Evaluation of the success rate of technology units located in science and technology parks and incubators

Knowledge-based companies are established to turn innovative ideas into products, create sustainable technology-based jobs, commercialize research, create synergy between science and wealth, and to empower and guide university graduates towards success in the business environment. One way of success for these companies can be their involvement in science and technology parks or incubators. These parks and incubators can be considered as key infrastructures providing legal and commercial supports for these companies for leading them to success.This study aims at determining the success rate of knowledge-based firms located in science and technology parks or incubators. It also targets eliciting the correlation between the success of these companies and their number of employees. The correlation between their success and the time period during which these companies are residing at parks or incubators will also be investigated. The study will be based on a questionnaire survey on the statistical population of science and technology parks in Iran in 2010. The data collected from the current 758 technology units has been analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The results show that the success rate of target companies was 68%. The chi-square test shows that the rates of success are not equal in different science and technology parks. The average numbers of workers in successful and unsuccessful technology units have been 5 and 2.8 respectively. The analysis of variance also shows the average numbers of workers are not equal in different science and technology parks. By using the chi-square test, the relationship between the number of employees and success is significant; and by increasing the number of workers, the rate of success in technology units has increased. The average duration of time within which technology units have been residing at parks or incubators has been 22 months. The chi-square test confirmed a significant relationship between their duration of stay and the success rate.