Toward the emergence of “humane” entrepreneurial ecosystems. Evidence from different cultural contexts

Abstract

PurposeAdopting more sustainable and social-oriented perspectives is crucial for the emergence of the so-called humane entrepreneurial ecosystems (HEEs), the last ones supporting the improvement of both economic, environmental and social wealth. Entrepreneurs act as keystone players in each entrepreneurial ecosystem, thus the emergence of Humane Entrepreneurship (HumEnt) is crucial in shaping HEEs. Given the role of culture in affecting HumEnt, the relationships between Humane Orientation (HO) – as defined in the GLOBE project – and the basic components of Humane Entrepreneurship (HumEnt) were, particularly, explored in a selected sample of countries. Both Intellectual Capital (IC) and knowledge management (KM) perspectives were adopted in pursuing the research goal.Design/methodology/approachThe study approaches this by the mean of the Ward method with Euclidean squared distance and the k-means method. The GLOBE project, the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM), the Environmental Performance Index (EPI) and the International Social Survey Program (ISSP) were used as data sources. Correlations between HO “as is” scores and each components of HumEnt were checked for the world sample (N = 36), as well as for the groups of innovation-driven countries (N = 17) and European countries (N = 14).FindingsResearch results show a conditional confirmation of the developed hypotheses, depending on countries cultural levels of HO, with a moderating role exercised by the economic development on the relationship between culture and HumEnt.Originality/valueGiven the increasing pressure of fundamental societal challenges, such as climate change, poverty and increasing inequality within and between countries intensified by pandemic (UN report, 2021), integrating the more traditional approaches to profit seeking with the more sustainable and human-centric perspective is a priority for both scholars and society at large. Previous researches do not provide explanation about the contextual factors responsible for the emergence of more humane-oriented entrepreneurial ecosystems, especially when referring to culture. This article broadens our understanding about the reason why both HumEntr and HEEs differently arise and develop in different cultural contexts.

The role of entrepreneurial ecosystems in technological and social challenges

“…Studies often focus on the university business school (Allahar and Sookram, 2019), business incubators (Baskaran et al, 2019; Almansour, 2022), and university accelerators (Breznitz and Zhang, 2019) from an EE perspective. Other studies focus on the entrepreneurial innovation ecosystem, showing the relationship between the institutional context (Autio et al, 2014; Acs et al, 2018; Wei, 2022), cultural context (Chandna and Salimath, 2020; Canestrino et al, 2023), social innovation ecosystems (Audretsch et al, 2022), innovation ecosystems, and social capital (Bandera and Thomas, 2019). Again, other studies investigate the EE, based on a dynamic models perspective, to explore the interplay within fintech EE (Alaassar et al, 2022), the sustainability of EE in knowledge‐intensive enterprises (Aliabadi et al, 2019), dynamic life cycle model of EE (Cantner et al, 2021), understanding of EE using complex adaptive systems theory (Roundy et al, 2018; Daniel et al, 2022), and to analyze of industrial structure distortion and urban ecological efficiency from a green perspective of EE (Zhao et al, 2020).…”

“…Adopting additional sustainable and socially oriented approaches is essential for developing so-called "humane entrepreneurial ecosystems" (Canestrino et al, 2023), the latter encouraging the increase of economic, environmental, and social wealth. Entrepreneurs play a key role in each entrepreneurial ecosystem; therefore, the rise of humane entrepreneurship is crucial in the formation of humane ecosystems (Canestrino et al, 2023). Basole et al (2019) state that EE are crucial sources of innovation and vital drivers of economic growth.…”

Boosting circular economy via the b-corporation roads. The effect of the entrepreneurial culture and exogenous factors on sustainability performance

“…In detail, the cultural-cognitive pillar of institutions stimulates a culturally driven base of legitimacy to socially oriented entrepreneurial activities toward the CE (Scott, 2013 ), which come in line with the idea that it is challenging to completely override the cultural norms that occur for responsible innovation within a specific ecosystem (Chin et al, 2022 ; Dickson et al, 2004 ). Associated with sustainability and the CE, this means that to increase alignment toward a CE, companies engage in sustainability business modeling, such as a B-Corporation, according to well-known joint cultural practices (Canestrino et al, 2022 ; Lahuerta-Otero & González-Bravo, 2018 ).…”

Guest editorial: Unveiling the roles of intellectual capital in entrepreneurial ecosystems: evidence from moderate innovative countries

“…The third section comprises three articles. Canestrino et al (2023) depart from more human-centric and social-oriented views to conceptualise a relatively abstract term – “humane entrepreneurial ecosystem” (HEE) – by defining it as an “interacting group of actors aiming to pursue economic, social and environmental sustainability”. Based on this novel conceptualisation, they first address the pivotal role of IC in propelling entrepreneurship and orchestrating all actors in HEEs.…”