Economics, Business and Management: Recent Advances Vol. 3

Technology transfer offices (TTOs) play an increasingly important role in universities by supporting researchers in translating scientific knowledge into commercially and socially valuable outcomes. Strategic entrepreneurship, on the other hand, is the fusion of entrepreneurial elements and strategic management, including opportunity-seeking and advantage-seeking behaviour in developing effective new ventures or established firms. The integration of strategic entrepreneurship elements within TTOs could enhance the effectiveness of their roles and responsibilities in supporting the technology transfer process in RUs. The aim of this study is to nurture strategic entrepreneurship within TTOs to enhance their entrepreneurial role in enabling successful technology transfer for research universities (RUs). This study synthesises selected literature using a systematic method to analyse the roles and responsibilities of TTOs in RUs, critical factors for nurturing strategic entrepreneurship within TTOs, and a recommended TTO Strategic Entrepreneurship Model for strengthening the RUs' innovation ecosystem. Entrepreneurship has been identified as a crucial element of the technology transfer process. The results show that TTOs adopting strategic entrepreneurship approaches could create pathways for a sustainable entrepreneurial culture, support entrepreneur-researcher characteristics, and promote best practices in technology transfer to strengthen the innovation ecosystem in RUs. These findings are expected to improve the successful commercialisation rate of RUs' innovations in line with regional economic growth in Malaysia. In this study, a conceptual framework is proposed to show how a TTO Strategic Entrepreneurship Model could strengthen the RUs' innovation ecosystem. This is among the few studies on the commercialisation of innovation, a topic that remains underexplored. Future research is expected to include the development of a framework for nurturing strategic entrepreneurship within TTOs to enhance the commercialisation of innovation through RUs' technology transfer.