Master Thesis

THE IMPORTANCE OF BUSINESS INCUBATORS AND ACCELERATORS

IN DISCOVERING NEW ENTREPRENEURS: UK CASE






London School of Business and Finance University of Wales
Nail Valiyev
A4022675




1

Abstract

The present research is all about the process of incubation in case of nascent
companies in the UK. During the post recession period, government in UK
supported the growth of the incubators so as to provide assistance to new firms
in their business. The U.K government extended necessary support to such
firms in terms of providing office space, facilities that may be required by an
organisation in order to run business, and more importantly, helping the
organisations to get the required funds . The organisations were provided this
type of support for a period ranging from 3 months to 3 years, after which they
were said to be graduated from the incubators. The present discussion
concentrates on the various definitions by which the incubators are explained,
the various types of incubators and how far their contributions are significant for
the development of the nascent companies. In order to validate these
contributions, data analysis has been done on the basis of two hypotheses. One
of the hypotheses has to be proved true after the research has been conducted.
The researcher has used the feedback of the managers of incubators and the
companies to find out the real situation. The research has helped the researcher
to understand the concept of incubator in a proper manner.

2

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This research would not have been possible to pursue without the stern and
clear guidance of my supervisor. There was not delay in replying my emails
whenever I need assistance. He has provided me all sorts of supportive data
which help me a lot for conducting this study.
I would like to thank my friends and teammates for their constant support in my
project.
Moreover, I would like to thank my family for giving me all kinds of financial and
motivational support for pursuing this paper. This paper would be impossible to
submit without the support of my parents, Tanriverdi Valiyev and Irada Amirova
and my sister, Naiba Valiyeva who are the dearest people in my life. Such a
huge amount of influence and inspiration mean a lot to me to conduct this
research. This is a great support to have such a family which helps a lot for
concluding my masters degree and to look forward to my future professional
career. My special thanks go to the greatest and the most beautiful girl on the
Earth, Shenay Huseynova, who is motivating me every day to pursue my goals
and achieve the best in my life. Thank you, darling!
Last but not the least; I am extremely thankful to each and everybody who has
supported me for conducting this study. It would not be possible for me to
pursue this course of study without such help and assistance from all.

Thanking you,
Yours truly,


3


Table of Content
Chapter 1 .................................................................................................. 8
Introduction .............................................................................................. 8
1.0 Introduction to the chapter .................................................................... 8
1.1 Background of the study........................................................................ 9
1.2 An ideal place for starting business ......................................................... 9
1.3 No results yet .................................................................................... 10
1.4Purpose of the study ............................................................................ 10
1.5 Research Aims and objectives .............................................................. 11
1.5.1 The Aim .......................................................................................... 11
1.5.2 The objectives ................................................................................. 11
1.6 Research Question .............................................................................. 12
1.7 Hypothesis......................................................................................... 12
1.8 Rationale behind the chosen topic ......................................................... 12
1.9 Structure of the Research .................................................................... 13
1.10 Ethical issues ................................................................................... 13
Chapter 2 ................................................................................................ 14
2.0 Introduction ....................................................................................... 15
2.1 Definitions and basic characteristics ...................................................... 16
2.2 Conceptual framework ........................................................................ 17
2.3 Business incubators and Economic growth ............................................. 18
2.4 Overview of themes and research questions in incubator literature ........... 21
2.5 Business incubators as partners for problem solving ............................... 23
2.6 The objectives of incubation ................................................................. 25
2.7 Types of incubators ............................................................................ 26
2.8 Stages of business incubation .............................................................. 31
4

2.9 Impact of incubation on the wider business environment ......................... 33
2.10 Conclusion ....................................................................................... 33
CHAPTER 3 .............................................................................................. 35
3.0 Introduction: ..................................................................................... 35
3.1 Aim and Objectives: ........................................................................... 35
3.1.1 Aim ................................................................................................ 35
3.1.2 Objectives: ..................................................................................... 35
3.1.3 Hypothesis: .................................................................................... 36
3.2 Research Onion: ................................................................................. 36
3.3 Research Philosophy and Justification for choosing Epistemology: ............. 37
3.4 Research Approach: ............................................................................ 38
3.4.1 Justification for choosing Inductive approach: ..................................... 38
3.5 Research Design: ............................................................................... 39
3.5.1 Justification of choosing Exploratory design: ....................................... 40
3.6 Data Collection Process: ...................................................................... 40
3.6.1 Justification for choosing both data types; primary and secondary: ........ 41
3.7 Research Method: ............................................................................... 42
3.7.1 Justification for choosing both research methods: ................................ 42
3.8 Sampling Method: .............................................................................. 43
3.8.1 Sampling Technique: ........................................................................ 44
3.8.2 Sample Size: ................................................................................... 44
3.9 Time Horizon: .................................................................................... 45
3.10 Data Quality: ................................................................................... 45
3.11 Data Reliability: ................................................................................ 46
3.12 Data Validity: ................................................................................... 46
3.13 Summary of the Chapter: .................................................................. 46
Chapter 4 ................................................................................................ 48
4.0 Analysis and findings .......................................................................... 48
5

4.1 Process of data collection and examination ............................................ 48
4.2 Quantitative analysis process ............................................................... 49
4.3 Qualitative analysis ............................................................................. 66
4.3.1 Background of the study ................................................................... 67
4.3.2 Empirical findings ............................................................................ 67
4.4 Conclusion ......................................................................................... 70
Chapter 5 ................................................................................................ 71
5.0 Conclusion ......................................................................................... 71
5.1 Recommendations .............................................................................. 73
5.2Limitations.......................................................................................... 74
5.3 Future scope of the study .................................................................... 75
Appendix-A ............................................................................................. 76
Appendix B .............................................................................................. 79
REFERENCES: .......................................................................................... 80




6

List of Figures
Fig 1: Conceptual Framework .................................................................... 18
Fig 2: Theoretical impact of an incubator on the irregular growth path of an
individual tenant ...................................................................................... 20
Fig 3: Overview of themes and research questions in incubator literature. ....... 23
Fig 4: Four phases of business incubation ................................................... 32
Figure 5: Research Onion .......................................................................... 36
Figure 6: Research Philosophy ................................................................... 37
Figure 7: Research Approach; Inductive ...................................................... 39
Figure 8: Research Design ........................................................................ 40
Figure 9: Data collection process ............................................................... 41
Figure 10: Research Method ...................................................................... 42
Figure 11: Sampling Method ...................................................................... 44
Fig 12: Idea about the incubator ................................................................ 50
Fig 13: Sources of knowledge about incubators ........................................... 51
Fig 14: Relationship with the business incubator .......................................... 52
Fig 15: Time to be with an incubator .......................................................... 54
Fig 16: Best place for incubators ................................................................ 55
Fig 17: Geographical area from which incubators draw clients ....................... 56
Fig 18: Nature of sponsoring entity ............................................................ 58
Fig 19. Describing the programme ............................................................. 59
Fig 20. Place of operation of the incubators ................................................. 60
Fig 21. Prior goals for the incubators ......................................................... 62
Fig 22. barriers faced by the clients ............................................................ 63
Fig 23. Preference as finance agent ............................................................ 64
Fig 24. Ongoing incubation post graduation ................................................. 66


7

Table of Tables
Table 1: Objectives of incubation ............................................................... 26
Table 2: Typology of the incubators ............................................................ 28
Table no. 3 .............................................................................................. 49
Table no.4 ............................................................................................... 50
Table no. 5 .............................................................................................. 52
Table no. 6 .............................................................................................. 53
Table no. 7 .............................................................................................. 55
Table no. 8 .............................................................................................. 56
Table no. 9 .............................................................................................. 57
Table no.10 ............................................................................................. 59
Table no. 11 ............................................................................................ 60
Table no. 12 ............................................................................................ 61
Table no. 13 ............................................................................................ 62
Table no. 14 ............................................................................................ 64
Table no. 15 ............................................................................................ 65


8

Chapter 1
Introduction
1.0 Introduction to the topic:
Doing business in a new way is directly related with the emerging ways of
communication. The impact of this has been deep rooted and has affected the
entrepreneurs with respect to their location, their terms of trade, their relations
with the suppliers, customers and the way they arrange money for financing the
business (Probert and Ford, 2010). In many cases, it is said that an
entrepreneur only needs a smart phone or a laptop with an internet connection
to run a business.
In modern times, a large number of people starts business using social media,
online and digital marketing and supports from friends and peers. Though scope
for earning revenue in the beginning is less, these businesses have every
potential to become bigger in the future, establish an extensive customer base
and reap huge profits. As per Mian (2006), in order to foster the process of
development for these small entrepreneurs the concept of business incubators
and accelerators has come up. In UK, business incubators and accelerators are
considered as new social institutions that help the new entrepreneurs to grow
their business at their initial stage and slowly move towards stability. The start
up businesses and entrepreneurs are encouraged by the business incubators and
accelerators to continue with their business in spite of the problems that may
come at the set up stage (Ratinho and Henriques, 2010). They provide the
aspiring entrepreneurs with the necessary support for setting up business and
the related services, which are developed and customised by the incubator
management teams and are offered through their network of contacts.
There are differences in the functioning of the incubators and the processes they
adopt to deliver their services. This is dependent upon the structure of the
organisation, and the various types of clients that they provide services to.
According to Hsu (2007), once an incubation programme is successfully
completed, it is highly likely that the start-up company will sustain the
competition and survive in the long run.
9

1.1 Background of the study
The concept of business incubators to assist new businesses was developed
during the 1970s when the first incubators started working in countries like
England, Australia and China. In the 1980s it was introduced in the US and
various forms of incubation and acceleration developed in the following years.
Not only the developed countries, Patton and Warren (2009) opined that the
underdeveloped and developing third world nations have also started to
implement the incubation techniques in order to ensure stability in business and
raising funds from international organisations like UNIDO and the World Bank.
The recent developments in the concepts of incubation have been considered as
a renaissance, when in 2011 new concepts like the Virtual Business incubators
have been introduced. The Virtual Business incubator concept is expected to
spread the entrepreneurship help through hubs like Silicon Valley to even the
remote corners of the world (Ghasemizad et al. 2011).
The development of an environment has started in UK in which doing business
will be easier than before through the business incubators. In UK, high growth
firms are seen to drive productivity and provide jobs, but due to recession this
growth is seen to be retarded for the big and the small firms equally (Clarysse
and Wright, 2006). As a result, there are opportunities for the small businesses
to take help in incubation. In this respect, we can consider the following points -
-
1.2 An ideal place for starting business
a) Easy to start a business: In order to come out from the effects of
recession, the government in UK is encouraging an environment in which
opening a business is comparatively easier and is becoming slowly popular.
According to Ghasemizad et al. (2011), the status of start ups in UK is running
at par with the US and the British universities are encouraging different spin out
companies like those of the American universities.
b) Growing new firms increase productivity and employment: Recently,
the start-up business is playing important roles in improving the rate of
productivity through direct and indirect interactions with the already established
firms (Chen, 2009). The co-ordination of the start ups and the already existing
firms on the basis of joint ventures or acquisitions helps the older firms to gain
10

knowledge and updates from the more dynamic new set ups. Moreover the
smaller and new start-ups provide pressures of competition to the already
established firms which also help them to look for new strategies in order to
survive competition (Bruneel et al. 2012).
An important advantage that the society experiences are felt when a new
entrant researches and develop ideas to penetrate the market and challenge the
dominant existing firms. The new firms drive the rate of employment to a
considerable extent. Bollingtoft (2012) opined that over a period of ten years,
4% of the surviving start-ups account for more than 55% of the jobs that are
created by the new firms.
1.3 No results yet
Lesser rate of growth for UK start ups: Though there is a favourable
environment for the growth of the smaller business units in UK, the rate of
growth is lesser in reality. The reasons may be ambitions for expansion which
may be unrealistic, increasing overheads, wrong selection of location, and
substandard business management and planning has resulted in the failures for
business incubation (Bollingtoft, 2012). The business incubators who are on the
profit motive are prone to high risks and require heavy amounts of funding in
order to sustain competition. Some of such boom incubators still exist in the
market.
The present research will consider the above situations worldwide, especially
with respect to UK and will judge the validity of the business incubators in
discovering new entrepreneurs in UK (Almubartaki et al. 2010).

1.4Purpose of the study
Reaching to a fruitful conclusion in a research requires the design of the
purposes. The purposes behind the study of the business incubators may be
summarised as follows:
In view of the recent recession and the endeavour of the British government to
encourage new business start-ups, the importance of incubation and acceleration
is high. But it is to be judged whether it helps actually and if yes, to what extent.
11

This is so because incubation has advantages, but disadvantages also, and that
has all the reasons behind the study (Bryman and Bell, 2007).
As per Bergek and Norrman (2008), the growth of the start-up companies may
lead to unhealthy competitions on the one hand and lead to business cartels on
the other, leading to utmost dominance over the industry. The research aims at
evaluating this possibility too.
Business incubators and accelerators play important roles in the business
decisions. But there is the lesser number of scientific researches on the topic and
as a result very few discussions are found on their impact on the development of
the start-up businesses (Bruneel et al. 2012).
As a full time student in the university, author needs to complete this
dissertation and get the degree.
1.5 Research Aims and objectives
A very important task of any research process is to chalk out the objectives and
aims of the research. This enables a continuous flow in the research and helps to
continue the research following the right path. As per Busler (2010), the aims
and objectives of a particular research helps to determine the main topic on
which the whole research is based and helps to reach a particular result at the
end of a research.
1.5.1 The Aim
The aim of the research is to discuss the advantages and the disadvantages of
the new start-up institutions. The set up of these institutions has been
encouraged by the UK government and they are helped by the business
incubators to start the business. However, the rate of growth was observed to
be low. The aim of the research is to find the reasons for this contradiction.

1.5.2 The objectives
To show how funding of the start-ups occur and how business accelerators and
incubators try and connect the start ups with the financial institutions for
monetary support.
12

To identify the behaviour of the entrepreneurs in Business accelerators and
incubators
1.6 Research Question
How do business incubators and accelerators facilitate entrepreneurs in the UK?

1.7 Hypothesis
Null Hypothesis (H
0
): Business incubators and accelerators transform the start
ups into a profitable, competitive and valuable company
Alternative Hypothesis (H
1
): Business incubators are not required to provide
stability to a start up organisation.
1.8 Rationale behind the chosen topic
The new start up firms, have access to the different incubators in different parts
of the country. But in many cases, it is found that the firms are not aware of this
space and remain deprived of the favours they provide.
The space of incubation allows many small businesses to grow from the low to
the hi-tech. They arrange for a wide range of facilities, even in case of the
arrangement of the shared office spaces with supports of other type and advise
the businesses about the strategies for growth. These incubators and
accelerators are often seen to concentrate in sectors like biotechnology, the
industries which require creativity or social institutions. In short the incubators
provide the occupants a compact package of services inclusive of the financial
support and support for development of customer base.
The business incubators are a comparatively new concept in the UK and the
network of the social institutions comprising of the interconnection of the VCs,
start-ups, Universities, labs and the business angles has not been properly
established.
The researcher has tried to find out the reason behind the missing link between
the components relevant for the business incubators and tried to evaluate how
far the use of business incubators has been successful in creating the
atmosphere for the growth of start-up business in the UK.
13

1.9 Structure of the Research
The author has planned to go about the research in the following way
Chapter 1: The first chapter is the introduction to the research (Clarysse and
Wright, 2006). Here, the researcher has tried to discuss the background of the
topic, that is, what business incubation is and then has moved on to explain the
logic behind selection of this topic in the research. The research aims and
objectives are set as in the research proposal and the hypothesis has been
designed to set the research method. Thus it may be described as a short
briefing of the process of the research (Aerts and Matthyssens, 2007).
Chapter 2: Here, the author discusses about the theories related to business
incubation and acceleration. A summarised version of the various researches
performed and the theories developed in this context is discussed here. Points in
favour and against the topic are discussed side by side, so as to put a clear
picture of the positive and negative points that have come out of the research
(Ford and Garnsey, 2010).
Chapter 3: This is the chapter where the research methodology is discussed.
The research philosophy is determined and the possible tools required is
discussed in detail. The advantages and disadvantages of the tools used has
been also been discussed in detail (Al-Mubaraki and Busler, 2011).
Chapter 4: In this chapter the data collected for the research is analysed for
reaching a conclusion. The data is collected from the target respondents and are
analysed either through the qualitative or the quantitative methods. The
quantitative method requires the proof of the null hypothesis to be true, with the
help of a statistical tool and relevant charts (Ghasemizad et al. 2011).
Chapter 5: This chapter is the conclusion of the research. Here, the results
derived from the analysis in Chapter 4 are discussed. The objectives set at the
beginning of the research are validated with the findings of the analysis. The
shortcomings and the future scope of the research are also discussed here.
1.10 Ethical issues
Some ethical issues are important while conducting a research. The data
collected during the process of the research is collected in accordance to the
consent provided by the respondents. The questions to be asked to the
respondents are sent beforehand by their mail id and prior appointment has
14

been taken for collecting the answers. Full confidentiality regarding the data is
maintained and the data is confirmed to have been used for academic purpose.





















15


Chapter 2
Literature review
2.0 Introduction
In view of the structure provided in the previous chapter, Literature review will
discuss the previous theories and models related to the topic of the research and
try to create a basis for the establishment of the null hypothesis (Cumming,
2010). In the present review the relevant theories, factors affecting the growth
of the smaller and start-up industries in UK, the difference between the business
incubators and the business accelerators, and how the business incubators and
accelerators contribute towards the growth and stability of the start-up
institutions. The concept of business incubators, though started in the nineteen
seventies and introduced in England, Australia and China initially, is still a new
concept in UK. Moreover, as per Dimov (2007), the after effect of recession has
shattered the economic base, in which it becomes difficult for the already
established organisations to come back and start reaping profits. In this
situation, the start up companies are required to come up, and here lies the role
of the business incubators and accelerators to provide the start-up companies
with support and help them to strategise on the basis of finance, human
resource, productive capacity, sales and marketing and help them to reap profits
and reach a standard level of stability (Desai et al. 2011).
Since the last part of the 1990s, public intervention helped to start the process
of business incubation in UK. The government department of Trade and
Investments contributed towards creating a business incubator team which
functioned internally and the Office of Science and Technology and Public
Funding planned to support the initial stages of incubation programmes in the
country. According to Ford and Garnsey (2010), business incubators are used to
instigate and encourage the set up of new and smaller businesses in the rural
areas. But the use of incubators is not only restricted into the rural areas, the
suburbs and the metro cities are also adopting the theory of business incubation
for the enhancement of creating jobs, leadership and management and the
economic development through the help of professional incubators.
16



2.1 Definitions and basic characteristics
Ghasemizad et al. (2011) have pointed out that a business incubator may be
defined as a facility which provides a shared office space to the start-up
organisation, along with the additional helps that may be required while running
a business that of strategies, value addition and intervention system of
monitoring, and even financial assistance. The concept of incubation may be
considered as a complete package. As we do not generally consider a firm as a
mere office building, comprising of the infrastructure and articles of
incorporation, similarly, business incubation should not only be thought of as an
office space sharing facility with some offers in planning and strategies
(Glasgow, 2012). On the contrary, incubators are network of individuals who are
specialised in respective fields of business organisation which also include some
organisation in them, like the financial institutions, required for processing
business loans. The incubator manager and the staff are also included in the
total process of incubation.
During the recent years the importance of incubators have increased slowly and
the areas in which they extend their support has increased accordingly. As per
Gooderham et al. (2004), business start up, knowledge of consumer behaviour
and the products, handling the customers, usage and transfer of technologies
required for the production or the service and the links with the research
conducted in the respective fields in the Universities on commercial basis are
some of the areas of expansion for the business incubators. They are also
responsible for the durability and strategising for the growth of the start-ups and
provide management facilities required to facilitate these. They are responsible
even for attracting the investors from outside for investing in the start ups and
consultancy from the external business experts. More excitingly, they are
themselves able to create a pool of resources and create a network of business
relations and alliances with the other entrepreneurs (Hackett and Dilts, 2004).
The incubators create these types of alliances by sharing the knowledge of
business and ways of improving the profits with the other entrepreneurs, who
may or may not belong to the respective sectors. According to Haber and Reichel
17

(2007), initially, the incubators had restricted themselves to maintain close
relationships with the universities and tried to achieve three main objectives,
namely, transfer of technology, promoting the entrepreneurship, and
administering the process of commercialisation which may bring new edges in
the research. Thus, initially the role of incubators was more like a theorist rather
than providing some suggestions which may be useful in the practical field. The
other services related to theoretical research included testing of the concepts,
technical information, property advice and handling in the intellectual level and
ways of improving access in case of managing capital and organisational
behaviour (Hackett and Dilts, 2006).
2.2 Conceptual framework
In the conceptual framework, the overall summary of the theories and models
are discussed. These models and theories form the basis of the literature review
and the research as a whole (Gray, 2009). The role of the business incubators in
economic growth, overview of the themes and research questions regarding the
incubators in the previous literatures, the role of the business incubators as
partners for problem solving in business are discussed in minute detail. The
typologies of the incubators and the links of the incubators in development of
the business are considered the main components of the chapter. As per the
Grimaldi and Grandi (2005), the framework helps to relate the different factors
connected to the main issue and is set as per the objectives of the research.
According to Fang et al. (2010), the review will try to establish the relation
between the various concepts of the business incubator or the accelerator and
will try to relate how these concepts can be used to develop the number of start-
up firms in the UK during the post recession period. We may represent this
through the following diagram as follows:




18
























2.3 Business incubators and Economic growth
In opinion of Ford and Garnsey (2010), the business incubators are deemed of
having potential effects on the process of job creation and wealth, with respect
to the theory of economic growth and entrepreneurship. Economic giants such as
Robert Solow has shown as early as in 1956 that the economic growth models
can be successfully developed centring technical progress and slowly moving to
the process of wealth creation, in case of advanced economies. The same notion
that economic growth is directly related to technical progress is the topic of
Economic
Growth
Linkage

Objectives
Partners for
problem solving
Importa
nce of
the
business
incubato
rs and
accelerat
ors
Business
Incubators

Start up firms

Typology
Stages
Fig 1: Conceptual Framework
(Source: Dul, J. and Hak, T., 2007, p 98)
19

many discussions even in the later periods. As per Groen et al. (2008),
technological change helps in increasing the rate of growth. The investment in
sphere of knowledge, research and development may be the reason for this
endogenous technological change. Modern research has shown that the process
by which recent aspects of knowledge are introduced in the market, the creation
and marketing of the products and the services customised according to the
tastes and preferences of the customers, etc is termed as entrepreneurship. This
concept of entrepreneurship is in line with the older concepts which said that the
creating new firms and exploring the new market opportunities were essential in
fostering economic growth (Karata-zkan and Chell, 2010). The concept of
business intelligence and acceleration becomes important here while it helps to
create a link between the segments of knowledge creation and markets. Thus as
discussed before, business intelligence may be considered as a missing link
between what is to be done and what is actually done, the theory and the
reality.
In opinion of Hsieh et al. (2007), the business incubators are designed in such a
way so that they may provide their tenants with different types of resources of
which three may be considered the most important. They are the infrastructure,
business support and allowing to access the networks. Among this infrastructure
is the basic resource provided by an incubator. Generally, this is a minor office
space allocated to the tenant where other incubated companies are also located.
In many cases, this office space comes with other facilities like parking, meeting
room, a receptionist and facilities for telecommunication. Nascent firms requiring
a technical laboratory is also provided by the incubator (Knopp, 2007).
Business support mainly comprises of the knowledge which is made available to
the direct firm by the incubator. These include training, mentoring and coaching
regarding various aspects of the business like customer handling, developing a
market, positioning the product etc.
Finally, the access to the incubators network for the development of the
business and client positioning closes the resource pool of the nascent firm
(Knopp, 2007).
Kauanui et al. (2010) stated that providing the resources are not always
sufficient in developing a sustainable competitive edge for the nascent firm. The
success of a firm comes from not having the resources, but their capabilities to
use those resources properly while solving a particular problem and reaching a
20

particular solution. The capabilities to reach success are a calculative
combination of qualities like planning, action, managerial skills and expertise. As
per the capabilities insights, with the business incubators providing the
resources to the nascent firms, they should also show them the process of
combination of the resources so that they may build organisation capabilities
(Hsu, 2007). The incubators should consider the start-ups as graduates, when
the nascent firms have already developed the qualities and are capable of
sustaining the competition when they are perform independently in the market.
The effect of an incubator on the growth path of an individual tenant, though
irregular, may be shown in the following figure. But one has to remember that
this is only a theoretical model which shows the growth of an individual
businessman with and without passing through the process of incubation,
provided other conditions remain constant (Moles et al. 2011).












The above figure shows, provided other conditions remaining constant the
growth rate of an individual may be shown by the green line, while after
adoption of the process of incubation the growth path changes following the blue
line. There is a gap between the green and the blue line that means, it is not a
Growth
Time
I
n
c
u
b
a
t
i
o
n

p
e
r
i
o
d

O
Old growth path new growth path
Fig 2: Theoretical impact of an incubator on the irregular growth path of an
individual tenant

21

shift intercept wise, which would have been the case, if the growth would have
been instigated by the internal factors (Moles et al. 2011). The gap between the
two lines imply the incubation period which functions as the external instigator
for following a higher level of growth path.
Though theoretical and applicable for an individual, the above proposition marks
the basis for the development of the concept of incubation and its role for the
development of a start up firm. The Solow model proposed technical
development for the growth rate to increase, which may be linked with the
business incubation concept (Ratinho, 2011). The technical development
proposed by Solow may be considered same as the component of business
incubation in the diagram. The increase in the rate of growth for the individual is
the result of technical development, which is an important component of
business incubation.
In short, the business incubators can be considered important components of
economic growth and instigate job creation when they conduct the incubation
processes and allow the start-up businesses to have sufficient resources which
would stand the disadvantages of their being inexperienced [Available from
http://www.nbia.org/resource_center/bus_inc_facts/index.php, 25
th
july 2012].
Simultaneously, the tenant is more likely to sustain if with the help of the
incubator the tenant is able to develop the relevant capabilities.
2.4 Overview of themes and research questions in incubator literature
The first recognised incubator was established in 1959 in New York in Batavia.
Since then there has been a lot of mixtures in the incubator programmes during
the sixties and the seventies. The commercialisation of the research increased
the diffusion of the concept of incubators, with the rising demand of the
researches according to the demands of the market (Marlow and McAdam,
2007). The industry organisations like the US National Business Incubation
Association (NBIA) and the United Kingdom Business Incubation were
established in the year 1984 and late in the nineties respectively. The
establishment of these organisations was responsible in fostering the interest
regarding the steps followed in the measurement of the incubator performance
22

and its reporting [Available from
http://www.nbia.org/resource_center/bus_inc_facts/index.php, 25
th
July 2012].
With the introduction of the internet and the burst of the dot-com bubble, many
profit seeking incubators had started dying away as the strategies, techniques
for money finance and other requirements of running and development of
running a business successfully is available on the internet. According to Probert
and Ford (2010), on the other hand the importance of incubators has been
prevalent as a part of the innovation from a wider perspective.
Since the decade of the eighties, the concept of business incubation has been
become a popular instrument of policy to help in the process of regional
development, innovation and entrepreneurship. Though incubators are not the
only instrument that can be used to achieve these objectives, and the incubators
alone are not sufficient to achieve the objectives, but there has been a
considerable increase in the number of incubators all over the world (McAdam
and McAdam, 2008). This justifies their value, though the increase in the
number of incubation activities over the last 50 years have created
diversification in the concepts used and the corresponding activities offered
thereon.










23














2.5 Business incubators as partners for problem solving
The most important way the business incubators can engage themselves in the
development of the organisational capabilities of the tenant is by taking an
active part in their process of problem solving, but this should follow a particular
system (Patton and Warren, 2009). The stages of development in case of
different firms may be different, and the firms may face various types of
problems according to the stage of development it is in. The main function of the
business incubators is to help these firms to face these problems and fins d an
appropriate solution to the problem. These supports, in turn, help in improving
the level of learning for the firm and develop the level of capability for the firm
(Rice, 2007). In this respect, the solving of the problems becomes a central
issue while creating the capabilities and ensures a basis for the up gradation of
knowledge for the firm. As per this principle, the managers prioritise the
problems requiring solution and compensate by having a balance in the expected
Incubator development
Studies (1984-1987)
Incubator configuration studies
(1987-1990)
Incubator development studies
(1987-1988)
(1987-1988)
Incubator impact studies
(1990-1999)
1) Definitions
2) Taxonomy
3) Policy prescriptions
1) Conceptual frameworks
2) Incubate selection
1) New venture development
2) Impact of planning on development
1) Levels and units of analysis
2) Outcomes and measures of success
Theorising about incubator-incubation
(1996-2000)
1) Use of explicit and implicit use of the theories
2) Examples may be transactions cost theory,
network theory, entrepreneurship, etc.
Fig 3: Overview of themes and research questions in incubator literature.
Source: (Patton, D. and Warren, L., 2009, p 636)

24

cost of finding a solution and the expected value of the probable use of the
solution. As per Peters et al. (2008), in order to solve a problem, the firms may
use three modes of governance: the market, consensus based hierarchy and the
authority based hierarchy. The solutions provided by the market are the easiest
mode of solving the problems. Here, it is required for the managers to acquire
the knowledge from the external sources and use it to the benefit of the firms.
In case of the other two modes, namely the authority based hierarchy and
consensus based hierarchy, the solutions are internal. The managers judge the
costs of the solutions and choose respective modes as per the expected value of
the solution (Ratinho and Henriques, 2010). In this case, it is not so important
that how the firm finds a solution to the problem; rather finding out where the
firm finds support for solving the problem is more important. As a result, the
business incubators may safely assume that when the managers face a problem
relating to development will sort different sources to find a solution, otherwise
do not look for help at all. According to Schaper (2010), the start up firms, that
is under the safety range of the incubators, look up to the incubators for seeking
help. They consider this joint solution of the problem advantageous, mainly
because of two reasons. In the first place the business incubators possess the
resources that are required for the business development. Secondly, the
member firm of the business incubator gets access to the facilities at prices
which are comparatively lower than that in other sources (Rothaermel and
Thursby, 2007).
The business incubators are considered to play an important role in solving the
problems that are related to the development of the tenant. This service is quite
different from the providing of resources. It is true, according to Ratinho and
Henriques (2010), which the resources like infrastructure, access to the
networks of the incubators and various types of business support are vital for
the start up firms, most of the times the business incubators do not proceed to
provide the solutions to the developmental problems along with these facilities.
These resources are truly helpful in the establishment of the firm, but these may
not prepare the firm for the post incubation period. For example, in case of
business support, the general service offered is the training. The training
sessions, the analysis of information and sharing of knowledge are an important
part of the training sessions. But it is not possible that the training session alone
25

will solve all the problems related to development (Smilor, 2006). Of course the
training sessions are able to solve problems, but their range is limited to the
expected and the predictable problems. In case a firm is facing a serious
problem, like positioning a product in the market, or what updates to the
product is required, a lecture in marketing will not be sufficient. Finding a
solution to these types of problems will cost a lot with respect to the size of the
start up firms (Rubens et al. 2011). As a result the business incubators should
come forward and provide solutions to these types of problems by suggesting
help from external sources and help in financing, if required for buying the
solutions of the problems.
2.6 The objectives of incubation
Recent researches like Tamasy (2007) have proposed two main rationale behind
incubation. First, incubation is considered as a way of addressing market
failures. These market failures are responsible for the identification of the
limitation of the capacity of the start up businesses to fight the uncertain
situations and the barriers that are faced by the start up firms at the initial
stages of development. Market failures are the results of relatively high costs
and risks that are related to the support programmes for the start up
companies. At the early stage, the private sector institutions are not ready to
bear the costs of the training if the commercial value of the training is uncertain.
Secondly, the incubators may be considered as a catalyst which helps the
process of entrepreneurship to run following a system, bring the support for the
ventures under the roof of an institution, especially those who are potential
enough to have high rates of growth (Smilor, 2006). In practice, the process of
incubation is related to different kinds of objectives. In many cases, these
objectives are related to the business environment, in the regional and the
national level, where the incubator is positioned.
The first and foremost function of an incubator may be described as to increase
the chances of survival for the start-up firm during the initial periods. As per
Thierstein and Wilhelm (2006), an incubator is capable of supporting a start up
firm even after its initial years, helping to improve its growth path, as shown in
Fig.1. Consequently, it is possible for the incubators to fulfil many of the
theoretical objectives, by improving the rate of growth and employment as the
26

incubation process is on and even after the completion of the process. This has
got a direct impact on the business environment in a bigger perspective. The
other objectives of business incubators may be summarised as in the following
table:
Table 1: Objectives of incubation
Primary objectives Secondary objectives

Appreciation of real estates Facilitate opportunities for transfer of
technology
Selling proprietary services to the
tenant
Generation of ample income for the
firm
Creation of jobs Support and help in the payment of
relevant taxes
Saying positive about the
potentials of the entrepreneur

Support programmes that are already
running
Collaboration of the faculty and the
industry
Proper utilisation and allocation of
facilities that are not presently in use.
Customising university research as
per commercial needs
Creation of good will amongst the
organisation and the external
environment
Finding out and implementing
opportunities for investment
Development of product

(Source: Thierstein, A. and Wilhelm, B., 2006, p 331)


2.7 Types of incubators
In many cases it is seen that though the incubators may have the similar
objectives, their typologies may be different [Available from
http://www.isbe.org.uk/UKBI, 24
th
July 2012]. It is true that the business
27

incubators are capable of creating values for shareholders but are mainly
dependent on those who are able to provide them with an effective business
model. Researchers have identified the creation of value between the start up
firms, incubators and the community (Totterman and Sten, 2007).
In general, there is wide range of models which propose business development
through the process of incubation. But, according to Tozzi (2011), this range of
business incubators may be divided into two categories: technology, implying
deep emphasis on ways by which new technologies can be used for commercial
purposes and the second one is the transfer of technology in the appropriate
place, or a mixture of the two, in order to serve a wider range of clients.
Both these types of incubation processes are required for a particular industry,
although the scope of their use needs to be evaluated on the basis of critical
mass (Totterman and Sten, 2007).


In larger economies like China and UK, technology parks are converged with the
process of incubation and added features like the cluster development and
incentive investment. This has resulted in the birth of hybrid models, which is
most suited to the business environment in UK and China. Though it is too much
to expect that the smaller countries will be able to adopt the methods of
business incubation like China or Britain, as per Voisey and Pickernell (2006),
yet they have understood the advantages of hybrid incubation processes over
the traditional methods of business innovation.
With the passage of time, other flexible and customised models have been
developed following the needs of the local environment. These models often try
and include the outstation, virtual and the resident clients. For the developing
countries where there are preferences for the traditional incubators, the
incubators try and develop relations with the poor people, and help in overall
development through the use of agricultural incubators [Available from
http://www.impulsaxl.com/business-accelerator-vs-business-incubator.html,
27
th
July 2012]. Agricultural incubators contribute towards the production of
products which are viable environmentally and socially and help in the
improvement of the business environment through the development of the ICT
industry which proposes the Busy Internet Model which may bring more than
1000. But it should be noted, according to Rothaermel and Thursby (2007), that
28

what is suited in one place may not suit other. As a result, the business
incubators are required to be developed according to the specific needs of the
environments and the challenges that are required to be faced. Below we
produce in a tabular form, the various typologies of the business incubators.
Table 2: Typology of the incubators
Context and
Features
Strengths Weaknesses
Mixed
Portfolio
incubation
Main focus is on the
high growth firms.
Opportunity to select
sectors which are
related to regional or
international
competitive strategy.
Capacity to exist in
environments where
there is lack of
activities related to
entrepreneurship.

Can be collated
with strategies
related to both
regional and
international
scenario , find new
ideas for surviving
competition and
provide a guideline
for new researches
in this field.
Inclusion of pre-
incubation
activities and
knowledge
spreading so as to
link to the
28 entrepreneurs
and the
businesses.
Results may come
late in cases where
the competitive
sectors are not fully
developed.
In case of scarcity in
entrepreneurship,
attracting high
growth potential
clients may be a big
challenge. This may
make it impossible
to perform with in
the specified scale.

Technology
incubation
Main focus is on
technology firms
Requiring strong
basis of human
resource and capital
infrastructures
Can work as a
source of economic
activity by
attraction of
research, skills and
business
Possible challenges
for measuring
businesses beyond
the embryo stage
due to minimum
financing and
29

Requirement of pre
incubation activities
in cases of weak
infrastructure and
human resources
May survive even for
economies in
transition
Ability to use
technology to
improve the
capacity to survive
competition.
problems faced
while entering
international
market.
Business
incubation
and
relationship
with
university
Universities may
work as founders
and helps in sourcing
research, skills
,business space and
monetary support
Main focus is on the
firms using
technology, but may
contribute towards
the other sectors

Scope to create a
link between the
theoretical
research and
practical
commercialisation
or transfer of
technology.
Providing access to
the knowledge
property and
development of
potential in order
to bring business
which is
competitive
Source of financial
support for the
incubators
Possibility of
creation of cultural
tensions if the
academic research
is good but the
managers are poor
or the university is
considered as a risk
averse institution
Incubation
in agri
business
Specifically designed
for the agricultural
sector
The objective is
commercialisation of
the new practices in
order to transform
Economic impact
for the
development of the
society and
improvement of
the livelihood of
the rural people.
Lack of business and
community
development skills
Face challenges
while entering
markets outside the
local range
30

the firms at a slow
growth stage to a
stage of faster
growth

Focus on the use of
technology in
Agriculture and
commercial
practices
Incubation
in social
business
Use of
entrepreneurship and
innovation in order to
create social impact
Contributes towards
engagement of
entrepreneurs who
were disenfranchised
previously and where
the presence of
illegal economies is
there.
Concentrating more
on the products and
services which are
socially valuable.
Can be an
important
instrument for
creating a
permanent
economic impact
for societies
including families
and communities
Provides models
that are effective
and helps in rapid
growth.
Requirement of
human capital
investment and the
activities related
during the pre-
incubation period,
though there is no
guarantee that this
will facilitate
incubation in the
early stage.
Difficulties may
arise while
measuring the ripple
effect of social
impact

Technology
parks
Specially designed to
improve the rate of
growth for
businesses which are
mature
Main focus is on
technology firms but
may also emphasize
specific industries
Can be used for
sourcing of future
clients
Well recognised by
both the private
and the public
sectors as a source
to determine the
impact on the
economy
Can be an
important point of
consideration for
innovation and
entrepreneurship
More disciplined
approach needed to
focus growth
component.
Employment of
critical mass to
evaluate the
viability of the
incubation model
Difficulties in
demonstrating the
values of incubation
31

while targeting
ideas talent and
money financing
in terms of the cost
effective office
space and
provisions for
infrastructure. This
is for a relatively
matured business.
Difficulties regarding
resources of scale.

Networks
of the
incubators
Targeting other
incubators for
collective activities
Promotion of
entrepreneurship and
innovation, especially
in underdeveloped
economies
Learning and
training. Providing
networks for the
members.
Can influence the
small enterprises in
the regional and
national level
Is important for
the development of
capacity for the
incubators, their
clients and
contribute towards
policy making


(Source: Rothaermel, F. T. and Thursby, M., 2007, p 320)
2.8 Stages of business incubation
The process of traditional incubation involves some stages, which are sometimes
discreet and sometimes overlapping with each other. These stages are
fragmented in order to identify the various stages of growth the client start-up
firms go through while in the process of incubation. Theoretically, the four
stages of development of the process are represented in the following chart:



32














2.9 Linkages to the process of business incubation
As per Thom (2011), there is an intense link between the many organisations
and the business incubation organisations. These may be summarised as
follows:
a) Different business service providers, like accountants, marketing professionals,
lawyers and others
b) The technical colleges and the universities, working as the service providers and
are also sources of entrepreneurs who are coming up (Davidson, 2008).
c) Sources of finance, like the banks and capital venture companies including the
money lenders who are informal and also the equity investors who are working
individually.
d) The support of the government for the development of the activities of the
business incubation leading to the development of the business environment
(Landstrm, 2009).
Fig 4: Four phases of business incubation
(Source: Thom, M., 2011, p 81)
Source:
Pre-incubation
Incubation process
(Stage 1)
Incubation process (Stage
2)
Graduation (in 1 year)
(1990-1999)
1) Research Support
2) Training
3) Business planning
1) Accommodation
2) Funding access
3) Network
4) Advice
5) Marketing
6) Technicall
1) Accommodation
2) Funding access
3) Network
4) support
1) Marketing
2) Close support
33

e) Local service providers, offering discounts and other schemes to the nascent
firms.
f) The private sectors which may include the local entrepreneurs and the large
multinational organisations, to stand as mentors and provide support regarding
training and business promotion.
According to Knopp (2007), the effect of incubation should be such as to reach
out internationally and secure services and linkages for the markets which are
locally nonexistent.
2.9 Impact of incubation on the wider business environment:
It is possible for the business incubators to extend their services beyond the
community of the start-up firms. If seen from the perspective of the incubation
period which is generally smaller than the general life cycle of the firm, the
impact of an incubator is much more on the wider business environment than in
case of any common measure(Rubens et al. 2011). These business incubators
can add significant value in the extended business environment, while their
effect can influence the functions of the monitor. The extended impacts beyond
the direct ones will include:
i) incubation outreach
ii) indirect effects like shift of the non-incubated firms by the incubated ones, extra
job or wealth generation from the supply of goods and services to the tenants
and the incubators (Grimaldi and Grandi, 2005)
iii) Learning for the entrepreneurs. Understanding the reason for the failures of the
new ventures.
iv) In addition to the above, an incubator can represent the entrepreneurs, and
offer a single point of contact for the individuals who want to start new ventures.
In a large crowd of new ventures, this information may be conveyed to the
public and the government, as it will affect both equally (Delmar and Shane,
2007).
2.10 Conclusion
The above discussion shows that the concept of business incubation is not an
isolated concept and has little differences with technology, Science parks or
cyber parks, industry clusters with respect to process, place and the growth of
the companies. An important difference is that business incubation emphasizes
34

on the processes of growth for the companies in their start up stage, which is
not the case with the technology parks. Moreover, in the technology parks,
technology business incubators are a common feature, where the main
responsibility of the incubator is to develop tenants for the park. Thus the main
job of the incubator is in the initial level, while the performance of the
technology or the cyber parks is not limited in the initial or the final level. On the
other hand, the functioning of the incubators are not limited in the development
of the start up organisation, but may extend itself even to the selection and
development of the tenants in the technology parks.
The following chapters will concentrate on the research methodology and the
data findings on the topic and try to reach a conclusion regarding the importance
of the incubators in finding out the new entrepreneurs in UK.












35




CHAPTER 3
Research Methodology

3.0 Introduction:
Research methodology is being known as systematic course that justifies and
determines the selected research methods and strategies. As suggested by
Almubartaki et al. (2010, p 10),Appropriate methodology leads any study to
unbiased and logical conclusion by resolving every problem. A proper
methodology tests hypothesis to satisfy the objectives. This chapter contains
research objectives, methods, philosophy, research onion, design and approach
that construct an efficient background of methodology. In this study, the
importance of business incubators and accelerators in new entrepreneurs is
being concerned as dealing issue. The author must identify the role of incubators
and their characteristics to build this study. Again, statistical tools, models and
theories are needed to enhance the applicability of this study in real business
world (Bergek and Norrman, 2008). Hence, proper scientific methodology can
lead the researcher to reach objective related conclusion.
3.1 Aim and Objectives:
3.1.1 Aim
The aim of the research is to discuss the advantages and the disadvantages of
the new start-up institutions. The set up of these institutions has been
encouraged by the UK government and they are helped by the business
incubators to start the business, but still the rate of growth was observed to be
low. The aim of the research is to find the reasons for this contradiction.
3.1.2 Objectives:
This study is constructed on the basis of the following objectives:
36

To show how the funding of the start-ups occurs and how business accelerators
and incubators try and connect the start ups with the financial institutions for
money support.
To identify the behaviour of the entrepreneurs in Business accelerators and
incubators
3.1.3 Hypothesis:
Null Hypothesis (H
0
): Business incubators and accelerators transform the start
up into a profitable, competitive and valuable company
Alternative Hypothesis (H
1
): Business incubators are not required to provide
stability to a start up organisation.
3.2 Research Onion:
Research onion constructs a clear methodology that contains a systematic
framework of suitable methods and strategies (Saunders et al. 2008). There are
several layers in research onion that briefly describe the proper process to reach
to conclusion. Again, research onion is the core part of any study as it recovers
research problems, tests hypothesis and satisfies the research objectives. The
layers of research onion are highlighted in the following figure:










Figure 5: Research Onion
(Source: Saunders, M. N., Lewis, P. and Thornhill, A., 2008, p 52)
37

Understanding the importance of business incubators and accelerators in new
entrepreneurs is being considered as a complex procedure. Therefore, proper
methodology evaluates this study through justified method to reach to reach
flawless conclusion. By pursuing research onion the author can tests hypothesis
of a research study (Sekaran and Bougie, 2010). Hence, the role of business
incubators and accelerators in start-ups, in UK, can be identified clearly.
Therefore, proper philosophy, approach and data collection process must be
chosen (VanderStoep and Johnson, 2009). Some objectives are also selected to
draw unbiased conclusion of this study. At this concern, research onion, with its
several layers can give justified framework of methodology (Gulati, 2009).
3.3 Research Philosophy and Justification for choosing Epistemology:
Research philosophy is divided into three major categories:
Epistemology
Ontology
Axiology





Figure 6: Research Philosophy
(Source: Denzin, N. K. And Lincoln, Y. S., 2011, p 271)
This study considers epistemology as a chosen philosophy. As illustrated by
Bollingtoft (2012, p 308),Positivism, interpretive and realism are the segments
of Epistemology that are based on the theory; what is supposed to be true or
what is known to be true. While pursuing positivism, the author requires dealing
with social reality to draw a genuine conclusion. On the contrary, realism obtains
aspects of both positivism and interpretive. As defined by Bryman and Bell
Epistemology Ontology
Research
Philosophy
Axiology
38

(2007), interpretive finds the differences between the role of different individuals
as social actors.
Briefly, Epistemology highlights the significance of identifying wrong and right.
In order to analyse the importance of business incubators and accelerators for
new entrepreneurs, vast knowledge must be gathered (Burns et al. 2008).
Therefore, the chosen philosophy is valid enough in comparison with the rest as
it assists to collect relevant information about the business incubators and
entrepreneurs. Epistemology, with positivism and interpretivism determines the
suitable way that is applicable to explain or present reality. Hence, the selected
philosophy accumulates verified data, related to business incubators. Moreover,
this philosophy is apt as a theory of knowledge accumulating process (Cooper
and Schindler, 2010). This aspect of epistemology enhances the flexibility of
data collection process that in turn makes the way broad to indentify the role of
incubators and accelerators.
3.4 Research Approach:
As defined by Lodico and Spaulding (2010, p 24), Research approach can be
classified into two major categories; Inductive approach and Deductive
approach. Deductive research approach is being recognized as testing theory.
While applying this approach, author first develops theory or hypothesis then
formulates the research strategy to test selected hypothesis. On the contrary,
inductive approach can be defined as building theory (Hesse-Biber and Leavy,
2010). To apply this theory the researcher first needs to collect some relevant
data that assists to develop a theory. Inductive research approach has been
chosen to determine the importance of business incubators and accelerators in
new entrepreneurs.
3.4.1 Justification for choosing Inductive approach:
Inductive approach assists to gather more information about business incubators
and accelerators. Moreover, this approach is suitable to collect and explore data
of different sources that highlights the requirements of new entrepreneurs
(Gulati, 2009). The chosen approach prospers quantitative research method that
helps to form semi-structured interviews and observation. However, inductive
approach also provides a relevant background to formulate some calculation and
39

to apply some statistical tools (Dul and Hak, 2007). Therefore, qualitative
research method also becomes effective to identify the role of incubators and

in new entrepreneurs. By applying qualitative and quantitative methods, this
study first collects genuine data about business incubators and new
entrepreneurs of UK and then formulates a relevant theory to resolve the chosen
issue.








Figure 7: Research Approach; Inductive
(Source: Lodico, M. G. And Spaulding, D. T., 2010, p 24)
3.5 Research Design:
As illustrated by Barrow et al. (2012, p 138),Research design refers the
systematic procedure assisting researcher to obtain relevant information with
least amount of time, capital and effort. There are three types of research
design that can be highlighted as follows:
Exploratory Design
Explanatory Design
Descriptive Design

Pattern
Observation
Hypothesis
Tentative Hypothesis
40





Figure 8: Research Design
(Source: Barrow, C., Barrow, P. And Brown, R., 2012, p 138)
3.5.1 Justification of choosing exploratory design:
This study considers exploratory design to clearly identify the relation between
business incubators and new entrepreneurs in UK. There are many causes for
considering exploratory design for this study which are mentioned as follows.
Exploratory design requires small sample for relevant data collection to resolve
the chosen issue that provides flexibility to the author (Bernard, 2011).
Therefore, the collected primary and secondary data that are related to business
incubators and new entrepreneurs can be analysed easily in exploratory manner.
Moreover, exploratory design draws causal conclusion by utilising both
qualitative and quantitative research method (Dul and Hak, 2007). However, this
design establishes research priority by providing specific tools and techniques to
identify the research problem. This aspect assists to identify the background of
business incubators and new entrepreneurs in UK.
3.6 Data Collection Process:
Data collection plays a crucial role in collecting genuine information related to
business incubators and accelerators. However, there are two types of data, one
is primary data and other is secondary data (Gulati, 2009). To identify the role
and economic impact of business incubators and accelerators in start-ups, this
study takes the help of both primary data and secondary data.



DESCRIPTIVE DESIGN
EXPLANANTORY DESIGN
EXPLORATORY DESIGN

RESEARCH
DESIGNS
Primary Data
Data Collection
Secondary Data
41

Figure 9: Data collection process
(Source: Lodico, M. G. And Spaulding, D. T., 2010, p 24)
3.6.1 Justification for choosing both data types; primary and secondary:
Primary data obtains through survey, in-depth interviews and experiments. In
this study, primary data is collected by distributing a questionnaire and forming
interview (Sekaran and Bougie, 2010). Primary data is considered as unique
data as it is never collected before. Therefore, the primary data regarding
business incubators, accelerators and new entrepreneurs obtains genuine and
relevant information to reach to the conclusion. Again, primary data assists to
examine the previous and present status of the chosen issue in UK that support
to formulate a suitable research strategy. Moreover, the concerned data type
provides some reliable knowledge about the issue which may not be found in
secondary data (Schaper, 2010). Hence, primary data reveals some hidden
information about the characteristics, role and importance of business incubators
of UK.
A number of relevant data based on business incubators and new entrepreneurs
have been gathered through secondary data sources; books, journals, articles,
periodicals and websites (Thom, 2011). There are several advantages of using
secondary data for this concerned research which are highlighted as follows.
Economic advantage is the major concern for the selection of secondary data.
Therefore, researcher easily collects such data in certain lower cost through
secondary data. In UK, it is quite expensive to collect vast information on any
issue, so, secondary data has become useful to examine the importance of
business incubators and their impacts on start-ups for any researcher. Again,
this data type contains previous researchers experiments over the hypothesis of
business incubators and entrepreneurs (Gulati, 2009). Hence, the author easily
analyses the importance of business incubators and accelerators by pursuing the
theories of previous authors. However, inherent nature of secondary data causes
certain drawbacks of using it as they are not collected to resolve the chosen
issue, importance of business incubators on new start-ups. Only some relevant
idea and information can be obtained from secondary data (Mian, 2006).
42

3.7 Research Method:
As defined by Denzin and Lincoln (2011, p 271), Research method can be
classified into two categories; one is quantitative and the other qualitative.
These methods have been differed basically for type of question, data collection
process, research design and flexibility. However, this study considers both
qualitative and quantitative methods.





Figure 10: Research Method
(Source: Denzin, N. K. And Lincoln, Y. S., 2011, p 271)
3.7.1 Justification for choosing both research methods:
Both research methods have chosen to clearly identify the importance of
business incubators and accelerators on new entrepreneurs in UK. The
researcher needs to apply statistical tools, calculation and theories to illustrate
the significant impacts of business incubators and accelerators on start-ups and
economy of UK. Therefore, the concerned method explains the role and aspects
of business incubators of UK and their effects on new entrepreneurs statistically.
Again, quantitative method assists to analyse the collected data by distributing
questionnaire (Dul and Hak, 2007).. It specifically defines research problem and
collects relevant data by sampling and survey. Hence, this method analyses the
gathered information that is related to the business incubators and their impacts
on start-ups statistically. As defined by Landstrm (2009, 284),Quantitative
method fully accomplishes the aim of research by utilizing some statistical tools
and calculations. The author can easily sum up the conditions of new
entrepreneurs and business incubators by applying relevant tools and models.
As opined by Gulati (2009), qualitative research method includes
phenomenology, ground theory and ethnography. It explains the relation
Qualitative Quantitative
Research
Method
43

between business incubators and start-ups by analysing collected data in
qualitative manner. To identify the norms of business incubators and
accelerators and their variations, a semi-structured in-depth interview has been
made. As defined by Lodico and Spaulding (2010, 24),Qualitative method fully
accomplishes the aim of research by utilizing theories and analytical data.
Therefore this method helps to understand deeply the crucial role of business
incubators in UK and their importance.
3.8 Sampling Method:
Selection process of a number of individuals and organizations to evaluate any
study is being known as sampling method (Schaper, 2010). The selected sample
represents a larger group and their responses are being considered as primary
data. However, there are two types sampling methods; Probability and non-
probability. In its aspect, probability sampling method provides the chosen
individuals no-zero chance of inclusion (Lodico and Spaulding, 2010). After
deciding a specific sample size, probability sampling method selects the
respondents randomly.
On the contrary, non-probability sampling method selects members in non
random manner (Gulati, 2009). Generally, the selected individuals may not
represent population properly. This method mainly applied in absence of proper
sampling frame.

44



Figure 11: Sampling Method
(Source: Denzin, N. K. And Lincoln, Y. S., 2011, p 271)
3.8.1 Sampling Technique:
To select a justified sample that can relevantly represent a huge population the
researcher applied probability sampling method in random selection manner (Dul
and Hak, 2007). Hence, researcher can select a number of individuals to gather
relevant information in order to determine the importance of business incubators
and accelerators on new entrepreneurs, UK.
3.8.2 Sample Size:
To utilize both qualitative and quantitative research method, a justified sample
size has been chosen for this study. This sample size represents the entire
condition of business incubators, accelerators and nascent organizations. To
facilitate qualitative analysis, 6 managers of nascent companies have been
selected. A number of secondary data, related to business incubators and
accelerators, has collected to facilitate qualitative analysis. On the contrary, 20
managers of incubators have selected for quantitative analysis. By applying both
Sampling
Method
Probability
Non-
probability
45

qualitative and quantitative method, the researcher has tried to draw objective
related conclusion.
3.9 Time Horizon:
By maintaining the following time frame, the researcher has tried to complete
this study within allocated time. In fact, this frame, i.e. Gantt chart contains
planning of this study.
Gantt chart:

Main Activities/ Stages
Week 1 Week2+3 Week
4+5
Week
6
Week
7
Topic choice and its scope
Identifying source of secondary
data

Preparing research proposal
Writing literature review
Describing research
methodology

Preparing interview/survey,
ethics form

Collecting primary data
Analysing data
Comparing findings
Conclusion and
recommendations

Finalising and submission
Table 1: Time Horizon
3.10 Data Quality:
To draw justified conclusion, the author has gathered a number of relevant
secondary data form genuine and updated sources. Subject related books,
journals and articles have been followed as the sources of secondary data.
Updated websites also perform crucial role to enhance the quality of the
collected data.
46

3.11 Data Reliability:
While collecting primary data, there would be few factors that may reduce the
reliability of data. To examine the role of business incubators and accelerators, a
number of secondary data sources have been used to collect relevant
information of business incubators and accelerators. These sources are genuine
that provide relevant information about the issue. Therefore, other researcher
can obtain same result while dealing with same issue, importance of business
incubators and accelerators in new entrepreneurs, UK.
3.12 Data Validity:
The extent that measures the quality of collected data is considered as validity
(Dul and Hak, 2007). Valid data enhances the applicability of the study. To
analyse the importance of business incubators and accelerators in start-ups, the
researcher has carefully adopted a justified methodology.
3.13 Summary of the Chapter:
Chapter 3, research methodology provides a clear framework about the selected
method that assists to resolve the chosen issue. By following research onion,
this chapter begins with the selection of philosophy as relevant to the issue.
Again, the justification of the chosen philosophy is also mentioned in this
chapter. While mentioning research design, the justification for choosing design
is also highlighted. The reason for choosing both primary and secondary data is
also discussed in this chapter. The importance of considering qualitative and
quantitative research method to elaborately define and examine business
incubators, accelerators and start-ups, is also mentioned in this chapter. The
Gantt chart provides a clear idea about the time line for the study. Finally, data
reliability and validity are also highlighted.





47




























48

Chapter 4
Data Analysis and Findings
4.0 Analysis and findings
The present chapter will deal with the questions that are asked by the
researcher to the start up entrepreneurs and the managers of the incubators in
UK. The business incubators are programmes which are specially designed in
order to facilitate the successful development of the nascent companies through
the series of services related to business support. According to the services they
offer, the business incubators vary in their organisation and structure and the
clients they serve (McAdam and McAdam, 2008). Completing a business
incubation programme successfully ensures the presence of the business for a
longer period of time, which supports the older studies that graduation enables
an incubator to stay in business (Bryman and Bell, 2007).
4.1 Process of data collection and examination
In the first place, a population is to be taken. The population is to be chosen
based on the requirements that have been specified in the project. The next step
is to select a sample from the population, which will be used to analyse the data
or the information that is very much important for the research (Bruneel et al.
2012). The questionnaire designed specifically for the purpose is to be
distributed among the members of the sample, some of which can be mailed to
the respondents, or the data can be also be collected based on the face-to-face
interviews. The process of data analysis can be of two types: qualitative and
quantitative. In the qualitative analysis, some theories based on some themes
are to be analysed. Uses of the codes, memos and mapping are included in this
type of analysis. On the other hand, according to Bollingtoft (2012), the
quantitative analysis is all about the use of statistical tools like the graphs,
charts and diagrams, probability distributions, methods of sampling and the
choice of sampling distribution and on the basis of the characteristics, analyse
the sample distribution.


49

4.2 Quantitative analysis process
The present research is a combination of quantitative and qualitative
approaches. As a result, the quantitative approach is adopted here. Here,
questionnaires have been distributed to a total of 20 respondents, of which 5
belong to the group of owner of the start up companies and the rest 15 belong
to the group of managers of the incubators. The researcher has collected this
data from the different entrepreneurial conferences, fairs and events in London,
which allow free entry.
For the owners of the start-up companies

1) Did you have any previous idea about the business incubators?
Table no. 3
Options No of
respondents
Total no of
respondents
Percentages
Yes 4 5 80%
No 1 5 20%


80.%
20%
idea of business incubators
Yes
No
50

Fig 12: Idea about the incubator
Answers to Q.1:
The above graph shows that most of the start-up owners (80%) are aware of
the business incubators. Out of the 5 respondents, 4 persons know about the
incubators, while 1 person does not know about it.
Data interpretation
From the analysis of data, the researcher has come to the point that most of the
start up owners know about the process of business incubation. The advantages
of business incubation are also not unknown to them. During the post recession
period, the UK government encouraged the process of incubation in order to
inspire the smaller start up companies to start business. Thus most of the start-
up business owners are aware of the incubators and their advantages.
2) If yes, how did you get the information?
Table no.4
Options Number of
respondents
Total no of
respondents
percentages
Academic
course
3 5 60%
Workshop 1 5 20%
Brochure 0 5 0%
TV programme 1 5 20%

51


Fig 13: Sources of knowledge about incubators
Answer to question Q.2
From the above graph, it is evident that most of the respondents (60%) have
come to know about the incubators from the academic courses. 20% of the
respondents know it from brochures and 20% know it from few programmes
broadcasted in television.

Data interpretation
From the analysis of data, the researcher has come to the point that most of the
start up owners came to know about the incubators from academic sources, that
is, from the universities. The other sources of information are mainly the
workshops and the television programmes. In the post recession period, the UK
government has encouraged the start-up companies and inspired the process of
incubation. This includes commercialisation of the research done by the
university and the measures adopted for spreading the concept. The data
collected has reflected this fact satisfactorily.
3) What do you think your relationship should be with your business incubator?
3
1
0
1
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
Academic
course
Workshop brochure TV
programmes
Source of knowledge about
incubators
52

Table no. 5
Options Number of
respondents
Total no of
respondents
percentages
Partnership for
profit share
2 5 40%
Annual
payments for
the services
provided
0 5 0%
Sharing of
profits in the
first five years
3 5 60%
other 0 5 80%


Fig 14: Relationship with the business incubator
Answer to Q. 3:
From the above graph it is evident that in the initial stage many of the
respondents (40%) like to have a full partnership with the business incubators
for sharing of profits. Others (60%) like to share the profit with their incubators
for the first five years.
2
0
3
0
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
Partnership for
profit share
Annual
payments for
the services
provided
Sharing of
profits in the
firsty five years
others
Relation with incubator
Column1
Column2
53

Data interpretation
From the analysis of the data, around 40% of the respondents have preference
so that they may have a full partnership with the incubators for the sharing of
profit. This is the choice of many respondents as it minimises the risk and is a
source of profit for both for an extended period of time. The method of paying
monthly is not at all a preferred relationship as the business environment in UK
is not suitable. As a result shared percentages of profit for the first five are also
another popular optional relationship between the firm and the incubator. This
gives the surety of survival for the firm until they achieve profit. Though this is
advantageous for the firm, this is highly risky for the incubator as it creates a
feeling of irresponsibility for the tenants.
4) In case you are allowed to start your own business in the incubator, when does
u plan to leave it?
Table no. 6
Options Number of
respondents
Total no of
respondents
percentages
I will be self
reliant
enough to
finance it
myself
3 5 60%
When I start
reaping
profits
2 5 40%
After 3 years
even I do not
get profit
0 5 0
never 0 5 0



54



Fig 15: Time to be with an incubator

Answer to Q.4:
From the above graph it is clear that 60% of the respondents want to come out
from the control of the incubators once they are able to cover their own costs.
On the other hand 40% of the firms will wait until they start reaping profits.
Data interpretation
From the analysis of the data, it is revealed that more than half of the
respondents want to come out from the help of the incubators once they are
able to finance their own expenses. Even if they do not reap much profit, they
are not going to continue beyond that period. Some of the firms want to be with
the incubators until they start earning profit. This tenancy period varies from 6
months to 3 years. From the analysis it is clear that most of the firms wait till
the stage where they start getting stability to run their own expenses.
5) Which type of place do you think the most suitable for the existence and the
operation of the incubator?
3
2
0 0
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
I will be self
reliant enough
to finance it
myself
When I start
reaping profits
After 3 years
even I do not
get profit
never
time with the incubator
Column1
Column2
55

Table no. 7
Options Number of
respondents
Total no of
respondents
Percentages
Ministry 1 5 20%
Industrial area 0 5 0
University
campus
0 5 0
Technology
town
4 5 80

Fig 16: Best place for incubators
Answer to Q. 5
From the graph it is evident that 80% of the respondents have voted for the
technology towns where they feel comfortable to set up the incubators. 20% of
the respondents felt that the incubators are to be developed in one of the
ministries of the government.
Data interpretation
Analysing the data reveals that the most preferred place to hold the business
incubators is the technology town where there is an easy access to the updated
technologies. Very few of the respondents were of the opinion that the
incubators should be located to one of the ministries of the government. The
incubators led by the government may be located in the ministries but the
1
0 0
4
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
4.5
ministry industrial area university
campus
technology
town
suitable for existence of incubators
suitable for existence of
incubators
56

private incubators prefer the technology park to be a more preferred place.
Technology parks are more preferred in compared to the ministries of the
government.
For the managers of the incubators
1) From what geographical area do you draw the majority of the clients?
Table no. 8
Options Number of
respondents
Total no of
respondents
Percentages
National 12 20 60%
Regional 4 20 20%
International 1 20 5%
Local 3 20 15%


Fig 17: Geographical area from which incubators draw clients
Answer to Q.1
From the above graph, it is clear that in 60% cases, the incubators have start-up
clients from the areas spread all over the country. In 20% and 15% cases, the
incumbents come from the regional or the local bases, whereas only 5% of the
incumbents are international.
12
4
1
3
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
National Regional international local
Geographical area
Geographical area
57

Data Interpretation
The analysis of the collected data reveals that the start-up companies are spread
all over the UK. As a result, the managers have admitted that the clients are
spread all over UK. In some cases regional or local preference have worked, but
the number is too low in case of international cases, as there may be possible
legal complications regarding the entry of a foreign incubator in the country and
helping a native company.
2) What is your sponsoring entity?
Table no. 9

Options Number of
respondents
Total no of
respondents
Percentages
Economic
development
organisations
10 20 50%
Government
entities
6 20 30%
Academic
institutions
2 20 10%
Host
organisation
2 20 10%
58


Fig 18: Nature of sponsoring entity

Answer to Q 2
The above graph shows that the sponsoring entity for almost 50% of the
incubation firms is economic development organisations. 30% of the incubation
firms get the government entities as their sponsors while 10% of the incubation
firms account for sponsorships from the academic institutions and the host
organisation.
Data interpretation
From the analysis of the above data it is evident that most of the incubation
organisations are sponsored by the economic development organisations while a
smaller share is by the government entities and very little are supported by the
academic and the host organisation. As the UK government supports the
incubation process in the post recession period, a considerable responsibility is
on the government and the economic development institutions to support the
business incubators, mainly in terms of finance.
3) Which of the following describes your programme in the best way?
10
6
2 2
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
Economic
development
orgaanisations
govt.entities academic
institutions
host organisation
Sponsoring entity
Sponsoring entity
59

Table no.10

Options Number of
respondents
Total no of
respondents
Percentages
Economic
development
3 20 15%
Mixed use 12 20 60%
Technology
business
3 20 15%
Manufacturing
firms
2 20 10%


Fig 19. Describing the programme
Answer to Q.3
The above figure shows that the while describing their types and their area of
work, 60% of the incubators chose mixed use while 15% chose economic or
technological development, while other 10% are for manufacturing firms.
Data interpretation
3
12
3
2
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
Economic
development
mixed use technology
business
manufacturing
firms
Describing the programme
60

From the analysis of the above data, it is revealed that most of the incubators
contain various types of clients having various types of business which is called
mixed use. Very few specialise themselves in economic development, technology
business and manufacturing firms. It shows that the diversification of clients is
important to get success in business incubation.
4) Where is your place of operation?
Table no. 11

Options Number of
respondents
Total no of
respondents
Percentages
Urban 5 20 25%
Rural 3 20 15%
Sub-urban
areas
2 20 20%
Rural and
urban
10 20 50%



5
3
2
10
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
Urban Rural Sub urban Rural and Urban
Place of operation
Place of operation
61

Fig 20. Place of operation of the incubators
Answer to Q.4
The above figure shows that the main place of operations for 50% of the
incubators is a mixture of rural and urban centres, while 25% of them work from
the city, 15% from the villages and 20% of the sub urban areas.
Data interpretation
The analysis of the data reveals that the main hub of operations for the
incubator depends upon the sector it is serving. Mostly the incubators serve the
businesses which are city based, so they are in larger numbers. The incubators
helping the agricultural businesses have their base in villages. Some other
incubators are also based in the suburban areas depending upon the businesses
they serve.
5) Please identify your priority for the following goals for the incubators
Table no. 12
Options Number of
respondents
Total no of
respondents
Percentages
Create
opportunity for
technology
transfer
4 20 20%
Creating jobs
in local
community
12 20 60
Create
goodwill
between
institution and
community
2 20 10
Bolster tax
base
2 20 10

62


Fig 21. Prior goals for the incubators
Answer to Q.5
The figure above shows that the important goals for the incubators.60% of the
incubators said that their main goal is to create jobs for the local community.
10% said that they target to create goodwill between the institutions and the
community and bolster tax base, while 20% has the objective to cater to
transfer of technology.
Data interpretation
The analysis to the data has shown that different incubators have different goals
depending on the area in which they are working. Most of them have the
objective of creating jobs for the local community, while others have tried for the
development of the goodwill of the institutions, transfer of technology and
bolster tax base.
6) Among the following, which one do your clients face the most?
Table no. 13
Options Number of
respondents
Total no of
respondents
Percentages
Limited market 10 20 50%
4
12
2 2
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
create
opportunity
for technology
transfer
creating jobs in
local
community
create
goodwill
between
institrution
and
community
bolster tax
base
Prior goals for the incubators
Prior goals for the incubators
63

potential

Financial crunch 5 20 25%
Limited space
for operation

2 20 10%
Generating
profits

3 20 15%


Fig 22.barriers faced by the clients
Answer to Q.6
The figure above shows the nature of the barriers faced by the clients of the
incubators. 50% of the clients are concerned about the limited market potential,
25% faces the financial crunch, 10% are worried with their limited space for
operation and 15% are concerned about the generation of profits.
Data interpretation
The analysis of the data above shows that most of the clients face the problem
of limited market potential and have problems in the development of new
markets. Others face financial problems though the incubators try and arrange
for money, have problems regarding the shorter space for operation and
10
5
2
3
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
Limited market
potential
Financial
crunch
Limited space
for operation
Generating
profits
Obstacles of the client
Obstacles of the client
64

generation of profits. The clients need to understand that every business
requires time in order to develop the market or generate profits.
7) Which is of the processes do you prefer most for arrangement of finances for
your tenants?
Table no. 14
Options Number of
respondents
Total no of
respondents
Percentages
Development of
a micro loan
programme

10 20 50%
Ongoing finance 5 20 25%
Access to
information

2 20 10%
Pursuing grants

3 20 15%


Fig 23. Preference as finance agent

Answer to Q.7
10
5
2
3
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
Development
of a micro
loan
programme
Ongoing fund Access to
information
and
maintaining
cash flow
Pursuing
grants
Preferance as Finance Agent
Preferance as Finance Agent
65

The above figure shows that the clients of the incubators have mostly (50%)
preferred the development of a micro loan programme for the financing of their
business. 25% depend on the ongoing finance, 10% depend on the access to
information and 15% believe in pursuing grants.
Data interpretation
The analysis of the above data shows that most of the incubators prefer the
development of a micro loan programme as an important source of finance for
their clients. Next preference is ongoing finance, and in many cases this ongoing
finance comes from the government grants. The incubators which are set up on
the basis of the preference from the UK government receive grants and source
their finance accordingly. Others try to arrange information of cash flows and
maintain cash flow in order to source finance.
8) What are the possible ways of ongoing process for business incubation after
graduation?
Table no. 15

Options Number of
respondents
Total no of
respondents
Percentages
Informal
business
counselling
12 20 60%
Development
and
communication
of a review
policy
3 20 15%
Helping in
updating and
expansion
3 20 15%
Other measures

2 20 10%

66


Fig 24. Ongoing incubation post graduation
Answer to Q.8
The above figure shows the condition of the firms in the periods even after their
graduation. 60% of the firms generally opt for helps regarding business
counselling, which is informal most of the time. 15% of the firms opt for the
development and communication for a review policy and suggestions regarding
updating and expansion, while 10% look for other help.
Data interpretation
The analysis of the above data shows that even after the graduation, the firms
require different types of help from the incubators. Most of the help is regarding
solution to problems informally while other cases are regarding review policies,
updating, suggestions for expansion and other measures.

4.3 Qualitative analysis
According to Barrow (2009), the qualitative analysis is drawn more towards the
theoretical aspect of the research and analyses the research findings on the
basis of theoretical findings. The use of data and statistics is limited here. In the
present case the role of the incubators in the development and financing of the
start-up companies is discussed here colleting the feedbacks from the managers
of the incubators.
12
3 3
2
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
Ongoing incubation post graduation
Ongoing incubation post
graduation
67

4.3.1 Background of the study

The concept of business incubation has developed from the primitive incubators
during the 1950s. Researchers have tried to explain the concept of business
incubators in different short phrases like effective talent link, talent link,
technology transfer and technical knowhow in order to leverage entrepreneurial
talent and to accelerate the development of the new companies (Mubaraki and
Busler, www.aabri.com/manuscripts/11884.pdf, accessed on 31
st
July, 2012).
Business incubators help in the development of the entrepreneurial companies
support them in surviving and help them to grow during the initial periods of
business, which is the most important. The common goals of the business
incubators are creation of jobs in a community, development of the
entrepreneurial climate of a community, retaining the businesses inside the
community, catering the industrial growth locally and regionally and
diversification of the local economies.
The concept of business incubators became popular through the media rise and
the fall of the internet incubators during the period 1991-2000, through the
concept started in 1950s(Audretsch,2007).
During the present times, UK has around 250-300 enlisted incubators in UK.
Every day new incubators are adding up to the numbers, formally or informally.
The present research is about the impact of the business incubators in the
development of the entrepreneurial environment in the country and find out
effective ways of financing the new start-up companies.
4.3.2 Empirical findings
The data has been collected from the personal interviews with 6 managers. All
these managers were from 6 different incubators located in UK and are parts of
the important phases of the development of the nascent companies. Following
are their names and their positions or responsibilities held in the company:

NAMES POSITION AND COMPANY
Ms Louise Cushnahan Project manager, CIDO
Mr. Arlen Foster Chairman, LEDCO
Ms Olivia Finlay CEO, RIDO
68

Mrs Jaqueline Chandler Knowledge dock business manager,
UEL.
Dr Simon Haworth CEO, Bio city Nottingham
Mr Matt Gallagher Journalist, Red Herring
According to different respondents, the senior management of the incubators
including the CEOs decide what the future strategies of the incubators be in
order to facilitate growth and stability for the start up firms.
In order to set up the scene for the empirical findings questions 1-2 provides
introduction and background of the incubators whereas 3-5 are exit questions.
So we will discuss all these questions and the respective responses as the
collective information of the research.

Q.1) What makes a business incubator successful?

Combined Response
In order to make a business incubation program successful, a strong ground
work is needed. The developers of the incubators must develop a lot of time and
in order to find a feasibility study. A considerable amount of monetary
investment is also required. This is so because a feasibility study is effective
when it helps to determine if the project that is proposed by the nascent firm
has a solid market, a financial base that is sounds enough and there is strong
community support. These factors are extremely critical in determining the level
of support for the incubator. Once the establishment is complete the model
incubation programs start following the best practices in the industry. These best
practices include planning the infrastructure to ensure financial stability, best
practices for recruitment and determination of appropriate compensation for the
right employee, framing policies for growth of the company, development of a
strong board of directors, and emphasize mostly in assisting the clients.
The two principles that characterise the effective method of business incubation
are:
a) The incubator should aspire to have a positive influence on the economic health
of the community by the maximisation of the success of its tenant organisations.
b) The incubator should be, in itself, a dynamic model of a business operation that
is sustainable and efficient.
69

The incubation practices are modelled for the welfare of the tenant companies.
As a result, they are expected to imbibe in themselves the best practices in the
industry.
Q.2) how do incubators contribute to the local and the regional
economies?
Combined Response
The companies that have graduated from the incubators after a period ranging
from 6 months-3 years, create jobs, re-establish the relationships in the
neighbourhoods and commercialise the new technologies and in turn making the
local, regional and national economies strong enough.
i) As per some of the estimates, in the year 2005, incubators in North America has
helped around 26000 companies, which in turn generated employment for more
than 1, 00,000 workers and generated yearly revenue of around $15 billion.
ii) The risk of failures in case of small businesses is reduced by the presence of the
business incubators. As per the previous records, the members in the National
Business Incubation Association have claimed that among the firms who have
graduated under them, 85% of the firms have continued to be in business. This
is in comparison with the other incubators whose graduated nascent6
organisations have not been able to sustain competition and have been
compelled to leave the market.
Q.3 why do you consider the incubators worthy of the government
subsidies?
Combined Responses
During the post recession period, the UK government started encouraging the
nascent companies to start new business, rather than the existing firms. The
nascent firms were suggested to go through the process of incubation in order to
sustain the competition from the market. As a result, the incubators have
become eligible for getting the subsidies from the government. The validity of
the returns on the government aids has been provided by the business
incubation experts as follows:
a) Every 1 of the provided public operating subsidy, the clients and the graduates
of the UK incubators have been successful in paying back 30 in the tax revenue
of the locality alone.
70

b) The incubators in UK have claimed that 84% of the graduated members stay in
their communities. The main point of consideration is that they are still in
business, surviving the toughest competition in the market.
Q.4 what are the differences between the business incubators and the
accelerators?
Combined Responses
In many cases the terms business incubator and accelerator are used in
exchange of one another. During the dot-com boom in the year 2000, many
started using the terms like the accelerator in order to explain the programmes
of business incubators. In the life cycle of a business, once the graduation is
done, business incubation programmes end. But the acceleration programs help
the companies in the later stages of their business and help in their
development. Incubator programmes may range for different spans of time and
include various forms of leadership and business support. Accelerators run their
programmes for around 6 months and concentrates on the overall growth of the
company in terms of management, strategies and operations. In short, the
business accelerators are sophisticated versions of incubators.
Q.5 Is it possible to provide incubation through electronic modes?
Combined Response
The way of delivering incubation through online mode is called virtual
incubation. Through this it is possible to provide the incubation process to the
tenants who do not reside inside the incubator. In cases where the incubator
does not allow space for many tenants, this technology may be used
successfully.
4.4 Conclusion
The analysis of the data shows that the business incubators have played an
important role in the development of the nascent organisations. The incubators
provide immense support to the nascent companies in every stage of their
development and help them to sustain the tough competition of the market. In
view of the post recession period in UK, the incubators appear to be the only
source of solution for creating a sustainable business environment.
Thus the null hypothesis is proved to be true and it is accepted.

71

Chapter 5
Conclusion
5.0 Conclusion
The small businesses play an important part in the development of any
economy. In spite of the number of successes for some businesses, many small
businesses have failed and the number is increasing day by day. The basic
reason for the failure of the primary business is the lack of abilities of a
manager, which can be effectively cured if the company takes part in an
incubation programme.
The businesses that take part in the incubator programmes have been successful
in sustaining competition. This is because the incubation programmes
incorporate expert systems in their process such as the GAP analysis,
identifications of the deficiencies and measures to correct them and helps the
nascent companies to be the owners of the well prepared businesses and in turn
helps to survive in the market for a longer period of time.
Though there may adoption of different initiatives by the management teams of
the small businesses, they should realise that participation in a business
programme can provide them with immense benefits. The rates of failures in
small businesses will continue to increase if they do not come under the
commitment and participation of the business incubation programmes.
The present research aimed at finding the nature and objectives of the
incubators and find whether there was any direct effect on the growth and
stability of the nascent firms in the UK. The post recession period required a lot
of nascent firms to come up and start business but they did not have the
required resources to survive in the competitive world. In order to help these
nascent firms to survive the competitive market, the UK government encouraged
these firms to go through the process of incubation so that the initial years are a
little hazardless for them. The incubators can be of many types and depending
on the sector they are serving, can be based on the rural, urban or semi urban
areas. The incubators directly supported by the government are mainly related
72

to the rural areas where there is need for management skills and most
importantly funding, to run the businesses dependant on the agrarian sector.
The incubators try to help the nascent companies so that there is a free flow of
fund in them. The incubators arrange for the direct subsidies, and try to contact
with the business capitalists in order to secure loans for the incubates under
them. The nascent firms contain various problems related to the improvement of
cash flow, saving of labour and costs of equipment which need direct attention
by the incubators. The solution to these problems helps the nascent firms to
stand on a strong base and help them solve problems regarding sustenance.
The researcher has tried to find the characteristics of the different types of
incubators and the effects that they have on the nascent firms. Different
theories related to the types and the working of the incubators has been
discussed in detail. The previous chapters also show the analysis of some of the
managers of the incubators and some of the incubates which contain direct
feedbacks regarding the experience of the incubates in creating job opportunities
in the regional and the local; level and helping the regional economy to grow.
The incubators argue themselves to be worthy of government subsidies as they
are capable of returning around a significant amount in exchange of per pound
spent by the government as subsidy (Barrow et al. 2012). Though some barriers
are faced by the nascent firms regarding the space provided and the financial
crunches, most of them have been found happy by the researcher as the
incubators have helped them a lot in the development of the market potentials
and generate effective means to reap profits. The nascent firms are allowed to
use the incubators network of clients for the development of their client base
and get important information regarding the development of strategies for
reaping profits. Despite the problems in the network group like the building and
expanding the market base and establishment of contacts with the suppliers, the
network contacts are solely responsible for the development of the client base.
This also includes the establishment of the alliances with the other firms in the
industry, which provide a potential value for the nascent firm and helps in
improving their performance.
The analysis of the theories and the data has, thus, been successful in describing
the impacts of the incubation process for the nascent firms. The sources of
finance for the nascent firms are mainly the government subsidies which they
73

are liable for, by the British Government in order to develop the business
environment locally, regionally or nationally. During the recent years the
development of the incubators through the electronic mode helps in the spread
of the incubators in the international arena, though previously this was
impossible due to various types of legal problems beyond the national
boundaries. The incubators in the UK now do not require the incubates to be
present in their own campus, they can instruct them through the electronic
media regarding strategic decisions, and help them regarding financing of their
projects through the electronic transfer of money. The transfer of technologies is
also easier now.
The null hypothesis that the business incubators are important for the
development of a nascent organisation is accepted, although there exist a lot of
scopes for the future study.
5.1 Recommendations
Based on the information that is got from the survey, some opportunity areas for
the businesses and the incubators have been identified. The following list of
recommendations is on the basis of the observations and needs that have been
identified during the survey.
The incubators have been found to sustain, not grow. They are capable of
meeting the financial obligations monthly but are not capable of the generation
of the additional revenue to grow. It is beneficial for the incubators in a
particular state to collaborate with each other and facilitate sharing of ideas
regarding the processes of growth during the tough times in the economy.
Organisations related to economic development are very important for success.
The UK regional offices looking after the business incubation requires to be more
involved with the incubators all over the state and the other regional offices.
Officers need to travel around the state and check the performances of the
incubators.
The advantage of collaboration is needed to be understood by the businesses.
From the surveys, it is observed that the regional incubators are benefitted
through collaboration with each other, but this collaboration needs to be
74

extended amongst all the regions. In order to facilitate this, the values and
benefits of collaboration should be explained to them.
The incubators inside the university campuses always have the threat of being
taken over by the university. As a result, any step adopted by the universities is
looked upon by suspiciously by the incubators. In order to negate the
possibilities of a foul relationship between the incubators and the universities, a
small group of persons is required who would suggest whatever is neutral and
attempt a face to face collaboration.
In many cases, the location of the incubator becomes a problem for the nascent
firms. The amount of space provided to each nascent firm is also not sufficient
for their operation. As a result, the incubators should attempt to provide proper
spacing to the firms and develop the locations in and around the incubators.
New businesses all over UK are encouraged by the incubators. In order to ensure
a smooth operation, the incubators require support from the local communities,
the state organisations for economic development and the local businesses for
providing the resources, skills and the finance for survival. The financial and the
expert support from all these segments may help the incubators to develop the
economic environment of the region.
5.2 Limitations
No research is without limitations. The researcher has studied the companies
only in their incubation period. As a result, it was not possible to collect the
evidences of two other types of companies: the businesses that failed and the
incubation graduates. The failure in business can be accounted for by various
reasons like lack of finance, mismanagement in marketing or lack of managerial
expertise on the whole. Arguments may arise regarding the emphasis of the
research being on the positive BI intervention only. The accusation is on the BI
that their level of help is not beyond doubts and in some cases is responsible for
the failure of the tenant. But the business incubators mostly do not admit this
and boast of the success among their graduates. Given that the supportive
environment is provided by the incubator, it will be justified to assume that the
failure of the firm in the incubation period, the reasons can be anything other
related to the direct intervention by the incubator. Moreover, the present
research only tried to consider the problem solving processes in the level of the
75

tenant firm during the limited time of their incubation. The alternatives that may
be required in order to erase this bias factor may again give rise to the other
issues. Also, the degree of complexity for each of the problems was not
considered. But there is a possibility that this may reduce the importance of
the incubator on the ground that the firms take a longer period of time to solve
a complex problem, as they are not helped properly by the business incubator,
because of which they need to look for alternative resources, which requires
time.
5.3 Future scope of the study
The study has opened up many future avenues for the new researchers. The
new researches can centre on clarifying the complex relationships; provide
support for their solution and helping them to implement the solution. As the
problems have varying degrees of complexity, the solutions will create various
impacts on the pool of capability for the firm. The degree of complexity of the
firm also implies different modes of governance so that probability of finding a
solution increases.
There is ample scope of research on the role of the business incubator in helping
the tenants when it is required to search the solution internally. On the contrary
when the managers look for a solution internally, the incubators can contribute
significantly to this process (Bergek and Norrman, 2008).
If considered jointly, the findings for the age and the human capital suggests an
important plan for the research. If the older and the more experienced tenants
take more time to solve problems, the question arises regarding the validity of
the incubator. The further research should be regarding the value of the support
against the shortcomings of the pool of capabilities for both the business
incubators and the nascent firms.





76

Appendix-A
Questionnaire
Name:
Gender: () Male () Female
Occupation:
For the owners of start-up companies
1) Did you have any previous idea about the business incubators?
a) Yes
b) No
2) If yes, how did you get that information?
a) Academic course
b) Workshop
c) Brochure
d) TV programme
3) What do you think your relationship should be with your business incubator?
a) Partnership for profit share
b) Annual payments for the services provided
c) Sharing of profit in the first five years
d) Other
4) In case you are allowed to start your own business in the incubator, when
does u plan to leave it?
a) When I will self reliant to finance it myself
b) When I start reaping profits
c) After 3 years even if I do not get profit
77

d) Never
5) Which type of place do you think the most suitable for the existence and the
operation of the incubator?
a) Ministry
b) Industrial area
c) Campus of any university?
d) Technology town.
For the managers of the incubators
1) From what geographical area do you draw the majority of your client?
a) National
b) Regional
c) International
d) Local

2) What is your sponsoring entity?
a) Economic development organisations
b) Government entities
c) Academic institutions
d) Host organisation
3) Which of the following describes your programme in the best way
a) Economic development
b) Mixed use
c) Technology business
d) Manufacturing firms
4) Where is your place of operation?
a) Urban
b) Rural
c) Sub-urban areas
d) Rural and urban, both
5) Please identify your priority for the following goals for the incubators
a) Create opportunity for technology transfer
78

b) Creating jobs in local community
c) Create goodwill between institution and community
d) Bolster tax base
6) Among the following, which one do your clients face the most?
a) Limited market potential
b) Financial crunch
c) Limited space for operation
d) Generating profits
7) Which is of the processes do you prefer most for arrangement of finances for
your tenants?
a) Development of a micro loan programme
b) Ongoing fund
c) Access to information and maintaining cash flow
d) Pursuing grants
8) What are the possible ways of ongoing process for business incubation after
graduation?
a) Informal business counselling
b) Development and communication of a review policy
c) Helping in updating and expansion
d) Other measures

79

Appendix B
For the managers of the incubators
1) What makes a business incubator successful?
2) How do incubators contribute to the local and the regional economies?
3) Why do you consider the incubators worthy of the government subsidies?
4) What are the differences between the business incubators and the accelerators?
5) Is it possible to provide incubation through electronic modes?











80


REFERENCES:
Aerts, K. and Matthyssens, P. (2007) Critical role and screening practices of
European business incubators. Technovation. 27: 254-267.
Al-Mubaraki, H. and Busler, M. (2010a) Business Incubators Models of the USA
and UK: A SWOT Analysis, World Association for Sustainable Development,
WJEMSD 6(4).
Al-Mubaraki, H. and Busler, M. (2010b) Business incubators: Findings from
worldwide survey, and guidance for the G.C.C. states, Global Business Review,
11(1), January-April, 2010.
Al-Mubaraki, H. and Busler, M. (2011) The Development of Entrepreneurial
Companies through Business Incubator Programs, International Journal of
Emerging sciences, 1(2), 95-107, June 2011 ISSN: 2222-4254.
Almubartaki, H. M., Al-karaghouli, W. and Busler, M. (2010) The Creation Of
Business Incubators In Supporting Economic Developments. European,
Mediterranean & Middle Eastern Conference on Information Systems 2010, pp.
1-13).
Audretsch, D. B. (2007) The Entrepreneurial Society. 4
th
ed. New York: Oxford
University Press.
Barrow, C. (2009) Incubator: A Realist's Guide to the World's New Business
Accelerators. 2
nd
ed. West Sussex, UK: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Barrow, C. (2011) Starting a Business For Dummies, UK Edition - Page 132, 4
th

ed. New York: Physica-Verlag.
Barrow, C., Barrow, P. and Brown, R. (2012) The Business Plan Workbook - Page
138,
Bergek, A. and Norrman, C. (2008) Incubator best practice: A framework.
Technovation. 28, 20-28.
81

Bernard, H. R. (2011) Research Methods in Anthropology: Qualitative and
Quantitative Approaches. 5th ed. Plymouth: Alta Mira Press.
Bollingtoft, A. (2012) The bottom-up business incubator: Leverage to networking
and cooperation practices in a self-generated, entrepreneurial-enabled
environment. Technovation, 32(5), 304-315.
Bruneel, J., Ratinho, T., Clarysse, B. and Groen, A. (2012) The Evolution of
Business Incubators: Comparing demand and supply of business incubation
services across different incubator generations. Technovation, 32(2), 110-121.
Bryman, A. and Bell, E. (2007) Business Research Methods. 3rd ed. Oxford
University Press.
Bryman, A. and Bell, E. (2007) Business Research Methodology. 2nd ed. New
York: Oxford University Press.
Burns, R. B., Burns, R. and Burns, R. P. (2008) Business Research Methods and
Statistics Using SPSS, 3rd. ed. London: Sage Publications.
Busler, M. (2010) Business incubators: Findings from a Worldwide Survey, and
Guidance for the GCC States. Global Business Review. 11(1): 1-20.
Carsrud, A. L. and Brnnback, M. (2009) Understanding the Entrepreneurial
Mind: Opening the Black Box - Page 323, 4
th
ed. California: Random House.
Chen, C. J. (2009) Technology commercialisation, incubator and venture capital,
and new venture performance. Journal of Business Research. 62: 93-103.
Clarysse, B. and Wright, M. (2005) Spinning out new ventures: a typology of
incubation strategies from European research institutions. Journal of Business
Venturing. 20, 183-216.
Clarysse, B., Wright, M., Lockett A. and Vohora, A. (2005) Spinning out new
ventures: a typology of incubation strategies from European research
institutions. Journal of Business Venturing 20. pp. 183216.
Colombo, M. G. and Delmastro, M. (2008) How effective are technology
incubators?: Evidence from Italy. Research Policy 31 (7), pp. 11031122.
82

Cooper, D. and Schindler, P. S. (2010) Business Research Methods, 11th ed.
London: McGra-Hill.
Cumming, D. (2010) Venture Capital: Investment Strategies, Structures, and
Policies. 6
th
ed. New York, London: Routledge.
Davidsson, P. (2008) Researching Entrepreneurship. 5
th
ed. New York, USA:
Springer.
Delmar, F. and Shane, S. (2007) Does business planning facilitate the
development of new ventures? Strategic Management Journal 24, pp. 1165
1185.
Denzin, N. K. and Lincoln, Y. S. (2011) The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative
Research. Page 271, 4th ed. London: Sage Publications.
Desai, S., Nijkamp, P. and Stough, R. (2011) New Directions in Regional
Economic Development.
Dimov, D. (2007) Beyond the Single-Person, Single-Insight Attribution in
Understanding Entrepreneurial Opportunities. Entrepreneurship Theory and
Practice, 31(5), 713-731
Dul, J. and Hak, T. (2007) Case Study Methodology in Business Research, 1st
ed. Oxford: Elsevier
Fang, S. C., Tsai, F. S. and Lin, J. L. (2010) Leveraging tenant-incubator social
capital for organizational learning and performance in incubation programme.
International Small Business Journal. 28(1), pp. 90113.
Ford, S. and Garnsey, E. (2010) Evolving corporate entrepreneurship strategy:
technology incubation at Phillips. R&D Management. 40(1), 81-90.
Ghasemizad, A., Kazemi, M. and Abbasi, A. (2011) Improvement of technology
business incubators effectiveness: An explanatory model. African Journal of
Business Management, 5(22), 9278-9285.
Glasgow, F. (2012) Small Business Finance All-In-One for Dummies, 6
th
ed. New
York, London: Routledge.
83

Gooderham, P. N., Tobiassen, A., Doving, E. and Nordhaug, O. (2004).
Accountants as Sources of Business Advice for Small Firms. International Small
Business Journal, 22(1), 5-22
Gray, D. A. (2009) Start and Run a Profitable Consulting Business - Page 225,
4
th
ed. California: Random House.
Grimaldi, R. and Grandi, A. (2005) Business incubators and new venture
creation: as assessment of incubating models. Technovation. 25, 111-121.
Grimaldi, R. and Grandi, A. (2005) Business incubators and new venture
creation: an assessment of incubating models. Technovation, 25(2), 111-121.
Groen, A. J., Wakkee, I. A. M. and De Weerd-Nederhof, P. C. (2008) Managing
Tensions in a High-tech Start-up: An Innovation Journey in Social System
Perspective. International Small Business Journal, 26(1), 57-81.
Gulati, P. M. (2009) Research Management: Fundamental & Applied Research,
Page 45, Global India Publications Pvt. Ltd.
Haber, S. and Reichel, A. (2007) The cumulative nature of the entrepreneurial
process: The contribution of human capital, planning and environment resources
to small venture performance. Journal of Business Venturing 22, pp. 119 145.
Hackett, S. M. and Dilts, D. M. (2004). A Systematic Review of Business
Incubation Research. The Journal of Technology Transfer, 29(1), 55-82.
Hackett, S. M. and Dilts, D. M. (2006) A systematic review of business
incubation research. Journal of Technology Transfer, 29 (1), pp. 5582.
Hesse-Biber, S. N. and Leavy, P. (2010) The Practice of Qualitative Research.
Page 253, 2nd ed. London: Sage Publications.
Hsieh, C., Nickerson, J. A. and Zenger, T. R. (2007) Opportunity Discovery,
Problem Solving and a Theory of the Entrepreneurial Firm. Journal of
Management Studies, 44(7), 1255-1277.
Hsu, H. C. S. (2007) Venture Capital Incubation Period, Under pricing, and Firm
Performance. Working paper. University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
84

Karata-zkan, M. and Chell, E. (2010) Nascent Entrepreneurship and Learning -
Page 24, 4
th
ed. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Kauanui, S., Thomas, K., Sherman, C., Walters, G. and Gilea, M. (2010)
Spirituality and Career: What kind of Entrepreneur are you? CEIBS Business
Review, (11) 76-80.
Knopp, L. (2007) 2006 State of the Business Incubation Industry. Athens, Ohio:
National Business Incubation Association. 4
th
ed. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Landstrm, H. (2009) Pioneers in Entrepreneurship and Small Business Research
- Page 284, 5
th
ed. London: Prentice Hall.
Lodico, M. G. and Spaulding, D. T. (2010) Methods in Educational Research:
From Theory to Practice, Page 24, 2nd ed. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Marlow, S. and McAdam M. (2007) Building Futures or Stealing Secrets?
Entrepreneurial Cooperation and Conflict within Business Incubators.
International Small Business Journal 25(4), pp. 361-382.
McAdam, M. and McAdam, R. (2008) High tech start-ups in University Science
Park incubators: The relationship between the start-up's lifecycle progression
and use of the incubator's resources. Technovation, 28(5), 277-290.
Mian, S. (2006) Assessing and managing the university technology Incubator:
An Integrative Framework, Journal of Business Venturing, 12, 251-285.
Moles, P., Parrino, R. and Kidwell, D. S. (2011) Fundamentals of Corporate
Finance - Page 574,
NBIA. (2007) Business incubation FAQ. Available from:
http://www.nbia.org/resource_center/bus_inc_facts/index.php [Accessed 25th
July 2012]
Patton, D. and Warren, L. (2009) Elements that underpin high-tech business
incubation processes. Journal of Technology Transfer. 34: 621-636.
Peters, L., Rice, M. and Sundararajan, M. (2008) The Role of Incubators in the
Entrepreneurial Process. The Journal of Technology Transfer, 29(1), 83-91.
85

Probert, D. and Ford, S. (2010) Trial by market: the Brightstar incubation
experiment. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Venturing. 2(2), 185-200.
Ratinho, T. (2011) ARE THEY HELPING ? - An Examination of Business
Incubators Impact on Tenant Firms (pp. 1-221). Twente: University of Twente.
Ratinho, T. and Henriques, E. (2010) The role of science parks and business
incubators in converging countries: Evidence from Portugal. Technovation. 30:
278-290.
Rice, M. P. (2007) Co-production of business assistance in business incubators:
an exploratory study. Journal of Business Venturing, 17(2), 163-187.
Rothaermel, F. T. and Thursby, M. (2007) University-incubator firm knowledge
flows: assessing their impact on incubator firm performance. Research Policy,
34(3), 305-320.
Rubens, A., Jackson, G. and Andrews, C. (2011) Conducting a Feasibility Study
and Assessing Success of a Business Incubator: An Applied Study. Journal of
Applied Management and Entrepreneurship, 16(2).
Saunders, M. N., Lewis, P. and Thornhill, A. (2008) Research methods for
business students, Page 52, London: Prentice Hall.
Schaper, M. (2010) Making Ecopreneurs: Developing Sustainable
Entrepreneurship. 4
th
ed. Belgium: Peeters Publisher.
Sekaran, U. And Bougie, R. (2010) Research Methods for Business: A Skill
Building Approach, 5th ed. New York: Wiley Publications.
Smilor, R. W. (2006) Managing the Incubator System: Critical Success Factors to
Accelerate New Company Development. IEEE Transactions on Engineering
Management, 34(3), 146-155.
Tamasy, C. (2007) Rethinking Technology-Oriented Business Incubators:
Developing a Robust Policy Instrument for Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and
Regional Development? Growth and Change. 38(3), 460-473.
86

Thierstein, A. and Wilhelm, B. (2006) Incubator, Technology and Innovation
Centres in Switzerland: Features and Policy Implications. Entrepreneurship and
Regional Development, 13 (4), 31531.
Thom, M. (2011) Business Incubation - How to Manage the Know-how Transfer -
Page 81,
Thurman, C. and Gardner, A. (2006) Entrepreneur's Great Big Book of Business
Lists. 5
th
ed. London: Routledge.
Totterman, H. and Sten, J. (2007) Start-ups: Business Incubation and Social
Capital. International Small Business Journal, 23(5), 487-511.
Tozzi, J. (2011) Start up Boot camps Seek Army of Entrepreneurs. Bloomberg
Business week, Small biz. Retrieved May 7, 2012, from
http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/mar2011/sb20110329_239744.
htm
VanderStoep, S. W. and Johnson, D. D. (2009) Research Methods for Everyday
Life: Blending Qualitative and Approaches. 4th ed. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Voisey, P. and Pickernell, D. (2006) A Comparison of UK Business Incubation
Practice and the Identification of Key Success Factors. Welsh Enterprise
Institute.
UK Business Incubation, Available from: http://www.isbe.org.uk/UKBI [Accessed
24th July 2012]
Business Accelerator vs Business Incubator, Available from:
http://www.impulsaxl.com/business-accelerator-vs-business-incubator.html
[Accessed 27th July 2012]






87