Linking information systems and entrepreneurship: A review and agenda for IT-associated and digital entrepreneurship research

Information technology capability, open technological innovation and firm growth

The aim of this paper is to investigate the effects of information technology (IT) capability on firm growth in the context of open technological innovation. The paper utilized a logical deductive approach to develop hypotheses and analytical frameworks, and collected empirical data from 256 Chinese new ventures. Regression analysis and structural equation models were used to test the hypotheses and analyze the data. The results showed that IT capability, including flexibility and integration of information technology, significantly influenced firm growth, and open technological innovation partially mediated the relationship between IT flexibility and firm growth, and significantly mediated the relationship between IT integration and firm growth. The paper's limitations include the cross-sectional design, limited sample size, and potential unobserved variables such as organizational learning that could affect the relationship between IT capability and firm growth. The research is the first to investigate the effects of IT capability on firm growth based on the mediation of open technological innovation in China, contributing to the literature on IT capability and providing insights for managerial practice in the sharing economy era.

The association of socio-demographic characteristics of university students and the levels of their digital entrepreneurial competences

The aim of this article is to provide empirical evidence on the level of digital entrepreneurial competences (DEC) that higher education students acquire during their higher education and to investigate the relationship between their socio-demographic characteristics and the level of DEC. The first competence area (Identification of opportunities) of the DEC EmDigital competence framework was assessed together with its three sub-competence areas (Search for and analysis of information, Creativity and innovation, and Prospecting), and the relationship between the level of DEC and various socio-demographic characteristics of higher education students was investigated using logistic regression. The results show a relatively low DEC level of the participating students for the first EmDigital competence area. Location, field of study, level of study and employment status were found to be statistically significant for the acquisition of DEC, while the variables age and gender had little impact. The results of this study are a step towards the development of an DEC online assessment tool (using the Digital Competence Wheel as a role model) that universities and other stakeholders could use to assess the level of DEC their students acquire during university education. This research is the first study to assess the acquisition of DEC during university studies and the impact of different socio-demographic characteristics of students on their level of DEC.

Entrepreneurship challenges: the case of Jordanian start-ups

This study investigates challenges facing entrepreneurs in Jordan, identifies some of problems specific to SMEs, and offers some solutions to help these companies improve their conditions. This study collected primary data through interviews with entrepreneurs in four start-up companies specialized in diverse fields, including information technology, consulting, training, and e-marketing. This study found many obstacles facing entrepreneurs in Jordan, the most important of which are financial and logistical support, the challenge of distributing work, owning operating experiences, obtaining information, commercial relations, and networking. The results of this study showed that women face greater challenges in relation to financing and investment opportunities. Finally, this study proposes some solutions which expected to be applied to improve the business environment, the most important of which is that the Jordanian Ministry of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship should activate pilot projects and stimulate investment in them, facilitating the development and deployment of technical knowledge in private sector development.

How digitalization reinvented entrepreneurial resilience during COVID-19

The emergence of new digital technologies has transformed entrepreneurship and, very likely, enabled many new and established ventures to avoid bankruptcy throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Digital technologies are key to identifying, evaluating and exploiting opportunities, scaling a venture's competitiveness, improving efficiency and innovating, especially during uncertain times. We explore how digital technologies reinvented entrepreneurial resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic and distill the digital artifacts, platforms and infrastructures used by entrepreneurs to demonstrate entrepreneurial resilience. We analyzed 42 reflective interviews featuring successful entrepreneurs from How I Built This "Resilience Series" podcast that explore how entrepreneurs responded to the COVID-19 crisis. We adopted a systematic approach to identify and describe the behaviors, actions and strategies related to digitalization to reinvent the business in the uncertain and resource-constrained context of COVID-19. The data analysis yielded thirteen first-order codes categorized into five second-order themes: creative digital pivoting, digital infrastructures, social impact through digital technology, burdens to digital adoption, and growth through digitalization. These second-order themes reveal to function as both enablers and barriers to entrepreneurial resilience in this adverse context. Our exploratory analysis suggests how digitalization influences entrepreneurial resilience.

Do the innovation and digital transformation strategies induce sme performances In new normal era? Structrual & confirmatory analysis models

One of major challenge in a sustainable growth, which organizations face is a slow adoption of the digital transformation. This research work presents the reasons that lead to the slow digitization process in medical device SMEs in southern Germany. In addition, by developing the conceptual model, this work highlights the effect of these improper implementations on SME's business performances and financial situation. The researchers applied correlational research design methodology, with simple random sampling techniques along with empirical and statistical study with primary data collection. The main study variables are SME’s financial situation, SMEs organizational performance, and medical digitization rules. The study demonstrated the negative impact of delayed digital mechanisms in terms of businesses and financial performances.The extra transparency restrictions that add burdens for SMEs, and the lack of training for the employees, which in overall add more difficulties for adopting innovation and digital transformation are other factors negatively affecting the studied process.

A framework for exploring digital entrepreneurship development from a social interaction perspective

There is almost universal agreement within extant studies that digital technologies such as social media and digital platforms have accelerated and expanded social networks on an unprecedented scale, generating a transformative impact entrepreneurial processes and outcomes. However, there have been limited studies conducted to investigate this significant phenomenon. We aim to address this gap by providing a framework to extend research knowledge in this area. We specifically focus on the online and offline social contexts that are impacting on digital entrepreneurship (DE) development. We investigate the role of these often blended network relations in DE, placing human relations and social interaction at the centre of the study, and shifting away from previous purely technological approaches. While many existing studies in related fields focus on either social networks or social capital, we study the association between them, in the context of DE. As a contribution to extending existing theory, we propose a new research framework to underpin future study, based on established concepts within the literature and our own research evidence. This framework provides a model of the relational linkages between types of social networks and social capital to enable researchers to explore how they impact on the actions and outcomes of DE. Our purpose is to encourage, inform and guide future empirical research, to focus on and develop an understanding of the crucial role of social network interaction in DE development.

BUSINESS MODEL CONFIGURATIONS IN DIGITAL HEALTHCARE–A GERMAN CASE STUDY ABOUT DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

Digital ventures are flooding the healthcare market in Germany and setting new standards for innovative digital health systems and tools. A key challenge in this sector from both academic and practitioner perspectives remains the intransparency of business model configurations applied by digital health. We tackle this problem by conducting a comparative case study of 237 digital health ventures. These ventures are examined on the business model level, exploring the digital technology components of each company and relating them to the identified areas of activity. The resulting dominant combinations of the two dimensions highlight four key areas of activity and two technological core elements. Within these dominant combinations we identify intriguing configurations of business model activities. The dominant Software(-as-a-Service) logic supports the criteria of interoperability on different levels. This research contributes to the growing academic literature stream of digital technology and entrepreneurship in healthcare.

Factors Influencing the Teaching Intention of Business College Teachers to Fulfill Digital Entrepreneurship Courses

With the increasing promotion of entrepreneurship in Taiwan's universities and the establishment of departments of innovation or entrepreneurship management, it has become an emerging trend to encourage college students to become entrepreneurs or participate in entrepreneurial competitions during their undergraduate years. The Internet has stimulated the development and widespread application of new business models and has created a large number of entrepreneurial opportunities. Universities engaged in digital entrepreneurship education over the past have hardly designed a curriculum to teach the content of digital entrepreneurship. This study integrated "task-technology fit," "self-determination theory," and "interactive participation," into its investigation on the teaching intention of business college teachers to develop digital entrepreneurship courses. The sample size was 126 participants. Using partial least squares analysis, the research model represented high internal consistency and confirmed the good reliability of the scales. This study presented that three dimensions of the concept (teachers' positive attitude emotions, task-technology fit, interactive participation) were highly prioritized in their intention to teach digital entrepreneurship courses. The coefficient of the endogenous variables was 0.503 for positive attitude emotions, 0.571 for task-technology fit, and 0.392 for teaching intention. Based on a quantitative survey on the teaching intention of business college teachers to fulfill digital entrepreneurship courses, this study demonstrated the implications of digital entrepreneurship education issues that are relevant to the role of teacher's dimension from different viewpoints, and discussed the implications of teaching digital entrepreneurship courses for digital entrepreneurship practices and entrepreneurship education.

The Effects of Digital Technology on Opportunity Recognition

Recognizing opportunities enabled by digital technology (DT) has become a competitive necessity in today’s digital world. However, opportunity recognition is a major challenge given the influence of DT, which not only disperses agency across various actors, but also blurs boundaries between customers, companies, products, and industries. As a result, traditional entrepreneurship knowledge needs to be rethought and the effects of DT on opportunity recognition need to be better understood. Drawing from opportunity recognition theory – as one of the central theories in the entrepreneurship domain – this study builds on a structured literature review to identify and explain three direct as well as three transitive effects of DT on opportunity recognition. These effects have been validated with real-world cases as well as interviews with academics and practitioners. In sum, this study contributes to descriptive and explanatory knowledge on the evolution from traditional to digital entrepreneurship. As a theory for explaining, the findings extend opportunity recognition theory by illuminating how and why DT influences opportunity recognition. This supports research and practice in investigating and managing opportunities more effectively.

Digital Innovations in MSMEs during Economic Disruptions: Experiences and Challenges of Young Entrepreneurs

The spike in COVID-19 cases all over the world poses a massive impact on various sectors of society. The global economy is no exception, for it has been severely affected by the unprecedented public health crisis leading businesspeople to shutdown commercial establishments and dramatically shifting businesses into digital platforms. Immense challenges brought by the pandemic have turned into great opportunities among entrepreneurs from different parts of the globe. In pursuit of the recovery path, they considered digital tools to be instrumental to surviving the crisis and even thriving in the long term. This study explores drivers and barriers to digital innovations in micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) during economic disruptions from the perspective of Filipino young entrepreneurs. Researchers employed a qualitative method for the conduct of in-depth interviews with 46 online entrepreneurs in the Philippines and transcribed them for Inductive Content Analysis to generate themes. Results found the adverse effects of the pandemic, which reinforce entrepreneurial innovations of shifting businesses to digital platforms, categorized into intrinsic (e.g., personal and professional growth) and extrinsic (e.g., mobility restrictions, market conditions, and household economic status) motivations. Participants described the barriers to digital entrepreneurship, including skills needed for doing online business, market-related problems in digital platforms, availability of quality internet infrastructures, and the pandemic restrictions. The findings of this study contribute to the entrepreneurship literature and areas for an empirical investigation to develop programs that support entrepreneurs during economic disruptions. This would serve as a guidepost in the formulation of government policies and strategies for economic recovery through digital entrepreneurship while considering the perspectives of young entrepreneurs. This further recommends future related researches to empower entrepreneurs, particularly those in the developing economies during the pandemic and beyond.

Pathways to Developing Digital Capabilities within Entrepreneurial Initiatives in Pre-Digital Organizations

To enable new digital business models, pre-digital organizations launch entrepreneurial initiatives. However, in developing the required digital capabilities, pre-digital organizations often face challenges as they are marked by the ways they have historically established their organizational identity. Research on how pre-digital organizations can develop digital capabilities remains scarce. This study draws on a single case study to illustrate potential pathways for the development of digital capabilities. Two key characteristics are identified: the source of digital capability development and the set-up of the actors involved. The authors synthesize four possible pathway manifestations, discuss the dynamic nature of pathway combinations, and suggest that managing a portfolio of pathways may be crucial for pre-digital organizations. Therefore, the study contributes to a better understanding of digital transformation in pre-digital organizations. Furthermore, it provides guidance for practitioners to reflect on when deciding which pathways to follow.

A semi-auto text mining approach for literature review

The emergence of powerful information technologies (IT) has changed innovation and entrepreneurship in significant ways. Research in IT for entrepreneurship is relatively new and there is a growing interest from academics for further studies on investigating this area of research. This study reviews research carried out in the domain of IT for entrepreneurship. A total of 1005 papers, published between 1980 and 2021 were used to uncover the latent topics addressed in this domain. A topic modeling (LDA) algorithm was used to automate the process of extracting the initial research topics from the data. The results show that IT for entrepreneurship studies are classified into six aspects of research: entrepreneurship initiative and innovation, strategy, business process management and operation management, entrepreneurship education, industry analysis, and business model. The results raise awareness of IT-associated entrepreneurship areas of research, provide useful insights for future research, and informs practice in this domain of study.

A Pragmatic Approach for Evaluating and Accrediting Digital Competence of Digital Profiles: A Case Study of Entrepreneurs and Remote Workers

During the last decades, digital competence has become essential at workplace. Nowadays, it is difficult to find a job where no ICT skills are required. At the same time, there is a lack of ecosystems for adult reskilling in digital competence. Moreover, most of them do not use of a common language and terminology, decreasing the possibilities of being used by a wider public. In addition, the assessment of digital competence cannot be done using simple self-assessment tests, but more complex tools such as simulations or other activities based on real scenarios. Considering this, we designed a performance-based evaluation system following a pragmatic approach based on DigComp framework. We carried out a needs analysis based on expert consultation (63 teleworkers and 82 entrepreneurs) to create an assessment syllabus and implement the assessment modules. Then, we conducted an analysis by experts (n = 21) of the relationship between the content of the tests and the construct it was intended to measure. After refinement, the system was piloted by end-users all over Europe (n = 525). Results confirmed that DigComp was the most appropriate reference when considering the transversality of digital competence, providing researchers with well-defined clear criteria.

Actor-Network Theory Perspective of Robotic Process Automation Implementation in the Banking Sector

Banking institutions are increasingly exploring ways of improving service delivery rather than the extreme focus and obsession of financial profitability. This has led to localising the internationality of solutions through the implementation (adoption and practice) of Robotic Process Automation (RPA), to advance service delivery. However, the uniqueness of environmental culture, and the critical roles of human actors increase challenges in some banking institutions. Consequently, the adoption of RPA poses a challenge, different from the many norms, which some banks encounter. In some institutions, this is fundamental and disruptive, and questionable to human development. This study explores the challenge by following the actors using the interpretivist approach, from actor-network theory perspective (ANT). From the analysis, five fundamental factors were found to be essential to banking institutions’ operations in their quest to implement RPA. The findings provide fresh perspectives and a mixed trajectory to the adoption of RPA, from the South African banking institutions’ context.

AI Startup Business Models

We currently observe the rapid emergence of startups that use Artificial Intelligence (AI) as part of their business model. While recent research suggests that AI startups employ novel or different business models, one could argue that AI technology has been used in business models for a long time already—questioning the novelty of those business models. Therefore, this study investigates how AI startup business models potentially differ from common IT-related business models. First, a business model taxonomy of AI startups is developed from a sample of 100 AI startups and four archetypal business model patterns are derived: AI-charged Product/Service Provider, AI Development Facilitator, Data Analytics Provider, and Deep Tech Researcher. Second, drawing on this descriptive analysis, three distinctive aspects of AI startup business models are discussed: (1) new value propositions through AI capabilities, (2) different roles of data for value creation, and (3) the impact of AI technology on the overall business logic. This study contributes to our fundamental understanding of AI startup business models by identifying their key characteristics, common instantiations, and distinctive aspects. Furthermore, this study proposes promising directions for future entrepreneurship research. For practice, the taxonomy and patterns serve as structured tools to support entrepreneurial action.

Eras of Digital Entrepreneurship

While recent research continues to emphasize the importance of digital entrepreneurship, the historical terminology of this field is often overlooked. Digital entrepreneurship tends to be considered a new phenomenon despite emerging in the early 1990s. Building on a scoping literature review, this study analyzes 1354 publications that use nine different terms interchangeably to describe the phenomenon of digital entrepreneurship. Based on the number of publications per year, three eras in the historical development of digital entrepreneurship research are outlined. Digital technologies are identified as external enablers, and certain practical events are considered to be influencing factors. The results show that recent research has not adequately recognized the contributions of previous publications and that the understanding of digital entrepreneurship is quite similar with regard to the terms used and over time. This study shows how emerging digital technologies, such as artificial intelligence, blockchain technology, and big data analytics, might shape the future of digital entrepreneurship research. The study occupies the intersection between entrepreneurship and information systems literature and its main contribution is to provide new insights into the eras of digital entrepreneurship from the past to the present and into the future.

The Influence of Entrepreneurial Cognition on Business Model Innovation: A Hybrid Method Based on Multiple Regressions and Machine Learning

How to achieve business model innovation (BMI) has always been a focus topic in the field of entrepreneurship. Based on cognitive theory, this study takes new ventures as the research object to build a theoretical model to explore the impact of entrepreneurial cognition on BMI choice, its intermediary mechanism, and boundary conditions. We test our framework with a sample of 242 questionnaires; the empirical research results show that entrepreneurial configuration cognition, willing cognition, and ability cognition indirectly affect the BMI of new ventures. Strategic sensitivity (SSE) mediated the relationship between entrepreneurial cognition and BMI; knowledge diversity positively moderates the relationship between SSE and BMI. Machine learning algorithm research has found three prediction models for BMI of new ventures. By constructing a theoretical analysis framework of BMI from the perspective of cognition, the results deepen the relevant research on BMI of new ventures, clarify the source of unique characteristics and capabilities of entrepreneurs, provide a new research perspective for analyzing the impact mechanism of entrepreneurial cognition on BMI, enrich the research results in the field of “situation-cognition behavior,” and further clarify the important role of knowledge in the development of new ventures.

Offerings That are “Ever-in-the-Making”

Digital ventures are entrepreneurial young firms that introduce new digital artifacts that are “ever-incomplete” and “perpetually-in-the-making” onto the market. The study examines how six digital ventures continued to develop their digital market offerings post launch. Three key designing mechanisms are identified that explain continuous post-launch product development in digital ventures: deploying complementary digital objects, architectural amplification, and porting. The study discusses how these mechanisms advance our understanding of how digital technologies change entrepreneurial processes and outcomes.

Extending Digital Ventures Through Templating

A powerful way of growing digital ventures is templating. Templating involves the generation and use of generic solutions across business areas to reduce cost and increase speed. There are three main processes with which ventures can improve templating: concepting, generalizing, and porting. This paper describes these processes and proposes implications for managers engaged in growing their digital venture.

Open Source Collaboration in Digital Entrepreneurship

Emerging digital technologies give rise to digital entrepreneurship and the widespread phenomenon of open source collaboration (OSC) on GitHub for entrepreneurial pursuits. Although openness is a common theme in digital entrepreneurship, it is unclear how digital startups—that is, startups that that have digital artifacts at the core of their business model for value creation and capture—actually realize value from their OSC engagement. We develop a theoretical framework to explain how the engagement in OSC may affect the value of digital startups and how the effect is contingent on the stage of venture maturity (conception, commercialization, or growth) and the mode of OSC engagement (inbound or outbound). In analyses that pool 17,552 matched digital startups with monthly panel observations between 2008 and 2017, we find digital startups in the conception and commercialization stages benefit more from inbound OSC whereas the ones in the growth stage benefit more from outbound OSC. As digital startups increasingly use OSC for ideation, experimentation, and scaling, our contribution is to show whether, when, and how knowledge flows through OSC might affect the value of digital startups. We discuss implications for research on organizing for digital entrepreneurship as well as open innovation.

Towards Sustainable Digital Innovation of SMEs from the Developing Countries in the Context of the Digital Economy and Frugal Environment

This study aims to explore the direct impact of the digital orientation, Internet of Things (IoT) and digital platforms on the sustainable digital innovation in the context of the digital economy and frugal environment. This study also investigated the mediating role of the digital platforms in these relations. The study was based on the quantitative research design and data were collected from the 397 CEOs and managing directors of Small and Medium Enterprises in Pakistan. Correlation and structural equation modeling approaches were applied for the analysis and testing of the hypotheses. Results revealed that the digital orientation, IoT and digital platform are major antecedents of the sustainable digital innovation. Results also show that the digital platforms mediate between both digital orientation-sustainable digital innovation link and IoT-sustainable digital innovation link. The rapid pace of change in the technology has forced the business organizations to think out of box and align their operational mechanism accordingly. The need for the sustainable digital innovation is a major need of the current decade for meeting the increasing demands of the society in a sustainable way. Organizations, especially SMEs, should be able to deal with these challenges and rapid technological transformations through cost effective frugal business models. The frugal innovation is an important element of sustainable digital innovation enables SMEs to reduce resources usage and waste and to enhance sustainable economic activities. In this way, they can develop and gain advantages in this highly competitive digital environment. This is the first study showing the bright harmony of the digital orientation, IoT and digital platforms for achieving the sustainable digital innovation in the rapid evolving digital economy.

The impact of information technology culture and personal innovativeness in information technology on digital entrepreneurship success

Purpose

Very little or no study has explored the predictors of behaviour and traits that determine digital entrepreneurship (DE) success. In response, the purpose of this paper is to present a research model that takes information technology (IT) culture as a theoretical lens and personal innovativeness and experience in IT projects as theoretical constructs to predict behaviour and traits that explain DE success.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on the literature review, the authors propose hypotheses and a research model. The authors tested the model using structural equation modelling (SEM), by surveying a sample of digital entrepreneurs operating in the Yabacon Valley, Lagos, Nigeria.

Findings

The results indicate that IT culture is an essential predictor of achieving DE success. The results also suggest that an entrepreneur's innovativeness in IT and experience in IT projects have significant negative and positive moderating effects on the relationship between IT culture and achieving DE success.

Research limitations/implications

This paper taps into a new setting – DE context – by exploring the moderation effects of an entrepreneur's innovativeness in IT and experience in IT projects on the link between their IT culture and achieving a successful DE outcome.

Practical implications

This model offers managers an understanding of how IT culture and personal innovativeness and experience in IT work together to achieve DE success. Meanwhile, it sheds some light on managers to treat individuals with different levels of experience differently.

Originality/value

The authors theorise IT culture, personal innovativeness and experience in IT and show their effects on DE success, thus making an essential contribution to the information systems (ISs) and entrepreneurship research and practice. Moreover, the authors provide a novel methodology to conceptualise IT culture as a second-order hierarchical reflective construct by giving evidence that partial least squares (PLS) path modelling can assess a hierarchical model with moderating effects. This study answers scholars' call to construct more accurate explanations of innovation outcomes in an increasingly digital world.

A review of challenges and opportunities of blockchain adoption for operational excellence in the UK automotive industry

Purpose

This paper aims to explore the challenges and opportunities of blockchain technology adoption from the lens of the technological–organisational–environmental (TOE) framework for operational excellence in the UK automotive industry context.

Design/methodology/approach

The research methodology of this study follows a systematic review approach, which analyses existing academic published research papers in the top 35 academic journals. There was no specific timeframe established for this study and shortlisting the articles through a set of used keywords. A sample of 71 articles was shortlisted and analysed to provide a discussion on technological and management challenges and opportunities of blockchain adoption from the lens of the TOE framework for operational excellence.

Findings

The findings of this study present significant theoretical and managerial implications and deep understanding for firms seeking to understand the challenges and opportunities of blockchain adoption for their operational excellence.

Research limitations/implications

The systematic literature approach was considered for the present study to explore existing academic papers on technological and management challenges and opportunities from the lens of TOE framework for operational excellence, whereas a more specified method meta-analysis can be considered for future research. The study has been explored in the UK automotive industry context, which has been considered as the limitation of generalisation across countries and industries.

Originality/value

This paper represents the most comprehensive literature study related to the technological and management challenges and opportunities of blockchain from the TOE framework angle for operational excellence.