Capability factors in changing patterns of international knowledge relationships of university spin-off firms in Northwest Europe

Industrial competence is increasingly dispersed across the globe, urging technology-based firms in Europe to establish international knowledge relationships, sometimes even at larger distances. This paper examines patterns of international knowledge relationships and the influence of capability factors of university spin-off firms on building such relationships and changes herein, using a sample of 105 of firms in Northwest European countries. In early patterns, 62 per cent of the sampled firms employed knowledge relationships abroad. Remarkably, these relationships often cross continents, witness the spin-offs active outside of Europe outnumbering the ones active within Europe (33.5 versus 28.5 per cent). The main capability factors affecting these early relationships tend to be PhD education in the founding team, participation in training, and the capability to innovate on a practical level that responds to market demand. Subsequent changes have led to a high overall internationalization in knowledge relationships of 82 per cent, but also reveal diverse trends among spin-offs, namely, no change for one third of then versus an increase of spatial reach for another one third. This result points to absence of an overall pattern of evolving steps, except for the trend that later relationships are mainly influenced by previous patterns.