The ecosystem as helix: an exploratory theory-building study of regional co-opetitive entrepreneurial ecosystems as Quadruple/Quintuple Helix Innovation Models

Regions are increasingly being viewed as eco-systemic agglomerations of organizational and institutional entities or stakeholders with socio-technical, socio-economic, and socio-political conflicting as well as converging (co-opetitive) goals, priorities, expectations, and behaviors that they pursue via entrepreneurial development, exploration, exploitation, and deployment actions, reactions and interactions. In this context, our paper aims to explore and profile the nature and dynamics of the Quadruple/Quintuple Helix Innovation System Model or Framework (government, university, industry, civil society, environment) as an enabler and enactor of regional co-opetitive entrepreneurial ecosystems which we conceptualize as fractal, multi-level, multi-modal, multi-nodal, and multi-lateral configurations of dynamic tangible and intangible assets within the resource-based view and the new theory of the growth of the firm. Co-opetitive fractal innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystems are defined and discussed, and examples of regional innovation policies and programs are presented. Furthermore, the concept of multi-level innovation systems is analyzed, taking into account the existence of knowledge clusters and innovation networks, while alternative aggregations of multi-level innovation systems are proposed based on their spatial (geographical) and non-spatial (research-based) functional properties.     

A service science perspective on business model innovation

Using four basic principles of service science, we systematically explore value-proposition design as one type of business model innovation. Service science combines organization and human understanding with business and technological understanding to categorize and explain service systems, including how they interact and evolve to cocreate value. Our goal is to apply a scientific approach to advance design and innovation in service systems. Our foundation is service-dominant logic, which provides perspective, vocabulary, and assumptions on which to build a theory. Our basic theoretical construct is the service system, entities that are dynamic configurations of four kinds of resources. Our core principles center on the way value is computed within and among entities, how interaction is based on access to resources and their capabilities, and on how value computation and interaction depend on symbol processing and language guided by mutually agreed-to value propositions. In this context, service science can inform and accelerate value-proposition design by systematizing the search for adaptive advantages that improve existing offerings, create new offerings, or reconfigure the value-creating ecosystem.     

Developing a coevolutionary account of innovation ecosystems

Whilst research in innovation ecosystems has focused on the connectivity, interdependence, and coevolution of actors, technologies, and institutions, there has been a gap in the study of these relationships between actors, with little explanation given on how mutually interdependent parties adapt. In this paper, we draw further on the ecological metaphor to present a view of innovation ecosystems as complex adaptive systems, where patterns of change emerge from microlevel coevolutionary interactions between actors. Drawing on this view, we explore related implications for our understanding of ecosystem boundaries, coevolutionary rules of interaction, and how ecosystems are energized through innovation. Specifically, we contribute to the literature by developing a novel account of innovation ecosystems where actors are bound together through changing modes of coevolution. Drawing on this account, we explore key theoretical and practical implications for our understanding of ecosystem actors, rules of interaction, and the wider innovation ecosystem. We conclude that innovation both maintains and drives change within the innovation ecosystem, by altering the microlevel rules of interaction and coevolutionary relationships between actors.     

Value creation by knowledge‐based ecosystems: evidence from a field study

A growing number of research and development‐driven companies are located in knowledge‐based ecosystems. Value creation by these ecosystems draws on the dynamics of single firms (interacting and partnering) as well as the ecosystem at large. Drawing on a field study of a Dutch high‐tech campus, two key sources of value creation are identified: (1) facilitation of the innovation process for individual companies and (2) creation of an innovation community. Furthermore, the coevolution of the ecosystem's business model with firm‐level business models explains why technology‐based firms join, stay in, or leave the ecosystem at a certain point in time. A remarkable finding is that ecosystem managers have to deliberately facilitate exit routes for companies that no longer fit the ecosystem in order to enhance and reinforce its business model. As such, this study suggests a dynamic capability perspective on knowledge‐based ecosystems that need to develop a business model at the ecosystem level to create sufficient innovative capacity and entrepreneurial fitness.     

From laboratory to clinic: science commercialization within university-centered entrepreneurial ecosystems

The commercialization of scientific discoveries within the university-industry nexus is multifaceted and complex, characterized by dynamic interactions between multiple agents, organizations, and institutions. These interactions support a university-centered entrepreneurial ecosystem (UCEE). Our study investigates agent-institution dynamics within the UCEE to explore how individual agents seek to commercialize their scientific discoveries. Specifically, relying on 47 narrative interviews, we explore how UCEE agents across three UCEEs in the United States, United Kingdom, and Russia respond and adapt to institutional commercialization mandates during commercialization of their stem cell-based regenerative medicine discoveries. Our findings emphasize the bi-directional relationship between individual agents and institutions within a UCEE, facilitating a much-needed multi-level perspective on academic entrepreneurship research. We extend recent frameworks that propose how the formative stages of the entrepreneurial process – opportunity evolution – influences ecosystem emergence. Specifically, by investigating the latter stages of the entrepreneurial process – how (science-based) opportunities are commercialized within UCEEs – we reveal distinct behavioral responses to science commercialization mandates, which underscore how UCEEs evolve. Furthermore, by explicating the importance of UCEE agent behavior during science commercialization, our study shines an important spotlight onto the microfoundations of science commercialization and UCEEs. Our research imparts important policy implications for institutions tasked with commercializing scientific discoveries and policy makers challenged with developing high growth, sustainable UCEEs.     

The disruptor's dilemma: TiVo and the U.S. television ecosystem

Research summary: Firms introducing disruptive innovations into multisided ecosystems confront the disruptor's dilemma: gaining the support of the very incumbents they disrupt. Through a longitudinal study of TiVo, a company that pioneered the Digital Video Recorder, we examine how these firms may address this dilemma. Our analysis reveals how TiVo navigated coopetitive tensions by continually adjusting its strategy, its technology platform, and its relational positioning within the evolving U.S. television industry ecosystem. We theorize how (1) disruption may affect not just specific incumbents, but also the entire ecosystem; (2) coopetition is not just dyadic, but also multilateral and intertemporal, and (3) strategy is both a deliberative and emergent process involving continual adjustments, as the disruptor attempts to balance coopetitive tensions over time. Managerial summary: New entrants confront a dilemma when they introduce a disruptive innovation into an existing business ecosystem, viz., how can they gain the support of the incumbents that their innovation disrupts? Confronting this “disruptor's dilemma”, the disruptor must consider several issues: How might it pitch its innovation to attract end customers and yet reduce the threat of disruption perceived by ecosystem incumbents? How can the innovation be modified to fit into legacy systems while transforming them? Based on an in‐depth analysis of TiVo and its entrepreneurial journey, we explore the strategies disruptors can deploy to address these issues. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

New value creation in business networks: The role of collective action in constructing system-level goals

This study focuses on collective goal formation in business networks aimed toward new value creation and innovation. Previous research has depicted such networks as value-creating systems or meta-organizations pursuing a system-level goal. We develop these views by addressing a research question: How can multiple organizations collectively form a system-level goal, and how does this affect new value creation at the level of the whole network? We conducted a multi-case study of two Finnish health care networks in which multiple diverse organizations participated in the formation of a system-level goal for the network and developed innovative joint treatment practices for the better care of patients. We derived six propositions and developed a conceptual model explaining how the collective formation of a system-level goal is linked to network-level value creation by increasing network actors' resource commitment. Furthermore, we introduced important moderating factors, network architects and domain similarity, which affect collective goal formation. We claim that the conceptual model strengthens pre-existing theories on managing business networks through a system-level goal, collective action, framing, agenda construction, and institutional mobilization. We contribute especially to previous research on networks aiming for new value creation.     

The contingent effect of social networking ties on Asian immigrant enterprises' innovation

Immigrant enterprises' innovation has not received much research attention in the past. To address this gap, this study investigates how the contingent effect of immigrant enterprises' social network resources (business ties, political ties, and immigrant entrepreneurs' ethnic ties) affect the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and innovation. Using data collected from 167 Asian immigrant enterprises operating in New Zealand, the findings show that immigrant entrepreneurs' business ties and ethnic ties positively enhance the effect of entrepreneurial orientation on innovation, whilst political ties have no effect on the overall relation between entrepreneurial orientation and innovation. Our study makes theoretical and managerial contributions to the studies of immigrant entrepreneurship in the business-to-business context, explaining the contingent effect of different social networking ties on immigrant enterprises' innovation.     

Users' contributions to radical innovation: evidence from four cases in the field of medical equipment technology

This paper focuses on contributions of users in early phases of radical innovation projects. In a multiple case study analysis in the field of medical equipment technology, we identify characteristics of users who contribute substantially to the development of radical innovations by being their inventors and (co)-developers. These innovative users have high motivation to seek new solutions, possess a diverse set of competencies, and are embedded in a supportive environment. We furthermore observe that they play an entrepreneurial role as they establish and organize the required innovation networks. These innovation networks are needed to transform the users' radically new concepts into first physical prototypes and marketable products. The study highlights how manufacturing firms can benefit from innovative and entrepreneurial users in the early phases of radical innovation projects.     

Creating value through product-service-software systems in institutionalized ecosystems – The case of autonomous ships

Introducing product-service-software systems (PSSS) to the market requires forming an enabling ecosystem, which can be largely based on incumbent business ecosystems. Creating value through PSSS with autonomous capabilities will likely encounter numerous challenges related to the lock-ins in current ecosystem structure. We use institutional theory as a lens and autonomous ships as the case to shed some light on types and impacts of these barriers. We identify a set of institutional barriers pertinent to regulatory, normative and cultural-cognitive pillars of institutions. We further analyze how institutional barriers affect creating, delivering, and capturing value of autonomous ships, ultimately shaping the ecosystem formation around PSSS. The main contribution of the paper is the depiction of early ecosystem dynamics as the mutual adaptation of the PSSS value proposition and the structure of the incumbent ecosystem.     

The influence of network effects on SME performance

The notions that firms are embedded within complex networks, and that managers spend time actively networking, have long been accepted by scholars within the Industrial Marketing and Purchasing (IMP) Group. However, an issue that has not received the same attention is an assessment of how these two facets; network structure and external networking behaviors affect SME performance. In assessing their antecedents, in this research we move beyond the traditional IMP literature, using emotional intelligence and entrepreneurial style to assess CEOs' managerial style. Network structure was assessed by the extent to which structural holes and degrees of centrality were present. Data was collected from 227 CEOs of small Iranian information technology companies. To test our hypotheses, we combined the use of structural equation modeling and social network analysis — a dual methodology that has not been adopted before. The results show that emotional intelligence drives entrepreneurial style, network structure and external networking behavior. SME performance is influenced by both network structure and external networking behavior. The mediating role of network structure is also discussed. Here our results show that entrepreneurial style does not influence external networking behavior. Several managerial implications of these findings are discussed.     

Promoting innovation through the accumulation of intellectual capital, social capital, and entrepreneurial orientation

This study attempts to explore how a firm's operational mode can reinforce the advantages of intellectual capital on innovation. Specifically, the main purpose of this study is to develop a comprehensive research model to integrate the interrelationships among social capital, entrepreneurial orientation, intellectual capital, and innovation. In addition to identifying the influences of intellectual capital on innovation, this study focuses in particular on the mediating effect of intellectual capital and the moderating effects of social capital and entrepreneurial orientation on innovation, which have largely been neglected in previous literature. The results support the mediating role of intellectual capital and the moderating roles of entrepreneurial orientation and social capital on innovation. Specifically, firms that have higher levels of social capital and entrepreneurial orientation tend to amplify the effects of intellectual capital on innovation.     

Synergies among Producer Firms,Lead Users,and User Communities: The Case of the LEGO Producer–User Ecosystem

While many firms today proactively involve users in their new product development efforts using a wide variety of methods such as the lead user method, firm‐hosted user communities, or mass customization toolkits, some pioneering firms are experimenting with the creation of sustainable producer–user ecosystems designed for the continuous exploration and exploitation of business opportunities. In this paper, the functioning of such ecosystems is studied with particular emphasis on the synergies they can yield. Based on an explorative and longitudinal multiple case study design, the producer–user ecosystem of the firm LEGO is analyzed, and three main actors in the ecosystem are identified: entrepreneurial lead users who aim to start their own businesses, a vibrant user community, and the LEGO company as the focal producer firm and facilitator for multiple user‐to‐user and user‐to‐producer interactions. Our study reveals three kinds of synergies: (1) reduced risk for entrepreneurial lead users and the focal producer firm, (2) the extension of the design space of the focal producer firm's products, and (3) the creation of buzz within the user community. Finally, the theoretical and managerial implications of our findings for innovation researchers and practitioners are discussed.     

Making Sense of an Interconnected World: How Innovation Champions Drive Social Innovation in the Not-for-Profit Context

Social innovation is critical for supporting the economic and social fabric of communities globally. Yet little is known about the processes through which social innovation occurs and how context shapes them. To date, scholarship has focused primarily on social entrepreneurs and social enterprise creation, while the role of established not-for-profits (NFPs) as agents of social innovation has received surprisingly little attention given their importance to communities. It is expected that innovation will be increasingly important for NFPs as shifts in their funding models create greater complexity in maintaining sustainability and continuity in social service delivery. This research generates a deeper understanding of the processes of social innovation within NFPs by examining how multiple levels of context influence the behaviors of a key set of agents: innovation champions. Adopting an interactionist lens, the study explores how shifts in funding policy at the macro level, and the role of leaders (CEOs and Boards) and organizational institutional logics at the meso level, influence champion behavior at the micro level. To do this, we draw on sensemaking as an important cognitive and action-enabling mechanism. A qualitative, multicase study design with 46 interviews across six case organizations allows an in-depth exploration of this under-investigated area. The findings indicate that bricolage activity can facilitate championing that supports social innovation within NFPs and that organizational context guides the direction and content of champion behavior. The findings further uncover a broader range of behaviors and outcomes than have been previously attributed to champions, while highlighting the critical role that bricolage-enabled championing can play in driving social innovation that is both directly impactful and offers significant longer-term social impact. The important roles that sensebreaking, sensegiving, and sensemaking play in connecting champions’ interpretations of their contexts to their behaviors are also outlined.     

Open innovation ecosystem organizing from a process view: a longitudinal study in the making of an innovation hub

This paper uses process theory as a theoretical lens to analyze AstraZeneca's enactment of an open innovation initiative with the purpose of strengthening the firm's surrounding innovation ecosystem. Based on empirical data collected over 7 years, we develop a process model of open innovation enactment and explain how the initiative gradually transformed while maintaining its guiding principles, which were set from the start. In applying a process perspective, we highlight open innovation initiatives as dynamic and evolutionary – but not deterministic – developments. As such, we provide a comprehensive and more nuanced understanding of not only what open innovation is but also how it becomes. This study also contributes to the innovation ecosystem literature by theorizing how firms orchestrate innovation ecosystems through open innovation initiatives over time.     

The Impact of Family Ownership,Management, and Governance on Innovation

Previous research suggests that the distinctive nature of family firms, including both specific advantages and disadvantages related to their particular agency situation, influences innovation activities. Most studies, however, view family firms as homogeneous entities and thus neglect the heterogeneity of family firms when comparing them with nonfamily firms. One important factor of this firm heterogeneity is family influence in terms of ownership, management, and governance. A data set of large German publicly traded firms between 2000 and 2009 is used to test how these three dimensions of family influence predict innovation input and output. The results show that family participation in management and governance has a negative impact on innovation input and a positive influence on innovation output. This suggests that family members are risk averse and reluctant to invest in innovation, but at the same time do so more effectively.     

Incentive Mechanisms,Entrepreneurial Orientation,and Technology Commercialization: Evidence from China's Transitional Economy*

Scholars view entrepreneurial orientation as an essential element of high‐performing firms. The extant research has focused extensively on the construct development related to and performance implications of entrepreneurial orientation. Prior research has also identified the significant positive impact of entrepreneurial orientation on technology commercialization. The research community has, however, yet to examine critical antecedents of entrepreneurial orientation and to investigate relevant antecedents and consequences of entrepreneurial orientation in transitional settings such as that of China. Most Chinese firms are embracing significant changes in governance incentive mechanisms as China deepens the economic reform. The extant literature provides limited insight as to how incentive mechanisms such as chief executive officer (CEO) ownership and turnover may affect firm entrepreneurial orientation in China's transitional setting. Furthermore, given the significant changes and uncertainty in the market place, China provides an ideal laboratory to examine the influence of technological turbulence on the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and technology commercialization. Aimed at filling in these glaring gaps, this study develops a conceptual model, with institutional theory as its underpinning, to examine the relationships among governance incentive mechanisms, entrepreneurial orientation, technological turbulence, and technology commercialization. The empirical results from a sample of 607 Chinese firms reveal several important findings. The CEO ownership has a significant positive effect on entrepreneurial orientation, and CEO turnover frequency has an inverse U curvilinear impact on entrepreneurial orientation. Furthermore, entrepreneurial orientation positively affects technology commercialization, with technological turbulence positively moderating this relationship. This study makes several important contributions. First, the present article brings into sharper focus the differing impacts of CEO ownership and CEO turnover on entrepreneurial orientation. The theoretical deliberation and empirical testing offer useful insights into the formation process of entrepreneurial orientation. Second, the examination of the moderating effect of technological turbulence provides additional richness to the extant literature. In addition, different from prior studies, this study was conducted under China's transitional economy context. By integrating unique institutional arrangements and the turbulent technological environment, two key characteristics of China's transitional economy setting, the study broadened and deepened understanding of key antecedents and consequences of entrepreneurial orientation. The article also discusses managerial implications of the findings and suggests directions for future research.     

Stakeholder management in complex product systems: Practices and rationales for engagement and disengagement

Collaboration with stakeholders has become a cornerstone of contemporary business; however, absolute collaboration is not trouble-free. The present study explores how and why firms engage and disengage external stakeholders in their value-creating activities in complex product systems over time. From the existing research on stakeholder management, we know that actor roles, strategies, reasons and challenges of engaging external stakeholders in innovation and business activities vary across contexts. However, additional research is needed to construct a more comprehensive understanding of the practices as well as their rationales by which firms engage or disengage external stakeholders in complex product systems. Our empirical study of a European district development megaproject improves the current understanding of stakeholder management in complex product systems contexts. We derive nine practices and four rationales that timely describe the engagement and disengagement of external stakeholders. The study develops a processual model of stakeholder management in complex product systems with implications for both stakeholder management literature and managerial practice.     

When Is Open Innovation Beneficial? The Role of Strategic Orientation

Various scholars have accomplished a great deal to better understand open innovation effectiveness. Case studies have detailed its performance effects, while other studies showed the effectiveness of an aspect of open innovation, such as collaboration with third parties, external technology commercialization, and cocreation. Though most studies report a positive relation between open innovation and innovation performance, some studies indicate possible negative effects. This has resulted in a call for research on what kind of organizational context suits open innovation best. This study therefore addresses two questions: (1) does performing open innovation activities lead to increased innovation performance, and to which aspects of innovation performance is open innovation most strongly related? (2) what is the moderating impact of various kinds of strategic orientation on the relation between open innovation and innovation performance? In this study, we investigate three types of strategic orientations: entrepreneurial orientation, market orientation, and resource orientation. In a survey among 223 Asian service firms, we first develop and test a comprehensive measurement scale for open innovation that captures the entire range of open innovation activities, including outside‐in activities, inside‐out activities, and coupled activities. The final scale comprises of 10 items and indicates to what extent a firm has implemented open innovation activities. Next, we study the relation between open innovation and innovation performance. The results indicate that performing open innovation activities is significantly and positively related to all four dimensions of innovation performance: new product/service innovativeness, new product/service success, customer performance, and financial performance. The impact of open innovation is not limited to a particular aspect of innovation performance; it positively affects a broad range of innovation performance indicators. Though open innovation is positively related to all four dimensions of innovation performance, the effect sizes are not equal. The impact on new service innovativeness and financial performance is relatively stronger. Regarding the influence of a firm's strategic orientation, we find that all significant moderation effects are positive. This suggests that, in general, having a more explicit strategic orientation enhances the effectiveness of open innovation. When comparing the three strategic orientations, entrepreneurial orientation strengthens the positive performance effects of open innovation significantly more than market orientation and resource orientation do. In turn, market orientation has a significantly stronger moderation effect than resource orientation. These findings provide empirical evidence of the context dependency of open innovation. Especially an entrepreneurial orientation, which is associated with proactive and entrepreneurial processes, seems to create a fertile setting for open innovation.     

基于生态位适宜度的区域创新生态系统与创新效率研究

由于区域内创新资源的有限性,区域创新生态系统中创新主体生态位之间的重叠程度对创新效率的影响愈发的显著,基于此本文运用生态位适宜度评价模型对我国30个省市 2011~2015 年的创新生态系统适宜度水平进行了测度,并分别与运用超效率数据包络分析法所测得的区域知识创新效率和产品创新效率进行了面板数据的回归分析。结果显示,区域创新生态系统的生态位适宜度对两个阶段的创新效率均具有正向的相关关系,但这种影响只具有短期的时间维度,并不存在两年及以上的相互作用。区域创新生态系统的对外开放会对产品创新阶段的创新效率产生负面影响,同时会促进知识创新阶段创新效率的提高。最后,在协调系统内部各生态位之间的发展关系时,应注重区域内经济发展水平对两个阶段创新效率的促进作用。