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The purpose of this paper is to address the role of intermediaries in open innovation networks in achieving ICT-enabled innovations. The ultimate goal of open innovation networks is to create value for endusers and providers, and to share the risks and rewards. The aim of this paper is to analyse the competences that intermediaries in open innovation networks need to master and exploit during the exploration and exploitation phases of an innovation process.

Based on 14 cases, all of which are examples of collaborative multi-party projects with a focus on ICT-enabled innovations, the paper inductively develops a competence model for intermediaries that can be applied at different stages in the innovation.

The research shows that intermediaries can play an effective role in open innovation, provided they have the right set of competences. It can be concluded that the role of innovation intermediary is most relevant in the creation and development phases.

This study certainly has its limitations. The researchers were involved in several cases, which may have biased their views, even though an external expert who was familiar with the case and the work of the intermediary was involved to minimize the risk. Most importantly, the cases all involved of a single intermediary, albeit with many different private and public partners. The cases were primarily located in the Netherlands. It would be interesting to complement this study with results from other innovation intermediaries.

The paper identified which competences of organizations in innovation are required, and how to balance the competences between the different partners, including the innovation intermediary. The study allows to link the type of goal of the collaboration to a number of best practices, including the competences and roles that are required at different stages.

The paper combines the core innovation competences with the innovation value chain concept developed, and evaluate the resulting model in 14 different cases. The model is new and relevant in practice.

This paper aims to examine how innovation intermediary activities increase relational proximity between start-ups and foreign partners to support start-up internationalization.

The paper applies a case study methodology to examine an international network of innovation intermediaries in the resources sector. Interviews were conducted with 59 start-ups, corporate and intermediary managers in four countries, supplemented by secondary data. A two-stage analysis process was performed to first identify activities relating to start-up internationalization and then apply a theoretically derived coding framework based on five proximity dimensions.

The case identifies several innovation intermediary activities, which facilitate relationship development between start-ups and partners in new markets. Findings outline how activities increase relational proximity across different dimensions, while also indicating a number of interrelations between dimensions, given the complexity of international business relationships.

This paper establishes interdisciplinary bridges between business networks, international business and economic geography perspectives. It provides a valuable empirical foundation for relational proximity, demonstrating its application to understanding start-up internationalization and its influence by intermediary-led activities.

The purpose of this paper is to answer the following research question: how can intermediaries contribute to social impact creation through their interventions at different levels of distribution networks in the base of the pyramid (BoP) markets?

The paper adopts an embedded case study of an intermediary organization. The analysis focuses on the intervention of the intermediary on the distribution stages of supply chains in four different projects in the food sector in Ethiopia, Benin, Nigeria and Bangladesh.

The embedded case study reveals essential formal and informal roles undertaken by the intermediary organization to develop decentralized distribution networks based on local micro-entrepreneurs. The study proposes that efforts undertaken by the intermediaries toward knowledge sharing and capacity building among partners can enable the adoption of pro-poor strategies across the supply chain. Moreover, hybrid intermediaries can act as “guardians” of the mutual value creation approach since one of their key roles is to advocate the needs of the BoP.

Important implications for improving nutrition and food security in the BoP markets are developed based on the empirical findings. The findings open avenues for further research into the antecedents of retention rates in distribution networks based on local micro-entrepreneurs.

Findings have implications for different types of BoP initiatives by highlighting how intermediary organizations intervene to develop distribution models with a special focus on social impact.

This paper fills an important research gap by discussing social impact aspects in BoP supply chains by adopting the perspective of intermediary organizations.

This study aims to explore the dynamic capabilities of international intermediaries that cooperate with Chinese factories. The authors determine the structure of these dynamic capabilities and inquire into the manner in which they allow an intermediary to respond to external change. Furthermore, the authors examine these capabilities both before and during a financial crisis in order to better understand how an international manufacturing intermediary can succeed during a poor economic situation.

Based on a case analysis involving multiple organizations, the authors use triangulated data from a variety of sources: five American intermediaries, 28 Chinese factories, and additional source data.

Results from this study show that, compared to other firms, intermediary organizations contain additional dynamic capabilities. This allows for the creation of a new three-tier model of intermediary capabilities: internal dynamic capabilities, external network capacity, and external dynamic capabilities. Furthermore, the authors demonstrate that impression management, guanxi, and other external dynamic capabilities can be used to influence how external firms allocate and re-allocate their resources and thus become a crucial dynamic capability. This case analysis also determines that the financial crisis actually strengthened the dynamic capabilities of these intermediaries.

This paper is the first to determine the structure of the dynamic capabilities for this type of intermediary and to demonstrate that they possess dynamic capabilities that can influence how an external firm re-allocates resources. Additionally, the authors extend the dynamic capabilities literature to the type of firm that operates in an emerging economy.

The purpose of this paper is to illustrate experimentation over time in Ontario, Canada with place-based innovation policies to support the development and coordination of entrepreneurial ecosystems on a regional basis across the province.

Tracing the policy learning process and successive adaptations in program design over time, the authors provide a detailed case study of the evolution of the Ontario Network of Entrepreneurs (ONE) from 2003 to the present.

The authors find that the program has evolved in response to regular program reviews that include broad input from ecosystem actors operating at multiple levels within the network, and that intermediaries are key facilitators of inter- and intra-ecosystem linkages. However, program complexity and coordination challenges suggest that place-based innovation policies, such as the ONE, should focus specifically on innovation-intensive entrepreneurship.

These findings make three contributions to the theory and practice of place-based innovation policy. First, these policies are by nature experimental because they must be able to flexibly adapt according to policy learning and practitioner input from a wide variety of local contexts. Second, multilevel interactions between provincial policymakers and regional ecosystem actors indicate that place-based innovation policy is neither entirely driven by “top down” policy, nor “bottom up” networks but is rather a complex and variable “hybrid” blend of the two. Finally, publicly funded intermediaries perform essential inter- and intra-ecosystem connective functions but system fragmentation and “mission creep” remain enduring policy challenges.

The paper makes an original contribution to the literature by analyzing the development of entrepreneurial policy support framework and situating the case study in the context of the policy learning process involved in place-based innovation policymaking in North America.

This paper aims to draw on the network perspective of firm internationalisation to study how an intermediary network actor, such as an export promotion organisation (EPO), can influence the internationalisation of new ventures located in peripheral regions.

The paper employs case analysis and the critical incident technique to study the influence of the Irish Government's support agency for the seafood industry, Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM), on the internationalisation of three new ventures in the seafood sector in the West of Ireland.

The EPO played an important role in information mediation: identifying foreign opportunities and customers; facilitating introductions to international customers; and by providing foreign market knowledge; and as a resource provider developing the firm's export capacity.

The choice of sector and method may impact on the ability to generalise the findings to firms in other contexts.

This study identifies a number of important implications for managers. It identifies a dilemma for policy‐makers: do efforts to develop strong support agencies come at the expense of developing strong firms?

This study advances the understanding of the role of an intermediary network actor in influencing new‐firm internationalisation. It identifies a set of conditions that, it is argued, are necessary if an EPO is to facilitate firm internationalisation.

Driven by increasing concerns for sustainable development and digitalization, intermediaries have emerged as relevant actors who can help supply chains tackle grand societal challenges. They can also trigger significant changes in structure, shape and governance models of supply chains. The goal of this research is to advance the understanding of supply chain intermediation and digital governance as coordinating mechanisms for enabling multi-level collective action to address the world's grand challenges.

This is a conceptual research paper that uses a vignette approach, where real examples are described to help question and expand theoretical insights and provide a basis for future research. The examples are drawn from past and ongoing extensive primary and secondary data collection efforts in diverse types of supply chains.

Three contexts are proposed to illustrate how intermediaries and digital governance can play a key role in helping supply chains tackle grand challenges. The first and second context highlight the differences between material and support flow intermediaries in a triadic supply chain relationship. The third context illustrates intermediation within a multi-level network which can be industry-specific or span across industries. The three contexts are evaluated on the level of intervention, the focus on material or support flows, and traditional or digital governance. The specific Sustainable Development Goals which can be tackled through intermediary intervention are also indicated.

Intermediaries are often hidden actors in global supply chains and have received limited attention in the academic literature. The conceptual foundation provided in this manuscript serves as the basis for future research opportunities. Three main avenues for further research in this domain are proposed: (1) novel forms of intermediation beyond economic and transactional arrangements; (2) novel forms of digital governance; and (3) translating multi-level collective action into sustainable development outcomes. Research on intermediation driven by sustainable development and digitalization trends can spur empirical advances in sustainable supply chain and operations management with important societal impact.

The purpose of this paper is to explore a way to reshape the business ecosystem for existing industries by comparing traditional and Shanzhai networks in China. The research is also conducted on the supporting activities by service intermediaries in the ecosystem.

This research starts with a literature review on firms' strategy of industry maturity from three perspectives, including technology orientation, innovation orientation, and network orientation. The approach of multiple case studies is adopted to unveil the reshaping process of the business ecosystem. Two types of networks are mapped: the traditional mobile companies' network and the Shanzhai network. Intra‐network and inter‐network cross‐case analyses aim to generate the research findings and provide implications for different ecosystem players.

First, the relationship between industry and the business ecosystem is placed into a two by two matrix. Second, in order to reshape the business ecosystem, the traditional network prefers geographical dispersion to other countries to establish a new ecosystem, whereas the Shanzhai network brings niche substitutes to cut down industry entry barriers. Third, government agencies, as one of the service intermediaries, not only support the traditional network dispersion by providing preferential policies, but also support the reshaping process enabled by the Shanzhai network with legal guidance and resource capture. Fourth, other service intermediaries such as law firms, technology services, talent searchers, financial and industry associations, have greater impact on the Shanzhai network than on the traditional network. Fifth, from the comparison between these two networks, strategies to reshape the ecosystem can be differentiated in five aspects: frugal solution, platform enablement, organization recentralization, downstream innovation, and regulation adaptation.

This research further develops the observations into service intermediaries not only in core business but also in the extended level of the business ecosystem. The Shanzhai phenomenon also provides an excellent example implicating classical theories like cluster, innovation and global manufacturing virtual network. From a methodology perspective, this research combined the roadmap methods and cross‐case analysis. However, this study focuses more on Shanzhai network study than the traditional network.

Five nurturing strategies implicate small firms in the Shanzhai network and large firms in the traditional network as well as service intermediaries.

This paper is the first one to deeply study the relationship between industry and the business ecosystem in China, and the reshaping process of a mature business ecosystem from the traditional network, Shanzhai network and service intermediaries' perspectives.

The purpose of this paper is to suggest a conceptual framework of collaborative networking among structurally and functionally varying types of Innovation Laboratories, which will enable them to leverage upon diverse competencies of each other and thereby facilitate their clients (business organizations) throughout the innovation process.

The conceptual framework proposed herein is oriented around design science research, whereby the important constructs underpinning the development of framework are identified from existing literature. The framework is based upon two constructs, service-based categorization of extant Innovation Laboratories, and concepts of horizontal and vertical modes of inter-InnoLab collaboration (collaboration among Innovation Laboratories). The framework is subsequently developed in iterations based on experts’ views and discussions.

The conceptual framework presents eight different opportunities of interconnection among Innovation Laboratories including the four horizontal collaboration possibilities as network of mentors, network of process intermediaries, network of resource providers and network of network coordinators which are followed by four subsequent vertical collaboration possibilities among these horizontal collaboration networks. The proposed collaborative network of Innovation Laboratories enables undertaking of complete innovation process with four possible entry and four possible exit points for business organizations.

The conceptual framework proposed herein is first of its kind to suggest a worldwide collaborative networking among Innovation Laboratories. The applicability and usefulness of the framework is supported by the existing ad hoc type individual collaborative activities being exercised by different kinds of Innovation Laboratories as reported by Innovation Laboratory facilitators and observed in practical field.

Small and medium-sized exporters (SMEs) are driven to develop a network entry strategy to tap into a new foreign market. The purpose of this paper is to draw on the network perspective to evaluate how a network gatekeeper facilitates a foreign SME exporter’s entry into local business networks in China.

The single case study method was adopted. The Ule New Zealand Mall, an online shopping platform that sells New Zealand products in China, was selected in this case study. The authors applied the critical incident technique to evaluate the position of New Zealand Post (as a home country-based network gatekeeper), the roles within the position, and the key outcome of the network gatekeeping.

The study discovers two key roles of network gatekeepers: bridging the gap in trust between outsider networks and insider networks; and reducing the costs of experiential learning for SME exporters. Finally, this study concludes that the “brokered insidership” position acquired by SME exporters is the key outcome of network gatekeeping in foreign market entry.

This study advances the understanding of theories of structural holes, business network and gatekeeping. The authors articulate the critical position assumed by a network gatekeeper in bridging two otherwise disconnected business networks, and their key roles in networking. The study also proposes a new network concept – “brokered insidership”.