Dear colleagues,
On behalf of Industry and Innovation, we would like to bring to your attention the eighth issue of the journal for 2024.
This issue includes a great selection of articles exploring the dynamics of innovation-related phenomena in a variety of industries and ecosystems – from creative industries and the space industry, to the energy and steel ecosystems.
We hope you will enjoy the reading:
Industrial path development in the UK space sector: processes of legitimacy building in the establishment of Space 2.0
Chloe A. Billing, John R. Bryson & Tasos Kitsos
Abstract
This paper explores the processes behind legitimacy building and its role in new path creation and the path transformation or the 'de-locking' of an established industry. We use a mixed-methods approach and focus on the emergence of 'New Space' or Space 2.0 in the UK, a new-to-the-world industry, with radically different products and/or conventions. Legitimation of new product categories is essential to enable future adoption by regulators and consumers. Our findings suggest that this is not a linear process but involves interlayering, or complex feedback loops, between three distinct types of legitimacy building: regulatory, normative, and cognitive. Failure in some of these feedback loops, for example, problems with altering regulatory legitimacy, would prevent the formation of new industrial pathways with significant implications for the development of new-to-the-world and new-to-region industries.
Hampered by creation: the unintended consequences of COVID-19 policies on creative firms
Louis-Etienne Dubois & Emmanuel Bochud
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic abruptly interrupted operations for many industries, but in particular the live entertainment sector that was effectively forced into a global shutdown. In response, governments swooped in to keep these organisations afloat by introducing policies aimed at compensating for lost revenues and supporting other forms of activity such as creation. While these reactive measures undoubtedly provided timely and vital relief for some, this study suggests that they also induced important distortions over time. Based on interviews with circus arts managers, the results show that these policies unintendedly introduced or contributed to four main 'asymmetries' – outlets, customer base, structure, and talent – that now hamper creative organisations as they transition out of the pandemic. This study contributes to the emerging body of work on the unforeseen consequences of COVID-related support measures, challenges the dominant contextual approach to managing ambidexterity, and provides valuable insights for government and policy actors.
Million dollar baby -A primer on film finance practices in the U.S. movie industry
Alexander Cuntz, Alessio Muscarnera, Prince C. Oguguo & Matthias Sahli
Abstract
This article summarises standard film financing practices for the production and distribution of new content over the past 30 years using a mixed-methods approach. It takes the U.S. movie industry as a case in point to study how excess risk and uncertainty in the financing of new projects are processed and managed by private-sector, entities as well as what market-based solutions have been developed to prevent market failure. The research has wide-ranging implications for other creative industries and their use of intangible assets in creative content finance. In particular, it discusses the prominent role of intellectual property rights in financial transactions in the U.S. audiovisual sector and the ability of the industry to leverage funds through the strategic use of its IP assets. The research findings are based on a series of semi-structured interviews, commissioned expert memoranda, and a dedicated panel of selected industry experts. In addition, using novel data from Uniform Commercial Code filings and official IP registers, we conduct exploratory analysis and provide descriptive evidence on the use of credit and intangible collateral as well as the industry diffusion of such practices. In light of the digital transformation of the industry, this research also documents industry trends and recent changes in U.S. film financing and provides an alternative explanation for the surge in new titles. Finally, we outline generic policy options for improving the financing environment for new films in the United States. The results could help to inform the larger debate on IP-backed finance and the strategic use of intangible assets in content industries.
Complementors' interactions in the wind energy ecosystem: coopetitive dynamics
Alexandra Elena Carst
Abstract
Complementors play a crucial role in innovation ecosystems by contributing to the co-creation of the value proposition and its benefit enhancement. However, research on these actors and their interactions remains limited. Investigating eight Danish wind energy complementors, this embedded case study explores the complexity of their interactions through a mixed-method approach. Initial quantitative analysis is performed using topic modelling to inform the coding of the following qualitative analysis that maps the trends and evolution of complementors' interactions. The findings reveal that, despite an apparent unawareness or conscious dismissal of the competitive dynamic involved, most wind energy complementors engage in coopetitive interactions at some point, particularly with the focal firms. The study advances our understanding of complementors, emphasising their importance and complexity as ecosystem actors.
Three incumbents restructuring the Swedish energy and steel regimes: the case of Hybrit
Kersti Karltorp, Shanyun Sam Lu & Eugenia Perez Vico
Abstract
This paper addresses the role of incumbent firms in driving transitions that entail multiple sectors, conditioned by multiple regimes. We analyse the case 'HYBRIT', a radical innovation venture championed by three incumbents from the steel and energy regimes. We investigate what conditions the incumbents' agency and how they enacted their agency targeting restructuring of the regime elements – actors, institutions, and materiality. We find that eight endogenous and exogenous factors coincide and condition the incumbents' agency, from which they act in a novel direction of change. We contribute by showing how the collaboration within and across regimes enabled the accomplishment of actions that would have been challenging for individual incumbents to achieve alone. In this setting of scale-intensive industries, incumbents have characteristics that give them a significantly larger capacity to stimulate change than newcomers. The timing and combination of endogenous and exogenous factors, enabling incumbents to collectively drive a transition.
Best regards
Alessandra Perri and Vera Rocha
Co-Editors-in-Chief, Industry and Innovation
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Vera Rocha
Copenhagen Business School
Kilevej
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