Analyzing the commercialization success of startups using the rough set theory (case study: Kerman Science and Technology Park)

Today, the issue of commercialization has become a significant concern for all organizations in the business environment. The reason for this importance can be found in the role of commercialization in the final success of a business. The primary purpose of this study is to investigate the influencing factors on the commercialization process of knowledge-based products and predict the probability of commercialization success. Using the extracted rules from this study, the decision-making process of product commercialization will be efficiently facilitated for researchers and managers. The startups established in the Kerman Science and Technology Park (KSTP) constitute the statistical population of this study. The relative preferences of the identified success factors have been evaluated by experts using the network analysis technique. According to the results, the appropriate technology lifespan, political barriers, and awareness and recognition of marketing techniques are the top 3 critical factors. Then, the commercialization information of 100 startups in Kerman Science and Technology Park is analyzed by applying the logic of Rough Set Theory to extract patterns and decision-making rules. Political barriers, appropriate technology lifespan, financial support, finding potential markets, and marketing techniques have been identified as the most important influencing factors. Finally, 18 decision-making rules have been extracted, and 3 rules with the most support and accuracy are validated and proposed.