From individual sustainability orientations to collective sustainability innovation and sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystems

Abstract

Sustainability and economic growththe integration and balance of social, environmental and economic needs is a salient concern for sustainable development and social well-being. By focusing on a sustainable innovation project, we explore how entrepreneurial ecosystems become sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystems and investigate the interactions of entrepreneurial actors. We conducted an inductive, single-case study of a specific collaborative innovation project in the denim industry specialized in a specific geographic location. From our data we show that the presence of four conditional aspects foster sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystems. These include: sustainability orientation of actors, recognition of sustainable opportunities and resource mobilization, collaborative innovation of sustainability opportunities and markets for sustainable products. We make two observations that contribute to the literature. First, we see that in a sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystem, entrepreneurial experimentation is a highly interdependent and interactive process. Secondly, we see that recognition of sustainable opportunities is distributed among different actors in the ecosystem. Our findings also have implications for practitioners and policy makers.

Business orientation and sustainable development: A systematic review of sustainability orientation literature and future research avenues

“…Some studies have highlighted that the sustainability of one firm can largely trigger the sustainability initiatives of others. For instance, prior literature suggests that sustainability-oriented ventures play a crucial role in developing a sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystem(DiVito & Ingen-Housz, 2019;Tiba, van Rijnsoever, & Hekkert, 2020). Furthermore, the sustainability orientation of the leading firms can inspire the laggard firms to invest in and align social…”

Innovation Ecosystem framework directed to Sustainable Development Goal #17 partnerships implementation

“…At the same time, IE is a network of relationships combining actors and objects that establish connections, both complementary and substitute reinforcing the importance of the institutions and the environment, providing information and knowledge flows through systems of value co-creation, enhancing sustainability(Costa & Matias, 2020).In this way, multi-stakeholders in an ecosystem, working in sus-tainable innovation and entrepreneurship, should attend to four conditions: (a) sustainability orientation; (b) recognition of sustainable opportunities and mobilization of resources; (c) collaborative and innovative action toward sustainability opportunities; and (d) marketsfor sustainable products. These conditions allow entrepreneurs to interact and engage for innovative development of jointed products and services(Boons & Lüdeke-Freund, 2013;DiVito & Ingen- Housz, 2019;Gobble, 2014).IE sustainability is accompanied by its transformation and reconfiguration. Focal enterprises advance by transforming their ecosystem from a single hub to a multi-hub and by helping their complementors co-evolve along with the developing ecosystem.…”

From sustainability to thrivability: A novel framework for entrepreneurial ecosystems

“…While not all researchers agree with this definition (e.g. Stam, 2015), they share a collective vision for its systemic nature (DiVito & Ingen-Housz, 2019;Pankov et al, 2021;Volkmann et al, 2021). A systemic view on ecosystems considers entrepreneurship comprehensively in terms of the activities of several actors (Erina et al, 2017;Roundy et al, 2018).…”

“…The growing planetary complexity of the Anthropocene is steering entrepreneurs to spread new practices by first learning, and then networking with other entrepreneurs and stakeholders . This open environment favours the creation of new institutions, structures and certifications of legitimate practices (Bischoff & Volkmann, 2018;DiVito & Ingen-Housz, 2019).…”