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: Drawing upon the theory of the resource-based view, the purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships among relational resources, innovation capability and firm performance in the third-party logistics (3PL) industry.Design/methodology/approach: Based on data collected from 203 3PL providers in China, this study adopts the approach of structural equation modeling to examine the hypothesized relationships among relational resources, innovation capability and firm performance.Findings: The results of this research confirm that relational resources have a positive effect on firm performance. However, the effect is not direct, but realized through the mediation of innovation capability. This study indicates that relational resources are important for 3PL providers to achieve superior performance, and innovation capability plays a mediating role between relational resources and firm performance.Originality/value: The main contributions of this paper to the literature are twofold. First, it extends the extant research by highlighting the mediating mechanism of innovation capability in relational resources’ influence on firm performance. Second, it advances the existing perspectives on 3PL firms in the Chinese context and this sheds light on logistics research on emerging markets.

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.