ABSTRACT Confronted with resource limitations, volatile environments, and reliance on entrepreneurial ecosystems, startups exhibit a heightened propensity to employ coopetition strategies. However, there is a lack of understanding of the minimum standards required for a strategic shift to coopetition. Utilizing a strategic change perspective, this study conceptualizes coopetition as a shift from predominantly independent and competition‐oriented behavior toward ecosystem‐based and collaborative strategic action. This study employs a Necessary Condition Analysis ( NCA ) to elucidate the internal (i.e., resource constraints, interdependence, and absorptive capacity) and external (i.e., market, competitive, and institutional) conditions necessary for coopetition among 112 startups (31 technology‐based, 81 non‐technology‐based). The research posits that coopetition is a threshold‐based phenomenon and is constrained by sector‐specific bottlenecks. For technology startups, absorptive capacity is widely regarded as the most critical internal necessity condition. Absorptive capacity refers to the ability to absorb and utilize external knowledge, thereby enabling higher levels of coopetition. For non‐technology startups, absorptive capacity, resource constraints, and institutional pressure emerge as the most salient bottlenecks. This study suggests that coopetition depends on both resource availability and ecosystem legitimacy. In this context, coopetition depends on resource levels as well as the legitimacy of the ecosystem. In both sectors, external factors function as critical threshold conditions. However, external factors are insufficient to compensate for the absence of vital internal factors. This study contributes to the extant strategic change literature by conceptualizing coopetition as a necessity‐based strategic adaptation process rather than a standard strategic choice. Furthermore, this study contributes to the existing body of coopetition literature by establishing the fundamental conditions underpinning the applicability of coopetition and by underscoring the pivotal role of NCA in the analysis of strategic change.
ABSTRACT Every hiring decision is simultaneously a capability decision and a trajectory decision, yet the mechanisms through which staffing choices accumulate into patterns of strategic renewal or path dependence remain undertheorized. This paper introduces Human Capital Fit and Social Capital Fit as two dimensions of newcomer fit through which organizations can deliberately shape their knowledge configurations and relational architectures in service of strategic renewal objectives. Each dimension activates a distinct mechanism: coordination among organizational members and cooperation toward collective goals, whose effects compound over time into qualitatively distinct strategic trajectories. We develop theoretical contributions to strategic change research and practical implications for organizations seeking to deploy fit as a proactive lever for renewal rather than a reactive response to talent availability.
ABSTRACT Internal Corporate Social Responsibility (Internal CSR) supports employee well‐being and enhances organizational performance, aligning with the United Nations 2030 Agenda. Internal CSR research remains insufficiently synthesized in terms of its intellectual structure, theoretical foundations, and strategic relevance for inclusive and sustainable workplaces. This study provides an updated bibliometric and interpretive review of Internal CSR research from 2005 to 2024, using Scopus and Web of Science databases to identify 188 peer‐reviewed articles. We used VOSviewer and Bibliometrix packages in R for data analysis and visualization. The findings identify dominant theoretical frameworks, publication trends, leading contributors, influential journals, and major keyword clusters in Internal CSR research. Mapping these contributions highlights Internal CSR's potential to support sustainable and inclusive workplaces aligned with the United Nations 2030 Agenda, particularly SDG 3, SDG 5, SDG 8, and SDG 10. This study synthesizes existing knowledge, identifies key trends, and positions Internal CSR as a strategic mechanism for sustainable workplace development.
ABSTRACT Entrepreneurial ecosystems (EEs) comprise interconnected cultural, financial, institutional, and relational elements that shape startup development. While prior research has identified EEs' key components, limited attention has been given to how their influence evolves across the startup lifecycle. This study addresses this gap by examining how health factors (finance, infrastructure, legal systems, government support, culture, education) and performance factors (networking, entrepreneurial intentions, market dynamics, value creation, self‐efficacy, entrepreneurial activity) vary for founders across the ideation, establishment, break‐even, and growth stages, alongside innovation and research as a cross‐cutting enabler. Using a qualitative multi‐case design, data were collected through in‐depth founder interviews and triangulated with mentor and investor insights. The analysis reveals that EE elements display dynamic, stage‐contingent relevance: early‐stage progress is shaped primarily by culture, mentoring, and self‐efficacy, while institutional finance, regulatory alignment, infrastructure, and global networks become critical as ventures scale. Innovation and research operate as cross‐cutting enablers that strengthen adaptability and competitiveness throughout the lifecycle. The findings offer a stage‐sensitive framework for understanding how ecosystem components interact with venture development, explaining why founders report divergent trajectories even within the same ecosystem. These dynamics are synthesized in a conceptual framework mapping the average relevance trajectories of health factors, performance factors, and innovation and research across the four lifecycle stages. The study offers actionable implications for policymakers, incubators, investors, and founders, emphasizing the need for targeted, lifecycle‐aligned ecosystem support.
ABSTRACT This study adopts a longitudinal, multi‐method design to examine how risk‐taking (R), innovativeness (IN), and proactiveness (PR) shape competitive performance (CP) across five distinct periods: a pre‐pandemic phase, three pandemic‐induced crisis phases, and a post‐pandemic recovery phase. The sample comprises small firms operating in the Polish printing industry and is based on two survey waves ( N 1 = 150, N 2 = 145; 49 firms participating in both waves), complemented by a follow‐up series of semi‐structured interviews. Methodological triangulation combines Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS‐SEM), fuzzy‐set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA), and qualitative evidence. The results indicate that the strategic importance of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) dimensions is both context‐dependent and time‐sensitive. Innovativeness emerges as a key contributor to competitiveness under hostile and turbulent crisis conditions and remains central during the recovery phase. Proactiveness proves most beneficial in dynamic but more predictable environments, particularly during the late‐crisis and post‐pandemic phases. Risk‐taking plays a more limited, supporting role, contributing to competitiveness mainly in munificent pre‐crisis and post‐crisis contexts. The study extends EO and strategic change research by demonstrating that EO functions as a reconfigurable portfolio of entrepreneurial behaviors rather than a fixed posture and by showing how the strategic emphasis placed on EO dimensions shifts in aggregate in response to changing combinations of munificence, hostility, dynamism, and complexity.
