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Antecedents, processes and outcomes of collaboration between corporates and start-ups

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Vincenzo Corvello at University of Messina
Vincenzo Corvello
Annika Steiber at Menlo College
Annika Steiber
Sverker Alänge at Chalmers University of Technology
Sverker Alänge
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Abstract and Figures

Collaboration between corporations and start-ups can dramatically accelerate respective actor’s innovation process. Previous research on this phenomenon has mostly considered the large company’s point of view on start-up collaboration. There is therefore a research gap related to start-ups’ objectives, processes and outcomes from corporate collaboration, as well as to the relation between these three categories of variables. The purpose of this study is to identify the critical factors for start-ups in collaborating with corporations. The paper synthesizes and discusses the findings from 12 qualitative case studies of corporate-start-up collaboration in Sweden, including different collaboration models and different industrial sectors. It contributes to fill the current knowledge gap in research focused on critical factors for start-ups in collaborating with large companies for innovation. The study identified three important dimensions: antecedents, outcomes, and collaboration characteristics. For each dimension the main variables and relations among variables are identified. This framework can be useful primarily for start-ups and could guide them in their decisions related to partnering with large firms. The framework is, however, also useful for other stakeholders involved in corporate-start-up collaboration initiatives, such as large firms, intermediaries like external accelerators, and the government. This is one of the first studies that explicitly addresses the phenomenon of collaboration between start-ups and large companies from a start-up’s point of view. The study is not limited to a specific collaboration model such as for example ‘accelerators’, but includes different models used by large firms. Further, it identifies the factors that could guide start-ups in analyzing opportunities offered by partnering with larger companies, and therefore could be important parts of their collaboration strategy.
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Vol.:(0123456789)
Review of Managerial Science (2021) 17:129–154
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11846-021-00510-8
1 3
ORIGINAL PAPER
Antecedents, processes andoutcomes ofcollaboration
betweencorporates andstart‑ups
VincenzoCorvello1 · AnnikaSteiber2· SverkerAlänge3
Received: 21 June 2021 / Accepted: 27 November 2021 / Published online: 8 December 2021
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2021
Abstract
Collaboration between corporations and start-ups can dramatically accelerate
respective actor’s innovation process. Previous research on this phenomenon has
mostly considered the large company’s point of view on start-up collaboration.
There is therefore a research gap related to start-ups’ objectives, processes and
outcomes from corporate collaboration, as well as to the relation between these
three categories of variables. The purpose of this study is to identify the critical
factors for start-ups in collaborating with corporations. The paper synthesizes
and discusses the findings from 12 qualitative case studies of corporate-start-up
collaboration in Sweden, including different collaboration models and different
industrial sectors. It contributes to fill the current knowledge gap in research focused
on critical factors for start-ups in collaborating with large companies for innovation.
The study identified three important dimensions: antecedents, outcomes, and
collaboration characteristics. For each dimension the main variables and relations
among variables are identified. This framework can be useful primarily for start-
ups and could guide them in their decisions related to partnering with large firms.
The framework is, however, also useful for other stakeholders involved in corporate-
start-up collaboration initiatives, such as large firms, intermediaries like external
accelerators, and the government. This is one of the first studies that explicitly
addresses the phenomenon of collaboration between start-ups and large companies
from a start-up’s point of view. The study is not limited to a specific collaboration
model such as for example ‘accelerators’, but includes different models used by
large firms. Further, it identifies the factors that could guide start-ups in analyzing
opportunities offered by partnering with larger companies, and therefore could be
important parts of their collaboration strategy.
Keywords Startups· Corporation· Collaboration· Open innovation· Ecosystem·
Partnership
Mathematics Subject Classification 90B99
Extended author information available on the last page of the article
Content courtesy of Springer Nature, terms of use apply. Rights reserved.
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