Critical Review of Academic Entrepreneurship in India

Introduction

Over the past thirty years, there has been an increasing interest toward academic entrepreneurship, i.e. the direct approach towards commercializing education or involvement of academicians and scientists into the development and commercialization of knowledge, research in fact education has become a playfield for entrepreneurs. Academic entrepreneurship takes several forms: starting institutions as enterprises, industry-university collaborations, university-based incubator firms, start-ups by academicians, double appointments of faculty in firms and universities, etc. Though the term academic entrepreneurship is used to indicate different cases, in this chapter it means and deals with individuals and institutions that have entered the field of academics with an entrepreneurial perspective. However, need based the terms “Entrepreneur,” “Scientist,” “Researcher” and “Inventor” have been used interchangeably in this chapter.

This chapter intends to:

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  Provide an understanding and perspective of academic entrepreneurship.

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  Critically review of academic entrepreneurship in India.

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  Identify the factors which impact the growth and development of academic entrepreneurs.

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  Identify the key success factors of academic entrepreneurs.

In this chapter, I make a distinction between 'Entrepreneur' and 'Academic Entrepreneur' since I believe that the academic entrepreneurship can be developed only by better adaptation to the local requirements. The chapter focuses on understanding the importance of academic entrepreneurship - how it can be developed and enhanced through right inputs and adaptation. It raises a number of questions: what is a right perspective for academic entrepreneurship and how should it be developed? What role can government play? How academic resources and capabilities should be configured to develop the right quality of academic entrepreneurship and enterprises. The goal of these questions is to provide the reader with a suitable analysis platform for decision-making. It also aims to ensure growth and success for academic entrepreneurs through optimization of knowledge management process.