Designing a Framework to Assess the Performance of Corporate Accelerators Based on Balanced Scorecard

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

Department of Human Resource Management and Business Administration, Faculty of Management, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran

10.22059/jed.2024.363557.654245

Abstract

Objective: Startups often encounter various challenges during their formation and growth, leading to a significant failure rate. Accelerators have emerged as a type of startup support organization, aimed at assisting startups in their early stages of development. The notable success of pioneering accelerators, such as Y-Combinatory, has fueled the rapid proliferation of this incubation mechanism worldwide. Recognizing the need for the flexibility and agility exhibited by startups to maintain their competitive positions, corporations have embraced the accelerator model and established their own versions, known as "corporate accelerators." Despite the positive impact these accelerators have on companies, evaluating their performance has remained a persistent challenge, particularly given their initial struggles with financial performance. To address this issue, it is crucial to establish appropriate accelerator assessment criteria that enable owners and managers to assess the actual performance of corporate accelerators. Therefore, this study aims to contribute to the field by designing a framework for assessing the performance of corporate accelerators and identifying the criteria for measuring their effectiveness.
Method: This research adopts a qualitative and interpretive approach. First, a systematic literature review method was employed to identify assessment criteria for accelerators. Among 123 articles extracted from the WOS and SCOPUS databases, after a careful examination based on title and abstract screening, 18 relevant papers were included in the review process. Drawing from the systematic review and essential criteria, a set of performance assessment criteria for corporate accelerators was derived. Furthermore, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 experts. These individuals, including managers and owners of accelerators with a minimum of two years of experience, had successfully accelerated more than five startups. Thematic analysis, following the six-step pattern outlined by the Braun and Clark method and utilizing MAXQDA2020 software, was employed to extract and analyze the criteria obtained from the interviews.
Results: Through the extraction of performance assessment criteria from previous research and interview data, 285 primary codes were identified, leading to the extraction of 29 sub-themes based on the frequency of occurrences and similarities in meanings and concepts. These sub-themes were subsequently organized into four main dimensions to create a performance assessment framework for corporate accelerators. Built upon the balanced scorecard perspective, the framework encompasses four dimensions: "innovation and technology performance," "startup satisfaction performance," "internal processes of accelerator performance," and "learning and growth performance." Each dimension consists of specific criteria for assessing performance. For instance, the dimension of innovation and technology performance encompasses eight criteria, including "knowledge transfer projects to the corporation" and "solving the company's problems through startups." The dimension of startup satisfaction performance comprises nine criteria, such as "access to the company's network for startups" and "accelerator's speed of interaction with corporations and startups." The dimension of internal processes of accelerator performance incorporates seven criteria, including "the existence of systematic procedures for interacting with the company" and "documented procedures for evaluating acceleration applicants." Lastly, the dimension of learning and growth performance encompasses five criteria, such as "documentation of experiences for learning" and "knowledge sharing within the accelerator."
Conclusion: Assessing the performance of corporate accelerators has proven to be challenging due to the intangible nature of their achievements. Consequently, comprehensive research on the assessment of this accelerator type has been lacking. This study contributes to the entrepreneurship literature by providing a comprehensive framework of criteria for assessing the performance of corporate accelerators. In doing so, it enhances understanding of the nature and methodology underlying the assessment of accelerator performance. Moreover, the framework offers corporate accelerator managers and owners the means to conduct more comprehensive assessments, considering a range of criteria beyond purely financial indicators. Over time, this holistic approach enables them to measure progress and assess performance more effectively.

Keywords

References

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