Opportunities for Managing Human Capital in University Spin-offs. A Dynamic Analysis

Abstract

Creating university spin-offs (USOs) should be one of the cornerstones of a country's business development. Yet a number of studies have identified two factors that limit their growth: access to funding difficulties and a lack of management skills among entrepreneurial teams. In order to identify potential solutions for the latter of those factors, an analysis was performed to determine how the implementation of certain human resources policies affects the creation and retention of human capital in USOs. If successfully implemented, such policies can contribute to a more efficient management of the market value of such organisations. So, after diagnosing what the human capital component of Spanish USOs is considered to be, a causal analysis was performed. The approach taken to the analysis was that acquiring and retaining human capital is a strategic problem for such organisations. The outcome of the analysis is a series of policy proposals that, taking account of the differential characteristics of USOs, aim to foster the recruitment, development and retention of human capital as the basis of such organisations' business competitiveness.