The outcomes of cross-industry innovation for small and medium sized enterprises

There is a lack of research on how cross-industry innovation (CII) affects growth processes in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and whether it is worthwhile for SMEs to attempt CII. The current study addresses this gap by examining how CII at different market entry stages leads to various modes of growth in SMEs. Based on a survey data from 1187 Norwegian SMEs, we demonstrate a clear positive connection between CII and growth, particularly organic and acquired growth, and CII and cost reductions. Our findings highlight the importance of innovation across industry lines and show that CII is a favorable option for SMEs. This study makes several contributions. First, it adds to the growth literature by stepping away from a unidimensional view of growth. Second, it extends the existing CII and SME literature by addressing CII outcomes for SMEs. Third, the findings have important implications for business practitioners and policy makers. In this regard, we recommend that SMEs explore and exploit CII opportunities whenever possible to achieve greater versatility and diversity. The clear connection between CII and SMEs’ growth also emphasizes the need for policymakers to further develop the policies facilitating proactive CII and connecting SMEs from different industries.publishedVersio

Norwegian farmers’ willingness to participate in a local climate crowdfunding program - results from a national survey

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Evaluering av en pilotstudie for lokal folkefinansiering av klimatiltak i norsk landbruk

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COOLCROWD – en veiledning for lokal folkefinansiering av klimatiltak i landbruket

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The combined effect of success factors in crowdfunding of Cleantech projects

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Crowdfunding Sustainability

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Sustainable crowdfunding: insights from the project perspective

Purpose This paper explores the peculiarities of sustainable crowdfunding from the project perspective. The research question is: what are the distinctive features of sustainable crowdfunding, in terms of crowdfunding motivation, platform choice, crowdfunding costs and relationships with backers? Design/methodology/approach The current study follows a qualitative approach, through conducting in-depth interviews with representatives of sustainable projects, which have had successful crowdfunding campaigns. The selected projects represent various industries and crowdfunding models. Findings Sustainable entrepreneurs have both financial and non-financial motivations for crowdfunding. A distinctive feature is the importance of community engagement, since the community spirit of crowdfunding is well suited to sustainable projects. The choice of the crowdfunding platform is more complex for sustainable entrepreneurs, as they need to consider the platform's sustainability. Sustainable entrepreneurs also have to put more effort into their communication activities with potential backers, to compensate for the intangibility of sustainability claims. Moreover, they need to have a greater focus on building relationships with backers due to both the community spirit of their projects and legitimacy issues. Originality/value The current paper contributes to the limited literature on sustainable crowdfunding and the literature on funding of sustainable businesses and can act as a foundation for further research in this field. Current findings also have high practical value. Crowdfunding platforms may use the insights provided here to better meet the needs of sustainable entrepreneurs, while sustainable entrepreneurs can better understand what they need to pay attention to in their crowdfunding campaigns

The combined effect of success factors in crowdfunding of Cleantech projects

Cleantech projects can significantly contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions globally. However, they often lack investments from the conventional finance sector. Crowdfunding represents an alternative for financing cleantech projects. By using a Qualitative Comparative Analysis, this paper explores the combinational effect of the six success factors identified in the general crowdfunding literature for cleantech projects published on Kickstarter platform. The results indicate that crowdfunding success of cleantech projects is highly contextual, and identify a set of core conditions that cleantech entrepreneurs are advised to consider for their crowdfunding campaign design

Crowdfunding Sustainability

The chapter focuses on using crowdfunding for financing sustainable projects, that is projects aiming to extend their goal beyond market success and provide benefit to the larger part of society. The chapter discusses the definition and dimensions of sustainable development and sustainable entrepreneurship and provides an overview of the existing literature on crowdfunding of sustainable projects. The authors also review four European sustainability-oriented crowdfunding platforms representing different crowdfunding models. This review reveals that sustainable projects have rather high success rates in crowdfunding and may address all the three dimensions of sustainable development. However, environmental dimension gets the most attention. All the crowdfunding models are relevant for sustainable projects; yet, Loan-based crowdfunding seems to have the highest success rates. Moreover, focus on a particular dimension of sustainability may influence the choice of the crowdfunding model