Purpose

Consistent with the knowledge spillover theory of entrepreneurship, the purpose of this paper is to recognise the complementary entrepreneurial role of knowledge transfer intermediary organisations in the context of two Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries: Poland and the Czech Republic.

Design/methodology/approach

The aim was achieved through empirical studies relying on multiple-case study methodology and cross-case analysis covering 21 cases of commercialisation intermediary institutions. It was assumed that institutional and geographical conditions can impact the knowledge-based opportunity exploitation between different national economies.

Findings

Research confirmed that scientists in Poland and the Czech Republic are the central figures of the commercialisation process in terms of entrepreneurial opportunity recognition; however, they need support from intermediary organisations in many other entrepreneurial activities. The history of knowledge commercialisation and its intermediating entities in these countries is relatively young and spin-off company creation is not a common practice. Expertise knowledge, creativity and self-confidence admitted, by the respondents in both countries, can be an optimistic sign for the future efforts in fostering innovativeness of CEE countries. Stronger support of formal institutional framework and policies in those countries is expected.

Originality/value

Science commercialisation has lately attracted much attention, but only a few studies have tried to develop conceptual frameworks considering knowledge-based entrepreneurship and knowledge commercialisation in their relations and subsequential roles. Also, over the past couple of years literature in this area has expanded mainly relying on observations in the USA and Western European countries. Hence, this study allowed to collect findings from CEE countries for which data are still insufficient but can significantly contribute to the theory development. Also, some recommendations for policymakers arise from this study. Further research could validate the results in an extensive quantitative study.

中文翻译：

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谁在科学商业化过程中真正充当企业家：知识转移中介组织的作用

目的

与创业的知识溢出理论一致，本文的目的是在两个中欧和东欧 (CEE) 国家：波兰和捷克共和国的背景下，认识到知识转移中介组织的互补创业作用。

设计/方法/途径

该目标是通过基于多案例研究方法和跨案例分析的实证研究实现的，涵盖 21 个商业化中介机构案例。假设制度和地理条件会影响不同国家经济体之间基于知识的机会开发。

发现

研究证实，就创业机会识别而言，波兰和捷克共和国的科学家是商业化过程的核心人物；然而，他们在许多其他创业活动中需要中介组织的支持。这些国家的知识商业化及其中介实体的历史相对较新，创建分拆公司并不常见。两国受访者承认的专业知识、创造力和自信，可以成为中东欧国家未来促进创新的积极信号。预计这些国家将对正式的体制框架和政策提供更有力的支持。

原创性/价值

科学商业化最近引起了广泛关注，但只有少数研究试图开发考虑知识型创业和知识商业化之间关系和后续作用的概念框架。此外，在过去几年中，该领域的文献主要依靠美国和西欧国家的观察得到了扩展。因此，这项研究允许从数据仍然不足但可以显着促进理论发展的中东欧国家收集调查结果。此外，这项研究还为政策制定者提出了一些建议。进一步的研究可以在广泛的定量研究中验证结果。