Håkan Ylinenpää

Entrepreneurship and Innovation Systems: Towards a Development of the ERIS/IRIS Concept

This contribution addresses two important streams of research—innovation system research basically addressing the system level and entrepreneurship research basically interested at the actor (firm or individual) level. Building on previous research in these fields (primarily on Cooke [(2001) Regional innovation systems, clusters and the knowledge economy, Industrial and Corporate Change, 10(4), pp. 945–974], Cooke and Leydesdorff [(2006) Regional development in the knowledge-based economy: The construction of advantage, Journal of Technology Transfer, 31(1), pp. 5–15], Sarasvathy [(2001) Causation and effectuation: Toward a theoretical shift from economic inevitability to entrepreneurial contingency, Academy of Management Review, 6(2), pp. 243–263], Johannisson [(2000) Modernising the industrial district: Rejuvenation or managerial colonisation? in: E. Vatne & M. Taylor (Eds) The Networked Firm in a Global World, pp. 283–308 (Aldershot, Hants: Ashgate Publishing)]), a typology developed depicting characteristics both at the system level and at the actor level of an institutional regional innovation system (IRIS) and an entrepreneurial regional innovation system (ERIS) as well as a “conceptual bridge” between innovation system research and entrepreneurship research is suggested. While the developed ERIS type of regional innovation systems due to its marked orientation towards individual actors and their behaviour leans more towards the main stream of entrepreneurship research, the IRIS type of regional innovation systems has more similarities with conventional innovation system research. It is argued that by also applying concepts depicting different management preferences and behaviour from entrepreneurship research, we should be able to better understand the different logics guiding these two types of regional innovation systems. The relevance of the extended typology thus developed is then illustrated by two empirical cases located in northern Sweden and form the base for policy implications derived from this study.

Managing Information In New Product Development: A Conceptual Review, Research Propositions And Tentative Model

Many studies in new product development (NPD) single out the use of information (especially market information) as a key predictor of NPD performance, but knowledge is lacking about what type of information is needed in each phase of the NDP process to enable high NPD performance. Based on a literature review and a pilot case study, this article increases the understanding of managing information in NPD. It is argued that the capability of managing information consists of three components: acquiring, sharing, and using information. By focusing on three different phases of the NPD process, 11 propositions regarding which information, information sources and means of cross-functional integration patterns that are most important to high NPD performance have been derived in each respective phase. In addition, the article also discusses antecedents and consequences of managing information. The article concludes with implications for managers, identifies limitations and proposes an agenda for further research into this area.

Functional Products: Business Model Elements

The paper explores business model elements that are vital when offering customers Functional Products. Based on in-depth empirical studies at four manufacturing corporations, a number of Functional Product business model elements are identified and discussed. The identified business model elements for Functional Products are found to have special requirements as compared to well-established generic business models. The results, including both academic and industrial contributions, can be used by corporations as input when modeling Functional Product business models on their own or together with customers, business partners or suppliers. Finally, factors and challenges that need to be addressed when modelling Functional Product business in corporations are further discussed.

The role of pilot and demonstration plants in technological development: synthesis and directions for future research

Pilot and demonstration plants (PDPs) play important roles in technological development. They represent bridges between basic knowledge generation and technological breakthroughs on the one hand, and industrial application and commercial adoption on the other. The objectives of this article are to synthesise and categorise existing research on PDPs, as well as to suggest an agenda for future research. We review the PDP phenomena in three literature streams: engineering and natural science research, technology and innovation management, and innovation systems. The analysis highlights clear differences in e.g. conceptions of system boundaries and what the literature streams seeks to accomplish, but also similarities such as the key ideas of using PDPs for technology scale-up and uncertainty reduction.

Exploring the effects of network configurations on entrepreneurial orientation and firm performance: an empirical study of new ventures and small firms

Prior studies have suggested that networks are important for new ventures and small firms as a provider of access to entrepreneurial opportunities and as a tool to increase firm performance. Although the strategic value of networks on a general level is undisputed, one major shortcoming of prior studies has been to evaluate the effects of specific network configurations. Moreover, small firms have all too often been treated as a homogeneous group, expected to reveal similar needs and patterns of behavior. The purpose of this explorative study was therefore to examine the effects of different network configurations on entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and performance for two categories of small firms new ventures and established small firms. The results were achieved by using empirical data from two independent samples of new ventures (n 171) and small firms (n 291) and show that network relationships have quite different effects in the two samples. While networking is overall positively linked to EO and performance for small firms, no positive effect from networking is evidenced for new ventures’ EO and performance. For both samples, we found a strong link between EO and performance. This paper concludes with a discussion on the results and suggestions for future research.

The firm’s and its customers’ views on order-winning criteria

A firm’s ability to win orders on the market depends on its competitiveness. A competitive firm wins orders on the market, which has a positive impact on its sales performance. Order‐winning criteria are those criteria that make a difference to the customer when he decides between qualified offered products. The selling and the buying actors may have the same or different ideas about what constitute these order winners, and they may also differ in their evaluation of the competitive strengths of a firm. Analyses the selling and buying actors’ perceptions of order winners and competitive strengths as the degree of fit between these perceptions. A good fit means that the two actors agree on order‐winning criteria and the firm’s competitive strength on these criteria. It is expected that a good fit relates to a positive sales growth of the selling firm’s product. Analyses different situations of fit and misfit for the ten product families of four small manufacturing Swedish firms, and shows how these situations relate to the sales patterns of the product families. The results reveal that a good fit is related to a stable economic development of sales, while two different situations of misfit may lead to a decline in or an expansion of sales.

If management can be learned, can learning be managed? Reflections on HEI‐based management training in smaller firms

This article explores the characteristics involved when higher education institutions (HEIs) engage in management training in smaller firms. Building on previous research on how smaller firms and small firm managers learn and how these learning characteristics relate to the dominating culture in HEIs, the article suggests a tentative framework within which HEI‐based training of SME managers better could be understood and more effectively implemented. Founded on this framework, the article advocates dialogue as a main pedagogical strategy for designing HEI‐based management training programmes; programmes that should also benefit from including consultants as a lubricating interface between the academic world and the smaller firms’ world of practice. The implications drawn from this framework are illustrated by experiences from a pilot management‐training programme for small business managers in northern Sweden.

How do small firms use ICT for business purposes? A study of Swedish technology-based firms

This study examines the extent to which Information and Communication Technology (ICT) capability is possessed and utilised by technology-based small firms and investigates the contingent effect of firm size and age on ICT capability. The empirical base is a survey with data from 291 technology-based small Swedish firms. The result suggests that technology-based small firms are high users of ICT in several areas. Regarding contingency effects, firm size was related to significant differences in the utilisation of ICT. Although the smallest firms as a whole use ICT less, a substantial part of them are high users.

Technological Expansions, Catching-Up Innovations and Technological Shifts at the Regional Level: Conceptual Considerations and Empirical Illustration

Anokhin S., Wincent J. and Ylinenpää H. Technological expansions, catching-up innovations and technological shifts at the regional level: conceptual considerations and empirical illustration, Regional Studies. Few techniques can capture different types of regional innovations, despite the importance of distinguishing between the innovation types for practitioners and policy-makers. This paper develops and illustrates a methodology based on data envelopment analysis that could be employed to shed light on this critical issue. Different types of regional innovations are analysed based on a longitudinal analysis of all Swedish counties over a five-year period. The approach can be used to analyse and distinguish between expansion-, catching-up- and shift-based types of regional innovation. Regional innovativeness is shown to be related to the regional levels of entrepreneurial activity.