Inter-Organizational Knowledge Sharing in Incubated Companies: Reality or Myth?

The incubator provides incubated companies with support to help to turn their ideas into feasible businesses; they have access to the university facilities, such as libraries, researchers and physical space, etc., and enjoy the benefits of the science and technology park (STP) structure. Such an environment may enable inter-organizational knowledge sharing (IKS), which may occur between incubated companies (SU); between SU and companies and entities resident in the STP; between SU and the university; and between SU and companies or associations outside the STP. This research aims to analyse IKS considering the relations of the SUs with other companies and organizations located in a STP. For this purpose, a qualitative research was carried out among companies incubated within a university business incubator in a STP in Brazil. These companies were chosen because the incubator and the STP have received awards for the results obtained in their period of operation. The incubator was established in 2003. Data were collected through interviews with the managers of 20 SUs, which are engaged in different areas of business, have been operating within the incubator for between six and fifty-eight months and have up to ten employees. The main benefits cited by the respondents in relation to IKS were increased sales and networking, as well as the improvement in their products and services. While improved processes was a benefit mentioned by only three of the SUs. This indicates an association between IKS and results. The IKS in the respondent SUs can be characterized as informal, with little concern for documentation. This may be related to the small number of employees in these companies, who perform various functions and have less time to generate documentation, while also feeling less need for documentation due to the ease of physical contact between them because of the lack of hierarchical levels and the fact they share the same physical space. The formal initiatives taken to create opportunities for knowledge sharing between the companies are provided by the management of the incubator. However, there is noticeably little interaction between the SUs and the entities and companies resident in the Science and Technology Park, so there is the possibility of leveraging such relationships. The research results indicate that IKS is not a myth, but it is not yet a reality. That is, it is an opportunity to be leveraged by the incubator for the benefit of the incubated companies, as is the encouragement of documentation.