The governance of entrepreneurial ecosystems Colombo, Massimo G.; Dagnino, Giovanni Battista; Lehmann, Erik E. ...
Small business economics,
02/2019, Volume:
52, Issue:
2
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
The “entrepreneurial ecosystem” metaphor is capturing attention in academia, industry, and government. The entrepreneurial ecosystem approach is used in corporate, national, or local contexts, and ...has grown in prominence given the vital need to transform economies around the creation of innovative ideas, products, services, and technologies. Entrepreneurial ecosystems involve a network, a system, of interactions of individuals and organizations, like financial intermediaries, universities and research institutions, suppliers and customers, multinational companies, or the government. The entrepreneurial ecosystem literature has thus mainly focused on identifying the relevant stakeholders like entrepreneurial firms and entrepreneurs and how they interact with other stakeholders within a more or less defined system. Despite the popularity of the entrepreneurial ecosystem approach, the literature has almost overlooked and largely ignored the governance of entrepreneurial ecosystems. This special Issue of Small Business Economics critically examines issues concerning the governance of entrepreneurial ecosystems.
This study examined the impact of collaboration in agri-food supply chains on firm performance and the moderating role of scale constraints and firm strategy. Collaboration was measured by three ...constructs: horizontal collaboration, vertical collaboration, and customer engagement and SME performance with three variables: growth, value for money and innovativeness. Two strategies were evaluated: price strategy and quality strategy. Three types of scale constraints were assessed: financial, efficiency, and innovation. A survey of 504 agri-SMEs was conducted to test the research hypotheses developed according to the resource based view. Data analysis included a moderated hierarchical analysis. The results show that supply chain collaboration impacts positively on agri-SME performance, whilst it is partially accepted that scale constraints moderate the supply chain collaboration-SME performance relationship. The findings show that SME strategy moderates the supply chain collaboration-SME performance relationship. This study provides evidence that agri-SMEs can strategize their supply chain collaborations by removing scale constraints. When supply chain collaborations help SMEs to overcome financial, efficiency or innovation constraints, then SMEs' performance improves. Second, this study contributes to the understanding of dynamic capabilities in SMEs using the extended resource based view, which has been overlooked by prior studies.
In this paper, we consider a two-period model where individual investors supply funds to entrepreneurs either indirectly, through a financial intermediary, or directly, using equity crowdfunding. The ...entrepreneurs vary in terms of the quality of their business projects and ex ante, both the investors and intermediaries are imperfectly informed about their types. The main trade off between the two forms of investment is that crowdfunding is assumed to involve lower costs and higher risk relative to how intermediaries invest their funds. Given this framework, we study investor behavior and find that at intermediate levels of risk for the crowdfunding investment, investors elect to utilize both crowdfunding and financial intermediation in equilibrium. Furthermore, we find that when transaction costs of investment are high, as can be the case with opaque types of small business ventures, this increases the incidence of crowdfunding as the optimal form of investment.
Plain English Summary
In a market where risky entrepreneurs are seeking external funds, crowdfunding and financial intermediation can be compatible methods of investment. Using a model where investors can finance entrepreneurs using either crowdfunding or an intermediary, we find that in some cases investors will prefer to utilize both methods. The availability of the two types of funding depends critically on how much risk new investors face when trying crowdfunding for the first time. The implication of this study is that investors will most benefit when they have access to both risky crowdfunding investment opportunities as well as the safer returns provided by financial intermediaries.
We investigate the impact of information and communication technologies (ICT) on local branch managers’ (LBMs) autonomy in small business lending. Using a unique dataset of nearly 300 Italian banks, ...we show that banks holding more ICT capital delegate more decision-making power to their LBMs. Evidence from a variety of identification strategies suggests that our results are not driven by unobserved heterogeneity. We also find that the positive effect of ICT on delegation is stronger for banks resorting more to soft information (i.e. those specialized in small business lending and with a longer permanence of LBMs in the same branch).
The dramatic expansion of scholarly interest and activity in the field of women's entrepreneurship within recent years has done much to correct the historical inattention paid to female entrepreneurs ...and their initiatives. Yet, as the field continues to develop and mature, there are increasingly strong calls for scholars to take their research in new directions. Within this introduction to the special issue, we expand upon the reasons for this call, describe who responded, and summarize the new frontiers explored within the work appearing in this and another related collection. We conclude by delineating new territories for researchers to explore, arguing that such endeavors will join those in this volume in not only addressing the criticisms raised to date, but also in generating a richer and more robust understanding of women's entrepreneurship.
•The paper provides a taxonomy of KM-Tools and KM-Practices used by SMEs.•SMEs use more intensively traditional KM-Tools rather than new and more updated ones.•SMEs seek to adapt practices they ...already know to the requirements of knowledge management.•The paper shows that there is a relationship of reciprocity between KM-Tools and KM-Practices.•The paper proposes a taxonomy bringing together SME strategies for using KMSs.
The paper aims to highlight the degree of diffusion and the intensity of use of knowledge management systems (KMSs) among small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and to propose a taxonomy that synthesises the strategies of using KMSs on the part of SMEs. Starting from a literature review on KMSs used by SMEs and from a focus group with consultants/researchers operating in the field of information technology in SMEs, an empirical investigation was designed, developed and conducted through semi-structured interviews involving 61 selected SMEs operating in high tech industries. The paper highlights three main issues regarding the use of KMSs. Firstly, SMEs adopt and use more intensively traditional tools (KM-Tools) rather than new and more updated ones that are generally cheaper and easier to use. Secondly, SMEs adopt and make more intensive use of practices (KM-Practices) that do not exclusively focus on the knowledge management process, but seek to adapt practices they already know to the requirements of knowledge management. Finally, the paper points out that there is a relationship of reciprocity between KM-Tools and KM-Practices: one reinforces the other and vice versa. The paper proposes a taxonomy bringing together SME strategies for using KMSs. Specifically, four strategies are identified: guidepost, explorer, exploiter, and latecomer.
Purpose
Industry 4.0 is expected to significantly transform industrial value creation. However, research on business models affected through Industry 4.0, and on small- and medium-sized enterprises ...(SMEs), remains scarce. In response, the purpose of this paper is to address both aspects, further elaborating on the role that SMEs can take toward Industry 4.0 as provider or user.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper used an exploratory research design based on 43 in-depth expert interviews within the three most important German industry sectors, mechanical and plant engineering, electrical engineering and automotive suppliers. Interviews were conducted with leading personnel of the respective enterprises, including 22 CEOs. They assign business model implications through Industry 4.0, referring to the Business Model Canvas, while the paper delineates between Industry 4.0 providers and users.
Findings
The paper finds that key resources and value proposition are among the most affected elements of the business model, whereas channels are the least affected. Furthermore, distinct characteristics between Industry 4.0 providers and users can be delineated. In general, Industry 4.0 providers’ business models are significantly more affected than users, except for key partners and customer relationships.
Research limitations/implications
Industry 4.0 remains at its early stages of implementation. As a result, many interviewees’ answers remain at a rather general level.
Practical implications
Strategies for the further alignment of the business models are provided for Industry 4.0 providers and users.
Originality/value
The paper is among the few that investigate Industry 4.0 in the context of SMEs and business models.
The current coronavirus pandemic is an unprecedented public health challenge that is having a devastating economic impact on households. Using a sample of 230,540 respondents to an online survey from ...17 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, the study shows that the economic impacts are large and unequal: 45 percent of respondents report that a household member has lost their job and, among households owning small businesses, 59 percent of respondents report that a household member has closed their business. Among households with the lowest income prior to the pandemic, 71 percent report that a household member lost their job and 61 percent report that a household member has closed their business. Declines in food security and health are among the disproportionate impacts. The findings provide evidence that the current public health crisis will exacerbate economic inequality and provides some of the first estimates of the impact of the pandemic on the labor market and well-being in developing countries.
An optimal pace of business dynamics—encompassing the processes of entry, exit, expansion, and contraction—would balance the benefits of productivity and economic growth against the costs to firms ...and workers associated with reallocation of productive resources. It is difficult to prescribe what the optimal pace should be, but evidence accumulating from multiple datasets and methodologies suggests that the rate of business startups and the pace of employment dynamism in the US economy has fallen over recent decades and that this downward trend accelerated after 2000. A critical factor in accounting for the decline in business dynamics is a lower rate of business startups and the related decreasing role of dynamic young businesses in the economy. For example, the share of US employment accounted for by young firms has declined by almost 30 percent over the last 30 years. These trends suggest that incentives for entrepreneurs to start new firms in the United States have diminished over time. We do not identify all the factors underlying these trends in this paper but offer some clues based on the empirical patterns for specific sectors and geographic regions.
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