Daniel Schallmo

This study investigates the factors behind Shenzhen’s emergence as a globally recognised entrepreneurial ecosystem (EE). Unlike many Western, market-driven models, Shenzhen’s development was shaped by state-led industrial planning, strategic interventions, and major investments in digital infrastructure. This distinctive evolution raises the question of how transferable such a model is to other regional contexts. Drawing on a qualitative case study based on expert interviews and document analysis, this study identifies key drivers across six EE elements: policy, finance, markets, human capital, support, and culture. A two-dimensional evaluation model is developed to assess both the influence and transferability of these factors. These findings demonstrate that many finance- and support-related interventions are adaptable to other contexts. In contrast, core mechanisms, such as regulatory flexibility and sector-specific steering, are highly context-dependent and harder to replicate. This study contributes to EE theory by providing a structured framework for evaluating ecosystem interventions and broadening the discourse beyond Western-centric perspectives.

This study explores the concept of Twin Transition (TT), defined as the integrated process of aligning digital transformation with sustainability to achieve operational efficiency, environmental responsibility, and organisational resilience. Rooted in theoretical foundations and supported by expert insights, the research emphasises TT’s dual potential to drive innovation and address global challenges through advanced digital tools such as the Internet of Things and artificial intelligence. The study employs a design science research methodology to iteratively develop and validate the Integrated Approach to Twin Transition. This approach comprises five phases: Initial Assessment and Strategic Alignment, Goal Setting and Prioritisation, Designing Transformation Systems, Implementation and Continuous Monitoring, and Skill Development and Cultural Shift. Empirical findings highlight the importance of modular strategies, real-time monitoring, and inclusive decision-making to overcome challenges in TT implementation. Our research delivers actionable recommendations for organisations to integrate sustainability and digitalisation effectively. While the study focusses on Germany’s regulatory and industrial landscape, the proposed approach is adaptable to diverse global contexts.

Gründungsökosysteme sind von zentraler Bedeutung für die Förderung von Innovation und Unternehmertum und umfassen dabei alle relevanten

Im Digital Entrepreneurship trifft eine hohe wirtschaftliche Relevanz auf eine überschaubare Überlebensrate. Es ist daher entscheidend, zu verste

Digital transformation has emerged as a critical strategy in today’s dynamic business environment. However, the high failure rate of digital transformation initiatives underscores the need for a deeper understanding of the factors that drive success. This study conducts a comprehensive examination of digital transformation success factors through a systematic literature review. Through a bibliometric analysis of 34 peer-reviewed journal articles published between 2017 and 2023, the study evaluates research areas, temporal trends, geographical distributions, journals, significant keywords, and principal authors based on co-authorship. It unveils the current digital transformation research landscape, synthesises 119 enabling factors into 13 core dimensions for successful digital transformation, and presents a new and holistic digital transformation model. This model offers valuable guidance for practitioners in the field and organisations navigating transformation challenges.

Purpose: To augment sales revenue, B2B digital start-ups aim to create and sustain commercial relationships with industry incumbents. However, since these incumbents have traditionally struggled with implementing disruptive digital artifacts, most studies have almost exclusively concentrated on their challenges, leaving the digital start-ups' side underexplored. Therefore, this study seeks to understand how digital start-ups navigate digital implementation (DI) hardships to ultimately achieve digital entrepreneurship success.Design/methodology/approach: An abductive explanatory multi-case study of four industries that pose a variety of implementation challenges for B2B digital start-ups (agriculture, insurance, real estate and construction, and healthcare) was conducted using data collected from 40 interviews with Israeli experts and relevant digital data observations.Findings: This study articulates two main observations. (1) Throughout their journeys, digital start-ups have utilized newly created and/or refined dynamic capabilities (DC) to successfully implement their digital artifacts. Simultaneously, successful DI has enabled digital start-ups to create new DC or sustain and evolve current DC. (2) We provide empirical evidence outlining how digital start-ups using continuous learning have combined causation and effectuation logic throughout their DI journeys.Originality/value: This study answers a call to explore more explicit digital-related drivers (i.e. DI) for digital entrepreneurship success by studying a highly-ranked country on the Global Entrepreneurship Index (GEI) to achieve this. Moreover, it illustrates how digital start-ups evolve throughout their commercial relationships with industry incumbents, thereby enabling an effective approach for successful DI. Such an approach can be considered very valuable for both practitioners and policymakers. Consequently, it advances digital entrepreneurship as an independent research topic.