Innovation Intermediaries and their Role(s) in Orchestrating Networked Innovation

In today's entrepreneurial landscape, technology startups are the engines of innovation and economic growth. Central to their journey are innovation intermediaries, who navigate the complex web of external resources and relationships. These intermediaries play a key role in enhancing startups' innovation capabilities and, consequently, their overall success.

This dissertation, grounded in solid academic research, sets out to explore the intricate relationship between innovation intermediaries and technology startups. It delves into the dynamic and evolving roles these intermediaries play, highlighting how they adapt throughout different phases of startups' development, with a primary focus on investigating the role of innovation intermediaries in orchestrating networked innovation.

The research journey involves several stages, starting with the development of strong theoretical frameworks and foundational concepts. It then moves on to a comprehensive series of case studies, conducted in diverse regions, to uncover the various roles performed by innovation intermediaries. Alongside reaffirming established orchestrator roles, this study introduces a new archetype - the "Shaper" - which drives transformative changes within entrepreneurial ecosystems.

At the heart of this dissertation, a fuzzy set analysis is used to dissect the combinations of orchestration functions that positively affect startups' Product Innovativeness, a crucial performance measure, which reflects startups' ability to introduce groundbreaking products and services to the market.

The research makes both theoretical and practical contributions. Theoretical insights clarify the changing roles of orchestrators and their adaptive practices, shaped by collaboration dynamics. On a practical level, the findings have implications for policymakers, practitioners, and stakeholders, advocating for tailored support mechanisms that match the evolving needs of startups across different lifecycle phases. It underscores the importance of varied engagement with intermediaries and strategic use of orchestration functions to optimize startup performance.

This dissertation advances our understanding of network orchestration, innovation intermediation, and their impact on the entrepreneurial ecosystem. It stands as a testament to scholarly exploration and encourages further investigation into these dynamic aspects of entrepreneurship and innovation.