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A cross-national qualitative study on how incubation hubs in Norway and South Africa enable customer-centric innovation in startups
Mini Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2025.
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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University of Pretoria
2026
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| _version_ | 1867613695205441536 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author2 | Scheepers, Caren |
| author_browse | Scheepers, Caren |
| author_facet | Scheepers, Caren |
| collection | Thesis |
| dc_rights_str_mv | © 2025 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. |
| description | Mini Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2025. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/109153 |
| institution | University of Pretoria (South Africa) |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:40:13.972Z |
| license_str | Other — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| publishDateRange | 2026 |
| publishDateSort | 2026 |
| publisher | University of Pretoria |
| publisherStr | University of Pretoria |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository |
| spelling | oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/109153 A cross-national qualitative study on how incubation hubs in Norway and South Africa enable customer-centric innovation in startups Scheepers, Caren ichelp@gibs.co.za Moyo Gugulethu UCTD Customer-centric innovation Incubation hubs Startups ecosystems Cross-national study Norway South Africa Qualitative research Survival mentality Mini Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2025. This study explores how incubation hubs promote customer-centric innovation in startups, comparing ecosystems in Norway and South Africa. Despite the global focus on customer-centricity as a key factor in startup success, a significant gap remains in understanding how national contexts influence incubation support for this approach. Using a qualitative, interpretivist framework, the research gathered detailed empirical data through 23 semi-structured interviews with startup founders, incubation managers, and other ecosystem players from both countries. The data was analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. The findings reveal a fundamental dichotomy in incubation models, conceptualised in Norway versus South Africa. In the stable, well-funded Norwegian ecosystem, hubs act as conductors, providing curated network access and fostering a methodological push for customer validation. Conversely, in the resource-constrained South African context, incubation hubs must actively intervene by providing foundational infrastructure and conducting direct, de-risked market testing to overcome systemic barriers. A key emerging finding is the identification of a survivalist cognitive framework among South African entrepreneurs, which prioritises immediate, small-scale opportunities over long-term, scalable, customer-centric strategies, thereby creating a cycle of precarity that hubs must also address. The study concludes that the national innovation ecosystem casts a decisive shadow, determining not only the resources available but also the fundamental logic and challenges of incubation support. The research contributes to theory by proposing a novel comparative framework of incubation models and introducing the concept of the survival mindset as a key cultural-cognitive barrier in emerging economies. For practitioners and policymakers, it underscores that practical incubation cannot be a one-size-fits-all import. However, it must be consciously designed to address specific ecosystemic constraints, including the need for patient capital, practitioner-led management, and strategies to overcome deeply ingrained survivalist mindsets. Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) MBA Unrestricted Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) SDG-09: Industry, innovation and infrastructure 2026-03-23T09:34:45Z 2026-03-23T09:34:45Z 2026-05-05 2025 Mini Dissertation * A2025 http://hdl.handle.net/2263/109153 en © 2025 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. application/pdf University of Pretoria |
| spellingShingle | UCTD Customer-centric innovation Incubation hubs Startups ecosystems Cross-national study Norway South Africa Qualitative research Survival mentality A cross-national qualitative study on how incubation hubs in Norway and South Africa enable customer-centric innovation in startups |
| title | A cross-national qualitative study on how incubation hubs in Norway and South Africa enable customer-centric innovation in startups |
| title_full | A cross-national qualitative study on how incubation hubs in Norway and South Africa enable customer-centric innovation in startups |
| title_fullStr | A cross-national qualitative study on how incubation hubs in Norway and South Africa enable customer-centric innovation in startups |
| title_full_unstemmed | A cross-national qualitative study on how incubation hubs in Norway and South Africa enable customer-centric innovation in startups |
| title_short | A cross-national qualitative study on how incubation hubs in Norway and South Africa enable customer-centric innovation in startups |
| title_sort | cross national qualitative study on how incubation hubs in norway and south africa enable customer centric innovation in startups |
| topic | UCTD Customer-centric innovation Incubation hubs Startups ecosystems Cross-national study Norway South Africa Qualitative research Survival mentality |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/2263/109153 |