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1 – 10 of over 3000Abstract
Purpose
Entrepreneurial ecosystem is a frontier issue in the field of enterprise strategy and entrepreneurship. As suggested by bottom of the pyramid (BOP) theory, entrepreneurs from base of the pyramid can gain the benefits of economic growth by obtaining equal entrepreneurial opportunities with appropriate support and motivation. However, theoretical framework to understand the ecosystem and help the people from the BOP to benefit from ecosystem is under-researched. Based on the investigation of the Taobao ecosystem case study, this paper developed a multi-layer framework to fill in the research gap.
Design/methodology/approach
This research adopts case study methodology for several reasons. First, case study methodology fits the explorative nature of this research to understand “what” and “how” a phenomenon happened (Yin, 2017). Second, case study research design can specify gaps or holes in existing theory with the ultimate goal of advancing theoretical explanations (Ridder, 2016). And third, it can provide researchers with contextual richness (Davison and Martinsons, 2016; Spigel, 2017).
Findings
Based on the literature review of the entrepreneurial ecosystem and the theory of the BOP, the initial framework of the inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystem is proposed. And then, based on the investigation of the Taobao village which is the typical inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystem, this paper explored how the inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystem emerges, develops and realises the co-creation between multiple actors. The emergence of Taobao village entrepreneurial ecosystem is because of the fact that ICT empowers BOP entrepreneurs. The development of entrepreneurial ecosystem presents a point-line-plane diffusion path, and co-creation to enhance inclusive entrepreneurship is realised by interaction and cooperation within social networks and integration of resources. Then, the framework of inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystem is further modified.
Research limitations/implications
The complexity of entrepreneurial ecosystem facing BOP poses a major challenge to its actual operation. Therefore, it is necessary to study the driving factors of inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystems. In particular, ecosystem is a purposeful collaborative network of dynamic interactive systems, which has a set of changing dependencies in a given context. Research is still limited on socioeconomic actors’ interaction with each other in each stage to promote the evolution of entrepreneurial ecosystem. The extent to which they are intentionally designed or organically produced is still unclear, which is recommended for future study in this field.
Practical implications
It provides theoretical understanding on how to successfully form sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystem by integrating BOP entrepreneurs in value chain. The successful experience of Taobao village can provide contributions and implications for the management in practice. On the one hand, this can provide theoretical guidance for other countries and regions to build inclusive entrepreneurship ecosystems and help them to check and fill the gaps and build inclusive entrepreneurship ecosystems based on their local characteristics. On the other hand, this study provides theoretical guidance for solving the problem of poverty at the BOP, transforming the poor from the objects of help to successful entrepreneurs and thus realising regional sustainable development.
Originality/value
The significance of this study is to provide theoretical understanding on how to successfully form entrepreneurial ecosystem by practical investigation of entrepreneurial “habitat” at the BOP.
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Angelo Cavallo, Antonio Ghezzi and Silvia Sanasi
The purpose of this article is to develop a model to assess entrepreneurial ecosystems. Specifically, the authors examine how to measure value creation and value capture…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this article is to develop a model to assess entrepreneurial ecosystems. Specifically, the authors examine how to measure value creation and value capture mechanisms from a single participant's perspective and at the ecosystem level through a strategic value network-based approach.
Design/methodology/approach
Building on extant research on strategic networks, value networks and business models and leveraging a qualitative survey, the authors develop and test an assessment tool to measure value creation and capture within the entrepreneurial ecosystem of the San Francisco Bay Area.
Findings
The authors show that value-based measures on entrepreneurial ecosystems provide a systemic approach to assess how ecosystems operate, which can guide policymakers, entrepreneurs and all the other stakeholders of entrepreneurial ecosystems in their strategic decision-making process.
Originality/value
The authors provide an original model grounded in the strategic management and entrepreneurship literature for entrepreneurial ecosystems' assessment as few studies have done before. Besides, the authors provide an illustrative attempt to show how to empirically apply the original model by assessing the San Francisco Bay Area's entrepreneurial ecosystem.
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Zsolt Bedő, Katalin Erdős and Luke Pittaway
Research on entrepreneurial ecosystems has advanced over recent years and has become a popular topic. Despite the interest, previous work has focused on entrepreneurial…
Abstract
Purpose
Research on entrepreneurial ecosystems has advanced over recent years and has become a popular topic. Despite the interest, previous work has focused on entrepreneurial ecosystems in large cities in the United States. Ecosystems in small cities, underpopulated rural areas, university towns and outside the USA have not been considered much. This paper begins to address this deficit by reviewing three groups of literature.
Design/methodology/approach
From the review, the paper builds a conceptual framework to consider entrepreneurial ecosystems led by universities. After summarizing the literature on entrepreneurial ecosystems, entrepreneurial universities and entrepreneurship education, the paper suggests a conceptual framework outlying the structure, components and mechanisms that enable universities to operate as catalysts in the creation of entrepreneurial ecosystems.
Findings
It is evident that on many of the “ingredients” of a successful entrepreneurial ecosystem, a resource-constrained environment would have many gaps. Building an entrepreneurship ecosystem in such contexts would be inherently challenging. The model presented suggests that the presence of a university in such locations should enhance the prospects of progress but that the nature of the university itself would impact any outcomes. Universities that make concerted efforts to be entrepreneurial and that have entrepreneurship programmes have strategies available to them that can enhance entrepreneurship ecosystems over time.
Originality/value
The contribution of this paper is to show “how” a university and its entrepreneurship programme can operationally address deficits in a local ecosystem and how it might bring about positive change. The paper also opens new avenues for entrepreneurship education researchers.
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Sport entrepreneurial ecosystems are part of the international business environment and help to determine the competitiveness of a place. While the origins of…
Abstract
Sport entrepreneurial ecosystems are part of the international business environment and help to determine the competitiveness of a place. While the origins of entrepreneurial ecosystems derive from the economic geography field, increasingly international business theories are being used as a way to engage with the cultural and societal context. This means it is important for scholars to take an interdisciplinary perspective on how to define and conceptualize an ecosystem from an entrepreneurial point of view. This chapter reviews the current body of literature on sport entrepreneurial ecosystems and extends it to a more international business perspective by focusing on knowledge spillovers. This will enable sport managers and practitioners to utilize entrepreneurial ecosystems as a way to foster their internationalization efforts.
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Entrepreneurial ecosystems have quickly become one of the most popular topics in entrepreneurship research. Ecosystems are the characteristics and factors of a place that…
Abstract
Entrepreneurial ecosystems have quickly become one of the most popular topics in entrepreneurship research. Ecosystems are the characteristics and factors of a place that support high-growth entrepreneurship. This provides the ability for the field to provide important policy insights about how to aid the development of high growth, innovative ventures, as well as generate new insights into the relationship between the entrepreneurship phenomenon and the contexts it takes place within. However, work in the field remains undertheorized, with a little understanding of how the entrepreneur benefits from being in a strong ecosystem. This chapter argues that it is helpful to return to Ed Malecki’s work in a previous volume of this series, which explored the importance of networks. His work has contributed to a very broad stream of work on entrepreneurial environment. Using this as a starting point, this chapter distinguishes between “top-down” approaches to study ecosystems, which focus on the actors and factors that make up an ecosystem, and a “bottom-up” approach, which instead examines the ways in which entrepreneurs use their ecosystem to get the resources, knowledge, and support they need. The chapter concludes by suggesting how a research agenda for a bottom-up study of ecosystems can be informed by Malecki’s work.
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In this chapter, the author explore the role of entrepreneurial ecosystems in terms of focusing on the importance of accelerators. Entrepreneurship is crucial for the…
Abstract
In this chapter, the author explore the role of entrepreneurial ecosystems in terms of focusing on the importance of accelerators. Entrepreneurship is crucial for the ongoing success of accelerators but seldom has research focused on the ecosystem perspective. Organizations habitually use their contacts and networks to facilitate business growth through being included in accelerator programs. This means that comprehending how different entities are embedded in an entrepreneurial ecosystem can provide learning benefits. In the ecosystem literature, the role of accelerators has mainly been studied from the individual and firm-level demonstrating the relationship between entrepreneurial behavior and firm performance but there is more need to emphasis the role accelerators play in the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Suggestions for managers involved in entrepreneurial ecosystems are suggested in this chapter as a way of encouraging more involvement in accelerator programs.
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The purpose of this paper is to investigate challenges of building entrepreneurial ecosystems in peripheral places. The entrepreneurial ecosystem concept is developing a…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate challenges of building entrepreneurial ecosystems in peripheral places. The entrepreneurial ecosystem concept is developing a rising popularity among both academics and policymakers in recent years where much of the attention has been put in major urban cities. However, on the way to achieve balanced growth and equity, peripheral places should not be neglected. Thus, this paper links literature on ecosystem with peripheral region studies in creating a conceptual framework of developing entrepreneurial ecosystems in peripheral places.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper first reviews literature on entrepreneurial ecosystems and challenges that peripheral places facing in particular. Then, taking into consideration of literature from both fields, a conceptual framework is developed. In order to better illustrate the framework, a case study on Guildford’s digital gaming industry is reviewed based on secondary data.
Findings
Though facing various challenges such as smallness, remoteness and lack of resources, peripheral places can take advantage of the digital technology and build an entrepreneurial ecosystem of its own kind through holistic collaborative approach to tackle issues around finance, talents, socio-culture environment, infrastructure, markets and policy.
Originality/value
The paper is among the first to focus on developing a holistic conceptual framework in building entrepreneurial ecosystems in peripheral areas. It can lead to a range of further research topics and contribute to develop viable practices particularly for policymakers.
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Jeffrey Muldoon, Antonina Bauman and Carol Lucy
The purpose of the paper is to examine the role of trust and distrust in social networks within the entrepreneurial ecosystem and to develop a conceptual scheme of the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of the paper is to examine the role of trust and distrust in social networks within the entrepreneurial ecosystem and to develop a conceptual scheme of the impact of trust and distrust on productive and unproductive entrepreneurship.
Design/methodology/approach
This study develops a conceptual scheme, founded on the social capital and resource-based view of a firm, by exploring the impact of trust and distrust on entrepreneurial behavior in a social network.
Findings
As the paper indicates, trust within an entrepreneurial ecosystem has a positive impact on productive entrepreneurship, while distrust within the ecosystem is expected to be unproductive and destructive (or potentially illegal) to an economy.
Research limitations/implications
The research implication of this paper is that it connects levels of trust and distrust within the ecosystem to the type of the behavior exhibited by entrepreneurs leading either to productive or unproductive entrepreneurial endeavors. As this study is based on the theoretical review resulting in a conceptual scheme, it requires further investigation of proposed interactions.
Practical implications
This paper offers strategic alternatives for entrepreneurs seeking to enhance future endeavors by strengthening trust within social networks for the mutual benefits of the ecosystem and businesses within it.
Social implications
This study highlights the importance of two social constructs of trust and distrust in maintaining existing and developing future ecosystems. It also reviews potential outcomes of entrepreneurial behavior and their impact on economies.
Originality/value
This research examines both trust and distrust (two separate social constructs) as significant predictors of future outcomes in the entrepreneurial ecosystem that go beyond productive entrepreneurship.
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Parisa Maroufkhani, Ralf Wagner and Wan Khairuzzaman Wan Ismail
The literature on entrepreneurial ecosystems is fragmented, and yet, no studies have paid attention to integrating the available studies. The purpose of this study is to…
Abstract
Purpose
The literature on entrepreneurial ecosystems is fragmented, and yet, no studies have paid attention to integrating the available studies. The purpose of this study is to provide a systematic review of contributions related to entrepreneurial ecosystems.
Design/methodology/approach
This literature review evaluates studies that are covered in the Web of Science index.
Findings
In addition to the recent state of research (covering industries, geographical scopes, methodologies, etc.), this study provides an extension of Isenberg’s (2011) model of entrepreneurial ecosystems.
Research limitations/implications
A new avenue arises for both conceptual and empirical research by emphasizing crowdsourcing as a contributing element for the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Future studies can evaluate the effectiveness of different types of crowdsourcing profoundly to make sure whether creating a promising ecosystem all types of crowdsourcing have a similar value or impact.
Practical implications
For public policy and local decision-makers, both collaboration opportunities and interaction interfaces between the stakeholders of the entrepreneurial need to be reconsidered in the design of entrepreneurial ecosystems.
Social implications
Higher degrees of collaboration, information exchange and innovation are likely to yield favorable entrepreneurship environments.
Originality/value
Novelty of this study arises from integrating crowdsourcing theory in the systematic review of entrepreneurial ecosystems.
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Carson Duan, Kamaljeet Sandhu and Bernice Kotey
Given the importance of immigration and immigrant entrepreneurs in advanced economies, the authors take an entrepreneurial ecosystem perspective to study the home-country…
Abstract
Purpose
Given the importance of immigration and immigrant entrepreneurs in advanced economies, the authors take an entrepreneurial ecosystem perspective to study the home-country benefits possessed by immigrant entrepreneurs and how home-country entrepreneurial ecosystem factors affect immigrant entrepreneurial motivations, activities and outcomes.
Design/methodology/approach
This conceptual research paper follows McGaghie, Bordage and Shea's (2001) four-step new theory creation process, which suggests that new theories can be created through facts extraction from the extant literature.
Findings
The authors propose that although immigrant entrepreneurs are unable to take full benefit of the host-country entrepreneurial ecosystem due to blocked mobility, they do have capabilities to access and use their home-country entrepreneurial resources and opportunities. The authors further propose that home-country entrepreneurial capital can be systemically analyzed through the framework of the entrepreneurial ecosystem. The results imply that immigrant entrepreneurship as a social and economic phenomenon can be studied more holistically from both host- and home-country perspectives compared to the traditional research boundary of the host-country only.
Research limitations/implications
The research focuses on the identification of home-country effects on immigrant entrepreneurship through the lens of the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Testable propositions provide directions for future empirical research on the field of immigrant entrepreneurship from a home-country perspective. The research concludes that a holistic immigrant entrepreneurship study should consider dual (host- and home-country) entrepreneurial ecosystems.
Practical implications
Immigrant entrepreneurs benefit from both host- and home-country entrepreneurial ecosystems. This paper suggests co-effects of dual entrepreneurial ecosystems lead to a high rate of entrepreneurship and business success within some immigrant groups. Policymakers can increase economic activities by developing and deploying programs to encourage immigrants to embed in host- and home-country entrepreneurial ecosystems.
Originality/value
Based on the framework of the entrepreneurial ecosystem, this paper brings a novel perspective to examining home-country effects on immigrant entrepreneurship. It theoretically conceptualizes that immigrants have higher entrepreneurship rates than native-born populations because they have access to extra home-country entrepreneurial capital.
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