We explore the emerging body of research focusing on business ecosystems (BEs). The study of inter-organizational relationships has evolved from a focus at the level of firm, to the supply chain, the...

Digitalisation is shaping the contemporary technological context of entrepreneurial activities, where firms grow through interacting with digital ecosystem stakeholders. This study investigates how incumbent firms seek entrepreneurial growth by re-configurating their knowledge bases in digital business ecosystems. We propose and develop a conceptual framework that blends the digital business ecosystem perspective and the knowledge-based view of the firm. Through a longitudinal case study of a Chinese textile manufacturing firm, we identify three pathways for entrepreneurial growth. The results contribute to the entrepreneurship literature by demonstrating how digital technologies foster corporate entrepreneurship in incumbent firms. The proposed framework extends the analytical power of the knowledge-based view by incorporating ecosystem elements into the firm’s internal and external knowledge management. The findings also generate relevant and actionable managerial implications for entrepreneurs, managers, and policymakers that are applicable in the context of digital business ecosystems.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide implementation insights and implications regarding the strategic orientations of servitization by testing its impacts on firm performance, including financial performance and customer service performance. Design/methodology/approach: Empirical research is conducted using an online survey disseminated to manufacturing firms in Southeast China. This research develops and verifies a strategic fit framework to understand the relationship between the strategic orientation of servitization and service innovation (SI), and its resulting impacts on firm performance. Findings: The results show that service orientation (SO) has direct positive impacts on firm performance in the manufacturing sector. Customer orientation (CO) and learning orientation (LO) have no direct impact on firm performance, although they have indirect impacts on it via the mediating role of SI capability. Moreover, SO has a similar indirect impact on firm performance via SI capability. Research limitations/implications: The survey focuses only on China; future studies should verify whether different cultural backgrounds impact the research results. Practical implications: The results suggest that firms should build up three strategic orientations (SO, CO and LO) for implementing servitization to facilitate SI capability and, thus, to improve firm performance. Originality/value: This research contributes to enhancing the theory of servitization by developing a strategic fit model of servitization and revealing the impact mechanism of servitization in the manufacturing sector.

Purpose: Considering the last-mile delivery service supply chain as a social-ecological system rather than just a firm-based service system, this research exploit the COVID-19 pandemic disruption to investigate how the supply chain develops resilience from a viewpoint that integrates a social-ecological perspective with the traditional engineering one.Design/methodology/approach: This research adopt a multi-case study approach using qualitative data collected via semi-structured interviews with executive-level managers from nine leading UK last-mile delivery companies. Data analysis is guided by a research framework which is developed by combining the social-ecological perspective with the structure–conduct–performance paradigm. This framework aids the investigation of the impacts of external challenges on companies' resilience strategies and practices, as well as performance, in response to disruptions.Findings: The research identifies three distinct pathways to resilience development: stabilization, focussing on bouncing back to the original normal; adaptation, involving evolutionary changes to a new normal; transformation, involving revolutionary changes in pursuit of a new normal-plus. Three strategic orientations are identified as operating across these pathways: people orientation, digital orientation, and learning orientation.Originality/value: In contrast to the manufacturing supply chain focus of most current research, this research concentrates on the service supply chain, investigating its resilience with a social-ecological perspective alongside the traditional engineering one.