Special Issue "Sustainable Innovative Economy: Technology Management and Entrepreneurship"

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Economic and Business Aspects of Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2021.

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Dilek Cetindamar
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Information, Systems, and Modelling, Faculty of Engineering and IT, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo 2007, NSW, Australia
Interests: entrepreneurship; digital transformation; technology and innovation management

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We invite you to contribute to this Special Issue titled “Sustainable Innovative Economy: Technology Management and Entrepreneurship.”

Innovation is key to any country striving to build sustainable growth and welfare all across the globe (OECD, 2014). Countries are struggling to invest in diverse sets of technologies and support entrepreneurs who transform technological knowledge into innovative products and services in diverse industries (Nambisan et al., 2017). Technological changes such as the development and diffusion of artificial intelligence are taking place at an unprecedented speed (Cetindamar and Babak, 2020). In parallel, the literature is evolving and expanding at a high velocity, keeping with the ongoing rapid development of new technologies and entrepreneurial skills in innovation practices across networks (Aarikka-Stenroos et al., 2019; Cetindamar, Lammers, and Zhang, 2020; Helfat and Raubitschek, 2018). The sustainable growth of entrepreneurial companies even under the COVID-19 epidemic environment is underlining the critical role of innovation capabilities in their survival (Ratten, 2021).

The goal of a sustainable, innovative economy necessitates interdisciplinary research on technology management and entrepreneurship. Researchers in these two strands of disciplines could build a holistic understanding of innovation-based economic and social development (Silva and Wright, 2019). Thus, this Special Issue welcomes theoretical, empirical, and experimental studies taking the interdisciplinary challenge of broadening these two key disciplines. The Special Issue accepts a wide range of research methods and is more than happy to consider submissions focusing on the following themes (not an exhaustive list):

  • How do researchers explain innovation challenges from the diffusion of a wide range of digital technologies such as artificial intelligence and robots?
  • How are entrepreneurship or technology management disciplines affected by the increasing pace of technological changes?
  • How can researchers quantitatively model and measure the nuances of innovation and its contexts, and how does this translate to specific new managerial tools for companies?
  • How can researchers develop technology management theories of innovation further from empirical data on the diversity of contexts?
  • How can researchers develop entrepreneurship concepts that allow better communication of innovative practices across industries and digital platforms?
  • What are the individual-level or organizational factors leading to the development/adoption of technological innovations for a sustainable future?
  • What kind of open innovation practices might lead to the development/adoption of sustainability strategies? Which technology management tools might be needed to carry these practices?
  • How do technological innovations sustain circular economy initiatives?
  • To what extent is sustainability performance improved by linking entrepreneurship and technology management initiatives?

How could digital technologies help the sustainable innovations at companies? Does the size of companies affect their innovations?

References

  1. Aarikka-Stenroos, L.; Jaakkola, E.; Harrison, D. and Mäkitalo-Keinonen, T. How to manage innovation processes in extensive networks: A longitudinal study. Ind. Mark. Manag. 2017, 67, 88–105.
  2. Autio, E.; Nambisan, S.; Thomas, L.D.W. and Wright, M. Digital affordances, spatial affordances, and the genesis of entrepreneurial ecosystems. Strateg. Entrep. J. 2018, 12, 72–95.
  3. Cetindamar, D. and Babak, A. Understanding the Role of Employees in Digital Transformation: Conceptualization of Digital Literacy of Employees as a Multi-Dimensional Organizational Affordance. J. Enterp. Inf. Manag. 2020, https://doi.org/10.1108/JEIM-01-2020-0010.
  4. Cetindamar, D.; Lammers, T.; and Zhang, Y. Exploring the Knowledge Spillovers of a Technology in an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem—The Case of Artificial Intelligence in Sydney. Thunderbird Int. Bus. Rev. 2020, 62, 454–74.
  5. Helfat, C.E. and Raubitschek, R.S. Dynamic and integrative capabilities for profiting from innovation in digital platform-based ecosystems. Res. Policy 2018, 47, 1391–1399.
  6. Nambisan, S.; Lyytinen, K.; Majchrzak, A. and Song, M. Digital innovation management: Reinventing innovation management research in a digital world. MIS Q. 2017, 41, 223–238.
  7. OECD, Entrepreneurial Ecosystems and Growth Oriented Entrepreneurship. Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development: Paris, France. 2014.
  8. Ratten, V. COVID‐19 and entrepreneurship: Future research direction. Brief. Enterp. Financ. 2021, 30, 91–98.
  9. Silva, M. and Wright, M. Entrepreneurial co-creation: societal impact through open innovation. R&D Manag. 2019, 49, 318–342.

Dr. Dilek Cetindamar
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All papers will be peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • digital technologies
  • entrepreneurship
  • innovation economy
  • sustainability
  • technology management

Published Papers

This special issue is now open for submission, see below for planned papers.

Planned Papers

The below list represents only planned manuscripts. Some of these manuscripts have not been received by the Editorial Office yet. Papers submitted to MDPI journals are subject to peer-review.

Startups with Environmental Sustainability Impact: What Factors Influence Accelerators’ Selection Decisions

Berna Beyhanᵃ and Derya Findikᵇ

ᵃSabanci University, Sabanci Business School, Tuzla Istanbul, Turkey.

ᵇYildirim Beyazit University, Management Information Systems, Ankara, Turkey.

Abstract: Accelerators are specially designed entrepreneurship programs that enable startups to scale in a fast pace throughout mentoring, intense consulting, trainings and making them access to business networks. Their support to new ventures that aim to create social and environmental sustainability impact is important. In this study, we examine 6736 new ventures with environmental sustainability impact that applied to accelerators in 175 countries from 2013 to 2019 and investigated the determinants of the probability of being selected by accelerators for such new ventures. Our sample is drawn from the Global Accelerator Learning Initiative (GALI). We test how team related charactersitics such as the size of the entrepreneurial team, age of the founders, gender of founders, experience of founders, founders’ personal invesments affect the decisions of accelerators. Furthermore, two types of mediator variables are also included and tested: philanthropic and private equity investments (if any) received before the application to an accelerator. Our results show that team size positively and significantly influence both mediators (philanthropic and private equity investments before the application) and also being selected to an acceleration program. Private equity financing has a mediation effect on being selected by an accelerator. It indicates that startups previous funded by equity investors have more chance to be selected by accelerators. However, whole female entrepreneurial teams are being negatively associated with the private equity investment. Age and experience of entrepreneurial teams have significant and positive affect on private equity investment. Our results suggest that only team size has a direct and significant effect on the decisions of accelerators; other team-related qualifications are mediated by the equity and philanthropic investments received before the application to an acceleration program.

 

A Review and Categorization of AI Opportunities in Wildlife and Land Conservation

Mika Westerlund and Diane A.

Isabelle, Carleton University Ontario, Canada.

Abstract: The scholarly literature on the links between Artificial Intelligence (AI) and United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is burgeoning. With a focus on SDG 14 (Life below water) and SDG 15 (Life on Land), this paper explores the opportunities of AI and AI-driven robotics in various domains of wildlife and land conservation. Based on a comprehensive review of literature and emerging practices in AI-based approaches to protect endangered species, monitor and predict animal behaviour patterns, and track illegal or unsustainable wildlife trade, among others, we develop a conceptual framework to categorize AI opportunities in wildlife and land conservation. Our findings provide scholars, governments, environmental organizations, and AI entrepreneurs with a much-needed taxonomy and examples of AI opportunities for tackling the grand challenge of decreasing biological diversity, which has severe implications for global food security, nature, and the humanity.

 

Using Open Innovation to Address Societal Challenges

Krithika Randhawa

Business School, University of Technology Sydney, Australia.

Abstract: The UN’s sustainable development goals embody grand societal challenges that present complex problems affecting many individuals, firms, organizations and governments, and addressing these require collaboration across multiple stakeholders. Here open innovation strategies can be used to organise the architecture and processes for collaboration across a multi-stakeholder ecosystem; however, this is no easy feat. There is an increasing focus on using digital technologies and solutions to enable these collaboration and coordination efforts, and in turn, use open innovation to deliver societal impact. In this regard, technologies such as the internet of things, artificial intelligence and big data, and the formation of digital platforms and ecosystems, have been used to address societal challenges related to environmental sustainability (e.g. climate change action), social sustainability (e.g. disaster management) and healthcare and wellbeing (e.g. patient-centric solutions). Despite their power to bring about societal impact, adoption of these digital solutions is lagging. This article examines how public and private sector organizations can leverage open innovation to form collaborative ecosystems for diffusing digital solutions that promote good for society. Doing so is critical as part of a comprehensive open innovation strategy to address societal challenges and achieve sustainable impact. 

 

A Digital Tale of Two Cities – Observing the Dynamics of the Artificial Intelligence Practices in Berlin and Sydney’s Entrepreneurial Ecosystems

Thorsten Lammersa*, Dilek Cetindamarb, Maren Borkertc

a School of Information, Systems and Modelling, University of Technology Sydney, Broadway, Ultimo NSW 2007, Australia, [email protected]

b School of Information, Systems and Modelling, University of Technology Sydney, Broadway, Ultimo NSW 2007, Australia, [email protected]

c School of Economics and Management, Technical University Berlin, Straße des 17. Juni 135, 10623 Berlin, Germany, [email protected]

*corresponding, +61 426 171 635

Abstract: This study explores the evolution of artificial intelligence (AI) knowledge practices in the entrepreneurial ecosystems (EEs) of Berlin and Sydney by using entrepreneurship-as-practice theory. The focus is on the role of the context where the practice takes place and shapes the generation and exploitation of AI knowledge bases in EEs. The study utilises secondary and primary data collected for Berlin and Sydney. Findings underline the critical role of experimental knowledge in driving the momentum of the EEs and the supporting role of policies imprinting the knowledge practices of actors at EE. The paper concludes with the implications for theory and practice, followed by a reminder of the study's limitations and suggestions for future studies.

 

Green, Digital and Open: A sustainable strategy for Manufacturing SMEs

Diego Andres Camelo Herrera1; Dr. Glenda Caldwell1; Professor Greg Hearn1; Professor Cori Stewart1;

Dr Ozgur Dedehayir1,*

1 School of Management, Queensland University of Technology Business School, Brisbane, Australia

* Corresponding author, [email protected]; https://staff.qut.edu.au/staff/ozgur.dedehayir

Abstract: The combination of three domains, green manufacturing, digital transformation, and open innovation may offer new strategies for manufacturing companies to be sustainable. In this paper, we examine how companies can benefit from being Green, Digital and Open (GDO), and derive a list of indicators that articulate the transformation journeys required.  We review each domain's technical, academic, and practical requirements, separately and in combination, to advance the GDO proposition. Our approach consists of the follow elements:

1. Analytical review of existing indicators in G, D and O frameworks

2. Codesign of the integrated GDO model with a manufacturing industry innovation hub

3. Practical validation of the model through interviews with manufacturing managers.

The integrated transformation model will help companies determine the critical transformation pathways for integrating these domains;  and specify common issues in integrating the three domains.

Keywords: open Innovation; green manufacturing; digital transformation; SMEs

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