Contenu du sommaire : Creativity in entrepreneurship

The organization of start-ups contests by large mature firms appears as a growing practice to stimulate corporate entrepreneurship. We explore this phenomenon to characterize the mutual benefits for large firms and start-ups. We show the influence of two factors on the nature of the relationship between large mature firms and start-ups. The first is the product oriented or service oriented innovation processes of large firms. The second is the distance between the core technological fields of large firms and start-up. Based on these two factors we propose a categorization of start-ups contests in four types: early co-development, co-development close to market, acceleration and outsourcing. The cases we study show the strong influence of the technologies linked to Internet in the development of the start-ups contests. Accelerating programs that accompany the practice of start-ups contests rely on the creation of private accelerators that play an important role as boundary spanners and gatekeepers. JEL Codes: M13

The study suggests that opportunity creation is indeed a social process. In this study, we elaborate on the social creation of entrepreneurial opportunities. The empirical part of this study will attempt to clarify the processes of opportunity objectification and enactment, by carefully studying the case of one Finnish-based start-up company. The empirical case study revealed that the social creation of opportunities is defined by the strong vision of the entrepreneur, combining knowledge and incorporating feedback as well as actively communicating the opportunity further. By combining these features, entrepreneurs are able to break current operational boundaries and create mutually interesting and attractive entrepreneurial opportunities. This study adds to opportunity research by providing a more comprehensive explanation of social processes in opportunity creation. JEL Codes: L260, O310, M130

By means of a case study, we analyze the implementation of collective creativity in an industrial SME. Employees are invited to participate in creativity seminars in order to develop new product concepts. The case is analyzed in terms of the C-K theory. The creativity seminar allows moving away from the dominant design through the permanent creation of new concepts. Although the company seeks to innovate through the creation of new concepts, it does not try to introduce a radical change. Its aim is to “be creative while keeping one foot in the box”. This regime allows the company to maintain a competitive advantage, whilst at the same time limiting costs, risks and delays related to the development of innovative products. JEL Codes: M11, M19

The present study, which explores the management of creative individuals in creative companies, focuses on the shift from industrial to post-industrial business development and the dynamic settings of creative companies, which contrast with static and traditional firms. Organizational entries and exits of creative individuals are discussed as a new management method that combines the traditional career perspective with the boundaryless and boundary-crossing careers of creative individuals. The paradox of creative freedom and control in managing creative individuals reveals that both factors must be addressed to achieve optimal management. JEL Codes: M1

This paper aims at applying the Schumpeterian framework to issues of rural communities with shrinking and aging populations and a lost linkage to economic dynamics and to innovation. Discussion of how to obtain wealth and the well-being of townspeople remain undeveloped in theory and practice. This paper asks how innovative entrepreneurship and enterprise development can contribute to regional and communal competitiveness as well as create positive relationships between work and well-being. By applying Schumpeterian approaches to entrepreneurship and innovation a hypothetical schema is built. Our case study of a typical rural aging town with a stagnant economy provides empirical evidence to support the theoretical conception. The personality of the entrepreneur plays the main role in the creation of an innovative enterprise and for improvement in the well-being of townspeople. With entrepreneurial leadership, older residents in rural communities may indeed create disruptive innovation with low technology and become healthier and happier. JEL Codes: J14, O22, O35

Technological change (TC) is a critical process in every industry. However, old technologies and products rarely disappear from the market after TC. Incumbent firms might support old technology and revitalize or retrofit old products. Similarly users can proactively act in order to prolong the lifetime of the older technology. In so doing they may trigger a wave of technological innovation aimed at bridging the old with the new technology or with other existing complementary products. The research question of this article is therefore: how do old technology users contribute to technological change? The paper reports three illustrations of communities of practice providing critical evidences about this unexplored phenomenon. Drawing on the illustrations, some prescriptions are developed. JEL Codes: O31, O33

This paper addresses challenges, questions and problems of effective and efficient strategies of innovators, entrepreneurs and innovation policy makers in an environment with dynamic change, complexity, risk, and uncertainty. In this research, we use game theory principles, methodological approaches, and methods for theoretical analysis, and innovation games (living labs) as a tool for empirical analysis. Based on our research and our experience applying these approaches, we summarized and stated some policy recommendations that a game-theoretic approach turns up. JEL Codes: C70, O31, O32, O38, M10

The guilds that partly organize artisanal work in urban areas in modern France have long been considered to be institutions that are shut away in their statutes and their regulations, protective of their monopolies, conventional and averse to innovation. This dubious image of artisans inherited, on the one hand, from the political culture of the French Revolution, which connected this particular way of organizing work with the society of orders and privileges, and on the other hand with a “large enterprise culture” that has characterized the analyses of several French historians, is today being questioned. JEL Codes: L26, L66, N63, O31