Mind the Systemic Gap(s): Service Ecosystems for Early-Stage Entrepreneurs in the East Zone of São Paulo, Brazil

Abstract

Design supports entrepreneurial activity through new products, services and business designs, linking users, organizations and ecosystems. In this paper we explore services that support early-stage entrepreneurship. Fostering entrepreneurship is seen to create employment and economic wellbeing, especially in low resource environments. While service design practice has reached maturity, it is unable on its own to fully address the complexity in these services. In this paper, we suggest that complementary systemic level approaches are needed to build up coherent service ecosystems through an investigation of the perceptions of early-stage entrepreneurs regarding their service ecosystem in the resource-scarce East Zone (EZ) of São Paulo, Brazil. We found there were fundamental gaps in public policies, mentoring, access to capital and business networks, together with relatively underdeveloped skills and abilities in accessing markets. We contribute to modelling service ecosystems, identifying systemic gaps and defining a high-level agenda for service design to support early-stage entrepreneurship.

Keywords:

• service ecosystems
• early-stage entrepreneurship
• value co-creation
• systemic design
• service design

Acknowledgements

This study has been supported at various times by the Secretaria Municipal do Trabalho e Empreendedorismo (Municipal Secretary of Work and Entrepreneurship), the Agência São Paulo de Desenvolvimento (São Paulo Economic Development Agency, ADESAMPA), together with the Centro de Formação Cultural de Cidade Tiradentes and two Centros de Educação Unificados (Unified Education Centers, CEUs) and both the ETEC and FATEC of Itaquera. Furthermore, the Fundação Paulistana (FP), Centro Paula Souza, the Universidade de São Paulo (USP) through the Escola Politecnica (EP) and the Faculdade de Arquitetura e Urbanismo (FAU), as well as Loughborough University London have supported this study. The authors would like to thank all those who have contributed and note that the views here represented are those of the authors and do not reflect the official policy or position of any other agency, organization, employer or company.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Mikko Koria

Mikko Koria is the Professor and Director of the Institute for Design Innovation at Loughborough University London. His key areas of interest include design-driven entrepreneurship, innovation in policymaking and services and management of design and projects in global organizations.

Rosana Vasques

Dr Rosana Vasques is a Lecturer at the School of Architecture and Urbanism, University of São Paulo (FAU-USP), Brazil. Her key areas of interest include sustainable consumption and the sharing economy, service design and service ecosystems, the creative economy and entrepreneurship.

Ida Telalbasic

Dr Ida Telalbasic is a Lecturer and programme director at the Institute for Design Innovation, Loughborough University London in the area of Service Design Innovation and Strategy. Her current research focuses on mapping service ecosystems for entrepreneurship, deploying a design-driven approach to community development projects and social innovation.