Promoting Entrepreneurial Commitment: The Benefits of Interdisciplinarity

Abstract

This article is the first to examine the relationship between interdisciplinarity and entrepreneurial commitment in academic spin-offs. Building on literature on interdisciplinarity, academic entrepreneurship, and entrepreneurial intention, we analyzed the development of nine interdisciplinary spin-off teams comprising expertise from science, industry, and design. Our findings suggest that interdisciplinary teams engage with their ideas, maintain productive interaction, and successfully implement these ideas. Subjects in this study thoroughly developed their project proposals and implementation strategies by examining them from multiple angles. They believed not only in the value of these projects, but in their own ability to see them through. They found one another’s contributions highly inspirational and experienced a strong sense of responsibility and motivation. Communication within the teams was well managed, and tasks were clearly defined and distributed. Based on our findings, we put forward a number of propositions about the positive effects of interdisciplinarity on entrepreneurial commitment and conclude with implications for future research and practice.

Keywords

• academic spin-offs
• entrepreneurial commitment
• interdisciplinarity
• team composition
• teamwork
• technology transfer