Cultivating the Impact of Sustainable Entrepreneurship: A Discussion of Upscaling Approaches in Entrepreneurial Ecosystems

Kristin Krebs (), Christine Volkmann and Marc Grünhagen ()
Additional contact information
Kristin Krebs: University of Wuppertal
Christine Volkmann: University of Wuppertal
Marc Grünhagen: University of Wuppertal

A chapter in Artificiality and Sustainability in Entrepreneurship, 2023, pp 241-264 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract There is substantial knowledge about the peculiarities of founding entrepreneurial ventures in general. However, comparatively little is known so far about the characteristics of establishing sustainable ventures aiming at solving ecological or social problems in society. It is particularly uncertain how sustainable entrepreneurs could attain a successful upscaling of their venture ideas to expand their impact from a local niche at origin towards reaching broader society-wide impact. At this junction between local niche and the wider societal regime or landscape level, entrepreneurial ecosystems may play a key role in providing instrumental support for sustainable ventures. Entrepreneurial ecosystems offer initial support in the formation of new sustainable ventures but, also later, helping sustainable entrepreneurs in the upscaling of their sustainable venture ideas. In this chapter, we explore how entrepreneurial ecosystems could support the expansion of sustainable ventures and help overcome the barriers and dilemmas for successful sustainability upscaling. The conceptual chapter discusses selected issues in the upscaling of sustainable ventures in the ecosystem context alongside typical barriers and dilemmas in sustainability upscaling. The contribution attempted in this chapter is to build a bridge between the literature strand on upscaling within sustainable innovation and the discussion of supportive ecosystems in the field of entrepreneurship. For example, we address the composition of ecosystem stakeholders and the importance of keeping a shared sustainability orientation in the ecosystem while integrating diverse stakeholders who provide resources for the upscaling process. The discussion in this chapter is based on reviewing recent literature on the upscaling phenomenon in sustainable innovation as well as on entrepreneurial ecosystems and sustainable entrepreneurship. In particular, we suggest that upscaling in entrepreneurial ecosystems may be understood as an open-ended evolutionary process, with ecosystem networks and stakeholder collaboration providing stable spaces for reflexive discourse and learning.

Keywords: Sustainable entrepreneurship; Entrepreneurial ecosystems; Upscaling; Transition research (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:fgfchp:978-3-031-11371-0_11

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/9783031113710

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-11371-0_11

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in FGF Studies in Small Business and Entrepreneurship from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().