J. Open Innov. Technol. Mark. Complex., Volume 8, Issue 3 (September 2022) – 65 articles

This study investigates the variables affecting the adoption of blockchain technology (BT) among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with the application of artificial intelligence (AI) via the mediating lens of risk-taking behavior. As an initial sample, 150 owners/top managers from 150 SMEs (one informant from each) in Dhaka, Bangladesh, were chosen. A stratified random sample was employed for this cross-sectional study. Applying structural equation modeling, the combined influence of internal and external variables influencing the intention to adopt BT is explored. Results show that: (1) knowledge of artificial intelligence has a positive and significant effect on the adoption of blockchain technology; (2) the relevant advantage of artificial intelligence has a positive and significant effect on the adoption of blockchain technology; (3) perceived ease of use of artificial intelligence has a positive and significant effect on the adoption of blockchain technology; (4) risk-taking behavior mediates the relationship between knowledge of artificial intelligence and adoption of blockchain technology; (5) risk-taking behavior does not mediate the relationship between relevant advantage and perceived ease of use of artificial intelligence with the adoption of blockchain technology. The current study is one of the few empirical investigations relating to SMEs using artificial intelligence and blockchain technologies for business operations. The study’s limitations are the small sample size and use of a single informant. However, the findings on the adoption of blockchain technology have applications for boosting the competitiveness of SMEs. This study’s originality stems from two factors: the novelty of blockchain technology and its potential to upend SMEs’ conventional mode of operation. It highlights the need to consider the key variables affecting SMEs’ adoption of blockchain technology with artificial intelligence. Full article

Digital transformation has received increasing attention from organizations and businesses that want to remain competitive in the digital world. Many banks have increasingly been embracing electronic commerce by providing electronic banking (e-banking) services. This study aimed to investigate the impact of electronic service (e-service) quality on customer intention to use video teller machine (VTM) services. Data were obtained from 450 customers in Vietnam, where digital transformation is a priority in the development strategy of the banking industry. Structural equation modeling reveals the positive impact of three e-service quality dimensions, including responsiveness, security, and interface quality, on the perceived ease of use (PEOU), perceived usefulness (PU), and attitude toward using VTM services. The findings also demonstrate that attitudes are positively related to intention toward using VTM services, and time-consciousness strengthens this relationship. These findings extend current knowledge about e-banking services in emerging markets and provide implications for bank managers and technology providers in promoting their service quality and customer use of VTM services. Full article

Due to the increased need for the efficient use of public funds and the importance of private investment, there have been many studies on the effects of these factors on corporate performance. However, few studies have been conducted based on an integrated perspective. In addition, most studies have investigated cases in leading countries and have rarely studied latecomer countries. Therefore, this study investigated the step-by-step effects of government support on firm performance (innovation performance, venture capital (hereafter VC) investment, and financial performance) based on the data on in vitro diagnostic (hereafter IVD) firms in Korea. In particular, we demonstrate the sequential effects of these variables with a time lag. The results of the panel regression analysis indicate that government R&D support improved the innovation performance of IVD firms, but this increased innovation performance did not attract VC investment. Meanwhile, VC investment has a positive impact on a firm’s financial performance. These findings have policy implications and suggest that government support plays a pivotal role in a company’s innovation performance, and thus continuous investment is required. However, innovation performance negatively affects short-term financial performance, and thus technology commercialization should be supported. Full article

With rapid changes in industrial environments, the role of start-ups and their initial attempts toward the market are regarded as critical initiates. To increase the number of young start-up entrepreneurs, it is important to understand the relationship between entrepreneurial intention and its antecedents. Drawing on the organizational learning theory, we adopt the concept of exploration and exploitation as mediating roles of entrepreneurial intention as individual-level perspectives. Additionally, we consider innovativeness, self-efficacy, and internal locus of control as antecedents of two learning activities. The results indicate that each learning activity successfully supports the entrepreneurial intention, which requires a complex decision-making process and long-term efforts. This research discusses practical implications and guidelines for entrepreneurship education programs further. Full article

The main objective of the research was to identify the synergistic effects in the area of commercialization of the networking of research institutes in Poland following a radical reform of the functioning of the national innovation system. This goal was pursued using the example of the Łukasiewicz Research Network, which brings together some of Poland’s existing research institutes under the four pillars of the modern economy: (1) smart and clean mobility, (2) digital transformation, (3) health, and (4) sustainable economy and energy. Thus, the article attempts to answer the following research questions: What were the circumstances behind the networking of Polish research institutes, how did this networking take place, and what results in the area of commercialization have been achieved so far? The research conducted in this article showed that the institutes affiliated with the “digital transformation” group achieved the following successes in the first integration phase: (1) an increase in the share of revenue from the commercialization of research results as a basis for assessing the effectiveness of the use of scientific and research potential for strengthening innovation (in five of the six institutes researched) and (2) an increase in sales revenue (in three of the six institutes). Full article

This study aims to examine the effect of business strategies to improve the competitive advantages of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Further, our study considers the importance of performance and innovation as mediating variables in the relationship between business strategies and competitive advantage. The sample of the study consists of 150 SMEs in the construction and real estate industry. Our findings show that business strategies have a positive impact on competitive advantage. Better business strategies improve the competitive advantage of SMEs. Further, business performance and innovation also mediate the relationship between business strategies and competitive advantages. These results provide evidence of the importance of performance and innovation to improve the competitive advantage. It is suggested that SMEs improve their performance and innovation capability to strengthen their competitive advantages. Full article

Business incubators ensure networking and facilitate Open Innovation (OI) collaborations both inside the incubator among entrepreneurs and outside with external stakeholders. Recently, the sustainability and the promotion of environment-friendly businesses has become an important focus for the business incubators. Sustainability-oriented business incubation is a relatively new and emerging topic both for scholars and BI practitioners. This paper aims to explore the theoretical groundings for the business incubation perspectives in facilitating sustainable value creation through OI approaches and to test research instruments exploring determinants of the technology-driven sustainable value creation in incubated start-ups in Latvia. Through the pilot survey, this study will also increase the awareness on the importance of the OI and the creation of sustainable value, and provides the preliminary results to be considered by scholars and practitioners. Results show that climate change, as a planetary boundary, positively stimulates incubated start-ups to improve their technology-driven sustainable value creation. However, sustainability ambition, if negatively influenced by the incubator location, negatively affects the technology-driven sustainable value creation. These results on the sustainability scale within the business incubation of start-ups contribute to the new theoretical concepts, related to integration of the sustainability issues and OI practices within business incubation. Full article

This article discusses the structures of value propositions in cultural heritage tourism site business models in the context of the concept of open innovation. The objective of the study is to identify value propositions in tourism sites and the tendency of managers to use open innovation. The analysis was based on the example of European cultural heritage tourism sites associated with the European Route of Industrial Heritage. The research process included literature analysis and empirical research in the form of interviews conducted with managers of 73 sites. The research allowed for identifying 16 key values observed in the business models of cultural heritage tourism sites and then classify them into three groups, i.e., values proposed to the customer, values captured by the enterprise and social values. The following values were of the highest importance: promotion of historical industrial heritage, satisfying cognitive needs, acting as a symbol of the area, brand strengthening and organization of tourist traffic, so that the industrial heritage is preserved. It was noticed that some values were significantly correlated with the attitudes of managers towards the exchange of knowledge within open innovation. The majority of managers participating in the research were convinced that the revitalization of cultural heritage sites and the business models of these sites should be in the form of open innovation. The limitation of the research carried out is the inability to deepen the interviews, which was caused by the lack of direct contact with managers due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Full article

Social enterprises are currently receiving significant attention from academics and practitioners because of their hybrid nature to achieve profit while achieving the planned social mission. To achieve their social mission as well as financial sustainability, social enterprises need to have the ability to carry out innovation for sustainability which helps them balance these two goals. In hybrid organizations, such as social enterprises, priorities in financial and social missions may conflict, resulting in managerial tensions and stakeholder pressure, making open innovation (OI) by involving external parties essential. This paper aims to explore OI for sustainability in social enterprises. The research question posed is: what innovation for sustainability practices do social enterprises implement and, how does the mechanism of OI for sustainability work in social enterprises? A multiple case study approach is used by taking four leading social enterprises in the education sector located in West Java, Indonesia. Our findings indicate that sustainability innovation is practiced by social enterprises in the form of providing social benefits such as paying for the education costs of their students and providing social services for the surrounding community. Beyond that, ecological benefits are provided in the form of reducing waste and using unproductive land in a productive manner. Innovation is performed with a different approach from one case to another. All cases studied collaborate with parties external to the organization to be able to implement sustainability innovation. This study contributes to the literature by providing empirical research on sustainability innovation in the context of social enterprises, which is still rarely found in the literature. Full article

The paper presents the results of the research on the advantages and disadvantages of innovative e-learning during the COVID-19 pandemic in higher education. In the first stage, an internet questionnaire was used for the study. The research was carried out in Poland on a sample of 621 students. The results allowed the researchers to determine variables that are important for the proper implementation of innovative e-learning, and the emergent perspectives for this form of education after the end of the COVID-19 pandemic. Among the most significant disadvantages, there was a lack of direct contact with colleagues, difficulties with teaching practical subjects, lack of direct contact with the teacher, and too much time spent in front of a computer/telephone or other mobile device. The most important correlations included the following: students satisfied with e-learning assess the advantages highly and the disadvantages lower; all the advantages of innovative e-learning are positively correlated with the student’s assessment of the ease of acquiring content in e-learning, and negatively correlated with the student’s assessment of the ease of acquiring content in traditional education; the easier the student assimilates innovative e-learning content, the higher the student’s evaluation of the advantages of e-learning; students who perceive e-learning content as difficult to absorb have low motivation to learn remotely; the better the student knows information technology, the more highly the student evaluates the advantages of innovative e-learning; the better resources to participate in e-learning activities the student has, the higher the student’s evaluation of the advantages of e-learning; the more often innovative e-learning solutions are used in a given university, the better the student assesses the advantages of e-learning. Full article

Open innovation (OI) is among the key strategic resources of enterprises, especially in high-tech sectors such as the ICT industry. The use of OI platforms and/or networks that facilitate access to and sharing of OI knowledge is gaining increasing interest. This study aimed to assess the factors motivating and hindering the use of OI platforms and/or networks in the ICT industry in Poland. The uniqueness of this approach lies in the use of a PROFIT analysis to develop proprietary models of the importance of the various motivating factors and barriers to the use of OI platforms and/or networks in the ICT industry in relation to the job position held. This study hypothesized that the knowledge of factors motivating and hindering the use of OI platforms and/or networks in the ICT industry varies across occupational groups. In order to verify the hypothesis and answer the formulated research questions, a diagnostic survey method with a survey technique was used. The results of this study confirm that the job position occupied by employees in the ICT industry is relevant to each of the factors that pose obstacles to their use of OI platforms and/or networks. Managers and management, as well as developers, are less likely to restrict the use of the aforementioned solutions due to organizational and/or administrative barriers, while more likely due to reluctance to share knowledge. For specialists and analysts, legal barriers and NIH syndrome are greater obstacles. For programmers, negative attitudes toward open innovation and lack of internal commitment to the company are less of an obstacle. Insufficient support from top management is a major barrier for administrative staff and programmers. The conclusions formulated can be useful in practice for managers in the ICT industry to make optimal use of access to OI. Full article

Disruptive technology theory receives a lot of attention and has a significant influence on scholars and managers in approaching technology competition. Some studies have formalized the disruptive technology, investigating the mechanism and determinants of disruption. While some modern technologies are understood to be disruptive, they also exhibit increasing return to the adoption properties or network effects. However, how the network effects influence the disruption mechanism has only received little attention in the previous formal disruptive technology models. Therefore, in this study, we developed a formal model to investigate the dynamics of disruption by exploring the interaction of technology development, the consumer’s choice, firm’s decision, and structure of demand under the influence of different degrees of network effects. The model is simulated using agent-based software of the Laboratory for Simulation Development (LSD). We argue that weak network effects allow for different competitive outcomes (i.e., competitive isolation, convergence, and disruption), where the heterogeneity of the consumers’ preferences matters in determining the outcomes. Therefore, this study suggests that weak network effects enhance the likelihood of disruptive innovation, depending on the heterogeneity in customer preference. Strong network effects, however, lead to a winner-takes-all situation regardless of the heterogeneity in the consumers’ preferences. Full article

Despite large-scale financial support of the government, there is increasing criticism about the inefficiency of public R&D investment that fails to lead directly to technological innovation of technology-based start-ups. This paper analyzes the factors that influence technological innovation in Korean technology-based start-ups based on the resource-based view (RBV). The empirical analysis combines ordinary least squares and ordered probit analysis of data collected from 248 technology-based start-ups in Korea. The analysis results statistically confirm the effects of technological capabilities and entrepreneurship on technological innovation. First, a start-up’s technological capabilities measured by patents and technological competitiveness have significant positive effects on technological innovation, while the effect of having an in-house R&D department for technological innovation is not significant. Second, entrepreneurship has a significant positive effect on the technological innovation of a start-up, and this positive effect has a moderating effect that further promotes the positive effect of technological competitiveness on technological innovation. Full article

A high level of innovativeness and technology complexity is most often associated with a faster and more dynamic pace of economic development. In turn, it enables enterprises to achieve better financial results and strengthen their competitive advantage. Despite these potential benefits, in practice, innovation is also associated with the need to take up new challenges, which may be accompanied by a higher risk. The main goal of the research is a comparative analysis of the relationship between innovation and the risk of running a business in traditional and high-tech industries exemplified by the Polish economy. The authors assess the risk in 44 enterprises in the years 2010–2020 based on the proprietary evaluation model that uses the variation of financial parameters associated with innovativeness. The obtained results indicate a higher level of risk in the high-tech group with more complex and modern technologies, in particular in the pharmaceutical and computer games sectors. In the group of traditional enterprises, the risk in the analysed sectors is more diversified, and it is much higher in manufacturing enterprises than in services and trade. The empirical and quite extensive nature of the research allows for a practical assessment of the direction and strength of the relationship between innovation, risk and technology complexity. Full article

The Valley of Death is the gap between the completion of research and development (R&D) projects and their transition to innovation. A key aspect to explain it are mindsets, which are one of the most complex to explain due to the number of factors they contain. What remains unclear is how people might have patterns of understanding the processes and activities that define mental models. This paper aims to explore how persons involved in R&D activities have a pattern to understand the processes. Data for this study were collected using a survey applied to directives, coordinators, technology managers, intellectual property managers, researchers, and entrepreneurs in a group of 11 universities in Medellín (Colombia) through a computational clustering analysis. The main contribution of this article is the generation of five patterns or mental models, in which the different roles linked to R&D converge, to this extent we could speak of shared mental models. One of the more significant findings that emerge from this study is that a simpler mental model with specific and relevant activities prioritised may work better than a complex one. Full article

The convergence of information technology, media, and telecommunications has altered consumer behavior in terms of searching, obtaining, processing, and responding to a company’s information or services. The ability of a company to plan, implement, and manage digital marketing to increase its competitiveness in the eyes of consumers is referred to as digital marketing capability. This research presents a digital marketing utilization index (DMUI) to evaluate and improve a company’s digital marketing capability. DMUI is made up of three components: the innovation ecosystem readiness, the adoption of digital marketing technology, and the company’s digital transformation. Based on data from 217 companies in Indonesia, the results show that the DMUI of companies in Indonesia has an average of 71.97, indicating that the level of digital marketing capabilities of companies in Indonesia is in the medium category. They can improve their digital marketing capabilities by increasing the role of managerial innovativeness, organizational readiness, and perceived usefulness. Furthermore, businesses must carry out digital transformation by governing the transformation and reinvention of new business models. Finally, in addition to implementing digital marketing via websites, social media, mobile marketing, and content marketing, they must emphasize the importance of digital analytics, digital CRM, digital advertising, and display advertising to improve their company’s digital marketing capabilities. Full article

This research aims to study the pre-pandemic and pandemic-period Industry 4.0 and Industry 5.0 characteristics in SME research using scientometrics and systematic review using the PRISMA 2020 approach. A total of 691 articles were found in SCOPUS database using keywords ((“Industry 4.0” OR “Industry 5.0”) AND “SME”). However, 398 documents, which were either conference proceedings, reviews, book chapters or published in languages other than English, were excluded, and the remaining 221 articles that were published in SCOPUS indexed Journals were included in the study. This research adopted a novel mix of scientometrics and Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) 2020 recommendations for identifying the thematic evolution of pre-pandemic and pandemic-period Industry 4.0 and Industry 5.0 SME Research. The major findings of this systematic review are, (1) There is a conceptual shift among researchers in studying the Industry 4.0 adoption of SMEs during the pandemic period; (2) The pandemic period research focused on (a) human-centric approaches, (b) adoption/acceptance models, (c) cost-effective solutions, (d) COVID-19 impact and resilience, (e) artificial intelligence and predictive maintenance, and (f) the emerging role of open innovation in Industry 4.0 adoption of SMEs; (3) Though the concept of Industry 5.0 clearly emerged and supplemented industry 4.0, the keyword “Industry 5.0” is not widely adopted by researchers. From the systematic literature review, a conceptual model for assessing the Industry 4.0 adoption and digital transformation of SMEs, digital integration of value chains and participation in a global value chain for trade expansion and sustainable growth of SMEs is proposed. Full article

The aim of the work is to develop theoretical, methodological, and applied foundations and practical recommendations for managing strategic changes in personnel resistance to open innovations in companies. The following special methods were used in the research process: Comparative and economic-statistical analysis—to assess the level of unique, threshold, and average opportunities for resistance to changes in open innovation; ranking—to assess the development of corporate culture. The main method of study was expert evaluation through questionnaires. The experts were middle managers of five branches of international car companies in Poland: Fiat, Opel, Toyota, Volkswagen, and Volvo. The reason for choosing these companies is that they collectively occupy 85% of the Polish automotive market. Resistance to open innovations usually arises at the individual level of personnel and is addressed through informational and motivational measures. According to the study, the threat to strategic change management in companies is system resistance for Opel and Toyota. This allowed us to draw a conclusion on the development of a predominantly fiduciary corporate culture, which minimizes the resistance to open innovation in companies. Approbation of the approaches of the companies under study proved that in the current conditions, there is a combination of different types of strategies. Recommendations regarding the choice of change strategies are substantiated for all the companies under study. Full article

In recent years increasing attention has been paid to theory building and empirical research that explore the links between the business model and open innovation (BM&OI). Nevertheless, studies presenting the results of bibliometric analyses merging these two terms are still scarce. Therefore, the main aim of this paper was to present the results of a comprehensive bibliometric analysis focused on the determination and mapping of the evolving cognitive and social structures in the BM&OI literature to set proposals for directions of future research. Our research was based on the dataset obtained from the Scopus database and made use of the Biblioshiny and the VOSviewer software. Descriptive and network analyses were conducted to demonstrate an overview of the scientific field under consideration. We identified the leading authors, sources, countries and institutions in the BM&OI literature. The most influential publications on the BM&OI and the most cited references by documents covering the BM&OI research were indicated. Based on the thematic evolution and thematic maps, the evolving structures of key sub-fields of the BM&OI research were determined and discussed. Moreover, the major clusters and the specificity of scientific collaboration in the analyzed research domain were identified and described. Our intention was to demonstrate to both scholars and practitioners the wide-ranging landscape of multifaceted research on the BM&OI. Full article

Although social capital and collaborative knowledge creation were considered essential drivers in maintaining competitive advantage, empirical evidence on the impact of collaborative knowledge creation on organizational agility remained limited. Therefore, this study examined the relationship between social capital and collaborative knowledge creation in building innovation and agility and testing strategic flexibility as a moderating variable. It employed a quantitative design by distributing questionnaires to 414 managers and assistant managers of SMEs analyzed by SmartPLS-SEM. The results showed that social capital significantly affected collaborative knowledge creation, innovation, and organizational agility. Meanwhile, collaborative knowledge creation has no significant impact on organizational agility. Furthermore, strategic flexibility was not a moderating variable of the relationship between innovation and organizational agility. Based on these findings, this study produced recommendations for managers to strengthen organizational agility. Full article

Current literature merely identifies the driving factors of research productivity in higher education institutions without directly examining their interrelationships that would offer some fundamental insights into the nature of these factors. Thus, this work intends to identify those driving factors and establish their structural relationships to determine those factors with crucial roles in advancing research productivity. Due to the subjectivity of the identified driving factors and the notion that the evaluation of their relationships reflects an expert judgment, an interpretive structural modeling (ISM) approach and the Matrice d’impacts croisés multiplication appliquée á un classment (MICMAC) analysis were adopted. Results show that institutional support, reward system, research funding, mentoring, and electronic information resources are the most crucial factors influencing research productivity. When addressed, these driving factors would motivate other driving factors, contributing to higher research productivity. In particular, these findings encourage higher education institutions to (1) efficiently allocate research funds and design mentoring programs, (2) offer efficient research incentive schemes, (3) develop initiatives that would support promising research proposals beneficial to the institution, and (4) collaborate with external organizations to grant funding for research proposals. These results contribute significantly to the literature as it provides meaningful insights that aid decision-makers in higher education institutions in resource allocation decisions, policy-making, and the design of efficient initiatives for augmenting their innovation potential. Full article

We evaluated the execution of the operational programs (OPs) committed to encouraging the adoption of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). To achieve this goal, we employed a novel three-stage weighted Russel directional distance (WRDD) data envelopment analysis (DEA) model in conjunction with stochastic frontier analysis (SFA), which considers indicators officially mandated by the European Union (EU) and environmental factors, to evaluate 51 OPs from 16 EU countries. All in all, we concluded that by removing the environmental factors, about 30% of the OPs (16) reached an efficient procedural performance against 20% (10). The OP more frequently viewed as a benchmark regardless of the environmental factors is “Multi-regional Spain—ERDF” that remains robustly efficient within 5% and 10% tolerances. Without the removal of the environmental factors, the “number of operations supported” is the indicator that requires more attention from management authorities (MAs), whereas with their removal one-third of the OPs need to further reduce the “eligible costs decided” and improve “eligible spending”. According to our findings, more developed regions and a higher rate of ICT specialists seem to be related to an underuse of ERDF funds dedicated to boosting ICT in SMEs. These findings might be related to the administrative burden and the lack of ability of SMEs to deal with the various procedures for applying for and implementing European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) projects. Overall, it is critical to provide further support that simplifies administrative procedures and addresses SMEs’ specific requirements. Full article

The open innovation concept is a comparatively new model, and there is an absence of empirical evidence to support a conclusive determination of the factors that affect open innovation, especially in terms of behaviour and costs. Researchers have proposed a variety of methods and techniques for characterising open innovation, but those metrics are overly broad because new approaches that demonstrate current practices were not included. As a result, it is critical to recognise new methods in developing countries to assist SMEs in understanding open innovation and its practices. As such, this study aims to bridge the gap in the literature pertaining to behavioural and cost factors that impact the adoption of open innovation, with an appropriability regime as a moderating factor in determining the success of adoption. This research was undertaken to study the effects of organisational citizenship behaviours, organisational culture, managerial ties, and transactional costs (the predictor variables) on the adoption of open innovation (the criterion variable) and to study the moderating role of an appropriability regime on these relationships. The research used cross-sectional data from a survey of 376 SMEs in Malaysia. This study used quantitative methodology and suitable statistical methods; 376 SME owners, managers, and high-ranking executives participated and completed the survey. A simple random sampling technique was used, and PLS–SEM regression was employed to test the related hypothesis variables. The theories adopted in this research, namely the social exchange theory and the actor–network theory, pave the way for quantitative research. The results revealed that organisational citizenship behaviours predict open innovation positively and significantly. A highly integrative culture was also found to relate positively to open innovation. In addition, managerial ties and transactional costs were found to facilitate open innovation. With respect to open innovation, appropriability regimes were found to strongly moderate the relationships between managerial ties and transactional costs. However, appropriability regimes did not strongly moderate the relationships between organisational citizenship behaviours and organisational culture. Full article

Over the past two decades, Korea has established and maintained itself as one of the world’s leaders in e-government. This study explains why this has happened by using a political economy analysis. Qualitative case study methods have been utilized to enable sensemaking of Korea’s successful e-government development trajectory. Five complementary factors have been identified to account for this success. They are the legacy of the developmental state in defining government’s role in economic development; the impact of democratization on the nature of e-government services and provision; the shock impact of the Asian Financial Crisis that led to accelerated e-government development; the creation and maintenance of an effective policy process; an effective system of public administration. These factors have provided both the drivers and context for sustained successful e-government development. While the Korean experience supplies lessons for other countries’ e-government development, the whole model is not replicable as it is based on the particularities of Korean development. Full article

Entrepreneurial ecosystems remain under-theorised and conceptually fragmented, making it challenging to comprehend their disposition and performance in the business process. Accordingly, in this research, we explored how knowledge sharing flows through entrepreneurial ecosystems to make analyses and trials to assess new ventures’ creation, continuity, and development opportunities. We carried out a systematic literature review on the Web of Science database. The analysis was carried out in two stages: (i) content analysis using NVivo software and (ii) statistical processing and clustering with the support of VOSviewer and Bibliometrix software. Moreover, we reviewed entrepreneurial literature and proposed conceptual model mapping relations through all main actors and knowledge flow in ecosystems. Our findings suggest the knowledge path in the near field sharing mechanisms resulting in a new conception of traditional structures and relations used to judge and decide how to assess opportunities for new ventures’ opening, maintenance, and growth. This study contributes to entrepreneurial literature, demonstrating knowledge sharing flow through entrepreneurial ecosystems, considering an embracing, dynamic, and multilevel approach. Furthermore, it highlights political and social contributions to include new emergent perspectives: resource scarcity and structural and institutional gaps. This representation is the first knowledge management model applied to different economies and areas, respecting their singularities. Full article

Ecosystem business models are becoming widespread in the modern economy; their potential is increasingly understood by financial institutions. Banks become part of the ecosystems and some of them initiate their creation, seeing in this business model an opportunity for their development. However, not all the possibilities of the ecosystem business model are sufficiently recognized by banks. Meanwhile, becoming “orchestrators” of ecosystems, banks get new opportunities, taking on new management functions that require the development of new promising competencies. This aspect predetermined the goal of this article—to explore the essence and development prospects of banking ecosystems and create a model for the establishment of additional innovative and technological advantages for banking ecosystems, allowing the bank to create conditions for long-term competitive advantages. Methods of comparative analysis, statistical methods, modeling methods, and cluster and regression analysis were applied. The results: a model of technological increment that formed during the functioning of the banking ecosystem has been developed; the authors established that the orchestration of the ecosystem by the bank creates opportunities for the formation of new profit centers because of the formation’s greater number of innovative technologies and the possibility to dispose the intellectual property. Full article

The current study aims to validate and apply an instrument to assess the relationship between institutional support, technological literacy, and self-efficacy on the intention to participate in the Facebook Metaverse using social cognitive theory. We performed a cross-sectional, analytical study of 410 citizens in Peru to assess the influence of institutional support, technological literacy, and self-efficacy on the intention to participate in the Facebook Metaverse during the COVID-19 pandemic. The research model was validated using partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to establish the influence of variables on the model. Institutional support and technological literacy were found to influence the self-efficacy of participating in the metaverse positively by correlations of 0.573 and 0.257, respectively. Self-efficacy of participating positively influenced the intention to participate in the Facebook Metaverse by 0.808. The model explained 65.4% of the intention to participate in the Facebook Metaverse. Bootstrapping demonstrated that the path coefficients of the research model were statistically significant. The research outcomes may help firms to develop planning and investment in the metaverse, as well as understanding the factors that influence a higher intention to participate in the Facebook Metaverse. Full article

Disruptive innovation forces small-business managers to innovate by carrying out exploitation and exploration activities simultaneously. This ambidexterity is crucial to the survival of today’s businesses, especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). In the organizational structure of SMEs, the manager and owner play an essential role in determining the business orientation. This study examined the influence of SME managers’ social networks on the organization’s ambidexterity and its impact on the firm’s innovation performance. This study used two moderating variables in the form of two internal factors in respect to managers: how proactive they are and their commitment to innovation. The study population was drawn from SMEs in the creative manufacturing sector in Indonesia and Taiwan, with a total sample of 224 SMEs, including 101 from Indonesia and 123 from Taiwan. The analytical technique was the PLS-SEM, conducted by the Smart-PLS software version 3.3.6: Hamburg, Germany. The results supported the construction in both countries. The results of the multiple-group analysis show that the SMEs in Indonesia exhibited greater ambidexterity, commitment to innovation, and innovation performance than those in Taiwan. Full article

Innovation capabilities are among the main driving sources of export performance; however, the literature on how exploration and exploitation innovation influence export performance in the context of emerging economies is scarce. As such, the purpose of this paper is to assess the relationship between innovation capabilities and export performance, mediated by exploration and exploitation innovation. For that, an online questionnaire was implemented surveying 250 Mozambican Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the agro-industry, agro-processing, and fishing sectors. Based on a Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Model (PLS-SEM) relating innovation capabilities, exploitation, and exploration innovation to export performance, it is possible to state that innovation capabilities influence the export performance of SMEs in this emerging country. Moreover, exploration and exploitation innovation exert important mediation effects, the latter being more prevalent than the former. The results constitute a major contribution as it is possible to claim that, in the context of emerging economies, Mozambican SMEs have managed to enhance their export performance, based on innovation capabilities, but, also, to master their ambidexterity with exploiting capabilities, normally linked to their current technological trajectories, being more prevalent that exploitation capabilities, which are focused on the pursuit of radical innovation. Full article

This article is devoted to the formation of methodological foundations of the circular economy on the safety of industrial enterprises. The dependence of the system of economic security from the circular economy concept is implemented by the 3 R model. The model is based on the consistency of quantitative, value and normative indicators. These indicators together allow a comprehensive analysis of the dynamics and direction of the process of implementation of technologies of circular use of resources. The main factors of influence of the circular economy concept on the security of industrial enterprises are resource provision, secondary use of materials and results. To establish the sequence of analysis, we used the mathematical toolkit of factor analysis based on determining the set of factors and their forming indicators. The conducted assessment of the impact of the circular economy concept on the system of economic security of industrial enterprises allows us to state the monopoly of individual sectors of industry, and shows the overall picture of dependence without a position on the level of technology renewal and eco-innovation of production support technologies. Full article