How do university-based incubators and accelerators build dynamic capabilities: An exploration from India

Abstract

Over the past few decades, the promotion of entrepreneurship from universities has increased. Through this study, we seek to add to the growing body of research investigating the role of university-based incubators and accelerators by explaining how university resources are transformed into specialized entrepreneurial capabilities and how these capabilities contribute to successful entrepreneurial outcomes in the university context. We frame the primary research question in the study as: How do university-based incubators and accelerators create, enable, and leverage specialized entrepreneurial capabilities using university resources leading to sustained outcomes in academic entrepreneurship? The study bases the examination of the research question on the theories of resource-based view and dynamic capabilities. A descriptive multiple case study method is used to analyze incubators and accelerators located in two universities in India and their linked actors using a total of 30 interviews. The study contributes to theory development by explaining how these entities develop sensing, seizing, and transforming capabilities in the university entrepreneurship environment, thereby demonstrating the application of the dynamic capabilities framework in the academic entrepreneurship context.