Spin-offs from research centers at a research university

Spin-offs are a means of technology transfer from a parent organization that represent a mechanism for creating jobs and new wealth. We investigated 6 of the 19 spin-offs from the 55 research centers at the University of New Mexico (UNM) in 1997. The Albuquerque area in Northern New Mexico is rich in technology, thanks to the presence of three large Federal R&D laboratories and the University of New Mexico. University administrators and community leaders envision a future technopolis (technology city), but achieving this goal will be difficult, given the lack of needed infrastructure, entrepreneurship, and venture capital in the Albuquerque region.Nevertheless, in the early 1990s the amount of research funding at UNM increased at a faster rate than at other U.S. research universities (total research funding rose to $197 million in 1996). Most of this increase (about 85%) took place through the efforts of UNM's 55 research centers, which are multidisciplinary units supported mainly by funding from federal and state government agencies, private companies, and foundations. The research centers transfer technological innovations across the university's boundary via various mechanisms, including spin-offs.A spin-off is a new company that is formed (1) by individuals who were former employees of the parent organization (a UNM research center in the present case), and (2) a core technology that is transferred from the parent organization. A previous study by the present authors identified 71 spin-offs from the three federal R&D laboratories in New Mexico. The fact that high-technology spin-offs are occurring in New Mexico, and at an increasing rate, suggests that a technopolis may be getting underway. In recent years the University of New Mexico and the federal R&D laboratories have established organizational and procedural mechanisms intended to encourage spin-offs and other types of technology transfer such as patenting and technology licensing.An important factor in the success of a spin-off company is the degree of support that it receives from its parent organization. The six UNM spin-offs of study here experienced few conflicts with their parent, in each case a university-based research center. However, lengthy negotiations with university officials over intellectual property rights to a spin-off's core technology were often involved. The director of a spin-off's parent research center usually played a key role in the spin-off process. Often the university research center continued to provide laboratory facilities and access to research equipment to the spin-off. Generally, both the spin-off and the parent organization perceived of the spin-off process as a win-win situation (which might not be the case when the parent is a private company and the spin-off becomes a competitor).In the present investigation we identify two types of spin-offs: (1) planned, when the new venture results from an organized effort by the parent organization, and (2) spontaneously occurring, when the new company is established by an entrepreneur who identifies a market opportunity and who founds the spin-off with little encouragement (and perhaps with discouragement) from the parent organization. Both types of spin-offs were represented in the present study. UNM professors, directors of the parent research centers, and others played important roles in instigating three of the six spin-offs, while the other three were launched mainly by entrepreneurs.Spin-offs represent an important mechanism for technology transfer, as a spin-off is typically founded around a core technological innovation that was initially developed at the parent organization. One reason that a research university is a vital ingredient in a technopolis is because of the considerable role that university-based research centers play in spinning-off new ventures. Stanford University in Silicon Valley, MIT on Route 128, and the University of Texas in Austin are all examples of this important relationship. The University of New Mexico is a smaller research university than Stanford, MIT, or Texas, but it is beginning to play a similar role in the spin-off process. If indeed a technopolis eventually develops in Albuquerque, perhaps in 10 or 20 years, lessons may be learned about the roles of a research university and its research centers (and federal R&D laboratories), in contributing to regional economic development.     

Islamic business research

The Islamic finance industry, which is deeply rooted in Islamic law (Sharia), will undoubtedly have an increasingly large impact on modern finance in the years to come. Since its formal establishment in the 1970s, the industry has already grown to US$2.2 trillion, with a growth rate that outpaces that of conventional finance. The purpose of this special issue is to inspire academic researchers, regulators and standard setters, and providers and users of Islamic funding to advance the research of critical issues related to the efficiency of Islamic finance.     

Implications for research

We aimed to study the anatomical distribution, severity, and outcome of hospitalised trauma pedestrian patients in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates (UAE), so as to improve preventive measures. All pedestrian trauma patients who were involved with a road traffic collision and admitted to Al Ain Hospital for more than 24 hours or who died in the hospital were included in the study. Data were prospectively collected during March 2003–October 2007. Three hundred and eighteen patients were studied, 279 (87.7%) were males. Median (range) age was 31 (1–75) years. UAE nationals were significantly younger than non-nationals (median (range) age of 14 (2–75) years compared with 33 (1–75) years, p = 0.001, Mann–Whitney U-test). The lower limb (57.2%) was the most common injured region followed by the head (46.9%). The median (range) Injury Severity Score of patients was 5 (1–45). The median (range) total hospital stay was 11.3 (1–130) days. Thirty patients died (overall mortality 9.4%). In conclusion, mortality of pedestrian injured patients in the UAE is high. Severe head injury was the main cause of death. Measures to improve pedestrian safety should be adopted so as to reduce morbidity and mortality. These include educating drivers and pedestrians on road safety and enforcement of traffic safety laws.     

Culture and International business research: A review and research agenda

This study explores the role of culture and international business in internationalization outcomes through a systematic review and analysis of articles published between 2009 and 2019. By mapping the current research domain, this review reflects the avenues for future research in theory development, context, characteristics, and methodology (TCCM) in eight research clusters identified as national culture, external uncertainty avoidance, knowledge transfer & collaboration, HRM & management practices, international diversification research, entrepreneurial mindset, interaction, and firm performance. The clusters were grouped into independent factors and internationalization outcome factors. This framework provided deeper insights into the theoretical implications which will lead to further advancement in these research areas.     

Retailing evolution research: Introduction to the special section on retailing research

Five articles were selected from studies presented at the Ninth Society for Marketing Advances Retailing Research Symposium. The following article introduces their themes and main findings, along with the process of selection.     

会计理论研究方法的探讨

随着我国社会主叉市场经济体制改革的不断深入,我国会计理论研究也逐步走向深入,现有的方法已难以适应研究的需:要,要求我们科学地总结过去的研究方法,创建出新的研究方法.     

Cooperatives and consumer research

The article asks the question why consumer researchers sometimes try to invent an organization to represent the consumer interest when there already is an existing organization with the required characteristics: consumer cooperatives. The advantages of having a consumer organization with its own production and distribution facilities are pointed out. The key role of consumer research to help realize the inherent possibilities of consumer cooperatives to become the main organization representing the consumer interest is stressed and some possible project ideas for research are formulated.

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Kooperative und Verbraucherforschung

Zusammenfassung Der Beitrag geht aus von der Frage, warum Verbraucherforscher manchmal versuchen, eine Organisation zur Vertretung von Verbraucherinterssen zu erfinden, obwohl es mit den Verbraucher-Kooperativen bereits eine Organisationsform gibt, die im Prinzip die geforderten Eigenschaften hat.Der Beitrag beschreibt die wesentlichen Eigenschaften von Verbraucher-Kooperativen. Grundsätzlich ist eine solche Kooperative eine Gruppe von Verbrauchern, die praktische Demokratie in der Form pflegen, daß durch ständigen Dialog bestimmt wird, was zur Befriedigung der Bedürfnisse der Mitgliedshaushalte produziert und verteilt wird. Beispiele bestehender und entstehender Kooperative zeigen, welche Möglichkeiten diese Organisationsform für die Stärkung der Verbraucherposition birgt. Erste Forschungsergebnisse lassen vermuten, daß Verbraucher-Kooperative für Verbraucherforscher ein lohnendes Forschungsobjekt sein dürften, wenn es um die Erforschung wirkungsvoller Mittel zur Stärkung der Verbraucherposition geht. Der Beitrag schlägt nicht nur Fragestellungen und Ideen für Forschungsprojekte vor, sondern diskutiert auch die normative Grundlage solcher Projekte.Ziel ist dabei die Entwicklung solcher theoretischer Ansätze, Konzepte und Aktionsforschungs-Vorhaben, die Verbrauchern dazu verhelfen, in der Organisationsform der Kooperative durch Diskussion die optimalen Wege zur Bedürfnisbefriedigung zu finden. Wenn sich Verbraucherforscher an solchen Projekten beteiligen, könnten sie zu einem Schlüsselfaktor für die Entwicklung der Verbraucher-Kooperative zu einem der wichtigsten Mittel zur Förderung des Verbraucherinteresses in der Gesellschaft werden.

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Kai Blomqvist is Programme Director at the Swedish Cooperative Institute, Box 15200, S-104 65 Stockholm, Sweden, and Main Secretary to the Government Commission for the review of public consumer policy in Sweden.     

Retailing evolution research: Introduction to the special section on retailing research

This JBR Special Issue on Retailing includes several high quality research studies presented at the 10th and 11th Society for Marketing Advances Retail Strategy and Patronage Behavior Symposiums. The articles cover a wide range of interesting and important retailing topics including topics such as atmospherics, self-esteem and advertising. This introduction offers a few comments on the 2007 and 2008 Symposiums' content including a brief overview of each article.     

Retrospective research into accidents

Abstract

In retrospective research into accidents, a victim's or spectator's account of what happened may differ from what actually occurred, as a consequence of memory processes. It seems that, due to limited time and money resources, current insights in retrospective research are not always fully employed in accident research. This paper demonstrates how existing insights into the collection of retrospective data can be incorporated in accident research, and illustrates how this actually works out in practice.

A review of the literature shows that various precautions can be taken to minimize the influences of memory processes. These precautions have been included in the development of a method of accident investigation. Accidents (n=42) were studied in a video-recorded reconstruction on the site, followed by an open interview using a checklist. The accident data have been examined with respect to indications for bias. The findings show that the demonstrations may differ from the unknown actual occurrences, for example, because people were still wearing bandages at the time of investigation on the site. Interference by video- and sound-recordings appears to be limited. Analysis of within-subject differences in repeated demonstrations of the accident shows that more than half of the subjects display differences in the three demonstrations.

The limitations and benefits of the method developed are discussed in relation to conventional methods of accident research, such as mail questionnaires and telephone interviews. The paper concludes with a plea for the inclusion of empirical analyses or at least a discussion of possible bias in findings from accident research.     

我国产业内贸易实证研究综述

二战后,发达国家间既出口又进口同类产品的现象引起了学者们的关注,学者们将一国同时出口和进口同类产品的方式称为产业内贸易,并试图运用规模经济与不完全竞争市场等来解释这种贸易方式,产业内贸易理论由此产生.我国关于产业内贸易研究始于20世纪90年代,重点集中在中国产业内贸易的实证研究上,本文试图对我国学者的实证研究进行综述.