Effectual logic of international entrepreneurs in digital platform environments

Due to globalization and the ongoing transformation towards a highly digitalized environment, international new ventures increasingly face dynamic and rapidly changing ecosystems. Resultingly international entrepreneurs are in close contact with dynamic digital platform constructs that impact today’s B2B and B2C markets on many levels. International entrepreneurs encounter uncertainty and an unpredictably fast changing future in this network- based environment, but at the same time explore novelty and a wide range of opportunities. This thesis aims to explore how the international entrepreneur’s decision-making, concretely under the perspective of effectual logic, is abled to navigate through the dynamic nature of fast changing digital platform environments. The theoretical framework of this thesis builds upon a wide range of literature discussing effectuation, digital platforms and their shared conjunction in the international context. Effectuation and digital platforming are concepts that emerged within the last 30 years and showed a significant increase in relevance as today’s globalized and digitalized economy facilitates their growth and interplay. The concepts have been discussed increasingly over the last years, while the conjunction of effectual decision making by international entrepreneurs in digital platform environments has not been discussed sufficiently. In order to observe the resulting interplay, this master’s thesis carries out a qualitative study that observed three German based international new ventures through semi structured interviews. While observing international entrepreneurs in dynamic platform environments, factors such as agility, dynamism and reactiveness seem to play a huge role in the effectual decision-making process. Big tech platforms, in conjunction with the innovative power by small high-tech companies, create an unpredictably fast changing environment that is globally connected and forces international entrepreneurs to consistently adapt their assumptions about the future. Opportunities and solutions to start new ventures are largely enabled by big tech platforms, while competition between entrepreneurs is also accelerated. The resulting environment of an interconnected digital platform - INV ecosystem - brings a wide range of novelty, innovation as well as dependency that selects only the fittest and most agile companies

Developing entrepreneurial ecosystems - Characteristics and challenges for entrepreneurship policy

Entrepreneurship is generally recognized as a source of economic growth. Recently entrepreneurship research has shifted its focus from entrepreneurs and firms, towards the development of entrepreneurial ecosystems (EE). This emerging concept merits growing attention from academics and policymakers to the point of representing a leading drift in entrepreneurship policy and development strategies of numerous countries and regions. As well as capturing the attention of a growing number of scholars, from which emerges an appealing and fast-growing body of literature. However, the study of EE is recent, undertheorized, and fragmented. Gaps in this body of literature suggest there is a need to extend EE research and develop solid and coherent theoretical frameworks, particularly in what concerns to the effects of entrepreneurship policies. Policy and entrepreneurship are symbiotically interconnected, where research plays an important role in providing policymakers valuable insights. Without adequate theoretical foundations to guide its formulation, policies risk being ineffective and even hinder the development of EEs. This research is motivated by calls for the development of policy related research, regarding the development of EEs, and aims to provide a clearer view of the characteristics, formulation options and implementation process of these policies. This research followed a multi-method approach. Beginning with an analysis of six EE qualitative studies from different countries, to extract the characteristics of effective EE policies (EEP). The second part of the research departs from extant literature to identify the parameters for EEP formulation and provide a conceptual framework to guide its formulation. The third part addresses the process of EEP formulation and implementation, extending the use of effectuation theory to provide an improved model supported by empirical illustrations of policies evidencing effectual characteristics. The fourth part includes the analysis of the impact of digital technology in the development of EEs by using the concept of affordances; DESENVOLVIMENTO DE ECOSSISTEMAS DE EMPREENDEDORISMO – CARACTERÍSTICAS E DESAFIOS PARA AS POLÍTICAS DE EMPREENDEDORISMO Resumo: O empreendedorismo é globalmente reconhecido como uma fonte de crescimento económico. Recentemente, a investigação na área do empreendedorismo transferiu o seu foco dos empreendedores e empresas para o desenvolvimento de ecossistemas empreendedores (EE). Este conceito emergente desperta uma atenção crescente de académicos e policymakers, representando uma tendência dominante na política de empreendedorismo e nas estratégias de desenvolvimento de vários países e regiões. Simultaneamente tem captado a atenção de um número crescente de académicos, gerando uma literatura cativante e em rápido crescimento. No entanto, o estudo dos EE é recente, pouco teorizado e fragmentado. As lacunas nesta literatura sugerem a necessidade de alargar a investigação e desenvolver fundamentos teóricos sólidos e coerentes, especialmente quanto aos efeitos das políticas de empreendedorismo. Política e empreendedorismo estão simbioticamente interligados, promover mais investigação é fundamental para desenvolver conhecimento relevante para os policymakers. Sem fundamentos teóricos adequados para orientar a formulação de políticas, estas arriscam ser ineficazes e até prejudicar o desenvolvimento dos EEs. A investigação produzida nesta tese é motivada por sucessivos apelos ao desenvolvimento de pesquisa relacionada com políticas de desenvolvimento de EEs (EEP) e visa fornecer uma visão mais clara das suas características, opções de formulação e processo de implementação. Esta investigação seguiu uma abordagem multi-método. Começando com uma análise de seis estudos qualitativos de diferentes países, a qual permitiu extrair características de EEPs eficazes. A segunda parte partiu da literatura existente, identificando parâmetros para a formulação das EEP e desenvolver uma estrutura conceptual para a sua formulação. A terceira parte, aborda o processo de formulação e implementação de políticas, recorrendo à teoria da effectuation desenvolvendo um modelo melhorado para as EEP, apoiado por ilustrações empíricas de EEP com características effectual. Por fim, na quarta parte é analisado o impacto da tecnologia digital no desenvolvimento de EEs, utilizando o conceito de affordances

Mobile Social Media as a Strategic Capability: Expanding Opportunties Social Media Has to Offer to B2B Firms

Mobile social media (MSM), an interaction, exchange of information and creation of user-generated content, mediated by mobile devices is becoming the locomotive that drives forward evolution of online world. So far, limited number of academic studies touched upon the MSM subject with all the papers being of conceptual nature. No empirical evidence is available to prove whether and how firms utilise MSM for their best advantage. This paper addresses this gap by employing the grounded theory approach (GT) to analyse interviews conducted in twenty-six B2B firms. This study found that eighteen firms use mobile technology primarily as a platform to access social media sites, understand canons of MSM consumption and utilise MSM as a strategic capability to reinforce the strategic position of a firm. Our data illustrates that the MSM strategic capability includes four main activities: (1) market sensing; (2) managing relationships; (3) branding and (4) developing content. These activities can results in the decreased research and development spendings without sacrificing innovativeness because MSM is a valuable source of information about the market and a source of ideas for new products/services. In practical terms firms can examine MSM activities and decide whether there is an opportunity to utilise MSM advantageously

Social Media Usage and Entrepreneurial Opportunity Recognition Among Internationalising SMEs

The study explores the decision-making logics driving the usage of social media among internationalising small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and how it supports entrepreneurial opportunity recognition. The author draws on qualitative data from four internationalising firms all of which had adopted social media. The findings show that causal decision-making logic is the main element driving the initial usage of social media (i.e. pre-adoption). Concerning ongoing usage, the author found evidence of both causal and effectual logic; the choice being dependent on the firm’s resources. The findings also show that both drivers of social media users have a paramount role in entrepreneurial opportunity recognition.©2023 Emerald Publishing Limited. This manuscript version is made available under the Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY–NC 4.0) license, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed

Militant Democracy Comes to the Metaverse

Social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Parlor are an increasingly central part of the democratic public sphere in the United States. But the prevailing view of this platform-based public sphere has of late become increasingly dour and pessimistic. What were once seen as technologies of liberation have come to be viewed with skepticism as channels and amplifiers of “antisystemic” forces, damaging the quality and feasibility of democracies. If correct, this skepticism yields an interesting tension: How can the state protect its democratic character against unravelling pressure from actors who are necessary components of democratic practice in the first place? What happens, that is, when the private infrastructure of democracy is turned against the project of collective self-rule? Of course, this is not the first time that a private actor understood to be a necessary component of the democratic system has turned out to be a threat to the quality of democracy itself. The paradox of regulating private actors qua threats to democracy, indeed, has been both recognized and theorized in relation to parties of the extreme left and extreme right in postwar Europe. The principal theoretical lens through which those earlier challenges were analyzed traveled under the label of “militant democracy,” a term coined by the émigré German political scientist Karl Loewenstein. The midcentury militant democracy debate, I suggest in this essay, offers an alternative way of evaluating the problem of digital platforms—now Facebook, tomorrow the Metaverse—and democracy. Because this debate unfolded outside the scope of the First Amendment, it starts from different premises and provides an opportunity for considering digital platforms’ role in a democracy from a novel perspective. Of course, it’s not possible to generate in some mechanical way a laundry list of effectual interventions today from yesterday’s experience with anti-systemic parties. But I suggest that the midcentury debate on militant democracy can illuminate by suggesting questions and issues that are marginal or ignored within First Amendment discourse. I conclude the essay with five ‘lessons’ from that earlier debate

An Inquiry Regarding the Development of an Effectual Architecture Framework Supporting Next Generation 9-1-1

The emergency 9-1-1 service is a vital part of our nation â„¢s emergency response and disaster preparedness systems. At last count there were 6100 Public Safety Answering Points across the United States, 97 of those reside in the State of Colorado, and the citizens of the United States cannot email, text, or instant message these types of non-traditional communication to those Public Safety Answering Points due to technological limitations. The trends in personal communication technologies are accelerating the obsolescence of the current 9-1-1 systems. The Public Safety Answering Point of today is designed to accept and process voice media only; and proved successful in delivering emergency services in times of personal, regional, and national need. The current circuit-switched infrastructure of the 9-1-1 Public Safety Answering Point network cannot receive digital data (e.g., text messages, email, photographs, and video) from the communication devices commonly used by the public today. A national movement known as Next Generation 9-1-1 is underway that will support non-traditional communication digital data processing in the Public Safety Answering Point. This case study will attempt to determine if practical service oriented architecture methodology can be used in the development of an effectual architecture framework supporting the Next Generation 9-1-1framework and the nontraditional communication technology within the Public Safety Answering Points of Colorado

Mechanisms Driving Digital New Venture Creation & Performance: An Insider Action Research Study of Pure Digital Entrepreneurship in EdTech

Digitisation has ushered in a new era of value creation where cross border data flows generate more economic value than traditional flows of goods. The powerful new combination of digital and traditional forms of innovation has seen several new industries branded with a ‘tech’ suffix. In the education technology sector (EdTech), which is the industry context of this research, digitisation is driving double-digit growth into a projected $240 billion industry by 2021. Yet, despite its contemporary significance, the field of entrepreneurship has paid little attention to the phenomenon of digital entrepreneurship. As several scholars observe, digitisation challenges core organising axioms of entrepreneurship, with significant implications for the new venture creation process in new sectors such as EdTech. New venture creation no longer appears to follow discrete and linear models of innovation, as spatial and temporal boundaries get compressed. Given the paradigmatic shift, this study investigates three interrelated themes. Firstly, it seeks to determine how a Pure Digital Entrepreneurship (PDE) process develops over time; and more importantly, how the journey challenges extant assumptions of the entrepreneurial process. Secondly, it strives to identify and theorise the deep structures which underlie the PDE process through mechanism-based explanations. Consequently, the study also seeks to determine the causal pathways and enablers which overtly or covertly interrelate to power new venture emergence and performance. Thirdly, it aims to offer practical guidelines for nurturing the growth of PDE ventures, and for the development of supportive ecosystems. To meet the stated objectives, this study utilises an Insider Action Research (IAR) approach to inquiry, which incorporates reflective practice, collaborative inquiry and design research for third-person knowledge production. This three-pronged approach to inquiry allows for the enactment of a PDE journey in real-time, while acquiring a holistic narrative in the ‘swampy lowlands’ of new venture creation. The findings indicate that the PDE process is differentiated by the centrality of digital artifacts in new venture ideas, which in turn result in less-bounded processes that deliver temporal efficiencies – hence, the shorter new venture creation processes than in traditional forms of entrepreneurship. Further, PDE action is defined by two interrelated events – digital product development and digital growth marketing. These events are characterised by the constant forking, merging and termination of diverse activities. Secondly, concurrent enactment and piecemeal co-creation were found to be consequential mechanisms driving temporal efficiencies in digital product development. Meanwhile, data-driven operation and flexibility combine in digital growth marketing, to form higher order mechanisms which considerably reduce the levels of task-specific and outcome uncertainties. Finally, the study finds that digital growth marketing is differentiated from traditional marketing by the critical role of algorithmic agencies in their capacity as gatekeepers. Thus, unlike traditional marketing, which emphasises customer sovereignty, digital growth marketing involves a dual focus on the needs of human and algorithmic stakeholders. Based on the findings, this research develops a pragmatic model of pure digital new venture creation and suggests critical policy guidelines for nurturing the growth of PDE ventures and ecosystems

Militant Democracy Comes to the Metaverse?

Social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Parlor are an increasingly central part of the democratic public sphere in the United States. But the prevailing view of this ensuing platform-based public sphere has lately become increasingly sour and pessimistic. What were once seen as technologies of liberation have come to be viewed with skepticism. They are now perceived as channels and amplifiers of “antisystemic” forces, damaging the quality and feasibility of democracies. If it is justified, this skepticism yields a difficult tension: How can the state protect its democratic character against unravelling pressure from actors who are usually understood as necessary components of democratic practice? What happens, that is, when the private infrastructure of democracy is turned against the project of collective self-rule? Of course, this is not the first time that a private actor understood to be a necessary component of the democratic system has turned out to pose a potential threat to the quality of democracy itself. The paradox of regulating private actors qua threats to democracy has been both recognized and theorized in relation to parties of the extreme left and extreme right in postwar Europe. The principal theoretical lens through which those earlier challenges were analyzed went under the name of “militant democracy,” a term coined by the émigré German political scientist Karl Loewenstein. The midcentury militant democracy debate, this Article suggests, offers an alternative frame for evaluating the problem of digital platforms—now Facebook, tomorrow the Metaverse—and democracy. Because this debate unfolded outside the scope of the First Amendment, it starts from different premises and provides an opportunity for considering digital platforms’ role in a democracy from a novel perspective. Of course, it is not possible to generate in some mechanical way a laundry list of effectual interventions today from yesterday’s experience with anti-systemic parties. But this Article suggests that the midcentury debate on militant democracy can illuminate by suggesting questions and issues that are marginal or ignored within First Amendment discourse. This Article concludes with five such “lessons” from that earlier debate

How open innovation strategy and effectuation within platform ecosystem can foster innovation performance: Evidence from digital multi-sided platform startups

This article explores how effectuation approaches – entrepreneurial action that deals with a set of means as given and focuses on selecting between possible effects that can be created with that set of means – contribute to digital Multi-Sided Platform (MSP) startups significant growth. The study integrates effectuation theory with an open innovation strategy within the platform ecosystem to understand the innovation process under resource constraint, limited knowledge, and uncertainty. Our inductive multiple-case study findings from three leading digital MSP startups show how their founding team uses the knowledge, ideas, and resources from external parties within the platform ecosystem, including agents, user communities, and supporting partner firms, along with means from the entrepreneurs’ background, in the beginning to produce high growth innovation outcomes. Platform-based entrepreneurship becomes the integrating point of effectuation theory from entrepreneurship research and open innovation strategy through strategic management research. The bridge for these two areas suggests implications for platform-based entrepreneurship research in strategic entrepreneurship

Questioning the Entrepreneurial State

The 2008 financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic have made the authorities to increasingly turn inward and use ethnocentrism, protectionism, and top-down approaches to guide policy on trade, competition, and industrial development. The continuing aftereffects of such policies range from the rise and seeming success of authoritarian states, rise of populist and protectionist trends, and evolving academic agendas inspiring the reemergence of top-down industrial policies across the world. This open access edited volume contains contributions from over 30 scholars with expertise in economics, innovation, management, and economic history. The chapters offer unique theoretical and empirical contributions discussing topics such as how industrial policies affect risk, incentives, and information for investments. They also address the policy perspectives on new technologies such as AI and its implications for market entry, the role for independent entrepreneurship in increasingly regulated markets, and whether governments should focus on market interventions or institutional capacity-building. Questioning the Entrepreneurial State initiates a much sought-after debate on the notion of an Entrepreneurial State. It discusses the dangers of top-down approaches to industrial policy, examines lessons from such approaches for future policy design, and calls attention to the progress of open and contestable markets in a sound economy and society. “Creative destruction, innovation and entrepreneurship are at the core of economic growth. The government has a clear role, to provide the basic fabric of a dynamic society, but industrial policy and state-owned companies are the boulevard of broken dreams and unrealized visions. This important message is convincingly stated in Questioning the Entrepreneurial State.” Anders Borg, former Minister of Finance, Sweden “Misreading the dynamism of American entrepreneurship, European intellectuals and policy makers have embraced a dangerous fantasy: catching up requires constructing an entrepreneurial state. This book provides a vital antidote: The entrepreneur comes first: The state may support. It cannot lead.” Amar Bhidé, Thomas Schmidheiny Professor of International Business, Tufts University “This important new book subjects the emergence of the entrepreneurial state, which reflects a shift in the locus of entrepreneurship from the individual to the public sector, to the scrutiny of rigorous analysis. The resulting concerns, flaws and biases inherent in the entrepreneurial state exposed are both alarming and sobering. The skill and scholarly craftsmanship brought to bear in this crucial analysis is evident throughout the book, along with the even, but ultimately consequential thinking of the authors. A must read for researchers and thought leaders in business and policy." David Audtretsch, Distinguished Professor, Ameritech Chair of Economic Development, Indiana Universit