A Resource-based View (RBV) of Entrepreneurial Sourcing Within the Pre-incubation Ecosystem

Abstract

The identification and selection practices of project owners during the pre-incubation phase in incubators remain understudied. While previous works have implicitly pointed out without any empirical evidence that these pre-incubation practices are part of a process that impacts the performance of incubators, it is theoretically relevant and practically useful to make this process explicit and substantiate it through an in-depth analysis. In line with the recent literature on the ecosystem approach to incubator activity, we propose in this research a processual and ecosystem analysis of project owners’ identification and selection practices in different types of incubators using RBV theory as theoretical framework. We conducted a multiple case study (five types of incubators) in the south-western region of France (Occitania) by observing step-by-step the identification and selection practices of project owners. We collected data through 53 semi-structured interviews, participant and non-participant observation notes and secondary data. These data were analyzed with NVIVO 1.5 software following the Eisenhardt method. The results show that the identification and selection practices of project owners are part of an