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Article Citation - WoS: 4Citation - Scopus: 2Stakeholder Relationships in the Framework of R&d-Based Startups: Evidence From Turkey(Natl Research Univ Higher Sch Economics, 2017) Kalayci, ElifIt is widely acknowledged that R&D-based start-ups play a significant role in the economic growth of many countries. However, founding such an enterprise is a risky endeavor, one that requires a balance between the technological search process and business capabilities. Most of the time these varied skills are found among several different people. The task becomes more difficult for recent engineering school graduates who are neither scientists nor business people. Therefore, it is critical for these new techno-entrepreneurs to conscientiously work on building relationships with stakeholders through whom they might access scientific knowledge on one hand and commercial knowledge on the other. The paper explores the process of building relationships with stakeholders based on evidence from Turkish companies. It begins with a review of the literature, presenting the different theories concerning relationships with stakeholders as far as entrepreneurship is concerned. Then, it presents the methodology, coding and analysis of in-depth interviews with the founders of R&D-based start-ups. The case profiles are considered with a focus on the following issues: the counterbalancing of stakeholder power, learning by the entrepreneur as a by-product of interactions with stakeholders, and the earning of a reputation through ethical and passionate business practices. Building upon these preliminary findings, the author draws three main propositions that could be the subject of further research. The main finding of this paper is that there are two opposing forces affecting the development of an R&D-based start-up-challenger and supporter stakeholders. However, a stakeholder who was once a supporter could turn into a challenger or vice versa. The entrepreneur could benefit from the counterbalancing effect of these forces. Two major stakeholder groups emerged at the initial stage of the business: the family members and the state's grant-monitoring officers. Then, the ethical and passionate conduct of business by these start-ups could become a factor drawing third parties in, to become stakeholders of these start-ups. The nature and impact of these relationships should be researched further. Such an analysis allows one to understand how R&D-based startups are established and what kind of problems they face when turning (hopefully) into large corporations. On such a basis, this could help governments develop more suitable support programs that would benefit and expand the opportunities available to the founders of new R&Dbased firms.Article Citation - WoS: 7Citation - Scopus: 8Implementing Consecutive Project-Based Learning in an Antenna and Propagation Course(Sage Publications Ltd, 2016) Aydin, Elif; Kalayci, ElifIn this study, a 'consecutive-project-based learning' structure applied to the antennas and propagation course is introduced. The first project, carried out with the faculty of management, aims to familiarize the teams with the challenges of 'real life tender-like conditions'. In the following three projects, teams perform their assigned antenna projects. Each team researches the theoretical background, studies the main parameters of antennas and evaluates them. After designing, simulating, specifying the testing requirements of the antennas, each team makes one financial and one time budget. At the end of the term, each team makes a presentation to a jury. Finally, a questionnaire is conducted to evaluate the achievement of the outcomes. This paper focuses on the first two projects because they constitute the critical stages of the course as the first project enables inexperienced students to discover the issues they might face in a 'real world' project and draw lessons from that experience to be used in the more comprehensive following project. The first project's aim is to equip the inexperienced students with elementary knowledge on working in a team; paying attention to time, budget, project phases and people management issues so that they can use that knowledge in the second project, thus learning takes place as a product of consecutive projects. Statistical information on the students' academic performances is analyzed to observe if this course has improved their academic performance. The results indicate that 'consecutive-project-based learning' is an effective method in antennas and propagation course.
