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The purpose of this paper is to consider the value of an industry ecosystem in providing context for both identifying and evaluating organisation opportunities and related entrepreneurial behaviour for future strategic growth by reference to a case study in the health-care industry. Using a validated entrepreneurship mindset audit instrument, an assessment is made of the leadership, decision-making, behaviour and awareness dimensions of professional practice health-care staff to create the internal culture that fosters an entrepreneurial orientated organisation that can deliver effective innovation for satisfied users of health-care services.

This case study examines the distinctive dimensions of entrepreneurial mindset – leadership, decision-making, behaviour and awareness – within a practice-based health-care (nursing) ecosystem and how these dimensions impact organisation performance throughout the health-care industry.

This study validates research findings that entrepreneurial leadership encourages entrepreneurial behaviour and an entrepreneurial culture supports the development of innovations. Opportunities for such cultural behaviour are best understood by measuring the staff’s and leaders’ “entrepreneurial mindset”.

Generalising results from this case study requires caution. The positive outcome from the professional practice examples, and their strong association with impactful entrepreneurial mindset values on service delivery, requires further evaluation.

Using an entrepreneurial mindset audit to assess organisation’s cultural behaviour enables management to identify factors fostering or inhibiting entrepreneurial activity and to devise interventions to improve strategic direction.

Entrepreneurial mindset is not a new concept, but adding the critical significance of spiritual awareness to creative entrepreneur behaviour, together with a visioning map, adds both value and understanding to enhance organisation performance.

This case study aims to show how a strategic intervention, using an in-house delivered university entrepreneurship education program, cultivates an entrepreneurial mindset and effective innovation culture amongst company staff. The intervention produces a measured change in staff decision making style from analytical to a more intuitive style. Also assessed is the resulting management-style change to the firm’s internal environment, strategic motivation and performance.

Through a qualitative longitudinal study of Partners and staff in the firm, the authors measure the impact of the selection, integration and performance of in-house entrepreneurship education on firm culture.

The authors identify organisation factors that inhibit staff entrepreneurial behaviour and by integrating an in-house education intervention, demonstrate unambiguously the resultant effective culture and entrepreneurial mindset.

Generalising results from this single longitudinal case study requires caution. The positive outcome from the in-house education concept can be considered for further evaluation within other organisations.

Using an entrepreneurial health-audit to assess in-firm cultural behaviour enables management to identify factors fostering/inhibiting entrepreneurial activity and devise interventions to cultivate a firm-wide entrepreneurial mindset.

In-house education is not a new concept, but a targeted focus on entrepreneurship applied strategically to a committed firm shows outstanding results. The added-value is in the demonstrated enhancement to effective innovation outcomes.

Within the “wicked” concept of ageing, this paper aims to primarily model an integrated approach to identifying and evaluating opportunities that deliver innovative outcomes in Ageing Well Practice, Health and Economic Policy and Research Actions using a collaborative and entrepreneurial mindset. The strategic focus is on a “Boomer” (user)-driven and facilitated Network – that brings together health professionals, research specialists, technologists, ageing well providers, “encore” career specialists, life-style providers, community groups, wealth creation specialists and industry innovators to streamline the progression of identified concepts to valued users and markets and enhance the economy.

Using the unit of analysis for innovation, i.e. the “added-value” as perceived by the user and not simply a product or a technology, the identified “opportunity-outcome” will embed a new service concept or intervention, which embraces and promotes ageing well, independent living or resident-centred care in the community and delivers direct and indirect economic benefits.

The authors model a point of differentiation in facilitating existing ageing well policies in the community, through a focus on an integrated and multi-dimensional collaborative framework that can deliver user value and contributes to community and economic benefits.

Generalising results without a commercial business case from this single strategic viewpoint requires caution. The positive outcomes from this innovation collaborative concept can be used to guide further policy development and business investment in ageing well needs.

Such an integrated innovation collaborative structure provides the capacity to identify ageing well opportunities, to contract enterprises, both SMEs’ and larger companies, for development of the opportunities into user-valued outcomes, to network venture resources and deliver these outcomes to a sustainable market of ageing well citizens.

The Ageing Well Innovation collaborative framework identifies practical ways to integrate new concepts of ageing participation to be realised by the increasing number of “Boomers”. It provides a self-managing process for linking individuals, public and private parties to maximise information and ideas flow, and engagement of the skilled resources in the Boomer group.

The innovation collaborative structure proposed is not simply novel but is a targeted focus on entrepreneurship and innovation applied strategically to the needs of ageing boomers and community needs. The added-value is in the demonstrated enhancement to effective innovation outcomes in community ageing and the economy.