Entrepreneurial universities: literature review

The modern concept of open innovation highlights the role of technology transfer from universities to the business environment. An increase in technology transfer efficiency is one of the tasks assigned to Ukrainian universities by the state. The nature of technology transfers in the world and the role of universities in this process call for revising traditional approaches to its production in Ukraine. This stipulated the substantiation of theoretical and methodological principles of technology transfer from universities to the business environment, which should serve as a fundamental platform for further economic, technological and other actions in the innovation development of Ukraine. For this purpose, the modern theoretical and applied components of technology transfer from universities to the business environment are researched; the theoretical and methodological principles of technology transfer are determined and the conceptual approach to understanding technology transfer from universities to the business environment is proved. To achieve the tasks at hand, the background and trends in technology transfer from universities to the business environment have been researched; the role of universities in modern technology transfers is analyzed; the peculiarities and potential of the scientific area of Ukraine are considered; the influence of university technology transfer centers on the universities’ academic entrepreneurship has been studied; the nature of knowledge transformation during the technology transfer is substantiated; the influence of technology transfer on the university subsystems is considered; the effects of technology transfer are investigated; models of interaction in the system “University – Governmental Authority – Business” are studied; and modern approaches to the technology transfer from universities to the business environment are researched. Given the research conducted, theoretical and methodological principles for technology transfer were formed, which conceptualize the technology transfer from universities to the business environment.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The purpose of this study is to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on SMEs in Georgia, identify the challenges of SMEs in pandemic conditions, and analyze government economic policy measures. For this purpose, 102 small and medium entrepreneurs from different regions of Georgia were interviewed. The survey was conducted by sending a questionnaire through digital channels. The results were processed using data analysis, quantitative and qualitative research methods, and presented graphically. As a result, key challenges and development directions that are typical for SMEs operations in Georgia during the pandemic were identified. For 60.8% of surveyed SME owners, lockdown is the main challenge. Sales volume of 45.1% of SMEs decreased. In addition, 39.3% of the surveyed SME owners increased the innovative capabilities of a company and 37.2% increased the sales volume of a company through digital channels. The main challenge of the pandemic, lockdown, gave impetus to a change in entrepreneurial behavior. In a pandemic, entrepreneurial activity has become more favorable through digital channels. During the pandemic, there is a need to continue the government’s program of tax incentives and subsidies for SMEs. In addition, the government should promote education in the fields of entrepreneurship, innovation, and technology.

Researchers have emphasized the role of e-commerce for small enterprises in improving their performance. However, there is limited evidence on the use of e-commerce by small enterprises, and e-commerce adopters and non-adopters dealing with COVID-19. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate the differences in the impact of COVID-19 on income between small enterprises that are adopters and non-adopters of e-commerce. This study also explored the impact of restrictions on community activities, the intention to adopt e-commerce, and the types of assistance required by small enterprises due to the pandemic. Data were collected through an online questionnaire survey among small enterprises that operate in the culinary field (1,024 small enterprises in Indonesia). The data were analyzed using descriptive analysis, cross-tabulation, and the Mann-Whitney test. This study finds that non-adoption of e-commerce caused small enterprises to experience a decline in income, which worsened due to restrictions of community activities, compared to adopters of e-commerce. Therefore, to overcome this negativity, small enterprises were pushed to adopt e-commerce. Finally, working capital assistance is the main assistance required due to the pandemic both by e-commerce adopters and non-adopters. This study has significant implications for how small enterprises and governments may benefit from e-commerce dealing with extreme disruptions such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

Acknowledgment
We are grateful to Mulawarman University for providing us with the funding necessary to gather the necessary data for the study and complete this empirical investigation. We also would like to thank two anonymous reviewers and seminar participants at Mulawarman University for their helpful feedback.