| 1. |
- Bagley, Mark, 1979, et al.
(author)
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The evolution of niche: variety in knowledge networks in the global music industry
- 2022
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In: Industry and Innovation. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1366-2716 .- 1469-8390. ; 29:3, s. 425-462
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)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
(author)
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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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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)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.
(author)
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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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In: Industrial and Corporate Change. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0960-6491 .- 1464-3650. ; 31:5, s. 1259-1284
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)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.
(author)
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Knowledge-Intensive Entrepreneurship and S3: Conceptualizing Strategies for Sustainability
- 2019
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In: 22nd Uddevalla Symposium 2019 Conference, L'Aquila Italy, June 27-29.
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Conference paper (other academic/artistic)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.
(author)
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Knowledge-Intensive Entrepreneurship and S3: Conceptualizing Strategies for Sustainability
- 2019
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In: Sustainability. - : MDPI AG. - 2071-1050. ; 11:28
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)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
(author)
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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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In: DRUID Academy 2015, January 21-23, Rebild, Aalborg, Denmark..
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)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.
(author)
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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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In: 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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Conference paper (other academic/artistic)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.
(author)
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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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In: 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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Book chapter (peer-reviewed)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.
(author)
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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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In: Innovation spaces in Asia entrepreneurs, multinational enterprises and policy edited by Maureen McKelvey, Sharmistha Bagchi-Sen. - : Edward Elgar Publishing. ; , s. 231-255
-
Book chapter (other academic/artistic)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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| 11. |
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| 12. |
- Gifford, Ethan, et al.
(author)
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The evolution of knowledge-intensive innovation ecosystems : co-evolving entrepreneurial activity and innovation policy in the West Swedish maritime system
- 2021
-
In: Industry and Innovation. - Abingdon : Informa UK Limited. - 1366-2716 .- 1469-8390. ; 28:5, s. 651-676
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This paper contributes insights into the debate concerning the emergence of innovation ecosystems. More specifically, we propose a knowledge-intensive innovation ecosystem. Building on prior research on collective action, innovation governance, and knowledge-intensive entrepreneurship, we elaborate on existing theory by presenting a conceptual framework to articulate why ecosystems require the combination of top-down exploration of policy alternatives by policymakers, together with bottom-up knowledge-intensive entrepreneurial activity in order to progress towards sustainable development. Through our case study of the Maritime Cluster of West Sweden, we propose that sustained incentives for knowledge-intensive innovative entrepreneurship, along with more experimentation and new forms of collaboration by policymakers in the Maritime Cluster, are needed in order for progress towards innovation-led sustainable development to occur. © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
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| 13. |
- Gifford, Ethan, et al.
(author)
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The evolution of knowledge-intensive innovation ecosystems: co-evolving entrepreneurial activity and innovation policy in the West Swedish maritime system
- 2022
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In: Innovation Policies and Practices within Innovation Ecosystems, Edited By Catherine Beaudry, Thierry Burger-Helmchen, Patrick Cohendet. - New York : Routledge. - 9781032246109
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Book chapter (peer-reviewed)abstract
- While intense efforts of clarification have been made to distinguish between the concept of system and ecosystem, and between the different forms of ecosystems, very few works have addressed the issues of how these different forms of ecosystems are interacting in a dynamic perspective, or of how the notion of a dynamic ecosystem could emerge from the static frame of a system approach. The five chapters in this volume precisely aim at adding to this literature by highlighting the interplay between different types of innovation systems. A common thread among the five chapters of the book is the recognition of the need to develop new lenses to formally account for adaptative behaviour within clusters, networks, or regional innovation systems using the ecosystem metaphor. The diversity and heterogeneity of agents, the complexity of relationships, and new forms of organisation (underground, middleground, and upperground) are the main characteristics of innovation ecosystems, in contrast to more traditional concepts like clusters or networks. In essence, the five chapters add various complexity dimensions (relationships, knowledge, systems, etc.) to the existing knowledge on ecosystems. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of the journal Industry and Innovation.
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| 14. |
- Gifford, Ethan, et al.
(author)
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The role of founder knowledge in the survival and growth of knowledge intensive new ventures
- 2018
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In: 17th International Joseph A. Schumpeter Society Conference: "Innovation, Catch-up, and Sustainable Development.
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Conference paper (other academic/artistic)abstract
- This paper examines the impacts of three types of founder and founder team knowledge on the survival and growth of knowledge-intensive new ventures: entrepreneurial, same-industry, and academic work knowledge. We utilize unique survey data of young, small European firms across sectors, which have been matched with data on subsequent firm performance. In terms of likelihood of survival, our results indicate the importance of previous entrepreneurial work knowledge and same-industry work knowledge. In terms of growth, our results using quantile regression indicate that both entrepreneurial work knowledge and academic work knowledge from previous work experience are positively associated with high growth rates, whereas results for same-industry work knowledge are mixed.
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| 15. |
- Gifford, Ethan
(author)
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Theory-driven methods for practical entrepreneurship: Hypothesis testing in entrepreneurship education
- 2021
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In: Industry and Higher Education. - : SAGE Publications. - 0950-4222 .- 2043-6858. ; 35:4, s. 497-504
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This account of practice focuses on an augmented Customer Development methodology which the author adopted for a module in a Master’s program in Entrepreneurship at a Swedish business school. The article details the techniques underlying this augmented methodology, and the journey toward its implementation. By conceptualizing “hypotheses” as testable statements linking together blocks of the Business Model Canvas, and “assumptions” as students’ assessments of the contents of each block at the outset of the process, the author provides a more pedagogical as well as a more scientifically and theoretically consistent model. Its effectiveness was assessed through discussing these changes with students who had recently taken the course prior to the author’s appointment as teacher. Adaptations such as this could provide an effective method for teachers who want to update an existing course, or who have recently been appointed to a new course focusing on practical aspects of entrepreneurship. Alternatively, it could help to inspire teachers who wish to augment course content to draw more on coherent theory building and good scientific practice, as are most often suited to Master’s level studies, but without radically altering the lesson plan, syllabus or reading material.
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| 16. |
- Gifford, Ethan, et al.
(author)
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To what extent do external sources of knowledge affect the innovative performance of knowledge intensive entrepreneurial firms? The effects of depth and breadth of openness on manufacturing and service innovations
- 2015
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In: DRUID Society conference 2015, Rome, June 15-17. ; 2015:2466
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This paper examines the effects of breadth and depth of external knowledge sourcing on the innovativeness of a specific classification of organization, the knowledge intensive entrepreneurial (KIE) firm. This type of firm has been observed as being critically important to growth and development in modern economies, yet how it uses external knowledge sources for innovation has received little direct attention in the literature. Using data from the EU?s recent AEGIS project, investigating knowledge intensive entrepreneurship in Europe covering just over 4000 entrepreneurial firms, this paper uses fractional logit models, as well as an OLS model based on alternating least squares optimal scaling (ALSOS), to estimate the relationship between breadth and depth of external knowledge sourcing and that of innovative performance of the KIE firm. We find that breadth is curvi-linearly related to innovative performance in KIE firms, but that depth, while related to innovativeness, does not assume this functional form. Additionally, a principal components analysis reveals that non-industry sources of knowledge in the form of state, national, or regional research-based or academic entities, as well as knowledge in the form of academic and trade publications, are statistically significant/relevant as external sources of knowledge for innovation in KIE firms. Industry sources of knowledge such as clients, customers, and supplier are statistically significant sources only for innovation in goods, not in terms of innovation in services, or novelty of innovations produced. Recommendations for future research and policy implications are provided based on these findings.
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| 17. |
- Gifford, Ethan, et al.
(author)
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Variety in founder experience and the performance of knowledge-intensive innovative firms
- 2021
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In: Journal of evolutionary economics. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0936-9937 .- 1432-1386. ; 31:2, s. 677-713
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This article contributes with an analysis of the specific linkages between knowledge, innovation and entrepreneurship for industrial dynamics, within the emerging literature upon knowledge-intensive innovative entrepreneurial (KIE) firms. We find a distinct variety in the usefulness of different types of founder experience (single or teams) in the performance of entrepreneurial firms. This variety affects selection in the economy, as measured by the performance of firms in a two-stage process – namely first by analyzing survival over time and then of high growth rates. We do so in order to consider averages/probabilities in the population using Cox regression as well as of the outliers, using quantile regression. We find that on one hand, founders having previously started firms or worked in the same industry are more likely to survive. On the other hand, very high-growth firms have founders who previously started firms or worked in universities. Combining different types of founder experience in KIE firms has a consistently positive relationship with performance both in terms of survival and of growth. Our interpretation is that the variety of founder experience affect selection processes and opportunity recognition in KIE firms and thereby fundamentally affect whether, and to what extent, entrepreneurial actions lead to industrial transformation.
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| 18. |
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| 19. |
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| 20. |
- Zaring, Olof, 1962, et al.
(author)
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Strategic choices in the design of entrepreneurship education: an explorative study of Swedish higher education institutions
- 2021
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In: Studies in Higher Education. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0307-5079 .- 1470-174X. ; 46:2, s. 343-358
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This article proposes a taxonomy of entrepreneurship education, with the aim of enhancing our understanding of how higher education contributes to society. Entrepreneurship education programs have become a prominent feature in the curricula of many universities and business schools. Often it is developed in parallel with national policy, as described for our empirical context of Sweden. We identify four types using broad principles in terms of four different key variables described within. To identify our proposed types, we perform a cluster analysis of all 37 universities with entrepreneurship educations in one country. Previous literature provides mixed evidence about entrepreneurship programs’ effect on the likelihood of alumni starting a business afterwards. Our contribution is to specify this taxonomy through broad principles, leading to interesting questions about the competing goals between theory and practice in learning outcomes. We conclude with suggested directions for future research and implications for higher education policy.
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| 21. |
- Zaring, Olof, 1962, et al.
(author)
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Strategic choices in the design of entrepreneurship education: an explorative study of Swedish higher education institutions
- 2019
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In: Academy of Management. Annual Meeting Proceedings. - 2151-6561.
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This article proposes a taxonomy of entrepreneurship education, with the aim of en-hancing our understanding of how higher education contributes to society. Entrepreneurship edu-cation programs have become a prominent feature in the curricula of many universities and busi-ness schools. Often it is developed in parallel with national policy, as described for our empirical context of Sweden. We identify four types using broad principles in terms of four different key variables described within. To identify our proposed types, we perform a cluster analysis of all 37 universities with entrepreneurship educations in one country. Previous literature provides mixed evidence about entrepreneurship programs’ effect on the likelihood of alumni starting a business afterwards. Our contribution is to specify this taxonomy through broad principles, leading to in-teresting questions about the competing goals between theory and practice in learning outcomes. We conclude with suggested directions for future research and implications for higher education policy.
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| 22. |
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