Methods for identifying and evaluating disruptive technologies in university spinoffs

Author(s):  
Fernando Almeida

The entrepreneurs responsible for establishing university spinoffs are incessantly looking for new ways to leverage existing technology or create an entirely new product or service market. The creation of disruptive innovative solutions has assumed a key role in enhancing the role of university spinoffs in the global marketplace. This study aims to characterize and explore the phenomenon of disruptive innovation in university spinoffs and identify how university spinoffs recognize and evaluate low-end and new-market disruptive technologies. The findings reveal that university spin-offs have essentially privileged new-market disruptive technologies. Participation in trade fairs, conferences and journals have been the main methods adopted by these organizations to identify disruptive technologies, while the evaluation of the potential of these disruptive technologies is essentially based on the experience and scientific knowledge of the founders of the university spin-offs. Furthermore, the size and number of years of activity of university spinoffs are two factors that allow us to understand the greater proximity of the younger and smaller spinoffs with universities and research centers, whereas the larger organizations prioritize mainly market analysis and product research techniques.

2016 ◽  
Vol 31 (6) ◽  
pp. 722-731 ◽  
Author(s):  
Niki Hynes ◽  
Andrew David Elwell

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of inter-organizational networks in the emergence of a disruptive technology by taking a snapshot view of the UK market for mobile voice over internet protocol (mVoIP) technologies. By delineating the technologies required for an mVoIP call to occur, the role of incumbents, technology and inter-organizational networks is explored. Design/methodology/approach The paper uses a case study approach using secondary data from a variety of sources including company websites, newspapers, technical press and users to form a picture of the current situation. Findings The authors show that inter-organizational networks can act both to enable and delay disruptive technologies. They discuss the difference between collaborative and collective actions and the way in which these can slow or even prevent a new emerging technology. Research limitations/implications The paper is based on secondary data and the research results may lack generalizability to other technologies. Practical implications The need for new business models for mVoIP is discussed. Originality/value Disruptive technologies are difficult to predict or map until after the market disruption has occurred. This paper aims to map a disruptive technology at a point in time when the technology is still emerging. The study is based on a comprehensive analysis of technology and market actions and is also based on secondary data: it is limited at the detailed level to one geographic market but provides a unique snapshot of an emerging disruptive technology.


2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 907-943
Author(s):  
Xibao Li ◽  
Justin Tan

ABSTRACTUniversities in China have increased their entrepreneurship significantly, yet a good understanding of the specific characteristics of university-based technology transfers remains missing. This study focuses on a special type of university spinoffs in China, University-Run Enterprises (UREs), and examines how URE eminence contributes to a university's technology transfer performance, using panel data covering 195 universities over the five years from 2002 to 2006. The findings reveal that URE eminence not only signifies a university's strong entrepreneurial culture, but also signals commercial values and quality of the university research. It moderates the contribution of university scientists from the supply side and that of sourcing firms from the demand side.


2020 ◽  
pp. 15-27

In order to study the effect of phosphogypsum and humic acids in the kinetic release of salt from salt-affected soil, a laboratory experiment was conducted in which columns made from solid polyethylene were 60.0 cm high and 7.1 cm in diameter. The columns were filled with soil so that the depth of the soil was 30 cm inside the column, the experiment included two factors, the first factor was phosphogypsum and was added at levels 0, 5, 10 and 15 tons ha-1 and the second-factor humic acids were added at levels 0, 50, 100 and 150 kg ha-1 by mixing them with the first 5 cm of column soil and one repeater per treatment. The continuous leaching method was used by using an electrolytic well water 2.72 dS m-1. Collect the leachate daily and continue the leaching process until the arrival of the electrical conductivity of the filtration of leaching up to 3-5 dS m-1. The electrical conductivity and the concentration of positive dissolved ions (Ca, Mg, Na) were estimated in leachate and the sodium adsorption ratio (SAR) was calculated. The results showed that the best equation for describing release kinetics of the salts and sodium adsorption ratio in soil over time is the diffusion equation. Increasing the level of addition of phosphogypsum and humic acids increased the constant release velocity (K) of salts and the sodium adsorption ratio. The interaction between phosphogypsum and humic acids was also affected by the constant release velocity of salts and the sodium adsorption ratio. The constant release velocity (K) of the salts and the sodium adsorption ratio at any level of addition of phosphogypsum increased with the addition of humic acids. The highest salts release rate was 216.57 in PG3HA3, while the lowest rate was 149.48 in PG0HA0. The highest release rate of sodium adsorption ratio was 206.09 in PG3HA3, while the lowest rate was 117.23 in PG0HA0.


2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-20
Author(s):  
Péter Telek ◽  
Béla Illés ◽  
Christian Landschützer ◽  
Fabian Schenk ◽  
Flavien Massi

Nowadays, the Industry 4.0 concept affects every area of the industrial, economic, social and personal sectors. The most significant changings are the automation and the digitalization. This is also true for the material handling processes, where the handling systems use more and more automated machines; planning, operation and optimization of different logistic processes are based on many digital data collected from the material flow process. However, new methods and devices require new solutions which define new research directions. In this paper we describe the state of the art of the material handling researches and draw the role of the UMi-TWINN partner institutes in these fields. As a result of this H2020 EU project, scientific excellence of the University of Miskolc can be increased and new research activities will be started.


Accurate pronunciation has a vital role in English language learning as it can help learners to avoid misunderstanding in communication. However, EFL learners in many contexts, especially at the University of Phan Thiet, still encounter many difficulties in pronouncing English correctly. Therefore, this study endeavors to explore English-majored students’ perceptions towards the role of pronunciation in English language learning and examine their pronunciation practicing strategies (PPS). It involved 155 English-majored students at the University of Phan Thiet who answered closed-ended questionnaires and 18 English-majored students who participated in semi-structured interviews. The findings revealed that students strongly believed in the important role of pronunciation in English language learning; however, they sometimes employed PPS for their pronunciation improvement. Furthermore, the results showed that participants tended to use naturalistic practicing strategies and formal practicing strategies with sounds, but they overlooked strategies such as asking for help and cooperating with peers. Such findings could contribute further to the understanding of how students perceive the role of pronunciation and their PPS use in the research’s context and other similar ones. Received 10th June 2019; Revised 12th March 2020; Accepted 12th April 2020


Author(s):  
Lori Stahlbrand

This paper traces the partnership between the University of Toronto and the non-profit Local Food Plus (LFP) to bring local sustainable food to its St. George campus. At its launch, the partnership represented the largest purchase of local sustainable food at a Canadian university, as well as LFP’s first foray into supporting institutional procurement of local sustainable food. LFP was founded in 2005 with a vision to foster sustainable local food economies. To this end, LFP developed a certification system and a marketing program that matched certified farmers and processors to buyers. LFP emphasized large-scale purchases by public institutions. Using information from in-depth semi-structured key informant interviews, this paper argues that the LFP project was a disruptive innovation that posed a challenge to many dimensions of the established food system. The LFP case study reveals structural obstacles to operationalizing a local and sustainable food system. These include a lack of mid-sized infrastructure serving local farmers, the domination of a rebate system of purchasing controlled by an oligopolistic foodservice sector, and embedded government support of export agriculture. This case study is an example of praxis, as the author was the founder of LFP, as well as an academic researcher and analyst.


2017 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
Author(s):  
Veronika Keir

<div class="page" title="Page 3"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"><p><span>Veronika is a recent graduate from the Honours Legal Studies program at the University of Waterloo. Her passions are socio-legal research, policy development, feminist legal theory, and crime control development. Veronika is currently working a full-time job at Oracle Canada, planning on pursuing further education in a Masters program. </span></p></div></div></div>


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