Enhancers and barriers in business incubation: The Philippines experience

• Main Author: Velasco, Aida Licaros
• Format: text
• Published: Animo Repository 2011
• Subjects: Business incubators—Philippines; New business enterprises—Philippines; Entrepreneurship—Philippines; Entrepreneurial and Small Business Operations
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/faculty_research/12688
• Institution: De La Salle University

The concept of business incubation has been one of the flagship projects of catch-up economies in their bid to take advantage of world-wide interest of innovation as a catalyst of nation's economic growth and development. The Philippines is one of these countries capitalizing on business incubation to move the country's growth in encouraging its people to start-up technology based firms. In its bid to develop more entrepreneurial undertaking, the universities are being used as a seedbed for these start-up companies. Incubation endeavors have been started in the Philippines in the early 1980s under the sponsorship of the Department of Science and Technology and the University of the Philippines. Thirty years later, much is still to be desired in having success stories of these start-up companies. However, more universities, state-owned and private institutions have actively participated in the business start-up endeavor moving the universities to become entrepreneurial. This paper presents and analyzes the experience of the Philippines in its incubation endeavor focusing on the enhancers and barriers of incubation projects in the Philippines. Although, the government has played very active role, the last ten years have seen the active participation and interest of the private sector in the business incubation program. Legislative and administrative policies, funding, and a change in the mindset of the three actors in innovation, government, academe, and industry have contributed as enablers in the increase in the participation in the business incubation program. However, the research and development culture in academe and industry, values, priorities, and career options of the people, and the prevailing critical and creative mindset of Filipinos are seen as some of the barriers that have to be hurdled for business incubation and a culture of entrepreneurship to flourish.