Alexandrina M. Pauceanu

Department of Business, HCT, UAE

apauceanu@hct.ac.ae

External factors influencing Fablabs’ performance

Juan M. Dempere

Department of Business, HCT, UAE

jdempere@hct.ac.ae

Abstract. The main contribution of this research project is to provide statistical evidence on some of the external factors that are perceived to have significant impact on the performance of Fablabs. The success of any Fablab requires sound understanding of the external factors that affect its performance. By surveying the sample of 140 Fablabs around the world we could identify four categories of external factors considered to be relevant for the performance of Fablabs, namely – customers/beneficiaries, access to finance, competitive business environment, and volunteers/workers. The original contribution of this research work comes from the lack of detailed knowledge on Fablabs’ performance and previous contradictory findings concerning Fablabs’ functioning in developed and developing market economies around the world.

Received: December, 2017

1st Revision: February, 2018

Accepted: April, 2018

DOI: 10.14254/2071-8330.2018/11-2/23

JEL Classification: L26, L17, O31

Keywords: Fablab, Innovation, Prototype