Title: Critical factors for science park management: the North American and European experience

Authors: Yuehua Zhang

Addresses: Department of Marketing and International Management, Waikato Management School, The University of Waikato, Private Bag 3105, Hamilton, New Zealand

Abstract: The science park phenomenon started half a century ago. Comprehensive studies about science park management emerged two decades later. The present study examines the experience of science park management reflected by the literature, which happens to focus on earlier parks in North America and Europe. This paper extracts their critical factors and synthesises them into three groups, that concern park location, park preparation, and park management team. Findings reflect that park location factors caught the earliest attention. Intangible aspects of park management such as marketing, services and the quality of park management team were emphasised in the third decade of science park development. This implies that good park administration is not less important for a science park than a strategic location, but it was realised later; or it becomes a critical factor after a good location has been selected. In either case, good park administration should be decisive for park success.

Keywords: science parks; technology parks; management strategies; key success factors; North America; Europe; park location; park preparation; park management; park administration.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEIM.2004.005849

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management, 2004 Vol.4 No.6, pp.575 - 586

Published online: 16 Dec 2004 *

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