Entrepreneurial performance of principal investigators and country culture: relations and influences

The paper focuses on the role of a country’s culture in influencing the entre-preneurial attitudes of Principal Investigators, in shaping their ability to combine knowl-edge theory and business practice, in determining their capacity to strengthen thecooperation between the two domains of research and business, and in supporting researchspin-off creation in entrepreneurial universities. To make Principal Investigators’ orien-tation match Entrepreneurial Universities’ goals of the marketing of innovation andentrepreneurship is not an easy task. A research-oriented approach, rather than an explo-rative entrepreneurial orientation, is still predominant in Principal Investigators. Amongthe factors influencing the strategic orientation towards entrepreneurship of PrincipalInvestigators, the paper argues that the country’s culture could be key. Evaluating theinfluence of the entrepreneurial culture on a Principal Investigator’s activity is critical inpredicting his performance and comparing it with that of Principal Investigators in othercountries.