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This study explores the influence of the Top Management Team (TMT) social capital on business model innovation in business ecosystems.

This study examines the impact of internal and external TMT social capital on enterprises’ business model innovation, explores the relationship between internal and external TMT social capital, and investigates how business ecosystem health moderates the relationship between external TMT social capital and enterprises’ business model innovation. These hypotheses are proposed and tested using a hierarchical regression analysis with data from 168 Chinese firms.

First, both internal and external TMT social capital exert a significantly positive influence on an enterprise’s business model innovation. Second, internal TMT social capital positively contributes to the development of external TMT social capital, affecting business model innovation. Finally, the moderating effect of business ecosystem health on the relationship between external TMT social capital and business model innovation depends on the dimensions. Specifically, the productivity of the business ecosystem negatively moderates this relationship, whereas the niche creation capability of the business ecosystem has a positive moderating effect.

These findings enrich prior research on business model innovation within the business ecosystem, thoroughly exploring the critical role of TMT social capital. This study reveals the diverse impacts of internal and external TMT social capital on business model innovation and the intricate relationship between these elements. Furthermore, it emphasizes that the success of enterprise’s business model innovation within a business ecosystem depends on the alignment and adaptation to dynamic ecosystem conditions. By presenting these insights, this study provides valuable practical implications for enterprises aiming to cultivate social capital within business ecosystem to facilitate business model innovation.

Business Model Innovation is increasingly created by an ecosystem of related companies. This paper aims to investigate the transition of a manufacturing ecosystem toward electric vehicles from a business model perspective.

The authors investigate an automotive manufacturing ecosystem that is in transition toward electric and electrified vehicles, conducting semi-structured interviews with 46 informants from 27 ecosystem members.

The results reveal that the actions of several ecosystem members are driven by regulations relating to emissions. Novel requirements regarding components and complementary offers necessitate the entry of actors from other industries and the formation of new ecosystem members. While the newly emerged ecosystem has roots in an established ecosystem, it relies on new value offers. Further, the findings highlight the importance of ecosystem governance, while the necessary degree of change in the members' business models depends on their roles and positions in the ecosystem. Therefore, upstream suppliers of components must perform business model adaptation, whereas downstream providers must perform more complex business model innovation.

The paper is among the first to investigate an entire manufacturing ecosystem and analyze its transition toward electric vehicles and the implications for business model innovation.

Despite the constantly increasing number of publications in the field of business ecosystems, there are indications that a precise definition that appropriately captures the business ecosystem mindset is not yet available. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to provide a consensus definition of business ecosystems.

Using structured content analysis, this paper examines a total of 43 definitions in terms of their core components.

The results indicate that the existing definitions focus only on single components, e.g. “network of actors,” thereby omitting other essential components, such as “cocreated value proposition” or “shared fate.” Consequently, it seems appropriate to develop a consensus definition that combines the perspectives of the academic and practitioner communities.

The proposed definition is more comprehensive than the prevailing definitions and represents a synthesis of previous considerations on business ecosystems. Such a definition will support researchers in developing a sound business ecosystem theory that will guide practitioners in the efficient design and management of business ecosystems in the long term.

In the African context, the threat of the disruption of traditional business value-creation processes, currently facilitated by the growing information technology (IT) ecosystem, came with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Thus, this paper aims to investigate the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on interfirm relationships within the context of the digital ecosystem in Africa.

This study employs an explanatory–exploratory qualitative approach from an interpretivist stance to investigate the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on interfirm relationships. The authors conducted seven in-depth interviews with top management executives in a Nigerian technology company, together with the company's archival data that provided the pre, during and post pandemic (2018–2021) business-to-business (B2B) relationship structures, to determine how these relationships have been affected.

The results suggest that the pandemic had a minimal effect on partnership relationships in the B2B ecosystems of the case company but affected only non-partnership relationships.

The authors' qualitative study is interpretive and the sample size is limited. Hence, there is a need for caution in generalizing the findings. The framework can be further validated across a wider population.

Partnerships can help organizations weather business crises. Consequently, organizations should maintain a healthy number of partnership relations to deal with periods in which challenges emerge in the business landscape. In other words, with tight contracts and a strategic focus on goals and objectives, partnership relations can help organizations weather business crises.

This study builds upon the burgeoning body of literature on digital ecosystems within the African context, which is a relevant contextual contribution.

The purpose of this paper is to set forth a conceptual model describing the actors and roles in ecosystems created to enable productive black entrepreneurship in the USA.

This paper provides a systematic literature review of entrepreneurship ecosystems. It further leverages such literature review by using an autoethnographic approach recommended by Guyotte and Kochacka (2016), drawing on the authors’ practical experience in studying, owning, educating or consulting employer businesses owned by persons of color in the USA and abroad.

Each actor in the ecosystem has practical wisdom and assets that can be shared and leveraged through interacting with the other actors either as role model institutions or capacity development institutions, thus mitigating social inequalities and boosting economic progress by extending entrepreneurial opportunities beyond those that are greatly resourced.

Our literature review is based on selected samples of relevant articles on entrepreneurship ecosystem research and ethnic minority entrepreneurship, and thus, is not exhaustive. The selection was partly influenced by the authors’ opinion of whether a given study was relevant or not to a black entrepreneurship ecosystem. There is the possibility that some relevant studies were excluded. Thus, other actors are encouraged to revise or adapt this model to inform their distinct roles and goals.

The proposed model can help actors involved in the operation or support of a black-owned business make optimal business decisions, enabling each actor to be instrumental in another’s understanding of how to facilitate the success of black American entrepreneurs and business owners and thus, deploy marketing campaigns to boost the visibility and role of each actor. These campaigns play a role in their entrepreneurial marketing efforts.

Responding to Gines and Sampson’s (2020) call, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first to explicitly provide a comprehensive black entrepreneurship ecosystem model that identifies the actors, roles and activities that can help black Americans address social inequalities that limit their ability to become a successful employer business. The proposed model may aid in deepening the theoretical discussion on entrepreneurial ecosystems and be of inspiration for the future works of scholars and practitioners interested in the entrepreneurship and marketing interface.

Digitalization accelerates the need of tourism and hospitality ecosystems to reframe business models in line with a data-driven orientation that can foster value creation and innovation. Since the question of data-driven business models (DDBMs) in hospitality remains underexplored, this paper aims at (1) revealing the key dimensions of the data-driven redefinition of business models in smart hospitality ecosystems and (2) conceptualizing the key drivers underlying the emergence of innovation in these ecosystems.

The empirical research is based on semi-structured interviews collected from a sample of hospitality managers, employed in three different accommodation services, i.e. hotels, bed and breakfast (B&Bs) and guesthouses, to explore data-driven strategies and practices employed on site.

The findings allow to devise a conceptual framework that classifies the enabling dimensions of DDBMs in smart hospitality ecosystems. Here, the centrality of strategy conducive to the development of data-driven innovation is stressed.

The study thus developed a conceptual framework that will serve as a tool to examine the impact of digitalization in other service industries. This study will also be useful for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) managers, who seek to understand the possibilities data-driven management strategies offer in view of stimulating innovation in the managers' companies.

The paper reinterprets value creation practices in business models through the lens of data-driven approaches. In this way, this paper offers a new (conceptual and empirical) perspective to investigate how the hospitality sector at large can use the massive amounts of data available to foster innovation in the sector.

This study has conducted exploratory research to understand who should comprise the members of a resilient supply chain for promoting an entrepreneurial ecosystem of a startup project and to determine the mechanisms for the balanced coexistence of all stakeholders. This is necessary to ensure mutual benefits for all stakeholders, each of whom has multidimensional interests. Additionally, this supply chain must be able to withstand any potential disruption risks.

This research has employed a mixed-design approach. In this context, the study conducted an extensive qualitative and quantitative investigation, including 30 interviews and a survey involving 180 potential stakeholders in this supply network, respectively in the capital city of Bangladesh, Dhaka. The analysis of the interviews utilized principles of matrix thinking, while structural equation modeling (SEM) through LISREL was employed to understand cause-and-effect relationships.

Network, platform and governance—these three independent constructs have the potential to contribute to the dependent construct, a resilient supply chain, aimed at promoting an entrepreneurial ecosystem for startup projects. It has been revealed that the management of such projects depends on the rules and regulations within the ecosystem. An excellent governance mechanism is essential for this purpose. To facilitate coexistence, the establishment of a platform is crucial, where cooperation among all members is mandatory.

For practitioners, three distinctive but closely interdependent issues are explored and resolved in this philanthropic study. It has unfolded the elements of any startup project with essential settings.

The identification of the structural dynamics of potential stakeholders within the entrepreneurial ecosystem of startups is largely absent in existing literature. Therefore, there is a need to comprehensively investigate the entire network, including their roles, responsibilities and associations. This study makes a significant and novel contribution to the existing literature. Academics and practitioners alike have ample opportunities to learn from this new aspect of relationships across three distinct areas: the entrepreneurial ecosystem, startup projects and the development of a resilient supply chain.

This chapter examines the impact of smart city projects on the economic and business environment, with a specific focus on their potential to foster innovation and entrepreneurship. It highlights how smart cities create an enabling environment for new businesses, start-ups, and promotes gender and green entrepreneurship, while enhancing urban properties and contributing to the overall entrepreneurial ecosystem. The exponential growth of smart city projects worldwide has underscored the critical relationship between smart cities and the entrepreneurial ecosystem for city prosperity and competitiveness. This chapter explores the interplay between smart cities and the economic environment, emphasizing their role as hubs for innovation and business creation. It analyzes the influence of smart city ecosystems and economic factors on local growth and economic outcomes, drawing on international research and factual data. This chapter evaluates the economic outcomes of smart cities, including their impact on the economic environment, business creation, start-ups, innovative and green companies, as well as gender entrepreneurship. This chapter emphasizes the significance of smart city implementation in driving economic advancements within both the urban and economic landscapes. Finally, this chapter concludes by presenting a conceptual framework that synthesizes the insights gained, providing a comprehensive understanding of the economic impact of smart cities and offering a roadmap for further exploration of this topic.

The digital platform (DP) develops through a network capability that combines technological infrastructure and resources to provide goods or services. This article investigates how institutions influence the development of the DP entrepreneurship ecosystem (EE) in a developing economy context.

An exploratory qualitative approach based on interviews with 33 DP business executives in Nigeria was the chosen research method. The interview method took the form of face-to-face, telephone and zoom video meetings, depending on the respective preferences of the participants. The research philosophy is based on interpretivism. Hence, the collected data were analyzed thematically and interpreted to make sense of the business executives' perspectives about the DP landscape as well as its institutional enablers and barriers.

The findings reveal institutional elements that are either too underdeveloped or weak to nurture an effective DP system resulting in high cost of doing business. A key cultural challenge is obtaining an honest workforce and managers. Also, there is lack of effective policies, weak regulation, multiple taxation and foreign competition, which affects local digital firms. Although cultural diversity has several merits, differences in cultural values and languages create marketing and promotion challenges. Moreover, the low level of digital literacy between Generation Z, Millennials and others, such as Baby Boomers and Generation X, poses a significant challenge concerning customer segmentation.

Research on digital technologies, the complexity of platform architectures and institutional logic has attracted interest in recent years. This article explored the institutional logic influencing the development of DP ecosystem (providing knowledge about EE in a developing world context). Despite the institutional challenges, there are multiple opportunities for Nigerian DP sector to flourish in the fast-growing economy.

The value of this article is related to how micro-, meso- and macro-institutional forces combine to support or become barriers to the development of the DP ecosystem, especially in developing economies where digitalization is creeping into every business sector and society.

This research aims to shed new lights on the most shared constructs developed on Innovation Ecosystems, Entrepreneurial Ecosystems and Technology Transfer Ecosystem proposing an additional stand-alone ecosystem.

This research is built upon a qual-quantitative analysis of an empirical case. The latter analysis is performed through a single case study methodology on the San Giovanni Hub of the Federico II University of Naples.

Evidences show how a technological hub orchestrates three main ecosystems for the knowledge exploitation: the technology transfer ecosystem, devoted to gather knowledge form universities' labs towards industries; the innovation ecosystem, able to manage the exploration and exploitation of new knowledge and techniques; the entrepreneurial ecosystem, that supports startup/spinoff creation process.

Limitations mainly concern the fact that it is centred on just one case study.

Practical implications imply new opportunities of collaboration involving different stakeholders as university administrators, researchers, businesses and policymakers, creating a supportive environment for innovation.

The research offers a new vision about the role of Universities as creators and enablers of ecosystems pursuing diverse value propositions. The Academic Innovation Ecosystem is a new conceptualization of this role played by a university, and it can convey innovation and entrepreneurial attitude within its ecosystem leveraging on the transfer of university knowledge and technology.