicated that “market” was considered the most crucial of the six elements in Taiwan. Finally, this paper provides theoretical and practical implications based on the aforementioned findings.
Acknowledgements
Research support from the Ministry of Science and Technology of Taiwan, R.O.C. (No. MOST 106-2410-H-020-015) is gratefully acknowledged. We also thank anonymous referees, editors, and Wei-Ling Wu for their useful comments.
Appendix
A Backgrounds and professional experience of experts participating in this study
| Stage | Identity | Number of individuals * | Background and professional experience |
|---|---|---|---|
| Expert opinions | University Professors | 2 | – More than 7 years’ experience in entrepreneurship instruction and research |
| – Primary leader of a university entrepreneurship education program | |||
| Entrepreneurs | 1 | – Founder of campus entrepreneurship team; participation in numerous startup competitions and programs | |
| Expert opinions | University Professors | 5 | – Over 18 years’ experience teaching entrepreneurship and engagement in related administration on average |
| – Long-term service as a committee member of government entrepreneurship programs | |||
| – Previous service as a university vice-president, a dean, and various high-level executive university positions | |||
| University-based incubator | 1 | – 10 years’ experience implementing and promoting university entrepreneurship education programs | |
| AHP | University Professors | 12 | – Over 6 years’ experience (on average) teaching entrepreneurship and engagement in related administration |
| – Many individuals have served in high-level administrative positions involving assisting in the promotion of entrepreneurship programs | |||
| University-based Incubator (director), Startup teams (founder, CEO, principal) | 8 | – Over 4 years’ experience assisting startups and student teams as an incubator | |
| – Startup founders (including student startup leaders) responsible for actual understanding of the environment and the conditions required in the entrepreneurship process | |||
Note: *Number of questionnaire respondents.
B Key elements and evaluation indicators of U-BEEs
| Elements | Evaluation indicators | Content description | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Policy | P-1 Government policy support | Government support and encouragement for diverse entrepreneurship through measures such as drafting entrepreneurship laws, economic support, and tax incentives | Gnyawali and Fogel (1994); Cohen (2006); Suresh and Ramraj (2012) |
| P-2 University policy support | Implementation of diverse university policies and improving the entrepreneurial spirit and activities of members through measures such as entrepreneurship education, entrepreneurship mentoring, and construction of entrepreneurship spaces | Cohen (2006); Brush (2014); Foster et al. (2013) | |
| P-3 Academic programs focusing on entrepreneurship | Focusing research on entrepreneurial activities such as publishing entrepreneurial research and conducting research on entrepreneurial successes and failures | Cohen (2006); Brush (2014) | |
| P-4 Diverse teaching programs | Designing diverse teaching policies and dynamically adjusting instructional design, curricula, and teaching methods | Brush (2014) | |
| P-5 Intellectual property management | Improving diverse mechanisms for protecting intellectual property (e.g. patent applications, copyrights, and exclusive trademarks) | Foster et al. (2013) | |
| P-6 Feedback mechanism | Reinvestment of results and gains into U-BEEs through diverse activities, policies, and program operation | Brush (2014) | |
| Culture | C-1 Entrepreneurial atmosphere | Helping members to freely enter open systems and perceive the importance of entrepreneurship through official or unofficial means or environments (e.g. entrepreneurial activities and entrepreneurial education) | Brush (2014); Foster et al. (2013) |
| C-2 Entrepreneurial activities | Organizing diverse entrepreneurial activities such as entrepreneurship talks and entrepreneurship competitions, as well as actual validation of entrepreneurial ideas | Brush (2014) | |
| C-3 Encouragement of entrepreneurship | Establishing a feedback platform for entrepreneur alumni and organizing entrepreneurial activities and lectures to stimulate students’ interest in entrepreneurship | Gnyawali and Fogel (1994); Suresh and Ramraj (2012) | |
| C-4 Entrepreneurship models | Cultivating experienced entrepreneurs or producing actual entrepreneurship models | Foster et al. (2013); Suresh and Ramraj (2012) | |
| C-5 Public attitudes toward entrepreneurship | Enabling entrepreneurs to gain encouragement and recognition from the public | Gnyawali and Fogel (1994); Suresh and Ramraj (2012); Foster et al. (2013) | |
| Human Capital | H-1 Diverse members | Diversification of expertise, including agriculture, business management, science and engineering, biology, and chemistry. Variety of member backgrounds, including professors, entrepreneurs, high-level leaders, venture capitalists, and consultants | Cohen (2006); Foster et al. (2013) |
| H-2 Interdisciplinary exchanges and cooperation | Facilitating exchanges between members with varying levels of expertise through meetings or entrepreneurial activities to encourage interdisciplinary cooperation | Brush (2014); Foster et al. (2013) | |
| H-3 Entrepreneurship training | Helping members (e.g. students and faculty members) to develop diversified knowledge and abilities through classes, practical training, and counseling education | Brush (2014); Foster et al. (2013) | |
| H-4 Entrepreneurship experience | Enabling members with varying levels of entrepreneurship experience to enter U-BEEs to combine academic knowledge and practical experience | Foster et al. (2013) | |
| H-5 Entrepreneurial Personality | Encouraging and cultivating members with a variety of entrepreneurial qualities such as tolerance for mistakes and failure, ambition and execution ability, and preference for entrepreneurship | Brush (2014) | |
| H-6 Mentorship of startup companies | Mentoring entrepreneurs in developing new businesses through instruction from experts from diverse industries, experience accumulation, and courses | Brush (2014) | |
| Finance | F-1 Diversification of financial sources | Obtaining capital for entrepreneurial activities through alumni sponsorship, government programs, and revenue from entrepreneurial activities; examples include startup grants, angel investors, venture capital, and startup loans | Gnyawali and Fogel (1994); Cohen (2006); Brush (2014); Foster et al. (2013) |
| F-2 Allocation of capital | Use and purpose of capital | Wu (2016) | |
| F-3 Use of capital | Using obtained capital and resources to promote diverse activities such as holding lectures and entrepreneurial competitions | Brush (2014) | |
| Supports | S-1 Business infrastructure | Provision of different types of experts for consultation such as legal, accounting, and business consultancy experts to provide feedback and recommendations | Gnyawali and Fogel (1994); Cohen (2006); Foster et al. (2013) |
| S-2 Physical infrastructure | Well-developed infrastructure can increase internal operating functionality, including telecommunications, transportation and logistics, and energy, thereby providing entrepreneurs with spaces or platforms for actual operation | Gnyawali and Fogel (1994); Cohen (2006); Foster et al. (2013) | |
| S-3 Entrepreneur communities | Forming communities of university entrepreneurs from various backgrounds to establish network relationships and accumulate professional contacts in various fields | Cohen (2006); Brush (2014); Foster et al. (2013) | |
| S-4 Entrepreneurial information communication channels | Helping entrepreneurs to obtain relevant information through diverse communication methods such as the Internet and communities | Cohen (2006); Brush (2014) | |
| S-5 Cooperation with institutions | Cooperation with other institutions to obtain more entrepreneurial resources from various universities, government organizations, and businesses | Cohen (2006); Brush (2014) | |
| S-6 System for entry of new actors | Developing a system for the entry of new actors, including channels for new members, new activities, new services, and new occupations | Lundqvist and Williams Middleton (2013) | |
| Market | M-1 Proof of concept | Conducting market research for an early-stage product to obtain feedback for improvement | Brush (2014) |
| M-2 Finding potential customers | Enabling entrepreneurs to find potential customers through various activities | Foster et al. (2013) | |
| M-3 Actual experience | Actual exposure to consumers and engagement in sales and promotional activities such as entrepreneurial expositions and markets | Brush (2014) | |
| M-4 Market openness | Assessing whether sufficient room is available for a new business to enter the market through market analysis of information and resources | Suresh and Ramraj (2012); Foster et al. (2013) | |
| M-5 Consumer acceptance | Enabling consumers to try new products and services | Suresh and Ramraj (2012) | |
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Articles in the same Issue
- Introductions
- University-based Venture Development Organizations
- Venture Support Organizations – Lighting a Path for Entrepreneurship in South Africa?
- The Relevance of Makerspaces for University-based Venture Development Organizations
- Research Articles
- Of Horses and Jockeys: Perceptions by Academic Entrepreneurs
- A Framework for Designing Business-Acceleration Programs: A Case Study from Egypt
- A Study of Key Indicators of Development for University-Based Entrepreneurship Ecosystems in Taiwan
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Articles in the same Issue
- Introductions
- University-based Venture Development Organizations
- Venture Support Organizations – Lighting a Path for Entrepreneurship in South Africa?
- The Relevance of Makerspaces for University-based Venture Development Organizations
- Research Articles
- Of Horses and Jockeys: Perceptions by Academic Entrepreneurs
- A Framework for Designing Business-Acceleration Programs: A Case Study from Egypt
- A Study of Key Indicators of Development for University-Based Entrepreneurship Ecosystems in Taiwan
- The Entrepreneurial Ecosystem: Actors and Performance in Different Stages of Evolution of Academic Spinoffs
