Networks in Entrepreneurship

The value of networks as integral part of the explanation of entrepreneurial success is widely acknowledged. However, the network perspective lacks specification of the various dimensions of a network and their impact on the early development of a venture. We make a distinction between a Schumpeterian start-up pursuing a radical innovation and a Kirznerian venture on basis of an incremental innovation. This distinction is introduced as a contingency in the way networks contribute to the ability of the entrepreneur to discover opportunities, to get resources, and to gain legitimacy. In this explorative study three cases on high technology firms in The Netherlands provide empirical material to develop a number of propositions on the network effect on the survival or performance of start-ups.networks;discovering opportunities;entrepreneurial processes;high-tech entrepreneurship;start-up firms

Clustering in ICT: From Route 128 to Silicon Valley, from DEC to Google, from Hardware to Content

One of the pioneers in academic entrepreneurship and high-tech clustering is MIT and the Route 128/Boston region. Silicon Valley centered around Stanford University was originally a fast follower and only later emerged as a scientific and industrial hotspot. Several technology and innovation waves, have shaped Silicon Valley over all the years. The initial regional success of Silicon Valley started with electro-technical instruments and defense applications in the 1940s and 1950s (represented by companies as Litton Engineering and Hewlett & Packard). In the 1960s and 1970s, the region became a national and international leader in the design and production of integrated circuit and computer chips, and as such became identified as Silicon Valley (e.g. Fairchild Semiconductor, and Intel). In the 1970s and 1980s, Silicon Valley capitalised further on the development, manufacturing and sales of the personal computer and workstations (e.g. Apple, Silicon Graphics and SUN), followed by the proliferation of telecommunications and Internet technologies in the 1990s (e.g. Cisco, 3Com) and Internet-based applications and info-mediation services (e.g. Yahoo, Google) in the late 1990s and early 2000s. When the external and/or internal conditions of its key industries change, Silicon Valley seemed to have an innate capability to restructure itself by a rapid and frequent reshuffling of people, competencies, resources and firms. To characterise the demise of one firm leading, directly or indirectly, to the formation of another and the reconfiguration of business models and product offerings by the larger companies in emerging industries, Bahrami & Evans (2000) introduced the term `flexible recycling.’ This dynamic process of learning by doing, failing and recombining (i.e. allowing new firms to rise from the ashes of failed enterprises) is one of the key factors underlying the dominance of Silicon Valley in the new economy.ICT;Clusters;Networks;Academic entrepreneurship;MIT;Silicon Valley;Stanford University;Flexible recycling;Route 128

Networks in Entrepreneurship

The value of networks as integral part of the explanation of entrepreneurial success is widely acknowledged. However, the network perspective lacks specification of the various dimensions of a network and their impact on the early development of a venture. We make a distinction between a Schumpeterian start-up pursuing a radical innovation and a Kirznerian venture on basis of an incremental innovation. This distinction is introduced as a contingency in the way networks contribute to the ability of the entrepreneur to discover opportunities, to get resources, and to gain legitimacy. In this explorative study three cases on high technology firms in The Netherlands provide empirical material to develop a number of propositions on the network effect on the survival or performance of start-ups

Creating competition & mastering markets; New entrants, monopolists, and regulators in transforming public utilities across the Atlantic

This paper is on the transformation of network industries or public utilities in Western Europe and the United States (US). A network industry provides a public or basic service by operating a large infrastructure system whose main characteristics are strongly increasing returns to scale, high levels of capital intensity, deployment of long-lasting industrial assets, and of vital importance to the economy (e.g. telecommunication, energy, transportation systems, water distribution, postal services, broadcasting). The objective of this paper is to look at the transformation of utility markets and to investigate whether the (re-)engineering of utility markets has effectively produced new industrial structures and has generated alternative outcomes. And secondly, whether this deliberate process to stir up the competitive dynamic is thwarted by the combination of industrial predation (e.g. legacy systems and installed customer base) and incumbency power (market leadership, closeness to government, cross-subsidisation, information monopoly) favouring only modest and gradual change or by emergent and unexpected radical forces that have surprised both the omniscient market makers and those favouring the status quo. Introducing deregulation and liberalisation and engineering market dynamics in a utility world that is still characterised by partial competition and a persistent quasi-monopoly, is no easy matter. The process of de-monopolisation can be seen as the result of ongoing strategic and tactical interactions among incumbent operators and insurgent market players, tough bargaining between those firms and supervisory regulators, and difficult negotiations at the federal level of Washington and Brussels between the state administrations, their regulators and the transnational institutions. In order to create some form of dynamic rivalry in those "monopolistic" network-based industries, the emergence of new entry/exit and competition needs to be nourished and closely monitored and supervised: the emergence and persistence of competition needs to be engineered. The concept of engineering competition is somewhat ambiguous, since we should be both aware of the shortcomings of designing and managing markets and the limitations on and problems with self-organisation in regulation. Competition is a spontaneous process and is in the domain of human action, while "regulation" is a product of human design and contains instruments and toolboxes to intervene in a dynamic environment, and those two should not be mixed. Hence, despite the popularity of the term engineering competition, "engineering regulation", with a clear and intentional focus on devising an appropriate framework facilitating competition, is probably a better term

Network effects on Entrepreneurial Processes: Start-ups in the Dutch ICT Industry 1990-2000

The value of networks as an integral part of the explanation of entrepreneurial success is widely acknowledged. It is unclear, however, in what way certain networks influence the success of start-up companies. The question of this paper is: 'in what way does the entrepreneur's network contribute to the success of his start-up.' The network is important because it may contribute to three entrepreneurial processes, i.e. the ability of the entrepreneur to discover opportunities, to get resources, and to gain legitimacy. The networks of 30 ICT start-ups in the Netherlands were (re)constructed on the basis of in-depth interviews with the founders and desk research. A distinction was made between three types of initial network conditions. First, the more or less independent start-ups; secondly, spin-offs from established companies and lastly, start-ups in incubators. On the basis of the variations in the structure of the network and the type of relations we draw conclusions concerning the contribution of a particular network configuration to the ability of the start-up to survive and to grow

Evaluatie "Duurzame businessmodellen in de zorglandbouw"

Zorglandbouw is een vorm van metropolitane landbouw. Het verbindt de zorgvraag uit metropolitane gebieden aan agrarische ondernemers die dagbesteding aanbieden. Hierdoor ontstaat nieuwe (agrarische) bedrijvigheid die ervoor zorgt dat agrarisch cultuurlandschap rond de stad kan worden behouden. Een solide businessmodel voor professionele zorglandbouw is nodig om deze nieuwe sector duurzaam voort te kunnen zetten. De resultaten van dit TransForum project geven inzicht in de verschillende organisatievormen van zorglandbouw, en in de factoren die bepalend zijn voor succes. Deze inzichten zijn behulpzaam voor verdere analyse van zorglandbouwinitiatieven; voor het bijsturen van bestaande zorglandbouwinitiatieven; en voor nieuwe initiatiefnemers in de zorglandbouw om een goede organisatievorm te kiezen

The Locus of Innovation in Small and Medium-sized Firms: The Importance of Social Capital and Networking in Innovative Entrepreneurship

Social networks matter in the innovation processes of young and small firms, since ‘innovation does not exist in a vacuum (Van De Ven, 1986: 601).’ The contacts a firm has could both generate advantages for further innovation and growth, and disadvantages leading to inertia and stagnation. In the first case the existing social network or the new business contact provides opportunities furthering eventual success, in the second case, the existing network or the new business contacts turns out to have a constraining or even detrimental effect on performance. The search and use of social capital is driven by goal-specificity: it only includes those ties that help the actor in the attainment of particular goals. Most of the research so far has been deliberately or unwillingly one-sided, by for instance only looking at entrepreneurial firms in dynamic industries (or more specifically, start-ups in the high-tech industries). Or selective attention has been paid to either the internal sources or the external contacts to trigger inn

Clustering in ICT: From Route 128 to Silicon Valley, from DEC to Google, from Hardware to Content

One of the pioneers in academic entrepreneurship and high-tech clustering is MIT and the Route 128/Boston region. Silicon Valley centered around Stanford University was originally a fast follower and only later emerged as a scientific and industrial hotspot. Several technology and innovation waves, have shaped Silicon Valley over all the years. The initial regional success of Silicon Valley started with electro-technical instruments and defense applications in the 1940s and 1950s (represented by companies as Litton Engineering and Hewlett & Packard). In the 1960s and 1970s, the region became a national and international leader in the design and production of integrated circuit and computer chips, and as such became identified as Silicon Valley (e.g. Fairchild Semiconductor, and Intel). In the 1970s and 1980s, Silicon Valley capitalised further on the development, manufacturing and sales of the personal computer and workstations (e.g. Apple, Silicon Graphics and SUN), followed by the proliferation of telecommunications and Internet technologies in the 1990s (e.g. Cisco, 3Com) and Internet-based ap