Transcending geography: building a global entrepreneurship ecosystem - case: CEMS

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School of Business | Master's thesis
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Date

2017

Major/Subject

Mcode

Degree programme

Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management

Language

en

Pages

105

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Abstract

The objective of the study was to enhance understanding of global entrepreneurship ecosystems through exploring the global alliance in international management education, CEMS. The study aimed to answer one main research question: How to build a global entrepreneurship ecosystem? With three sub-questions (1) What elements of a global entrepreneurship ecosystem does CEMS encase? (2) What are the roles and relations of these elements in CEMS? (3) How could CEMS further support entrepreneurship within the network for the benefit of its members? The literature review consists of three main parts. First, the development of the ecosystem analogy in the business context in general, and with reference to entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystems in particular, is reviewed. Second, the success factors and barriers in building an ecosystem are examined. Finally, ecosystems are discussed as Triple Helix systems that also provide the theoretical framework for analysis. The study was conducted as a qualitative single-case study. Empirical data was gathered using semi-structured interviews, conducted with key actors within the CEMS alliance. In addition observation and document review were used as data collection methods. The gathered data formed a base for the analysis on CEMS as a global ecosystem. The research indicates that the building-process of a global entrepreneurship ecosystem need not be dissimilar from its local counterpart. The main tension in applying the Triple Helix framework evolves around the governance dimension. Moreover, the study finds that in the supranational context the absence of third sector in the Triple Helix model limits its applicability. It is argued that inclusion of the third sector into the model increases its expediency in the global context.

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Thesis advisor

Heikkilä, Jukka-Pekka
Kautonen, Teemu

Keywords

ecosystem, entrepreneurship, innovation, Triple Helix, global entrepreneurship

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