University of Milano-Bicocca × Universidad de La Habana

Understanding entrepreneurial decisions. Connecting universities. Turning knowledge into innovation.

Through the Erasmus+ KA171 programme, the University of Milano-Bicocca and the Universidad de La Habana are strengthening their academic collaboration through international mobility, knowledge exchange and joint reflection on three closely connected areas:

• Behavioral entrepreneurship

• University–industry collaboration

• Technology transfer

Understanding the entrepreneurial mind

Entrepreneurial decisions are often made under conditions of uncertainty, time pressure and incomplete information. Especially during the early stages of a new venture, entrepreneurs must choose among many possible alternatives without being able to predict their consequences fully. In these environments, heuristics and intuition can sometimes support fast and effective decisions. In other circumstances, however, they may generate systematic errors and reduce a venture’s chances of success.

Studying how entrepreneurs think and decide can help identify:

• which heuristics are effective in specific contexts;

• when relying on intuition can be beneficial;

• when statistical and analytical tools should be preferred;

• which debiasing strategies can improve entrepreneurial decisions.

These insights can contribute to the development of more effective and evidence-based entrepreneurial training.

Connecting research, industry and innovation

Today’s industrial landscape is characterised by permanent innovation. To maintain a continuous flow of knowledge and ideas, universities must become increasingly open to collaboration with businesses, institutions and local innovation ecosystems. This interaction is reflected in the Triple Helix model, which highlights the role of universities, industry and government in fostering innovation and economic development.

A behavioral perspective allows us to examine the factors that may support—or hinder—the creation, coordination and transfer of knowledge between universities and businesses. These factors influence technology transfer, startup creation, social capital and the attractiveness of local innovation ecosystems.

Why a cross-cultural perspective matters

Behavioral tools are not universal. Their effectiveness may vary across cultural, social and institutional contexts.

The collaboration between Milano-Bicocca and Universidad de La Habana provides an opportunity to explore these differences, exchange perspectives and develop behavioral insights that are more sensitive to the environments in which people, universities and organizations operate.

The ultimate goal is to support the design of more effective policies, training programmes and initiatives for entrepreneurship, innovation and technology transfer.

Mobility in action

The Erasmus+ KA171 project comes to life through the people who take part in it. Academic mobility creates opportunities to exchange knowledge, discover new research perspectives and build lasting relationships between the two universities.

This page is being updated with photographs, experiences and highlights from the mobility activities. Stay tuned!