• Title: The business actions and practices in strengthening the Quadruple and Quintuple

Helices: A study with Structural Equation Modeling.

• Types: original research – either conceptual or empirical.

• Track: Individuals’ role in Triple/Quadruple Helix or future innovation.

• Purpose: To analyze the practices and relationships of companies installed in Science and

Technology Parks (STPs) as drivers of the Quadruple and Quintuple Helix (QQH) and determinants
for the alignment to the future vision of the STP.

• Design/Methodology/Approach: This research has an exploratory, descriptive and

quantitative nature. The study method used was the field survey. Companies associated with the
Consolidated STPs, chosen based on the following criteria, are the object of this study: (i) has been
operating for more than ten years; (ii) is among the consolidated STPs of Anprotec; (iii) circulation
of more than five thousand people in its surroundings; and (iv) accessibility to the environment. In
this sense, the population studied was composed of companies installed at Tecnopuc (150);
Tecnosinos (76); Zenit (51); Porto Digital (328) and Parque Tecnológico de São José dos Campos
(78), totaling 683 target companies in Brazil. The data were collected through semi-structured
surveys, which were obtained from the contact of the researcher. To validate the research
instrument, specialists and pre-test were used. The entrepreneurs were contacted via e-mail,
telephone and WhatsApp®, obtaining 175 responses, which represents 49.15% of the sample
accessed. The answers were analyzed and 48 were eliminated for the following reasons: (i) 35 were
incomplete; (ii) 3 did not go through the control questions; (iii) 1 respondent did not meet the job
requirement; and (iv) 9 companies were not installed in STPs. After the exclusions, there were 127
valid responses, which represents 35.67% of the sample accessed. For data analysis, descriptive
statistics were used for the sample studied and the Structural Equations Model (SEM), which allows
the researcher to examine, simultaneously, multiple relationships of dependence and independence
among latent variables, through observable variables (Hair Jr. et al., 2014).

• Findings or expected outcomes: The results emphasized the positive relationship between

the Quadruple Helix (QH) and the Future Vision of the STPs, as well as the importance of the
collectives as QH representatives. Furthermore, the relationship between the companies and the QH
actors was not aligned with the future vision of the STPs, and the collectives did not demonstrate
influence in this relationship. Also the positive relationship of both the Quintuple Helix (5H) and
the future vision of the STPs was evident, as well as the moderation of the collectives in this
relationship. Thus, the research advances by emphasizing the relationship of companies as driving
agents of QQH in innovation environments, reinforcing the ascendant and distinct role of
collectives in the relations with the STPs.

• Limitations/implications: Among the limitations of this research is the limit of the research

in consolidated STPs, being necessary caution for inference in other innovation environments, such
as incubators or accelerators. In addition, collectives are a recent phenomenon and require
longitudinal studies of their performance in innovation environments. Finally, new research can
investigate other companies inserted in STPs under implementation and operation, or incubators
and accelerators, in order to identify the possible differences between the environments.

• Practical and/or Social Implications: With the advent of the diffusion of technologies

associated with the concept of industry 4.0, the socioeconomic and business dynamics faces
changes (Schwab, 2019). Aside from business dynamics, regional innovation models and policies
have faced several changes with current technological trends. The traditional metaphor of the Triple
Helix (TH) has been strengthened and incorporated new models of innovation generation, including
society (QH) and the environment (5H), as important helixes in the innovation dynamics,
specifically in this context of technological transformations. The new relations between society,
innovation and environment can be seen more clearly in Science and Technology Parks (STPs). In
recent years the concept of STPs has evolved, they are considered part of innovation areas, inserted
in the city with constant interaction with the region, they are non-uniform environments, with high
level of collaboration and flexibility, which aims at improving the quality of life of society (Audy &
Piqué, 2016). In this perspective of the quality of life of the surroundings, social impact businesses
stand out, which have been a topic of interest in the public and private sphere for enabling a more
effective relationship between society and businesses (Mahfuz, Razzaque, Liaw, Ray, & Hasan,
2018). The social impact businesses integrate several institutional logics and provide the
articulation of social and commercial missions in a single business model (Spieth, Schneider, Clauß
& Eichenberg, 2018, Mahfuz et al., 2018). In addition, the vision of impact businesses is aligned
with the future proposition of the STPs, to be an environment beyond their walls and to be
increasingly connected to bring benefits to their region (Mineiro, Amaral & Castro, 2019). It is
worth noting that companies play an important role in this innovation dynamic, and there are
theoretical gaps for the understanding of its function for the strengthening of the Quadruple and
Quintuple Helix (QQH).
 • Originality/Value: The relevance of the new actors (Quadruple and Quintuple Helix) in the

innovation dynamics, specifically in innovation environments such as the STPs, is highlighted. It is

pertinent to consider the role of collectives in the alignment to the future vision of the STPs.
Collectives reflect people's vision, helping to ensure that the STP is not just a walled environment
and overflows its operations, but also plays a key role in connecting innovation environments. Thus,
it was verified that in practices related to sustainability the collectives are promising, contributing to
the STPs with their ability to mobilize the ecosystem as well as in sustainable issues. In addition,
the companies that are part of such movements consider that it represents the actors of the
Quadruple Helix. In addition, it is noteworthy that the connection with society (QH) can also
happen through business.

• Keywords (3-5): Quadruple Helix; Collective; Quintuple Helix; Future Vision of Science

and Technology Parks; Impact Businesses.