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Entrepreneurship as an Innovation Driver in an Industrial Ecosystem

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Digital Entrepreneurship

Part of the book series: FGF Studies in Small Business and Entrepreneurship ((FGFS))

Abstract

Understanding how a new digital technology can translate into a valuable innovation is a challenge for established players and new entrants. For industrial players in an ecosystem, it can be both a threat and an opportunity. Furthermore, the new technologies open collaboration opportunities between corporates and start-ups. But it remains unclear what are the consequences of opening up and whether it has an impact on the innovation dynamics in the industrial ecosystem.

We use the case of the wind industry in Denmark, as a maturing industrial ecosystem, to study when and how the new entrants (technology entrepreneurs) have had an impact on the innovation dynamics. We first combine archival data with interviews to build a historical account of the evolution of the industrial ecosystem; then we incorporate data from the new entrants in the industry to specify the types of innovations that the most recent digital technology entrepreneurs have triggered.

The results suggest differences in the innovation dynamics depending on the value chain position. While some activities have remained rather closed (for instance, the technological development of the core elements in the wind turbines), the operations and maintenance activities have profited from digital technologies introduced by new entrants. Using these insights, we present and discuss suggestions to institutional actors interested in protecting the innovation leadership of their regional industrial ecosystems.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Mads Clausen Institute, University of Southern Denmark, Sønderborg, Denmark

    Markus Hofmann & Ferran Giones

Authors
  1. Markus Hofmann
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  2. Ferran Giones
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Interdisciplinary Education, Dresden University of Applied Sciences, Dresden, Germany

    Ronny Baierl

  2. Solvay Business School, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium

    Judith Behrens

  3. Chair of Technology Management, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Nuremberg, Germany

    Alexander Brem

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Hofmann, M., Giones, F. (2019). Entrepreneurship as an Innovation Driver in an Industrial Ecosystem. In: Baierl, R., Behrens, J., Brem, A. (eds) Digital Entrepreneurship. FGF Studies in Small Business and Entrepreneurship. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-20138-8_5

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