Development of Entrepreneurial Ecosystem through University’s New Companies

Aleksandar Vekić; Jelena Borocki; Angela Fajsi

doi:10.7595/management.fon.2019.0012

Aleksandar Vekić University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Technical Science, Department of Industrial Engineering and Management
Jelena Borocki University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Technical Science, Department of Industrial Engineering and Management
Angela Fajsi University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Technical Sciences

DOI: https://doi.org/10.7595/management.fon.2019.0012

Abstract

Research Question: This paper explores the potential of new start-ups and spin-offs within the university capacity and their impact on the process of creating an entrepreneurial ecosystem. Motivation: The research presented in this paper is motivated by the desire to analyse the role of university in entrepreneurial ecosystem based on the real case of the University of Novi Sad. An insight into relevant literature sources revealed that there exists a large influence of university’s new companies in developing the entire business environment and business sustainability. This example could be relevant to similar universities in the other developing countries, because current literature covers only examples from developed countries. One of this is a research paper conducted by the Stanford University under the name “An analysis of the entrepreneurial activity of the Stanford community over 50 years”. Idea: The main idea is to present the importance of University’s new companies in creating an entrepreneurial ecosystem, and their impact on the creation of economic activity and sustainable development. Data: This research includes economic activity data of business entities at the University of Novi Sad. This paper presents data on new companies within the University of Novi Sad in the period 1990-2015 which were available, as well as data on companies in the territory of the Republic of Serbia, Vojvodina region and the City of Novi Sad. In this analysis, 123 companies from the University of Novi Sad were included. Tools: In this paper comparative statistics was used based on collected data of the total number of companies and the number of employees according to company’s size and geographical location. For the purpose of this research, we used interactive internet portals Trading Economics and IvanStat. Findings: According to the analysis, the University of Novi Sad is a prominent example of the establishment and operation of new companies founded within it. The percentage of companies that have survived in the observed period is high and it is approximately 63%. Contribution: This paper gives us an overview of newly founded companies (start-ups and spin-offs) within the University of Novi Sad, especially focusing on economic activity and creating conditions for sustainable development.

Author Biographies

Aleksandar Vekić, University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Technical Science, Department of Industrial Engineering and Management

Aleksandar Vekić, MSc, works as a teaching assistant at the University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Technical Sciences, Department of Industrial Engineering and Management. He is currently enrolled in PhD studies – Inovation and Entrepreneuership. His research and teaching area of interest includes Entrepreneuership, Innovation Management, Sustainable SMEs Development, Entrepreneurial Strategies, Entrepreneuership in High Technology, Development Processes in Company.

Jelena Borocki, University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Technical Science, Department of Industrial Engineering and Management

Jelena Borocki is an Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management. Besides her experience at the faculty, she has more than 20 years of experience as a consultant for SMEs in the area of starting a new business, innovation management and strategic entrepreneurship. In the field of entrepreneurship and innovation management (which are her areas of expertise) she specialized in USA, Italy and Germany. She is a project advisor on few European projects (Horizon 2020, TEMPUS, IPA, CIP), as well as on a number of projects financed and supported by The Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia (Best Technology Innovation Competition and two other national projects). She published one book and more than 50 scientific papers.

Angela Fajsi, University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Technical Sciences

Angela Fajsi is a Teaching assistant at Faculty of Technical Sciences, University of Novi Sad. She earned her master's degree in Industrial engineering and management at the same faculty. Angela gained significant experience in projects that support SMEs in improving their performance and increasing their competitiveness. Her main interests are in industrial clusters, value networks and project management.