Network evolution and the spatiotemporal dynamics of knowledge sourcing

Abstract

Knowledge accessing from external organisations is important to firms, especially entrepreneurial ones which often cannot generate internally all the knowledge necessary for innovation. There is, however, a lack of evidence concerning the association between the evolution of firms and the evolution of their networks. The aim of this paper is to begin to fill this gap by undertaking an exploratory analysis of the relationship between the vintage of firms and their knowledge sourcing networks. Drawing on an analysis of firms in the UK, the paper finds some evidence of a U-shaped relationship existing between firm age and the frequency of accessing knowledge from certain sources. Emerging entrepreneurial firms tend to be highly active with regard to accessing knowledge for a range of sources and geographic locations, with the rate of networking dropping somewhat during the period of peak firm growth. For instance, it is found that firms tend to less frequently access knowledge sources such as universities and research institutes in their own region during a stage of peak turnover growth. Overall, the results suggest a complex relationship between the lifecycle of the firm and its networking patterns. It is concluded that policymakers need to become more aware that network formation and utilisation by firms is likely to vary dependent upon their lifecycle position.

Human capital investments as sources of skills: An analysis at different entrepreneurship phases

“…As the businesses grow, entrepreneurs use skills obtained from mentors and coaches represented by bridging social capital (Putnam 2001;Stam, Arzlanian & Elfring 2014). The findings relating to the unequal role of social networks as sources of skills are supported by Huggins et al (2015) who demonstrated that the role of social networks in the entrepreneurship phases, that is, emergent phase, growth phase and mature phase is different.…”

A manifesto for researching entrepreneurial ecosystems

“…The purpose of these workshops was not simply to define a new research agenda but rather to bring together interested researchers and policymakers to identify the most pressing questions that policymakers need answers to. Throughout the two workshops, it became apparent that more granulated understanding of ecosystem thinking is required, with greater consideration of the institutional context given the heterogeneous nature of places and complex interactions between actors and networks (Huggins et al., 2015). These questions help shed light on difficult policy problems around how best to identify and support productive, high-growth entrepreneurship and if and how successful policies from one place can be replicated elsewhere.…”

Mission impossible? Entrepreneurial universities and peripheral regional innovation systems

“…Power and Malmberg (2008) further claim that it's unclear that "knowledge and innovation processes within universities or research institutions are best supported through prioritizing regions links" (p. 242). Indeed, non-localised sources of knowledge are often prioritized by growing entrepreneurial firms (Huggins et al, 2015).…”

“…While larger firms seem able to productively engage with universities, smaller firms seem to prefer more informal 'open' sources of information. In other words, different types of firms rely on different kinds of knowledge interactions (Tödtling et al, 2009;Huggins et al, 2015).…”