Investigating the success factors of the Nordic entrepreneurial ecosystem – talent transformation as a key process

Abstract

This paper explores talent transformation from a pool of entrepreneurial talent to successful entrepreneurs as a central characteristic of a successful entrepreneurial ecosystem. To this end, we link related literature streams around cluster theory and regional innovation systems and expand them by drawing on the literature of entrepreneurial ecosystems. Starting out, we review literature on contextual factors that drive the success of entrepreneurial ecosystems and employ qualitative expert interviews to uncover nuances of a qualitative entrepreneurial ecosystem. Based on the interviews and by interlinking the factors identified in literature to have a positive influence on entrepreneurial ecosystems, we introduce talent transformation as a potential key process for the flourishing of entrepreneurial ecosystems and find the social and contextual business environment to be the main independent co-factors. By investigating the European best-practice example of the Nordic countries, we develop and introduce a three-phased talent transformation process and make concrete recommendations for entrepreneurial ecosystem development that can be applied in any geographic context.

What are the drivers of eco-innovation? Empirical evidence from French start-ups

“…Data on this type of businesses is therefore not very accessible. Indeed, all start-ups are SMEs, but not all SMEs are start-ups, differing in particular in terms of their growth and their vision (Steigertahl and Mauer, 2018). The main information needed to carry out this study in the context of start-ups is not available in the existing datasets; for this reason we elaborated and conducted our own survey.…”

The Impacts of the Entrepreneurial Conditions on Economic Growth: Evidence from OECD Countries

“…The constant variations in entrepreneurial activity rates can be influenced by the individual attitudes of current and future entrepreneurs, and by the contextual factors of Economies 2022, 10, 163 2 of 20 their economic environment (Acs et al 2018). The combination of the contextual factors of the economic environment is called the entrepreneurship ecosystem (Lopes and Franco 2019;Sitaridis and Kitsios 2020;Steigertahl and Mauer 2021). Entrepreneurial ecosystems are defined as unique sets of contextual and individual actors that stimulate the exploration and discovery of entrepreneurial market opportunities through competitiveness and innovation to achieve economic growth (Cavallo et al 2019).…”