The Covid-19 pandemic highlighted the challenges firms face in engaging in business model innovation (BMI) during a crisis. To better understand how and why entrepreneurial firms undertake BMI during periods of uncertainty this study employs a novel methodology to systematically identify how firms shift their business model by using qualitative longitudinal data based on 229 interviews with 85 high-growth British entrepreneurs. The findings suggest three core archetypes of BMI in crisis: crisis response, crisis enablement, and planned innovation. Each archetype is underpinned by specific drivers and processes that explain why and how BMI occurred.

Purpose As the Open Innovation (OI) literature suggests that smaller firms may derive greater advantages from collaborations, micro-firms stand to benefit significantly from engaging in this process. Furthermore, as micro-firms exhibit a preference for separating cooperation from competition, universities may make a suitable partner for OI. Despite these assertions, the extant literature is under-developed with respect to micro-firms’ university collaborations. Given this, the purpose of this paper is to examine university collaboration among micro-firms to establish: (1) the degree to which they develop collaborative links with universities and (2) identify the characteristics of micro-firms which influence their propensity to engage in these collaborations. Design/methodology/approach Using data from the Longitudinal Small Business Survey, we utilise a logistic regression model that uses a sample of 1001 UK micro-firms (those with <10 employees) to test a set of hypotheses examining the influence of the firms’ networking, performance, capabilities, and location on university collaboration. Findings The propensity of micro-firms to collaborate with universities is based on three key factors. Firstly, university collaboration is typically part of a range of collaborative links for micro-firms. Secondly, the need for knowledge to underpin competitiveness in export markets also drives micro-firm’s university collaborations. Finally, micro-firms’ university collaboration is related to the knowledge intensity of their location, with those in less knowledge intensive regions more likely to collaborate with universities. Originality/value The study responds to calls for a greater focus on the open innovation activities of micro-firms through presenting a systematic examination of the propensity of these firms to engage in university collaboration. The paper therefore contributes new insights into micro-firms, namely that university collaboration is part of a broader engagement strategy with a range of external partners. Furthermore, as university collaboration is more likely among those that are engaged with actors that are organisationally similar to universities, we posit that organisational proximity is an important consideration in the formation of these collaborative links. Thirdly, we identify a “market push effect”, where engaging in exporting increases the propensity to collaborate with universities, and “location push effect”, whereby those micro-firms located in less knowledge intensive regions are driven towards university collaboration as there are fewer alternative partners with which to pursue OI.

Surviving a crisis requires a unique set of responses from a firm. This paper examines migrant entrepreneurs and their responses to COVID-19 pandemic. These entrepreneurs are disadvantaged in their markets, typically due to cultural differences, but also other barriers that include outright discrimination by native populations. Consequently, global crisis has a more severe meaning to migrant entrepreneurs who struggle in the best of times. Empirically we focus on interviews with Chinese entrepreneurs in the UK, employing template analysis to disentangle the data. We find two key mechanisms these entrepreneurs employ to respond to crisis: adaptation and/or hibernation. Adaptation is about introducing changes in response to altering market conditions, it is a proactive response. Hibernation is a passive response characterised by deliberate shutdown and/or slow-down of operations, with business continuity funded from accumulated financial reserves. The paper concludes that policy should be more sensitive to enabling responses that ensure firm survival.

Purpose As little is known about the productivity levels of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) engaging with universities and the relative changes in productivity of SMEs subsequent to these collaborations, the paper examines the following questions: (1) Does the relative productivity of SMEs engaging in university collaboration differ from those that do not? (2) Are subsequent changes in firm productivity following university collaboration related to their initial levels of productivity? Design/methodology/approach The paper utilises data on 254 SMEs from the Longitudinal Small Business Survey and uses two statistical techniques: First, bivariate tests of difference were used to inspect the relationships between productivity levels and whether the firm collaborated with a university to introduce its innovation. Second, ordinary least squares regressions were used to test whether the future productivity of SMEs that collaborated with universities was related to their initial productivity levels. Findings The analysis reveals that SME–university collaboration is unrelated to starting productivity. Furthermore, the analysis suggests a nonlinear relationship exists between the starting productivity of SMEs and their subsequent productivity following a university collaboration. Therefore, higher levels of subsequent productivity are observed among those SMEs where starting productivity was either relatively low or high, suggesting that collaborations have a transformative effect on SMEs with relatively lower initial levels of productivity and a maintenance effect for SMEs with relatively higher levels of initial productivity. Practical implications Given the fact that the extant literature also suggests that, overall, university collaboration is beneficial, policymakers should strive to encourage greater levels of collaboration involving SMEs. In light of the evidence that SME–university collaborations can transform less productive firms, it appears unjustified for practitioners and policymakers to only consider stronger-performing firms to be included in such programmes. Originality/value The study contributes new theoretical and practical knowledge to the understanding of the role of firm productivity in predicting the proclivity of firms to collaborate with universities. Furthermore, as few studies have examined the impact of these collaborations on the subsequent productivity of firms that collaborate with universities, this paper fills an existing gap in the literature.

This paper reviews the key theories of the firm and considers their relevance to studying and understanding academic spinoffs as a special case of firms. The theory of the firm is an important aspect in entrepreneurship literature, as without clear understanding of the parameters influencing firm's behaviour, it remains difficult to predict its decisions to secure sustainable growth and ensure development of the economy overall. The paper considers the contribution of transaction cost theory, managerial theory, resource-based view, knowledge-based view, and dynamic capabilities, to the understanding of the academic spinoff. In essence, these theoretical explanations lend multiple perspectives that offer a greater insight into the academic spinoff firm by illuminating the issues of its boundaries, entrepreneurs, resources, knowledge, and networks. It is concluded that understanding academic spinoffs requires acknowledging this theoretical plurality. In response to this challenge, the paper proposes the Academic Spinoff Theory of the Firm.

The clothing sector is under increased global scrutiny as the second biggest polluter behind the oil industry. What was once termed the 'democratisation of fashion', fast fashion has become a low cost, high speed and resource intensive market. As a result, sustainable consumerism has gained traction, with innovative alternatives such as collaborative consumption and product service systems becoming more popular. However, despite growing concern, sustainable alternatives remain a niche market compared to the scale of global fast fashion. Rental clothing schemes remain under-researched in the UK. These collaborative consumption schemes promote a circular economy through reducing waste and increasing life cycles. This paper examines the determinants of rental clothing adoption by employing semi-structured interviews, specifically accounting for different generations across rural and urban areas. It presents a UK perspective on rental clothing. The findings suggest that the affordability of rental is dependent on the nature of the items and adoption is driven by style, sustainability desires, and geography of consumers. This paper concludes that to increase the adoption of rental clothing schemes, trust in schemes and increased accessibility are essential to allow them to become mainstream alternatives to fast fashion.

This paper contributes to the understanding of university spinoff (USO) development by analysing structural properties of their shareholder networks over time and across different regions. Theoretically, we propose a new stage-based typology of USO development across regions. Empirically, the study utilises a sample of 1033 academic spinoffs founded by 87 universities across 12 unitary regions in the UK considering the diversity of spatial contexts in the USO development. We undertake a social network analysis of relations USOs form with their parent universities and shareholders by adopting ‘betweenness centrality’ and ‘structural holes’ as two key measures. By employing this novel network-based view of firm development across regions, this study builds on the development model of USOs by identifying three key phases of USO development: (1) organisation phase, (2) exploitation phase, and (3) maturity and reorganisation phase. Second, we observe differences in USOs in terms of shareholder network development across diverse regional contexts. We propose a novel typology of entrepreneurial regions to better understand the diverse spatiality of USOs: peripheral lock-in, entrepreneurial periphery, rigid core, and entrepreneurial core. We call for further research to capture the long-term development and variable growth paths of USOs.

This paper examines the link between the composition of university entrepreneurial ecosystems and performance of higher education institutions (HEIs) in academic entrepreneurship, specifically founding academic spinoff companies. The paper studies a sample of 160 UK HEIs and their university entrepreneurial ecosystems related to formation of 784 academic spinoffs. It employs social network analysis (SNA) to inspect the composition and connections between university entrepreneurial ecosystems. It finds that HEIs based in better developed university entrepreneurial ecosystems are associated with formation of greater numbers of academic spinoff companies. The best performing ecosystems are based in the Greater South East region. It is concluded that policymakers need to recognize the importance of the composition of the university entrepreneurial ecosystems and the role it plays in academic entrepreneurship.

The paper draws on network theory to employ concepts of homophily and heterophily to investigate whether the presence of familiar, unfamiliar or a mix of actors in an entrepreneurial ecosystem is related to start-up rates. The empirical focus of this study is on 81 UK university entrepreneurial ecosystems and their outputs in terms of academic spinoff companies. The paper finds that university entrepreneurial ecosystems with access to actors of predominantly heterophilious character are associated with higher spinoff start-up rates. It is concluded that in stimulating the development of successful entrepreneurial ecosystems there is a clear need to focus on their openness to heterophilious actors, inclusive of other ecosystems. This is especially important in the context of network lock-in that may arise from dependence on homophilious ties. Plain English Summary Entrepreneurial ecosystems characterised by openness to diverse actors generate more firms, as shown in a study focusing on 81 UK university entrepreneurial ecosystems. The paper studies network character of actors in entrepreneurial ecosystems and whether this character is associated with start-up rates. Specifically, it focuses on the familiarity of actors, inspecting whether it is related to greater venture formations. In so doing, the study examines 81 UK university entrepreneurial ecosystems. It finds that university entrepreneurial ecosystems that generate more ventures are associated with having a presence of actors of unfamiliar character, drawing attention to the openness of ecosystems’ networks. The key implication of the study is in recognising the link between the ecosystem’s openness to diverse actors and its entrepreneurial performance.