Creating entrepreneurship ecosystem of SME-SME-Academia by inter-organizational network solutions

Abstract

This paper conceptualizes how small and medium enterprises (SMEs) can work smarter and become entrepreneurial in terms of increasing innovative coopetition and collaboration activities with their peers and with academic institutions. The focus of this research remains in eliminating SMEs’ struggle to internationalize – regarded as silos in absorbing knowledge and in establishing collaboration and relationship with academia. Based on the current knowledge, this paper develops a conceptual framework of “next generation entrepreneurship ecosystem” involving multi-disciplinary coopetition and collaborative actions, shared resources and relationship governance mechanisms strengthening and empowering managers in SMEs to get access, utilize and combine state-of-the-art and “fitness to the market” research, best practices and business solutions in developing innovation capability, digital transformation and globalization. The overarching research question of this paper is “How can ecosystem network solutions can be conceptualized which can influence SMEs to get advantages of innovation capabilities, digitalization and globalization?” This paper theoretically contributes to entrepreneurship ecosystem literature by bridging the gap between coopetition and collaborative studies in perspective of SME-SME-Academia network solutions. Further, the proposed framework provides several practical implications for the managers involved in SMEs’ coopetition and collaboration activities.