A methodology for Ranking Incubators using Composite Indicator

Incubators have gained wide reputation in most countries as efficient institutions contributing to regional\ndevelopment and economic growth. They assist their clients through their value-adding services and a wide\nrange of support services and facilities that cannot be easily procured from other sources. The content of these\nservices and the way they are supplied will have important effects on the success of the incubatees, and\nthereby, on the incubators performance. Introducing improved incubation models, informing incubators of\ntheir distance from acceptable performance norms and models, and disseminating incubators success stories\namong those involved in the industry will be tools that are expected to assist incubator managers to make\nmore informed and enlightened decisions.\nThe use of composite indicators is a simple method of comparing a wide variety of systems under\nevaluation such as countries and organizations dealing with a multitude of complicated and wide issues\nincluding environmental, economic, social, and technological. Normally, the main objective in defining\ncomposite indicators is to compare the performance of a group of subjects evaluated along a given dimension.\nThese indicators can also function as useful tools in analyzing policies and in communication of information\nto the public. In this paper, first, a state-of-the-art account of constructing composite indicators will be\npresented and then a number of tentative composite indicators will be introduced. Special emphasis will be\nlaid on key performance indicators used in ranking technology incubators with due regard to the Iranian\nbusiness incubation environment. This study is the first of its kind and is expected to open new avenues to\ntaking effective measures in improving business and technology incubation programs.