| 1. |
- Bagley, Mark, 1979, et al.
(författare)
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The evolution of niche: variety in knowledge networks in the global music industry
- 2022
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Ingår i: Industry and Innovation. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1366-2716 .- 1469-8390. ; 29:3, s. 425-462
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper examines the evolution of niches in creative industries, specifically the music industry. We conceptualise niche evolution as a manifestation of Schumpeterian disruption, and the music scene as a representation of a creative niche. Through mixed methods, we analyse niche evolution in collaboration networks over sixty years. We show that niche evolution exhibits recombination and reinforcement of new ideas, and propose that niche emergence and evolution in the music industry can be categorised as following three different pathways: seed fragmentation networks with early recombination and intermediate-stage reinforcement, often resulting from break-ups of highly influential bands; creative horizontal networks with intermediate-stage recombination and reinforcement, consisting of tightly knit communities with delayed commercial breakthroughs; and artist experimentation networks with late recombination and reinforcement, consisting of small niches of sub-genre innovations. This paper opens up new research directions for niche evolution, which can advance understanding of knowledge-intensive innovation ecosystems in other sectors.
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| 2. |
- Gifford, Ethan
(författare)
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Exploring Knowledge Intensity in Entrepreneurship: A Quantitative Study of Knowledge, Innovation and Performance in Entrepreneurial Firms
- 2017
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This Ph.D. dissertation investigates the statistical and theoretical relationships between different dimensions of knowledge intensive entrepreneurship (KIE) in Europe and how knowledge intensity and performance in entrepreneurial firms can be related. KIE is modeled as an application of resource-based theory, connecting pre-entry inputs like education and experience to external search activities to innovativeness and firm financial performance, growth, and survival. The data used was collected during a wide-scale EU financed framework project (FP7 - AEGIS), combined with additional panel-based firm level data gathered by the author, in order to investigate knowledge intensity, innovation, and performance in entrepreneurial firms: Moreover, the thesis explores how these concepts might be defined and modeled. Confirmed results indicate: Positive associations between depth of external search with innovative performance and a partial inverse curvilinear association between breadth of external search and innovative performance; Positive yet inversely curvilinear associations between the beneficial aspects of functional heterogeneity (or, knowledge scope) of the founding team with that of financial performance and survival, and negative linear associations between detrimental aspects of functional heterogeneity (or, knowledge disparity) of the founding team with the same response variables; Finally, positive associations were identified between the radicalness of innovations produced both with that of financial performance over time, and with the likelihood of firm survival. Conclusions use these results to reflect on broader relationships between knowledge intensity, innovation and performance in entrepreneurial firms. Recommendations for future research include more advanced modeling of complex latent factors constituting different forms of internal and external knowledge intensity, innovativeness, and performance on the part of entrepreneurial firms. Furthermore, drawing more extensively on existing tools such as resource-based theory may prove more enlightening than constructing new concepts and typologies to explain knowledge intensive entrepreneurship in new light, and policy wishing to promote knowledge intensive entrepreneurship may find it beneficial to focus on the educational and experiential underpinnings of creating such firms in diverse industries including low- and medium-technology industries as well as different types of services.
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| 3. |
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| 4. |
- Gifford, Ethan, et al.
(författare)
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Innovating in knowledge-intensive entrepreneurial firms: exploring the effects of a variety of internal and external knowledge sources on goods and service innovations
- 2022
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Ingår i: Industrial and Corporate Change. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0960-6491 .- 1464-3650. ; 31:5, s. 1259-1284
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Although knowledge-intensive entrepreneurial firms experiencing high growth and generating innovations are widely acknowledged as important for economic growth, surprisingly little is known about how such firms achieve and maintain a high level of knowledge intensity through which to innovate. Our article further develops the concept of knowledge intensity by proposing that it is augmented by external and internal search activities carried out by the entrepreneurial firm and analyzes how these activities affect innovation performance. We use principal component analysis to derive formal and informal search channels from summated rating scales—measuring reliance on internal and external sources of knowledge—and then use fractional logit regression to explore how these channels relate to a firm’s innovative performance, i.e., the share of innovative goods and services sold. We find that searching via informal channels, and formal channels toward scientific and technological knowledge, improves innovation performance of both goods and services, while searching via formal channels toward market knowledge positively affects only innovative goods. Overall, informal channels matter more than formal channels. Lastly, we find substitution rather than complementarity effects between external and internal search channels in their effect on innovation performance in both goods and services. Thus, we interpret that building up knowledge intensity per se through search matters more for innovation performance than whether search is internally or externally focused. Our work contributes to the growing literature on knowledge-intensive entrepreneurship, to the related literature on new technology-based firms and young innovative firms, and to the general understanding of knowledge intensity at the firm level.
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| 5. |
- Gifford, Ethan, et al.
(författare)
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Knowledge-Intensive Entrepreneurship and S3: Conceptualizing Strategies for Sustainability
- 2019
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Ingår i: 22nd Uddevalla Symposium 2019 Conference, L'Aquila Italy, June 27-29.
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The aim with this paper is to enrich the theory and practice of smart specialization strategies (S3) by integrating the conceptualization of knowledge-intensive entrepreneurship (KIE) to the discourse on S3, and illustrating how this integration can be beneficial to fulfillment or furthering of specific sustainable development goals. For this purpose, we derive a conceptual model based on previous research on governance routines involving knowledge-intensive entrepreneurship by linking to previous research on KIE, as well as through an illustrative case example using the Swedish maritime cluster. We end by proposing three different strategic roles for the KIE firm to enhance S3 and sustainability-related outcomes.
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| 6. |
- Gifford, Ethan, et al.
(författare)
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Knowledge-Intensive Entrepreneurship and S3: Conceptualizing Strategies for Sustainability
- 2019
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Ingår i: Sustainability. - : MDPI AG. - 2071-1050. ; 11:28
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Smart specialization strategies represent public policy initiatives to develop regions based on new combinations of knowledge and industries. The aim of this article is to enrich the theory and practice of smart specialization strategies (S3) by integrating the conceptualization of knowledge-intensive entrepreneurship (KIE). We propose that knowledge-intensive entrepreneurship is necessary in order to specify how public and private support of KIE firms can be beneficial to develop new knowledge relevant to the fulfillment of specific sustainable development goals. We did so by further developing a conceptual model of innovation governance routines by integrating sustainability goals. We also illustrated our conceptual model through two case studies from the Swedish maritime cluster. By extrapolating from the combination of the conceptual model and two case studies, we make three propositions about the different strategic roles that KIE firms can play within a broader S3 policy setting, and in such a way as to promote sustainability-related outcomes
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| 7. |
- Gifford, Ethan
(författare)
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Openness and innovation in new small and micro firms - Exploring the external search processes of entrepreneurial ventures
- 2015
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Ingår i: DRUID Academy 2015, January 21-23, Rebild, Aalborg, Denmark..
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The notion of how firms use external search to achieve innovation is a long running, and continuously debated, topic in current innovation and entrepreneurship studies (Laursen, 2012). Additionally, studies relating firm openness and external search processes to innovativeness have proliferated in recent years (Dahlander and Gann, 2010). OECD (2008) has argued that small and micro firms are some of the most important firms driving these economic growth and industrial change. However, few studies address the relationship between innovativeness and openness among entrepreneurial small- and micro-firms (Forsman and Rantanen, 2011). An increased understanding is needed about how and why such firms are able to utilize, assimilate, and internalize external resources related to knowledge in order to innovate. This paper analyzes the innovative performance of entrepreneurial small and micro (ESM) firms by utilizing an established concept of openness using breadth and depth of external search (Laursen and Salter, 2006).This paper can thus contribute to our theoretical and empirical understanding openness and innovative performance of these firms, an underrepresented population in terms of innovation surveys and theory, which has been mainly focused on medium to large manufacturing firms. While openness has had documented positive impacts on new small and micro firm performance (de Jong and Marsili, 2006), small and micro firms also face steep challenges when attempting to use networks to increase their competitiveness (Forsman, 2009). Thus, a firm relying on too many external sources of knowledge may experience diminishing returns from excessive additional sources. This paper tests the hypotheses that ESM firms in both goods and service-oriented sectors will experience a curvi-linear relationship between openness and innovative performance. As found for larger manufacturing firms (Laursen and Salter, 2006), innovative performance should be positively related to wide breadth and extensive depth of external search. Additionally, this paper argues that the more open the firm, the higher will be the degree of novelty, or radicalness, of innovations produced. There is evidence that new small and micro firms are often rather lacking in their experience and resources to properly innovate and commercialize invention drawing on external knowledge sources, and that resource scarcity of firms can trigger increased propensity towards exploratory activities and a recombining of internal and external firm resources (Lee et al., 2010; Keupp and Gassmann, 2013). The paper is based on empirical data from the EU sponsored AEGIS projects recent survey of 4004 entrepreneurial small and micro firms in Europe in diverse sectors. The paper employs Tobit, as well as alternating least squares optimal scaling, regression to estimate the effect of breadth and depth of external search (representing openness) on the latent dependent variable innovative performance, as represented by 3 dependent variables. This is followed by a principle component analysis, with all 3 models repeated with relevant components as independent variables, serving to further disambiguate the effect of the depth construct. Regarding breadth of search, our hypotheses are confirmed. But, the depth variable is composed of 3 main components that seem to represent different categories of external knowledge sources, each with differing relationships to the innovative performance. Some results are statistically significant while others are not; possible explanations are listed in the conclusion. More research into the effect of depths principal components: Industry sources in the form of business and operations-based relationships; Non-industry sources mainly related to state, national or regional research-based (or academic) entities; And, sources stemming from non-collaborative public knowledge in academic and other research publishing communities, and their effects on innovative performance, is recommended.
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| 8. |
- Gifford, Ethan, et al.
(författare)
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Search and Innovation in Knowledge Intensive Entrepreneurial Firms: Exploring the relationship between external knowledge sources and goods and services innovation
- 2017
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Ingår i: Presentation at conference "Knowledge and Universities: Impact on science, industry and policy", IIE, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden, 11-13 September 2017.
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This paper addresses knowledge intensive entrepreneurial ventures (KIEs) and how they utilize external search in order to obtain new knowledge, and in turn, if this helps their innovative performance. The analysis is based on a large scale database in Europe. Our results show that the breadth of search is curvilinear (taking an inverted U-shape) related to innovation, a result which reinforces existing literature. However, the depth of search is linearly related to innovation. Moreover, we find that service innovation is not significantly associated with business and operations-based knowledge, but instead with scientific and technological knowledge.
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| 9. |
- Gifford, Ethan, et al.
(författare)
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Tapping into Western Technologies by Chinese Multinational Enterprises: Geely purchase of Volvo Cars and Huawei hiring of Ericsson employees in Sweden
- 2015
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Ingår i: Innovation spaces in Asia entrepreneurs, multinational enterprises and policy edited by Maureen McKelvey, Sharmistha Bagchi-Sen. - Cheltenham, U.K. : Edward Elgar Publishers. - 9781783475674 ; , s. 231-255
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Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This chapter focuses on how firms from emerging markets can access, and tap into, relevant external knowledge for innovation in Western countries, and thereby stimulate flows within new innovation spaces across countries.. This chapter focuses on China and Sweden, and more specifically on companies in the automobile and telecommunication industries. Chinese companies are increasingly moving abroad to access both advanced technologies and new markets. The chapter presents two case studies of Chinese firms moving into Sweden, including Geely’s purchase of Volvo Car Corporation in the automotive industry and Huawei’s hiring of Ericsson’s previous employees in the telecommunication industry. The cases represent two mechanisms for accessing scientific and technological resource, namely foreign acquisition and employment of key individuals from competitors through the establishment of R&D labs.
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| 10. |
- Gifford, Ethan, et al.
(författare)
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Tapping into western technologies by Chinese multinationals: Geely's purchase of Volvo Cars and Huawei hiring of Ericsson employees in Sweden
- 2015
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Ingår i: Innovation spaces in Asia entrepreneurs, multinational enterprises and policy edited by Maureen McKelvey, Sharmistha Bagchi-Sen. - : Edward Elgar Publishing. ; , s. 231-255
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Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This chapter focuses on how firms from emerging markets can access, and tap into, relevant external knowledge for innovation in Western countries, and thereby stimulate flows within new innovation spaces across countries.. This chapter focuses on China and Sweden, and more specifically on companies in the automobile and telecommunication industries. Chinese companies are increasingly moving abroad to access both advanced technologies and new markets. The chapter presents two case studies of Chinese firms moving into Sweden, including Geely’s purchase of Volvo Car Corporation in the automotive industry and Huawei’s hiring of Ericsson’s previous employees in the telecommunication industry. The cases represent two mechanisms for accessing scientific and technological resource, namely foreign acquisition and employment of key individuals from competitors through the establishment of R&D labs.
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