Purpose. In today’s world, high-quality economic development is possible through innovative entrepreneurial activity, which has led to the creation of various kinds of innovation infrastructure facilities that support future high-tech projects. However, the system of selecting start-ups to populate and produce for such organisations does not take into account several factors that exert strong influence on the success of an innovative entrepreneurial project. In this article, the author presents the developed multi-factor methodology of project scoring, which is recommended for use both at the initial stage and in the process of development and implementation of innovative idea.
Design / methodology / approach. The suggested multi-factor methodology is both a qualitative and quantitative methodology that allows evaluation of proposed projects by taking into account individual goals of the innovation infrastructure, serving as a flexible tool for analysing project potential and taking into account the model of human behavioural preferences as a key driver of economic activities.
Findings. As a result of the first (qualitative) stage of the study, the author confirmed the hypothesis that the theoretical model of behavioural preferences corresponds to the demonstrated behavioural characteristics of reference respondents. As a result of the second (quantitative) phase of the research, the author conducted a survey of business incubator residents claiming one of the four models of behavioural preferences, followed by quantitative analysis to determine the extent to which the demonstrated behavioural traits of the respondents correspond to those presented in the theoretical model. The results of the second stage of the study were used in the final scoring of start-ups to identify the most promising projects in terms of development.
Originality / value. The project scoring methodology was tested in two of the largest business incubators in St. Petersburg and clearly demonstrated that the use of qualitative indicators significantly increases the ability of incubator experts to make decisions regarding incoming project information.
Keywords
Innovation project evaluation, business incubator, behavioural preference model, MDP scoring methodology, start-up, project, epigone, innovation infrastructure facilities, qualitative project evaluation criteria.
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