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Widening the borders of entrepreneurial ecosystem through the international lens

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Abstract

While entrepreneurial ecosystem research has attracted increasing attention in the scholarly literature, research focusing on its structure beyond geographical borders is limited. The aim of this paper is to examine the configuration of the entrepreneurial ecosystem and propose an original model by implementing an international perspective. Specifically, this study combines the following two theoretical streams: the entrepreneurial ecosystem and the international context. An empirical investigation was performed through an exploratory study of key public and private French internationalization support organizations. The findings provide new insights related to 4 axes, i.e., structural, systemic, evolutionary and spatial axes, which are enhanced by the adopted international perspective. This perspective is connected to a glo-cal culture that combines both adaptation to local specificities and global integration. The findings also underline the importance of sub-ecosystem interactions in establishing a consistent and effective long-term entrepreneurial development strategy in a territory. This research provides useful implications for both theory and practice, especially for policymakers and support organizations.

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Availability of data and material

Data used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Notes

  1. 904 publications (674 journals, 129 books, 101 other types, i.e., conference proceedings), 91,7% of which were published or in press between 2016 and 2021 and 72,1% between 2018 and 2021—Scopus data consulted on January 4, 2021.

  2. One-stop shop for internationalization support born from the collective ambition to bring together public and private actors to improve their export support.

  3. OSCI: Entrepreneurs’ Federation of International Trade.

  4. National agency created by a merger between Ubifrance and the French Agency for International Investment.

  5. The Fabrique de l’Exportation is a Think Tank founded in France in 2012 and which aims to share the results of the work of the best researchers in this field with the international community of operators.

  6. INTernational COmmercial TERMS.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to the participants of the AOM Virtual Annual Conference on August 7-11, 2020 for their inspiring feedback and valuable suggestions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. TBS Business School, 1 Place Alphonse Jourdain, CS 66810, 31068, Cedex 7, Toulouse, France

    Christina Theodoraki

  2. Jean Monnet University – IAE Saint-Étienne, Coactis Laboratory, 2 rue Tréfilerie, 42100, Saint-Étienne, France

    Alexis Catanzaro

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Correspondence to Christina Theodoraki.

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Appendix: interview guide

Appendix: interview guide

Introductory questions

What is your objective and your role?

Tell me about your support structure

Support services

1. Could you tell me about the international support that you are offering? What type of support is it?

Support methods

2. How does international support work?

3. When does your organization intervene to support a potential entrepreneur internationally?

Support influence

4. In your opinion, what does your support offer companies?

Support adaptation/evolution

5. Do you have a single method of support, a process, or a way of doing things, or do you adapt your support according to the profile of a given company?

Support performance

6. In your opinion, what is the contribution of your support? What is its impact on the supported companies?

7. What do you think are the key factors of successful coaching?

8. Do you evaluate your proposed practices/services? If so, how?

Offer satisfaction and improvement

9. Are you satisfied with the way your support is structured?

10. What developments would you like to see in the future?

11. Are you satisfied with the way in which the global offer of international support in France is structured?

Relations with other actors

12. Do you work with other private actors?

13. How is your relationship with other public/private actors? How is your relationship with actors based abroad?

14. How do you perceive the national support system?

Business perception

15. How do companies perceive your offer? How do they perceive the latest developments of “the French export team”?

16. Are they aware of your offer? Are they aware of the developments of the team?

Concluding comments

Are there any points that we have not addressed that you think are important to highlight?

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Theodoraki, C., Catanzaro, A. Widening the borders of entrepreneurial ecosystem through the international lens. J Technol Transf 47, 383–406 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10961-021-09852-7

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