The role of MNEs in the genesis and growth of a resilient entrepreneurial ecosystem

ABSTRACT

This article reports on a longitudinal process study of the critical role of anchor MNEs in the metamorphosis of a high-tech industrial cluster into a local entrepreneurial ecosystem. It draws on entrepreneurial ecosystem and international business literatures to frame the study of the genesis and evolutionary processes of an entrepreneurial ecosystem that emerged from two MNE subsidiaries, both of which had evolved into advanced R&D centres of excellence around a technology specialism. It shows how multiple new venture spinouts by former MNE employees introduced technological heterogeneity that catalysed into a resilient entrepreneurial ecosystem. The theoretical and policy implications that can be drawn from this case study emphasize the existence of both technology specialism and heterogeneity for resilience in an entrepreneurial ecosystem, and that reaching such a position is evolutionary in nature.

KEYWORDS:

• Entrepreneurial ecosystem
• MNE
• evolution
• heterogeneity
• resilience
• longitudinal

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to sincerely thank the editorial team and two anonymous reviewers for their most helpful insights and welcome suggestions for improvement of our manuscript. We acknowledge and are grateful for the research assistance of Daniel Cho. Dieter F. Kogler would like to acknowledge funding from the Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) under the SFI Science Policy Research Program, Project: Science-Technology Space (grant agreement No 17/SPR/5324, SciTechSpace).

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.