Entrepreneurial ecosystems

• Published date: 01 September 2020
• Date: 01 September 2020
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/tie.22164
• Author: Vanessa Ratten

INTRODUCTION

Entrepreneurial ecosystems

Vanessa Ratten

Department of Management, Sport and

Tourism, La Trobe Business School, La Trobe

University, Melbourne, Australia

Correspondence

Vanessa Ratten, Department of Management,

Sport and Tourism, La Trobe Business School,

La Trobe University, Plenty Road, Bundoora,

3086 Melbourne, Australia.

Email: v.ratten@latrobe.edu.au

Abstract

International business fundamentally is about creating an ecosystem environment

conducive to entrepreneurship. This means fostering actions and behavior that pro-

vide a systemic interaction with multiple entities. In this editorial for the special jour-

nal issue, the historical background and origins of the entrepreneurial ecosystem

concept is discussed with the view to connected different strands of literature. This

provides an optimal way to understand the way entrepreneurship develops through

an ecosystem logic. The theoretical perspectives for understanding entrepreneurial

ecosystems are discussed that lead to a discussion on each of the articles included in

the special journal issue. Themes emerging from these articles are then stated that

include a focus on value co-creation, stakeholder collaboration and entrepreneurial

networks. This enables a holistic way to understand the linkages international busi-

ness has with entrepreneurial ecosystems.

KEYWORDS

entrepreneurial ecosystems, entrepreneurship, international business, networks, stakeholders,

value co-creation

1|INTRODUCTION

Entrepreneurship is needed in the global economy as it helps ideas to

progress from the fruition to commercialization stage. Vibrant econo-

mies are recipients of entrepreneurship due to the way stakeholders

advocate for innovation (Brown, Mawson, & Rower, 2019). Research

on entrepreneurial ecosystems has expanded since the 2010's, as one

of the most popular research lines of inquiry. The basis for this growth

in the entrepreneurial ecosystems movement is due to it describing in

a holistic way the locational and collaborative aspects of entrepre-

neurship. Entrepreneurial ecosystems are still an elusive concept that

needs to be refined with more research. This article focuses on entre-

preneurial ecosystems through an international perspective and

argues that it should be contextualized based on cultural and society

conditions. Putting an ecosystem label onto entrepreneurship repre-

sents a novel way of understanding the multiple relationships that

occur as a result of business interactions. An understanding of entre-

preneurial ecosystems is best understood by reference to its cultural

and social setting.

Before discussing the definition and origins of the entrepreneurial

ecosystem concept, I want to give my heartfelt thanks to Professor

Mary Teagarden and Suzy Howell for their support and guidance with

this special journal issue. Ten years ago with their help I edited a spe-

cial journal issue on International Sport Management in Thunderbird

International Business Review, which was well received both by aca-

demics and practitioners. At the time I was living in Pittsburgh (United

States) and now I am in Melbourne (Australia) my hometown. Thus, it

is lovely to work with Mary and Suzy again in this special journal issue

on Entrepreneurial Ecosystems. I thank them for everything they have

done and for being delightful and supportive friends.

Entrepreneurial ecosystems can be defined as “an interconnected

group of actors in a local geographic community committed to sus-

tainable development through the support and facilitation of new sus-

tainable ventures”(Cohen, 2006, p. 3). This definition emphasizes the

role of sustainable interaction occurring, which implies that there

needs to be continued interaction. Other definitions emphasize the

digital aspect of entrepreneurship that characterizes innovations in

the knowledge economy. For example, Autio et al. (2018, p. 74)

defines an ecosystem as “a digital economy phenomenon that har-

nesses technological affordances to facilitate entrepreneurial opportu-

nities pursuit by new ventures through radical business model

innovation.”This means that an ecosystem can apply in a digital

DOI: 10.1002/tie.22164

Thunderbird Int. Bus. Rev. 2020;62:447–455. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/tie © 2020 Wiley Periodicals LLC. 447