Skip Navigation


ICC Advance Access originally published online on July 23, 2007
Industrial and Corporate Change 2007 16(4):569-608; doi:10.1093/icc/dtm018
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
16/4/569    most recent
dtm018v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Zahra, S. A.
Right arrow Articles by Larrañeta, B.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Related Collections
Right arrow D83 - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief
Right arrow I23 - Higher Education Research Institutions
Right arrow L25 - Firm Performance: Size, Diversification, and Scope
Right arrow M13 - New Firms; Startups
Right arrow O32 - Management of Technological Innovation and R&D
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2007. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Associazione ICC. All rights reserved.

Knowledge conversion capability and the performance of corporate and university spin-offs

Shaker A. Zahra, Els Van de Velde and Bárbara Larrañeta

Correspondence: Shaker A. Zahra, Gary Holmes Center for Entrepreneurial Studies and Department of Strategic Management and Organization, Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota, 321 19th Ave. South Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA. e-mail: szahra{at}csom.umn.edu

Correspondence: Els Van de Velde, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Ghent University, Hoveniersberg, 24, 9000 Gent, Belgium. e-mail: els.vandevelde{at}vlerick.be

Correspondence: Bárbara Larrañeta, Department of Business Administration, School of Management, Pablo de Olavide University Ctra. Utrera Km.1-41013, Seville, Spain. e-mail: blargom{at}upo.es

Corporate and university spin-offs are often created to commercialize new technologies. Yet, it is not clear how these spin-offs transform their inventions into new products, goods and services that create value. In this article, we use the knowledge-based theory to argue that this transformation requires a "knowledge conversion capability" (KCC) that has three components: conceptualization and visioning of applications of that knowledge; configuration and design of potential products and other applications; and the embodiment and integration of knowledge into products. Using data from 91 corporate and 78 university spin-offs, we find that these two sets of firms differ in their emphasis on the three KCC components, benefit differentially from these three components in terms of their performance, and vary significantly in their performance.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Cambridge J Regions Econ SocHome page
R. Huggins, A. Johnston, and R. Steffenson
Universities, knowledge networks and regional policy
Cambridge J Regions Econ Soc, July 1, 2008; 1(2): 321 - 340.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.