SPIN-OFF AND SPIN-OUT BUSINESSES AS A PLATFORM FOR THE INTEGRATION OF SCIENCE AND BUSINESS

Comprehensive analysis of all the issues relating to the functioning of spin-off and spin-out businesses exceeds the scope and objectives of this study. The present paper focuses only on explaining the concept and the essence of campus firms, the characteristic of their business models, a description of their inherent strategic potential and a presentation of the opportunities and risks of their progress in the future. However, it seems that even such a modest article gives grounds to believe that the spin-off and spin-out businesses may deserve to be called an innovative business elite and an efficient platform for the integration of science and business. There are many arguments which attest to this thesis. The prime is the fact that campus firms integrate all three, probably the most important strategic factors of competitiveness, namely knowledge, entrepreneurship and innovation. Moreover, global trends in reducing the gap between science and business, development of knowledge-based economies and demand on high technologies are also chances for expansion of campus firms. Furthermore, this study could form the base of elementary information about the spin-off and spin-out businesses and the starting point for further research on the phenomenon of campus firms.