Generating resources through co-evolution of entrepreneurs and ecosystems
Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy
ISSN: 1750-6204
Article publication date: 10 October 2016
Abstract
Purpose
The emerging perspectives of entrepreneurial ecosystems, bricolage and effectuation highlight the interaction between the entrepreneur and the surrounding community, and its potential for creative resource acquisition and utilization. However, empirical work on how this process actually unfolds remains scarce. This paper aims to study the interaction between the opportunity construction process and the development of resources in the surrounding ecosystem.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper is a qualitative analysis of the extreme case of Aalto Entrepreneurship Society (Aaltoes), a newly founded organization successfully promoting entrepreneurship within a university merger with virtually no resources, based on interviews of six key contributors and four stakeholder organizations.
Findings
The opportunity construction process both supported and was supported by two key resource generating mechanisms. Formulating and opportunistically reformulating the agenda for increasing potential synergy laid the groundwork for mutual benefit. Proactive concretization enhanced both initial resource allocation and sustaining input to the process through offering tangible instances of specific opportunities and feedback.
Research limitations/implications
Although based on a single case study in a university setting, proactive concretization emerges as a promising direction for further investigations of the benefits and dynamics of entrepreneur–ecosystem interaction in the opportunity construction process.
Practical implications
Intentionally creating beneficial entrepreneur–ecosystem interaction and teaching proactive concretization becomes a key goal for educators of entrepreneurship.
Originality/value
The paper extends an understanding of creative resource generation and utilization in the opportunity construction process. The role of proactive concretization was emphasized in the interaction of the entrepreneur and the ecosystem, creating virtuous spirals of entrepreneurial activity.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors wish to thank the interviewees for their participation in the study. The events described here are based on the authors' interpretations of the interviews, and as such, cannot be taken to represent any official positions of the organizations named in the study.
Citation
Björklund, T.A. and Krueger, N.F. (2016), "Generating resources through co-evolution of entrepreneurs and ecosystems", Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy, Vol. 10 No. 4, pp. 477-498. https://doi.org/10.1108/JEC-10-2016-063
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2016, Emerald Group Publishing Limited