Business incubators as a tool for the development and growth of start-up companies in the Arab world

Abstract

AbstrAct Purpose: Business incubation facilitates the development and growth of start-up companies by providing entrepreneurs with resources and services. Incubator management usually develops these services that are offered by its wide network of contacts. Therefore, the aim of this research to contribute to general knowledge about the economic growth and development impact of business incubators, thereby assisting Arab governments and policymakers in establishing environments that would facilitate entrepreneurship and national development. Design/methodology/approach: To meet this aim, a qualitative research approach was used. Interviews with 12 Arab experts in this field were conducted to understand how to establish and implement business incubation programmes. Findings: The results of this research show that businesses that have been through an incubator programme are far more likely to succeed in the long term. Originality/value: The research concluded by providing governments with guidelines for using incubators to foster technology transfer and commercialisation, which contributes to entrepreneurship and economic development in developing countries and other Arab countries, with particular consideration in Libya. V4N1 2015 28 29 Business incubators as a tool for the development and growth many Arab academic experts interact with poli-cy-makers (via direct consulting, conferences and journal publications) to set up programmes for the development of incubators in the Arab world. The initial sampling procedure was non-prob-ability purposive sampling. Respondents were selected according to their association with Arab agencies and organisations that directly impact the development of SMEs and incubators in the Arab world. It was comparatively difficult to get hold of people who were experts from all Arab countries, and rather difficult to convince them to take part in this research. Therefore, the author trav-elled to Dubai and attended and participated in the Second SMEs 'Business Incubators' con-ference, which was held in UAE during the period 19–21/02/2012; it was organised by the Arab Administrative Development Organisation (ARADO). At the conference, the researcher met a number of experts, both academics and pro-fessionals, in these areas of research. During this time, interviews were then conducted with 12 experts in the field of SME policies and the devel-opment of business support infrastructure in the Arab World. These experts were keener to actively participate in research projects, which may be due to their academic background or links with academia. These interviews sought to reveal spe-cific information from participants who under-stand and are conversant with the topic being investigated (Al-Sheikh, 2009; Bryman and Bell, 2011; Bryman, 2008; Elmansori, 2014).