Mini Tracks – Calls for Papers

The front end of innovation and integrated product development

Social Entrepreneurship

Modelling very early stage valorisation projects

Entrepreneurial finance

Innovation in emerging market economies

Mini track on The front end of innovation and integrated product development
Track chair: Christiaan Baelus, Artesis University College, Antwerp, Belgium

Through this mini-track on the front end of innovation and integrated product development, we propose to emphasize and develop knowledge on the front end of innovation from different perspectives.  The front end process has been documented by various scholars, but the most influencing factors and expected outcomes of each sub-phase (e.g. with regard to formality) have been under-researched. Additionally, attention is increasingly drawn on product development processes including all aspects right from its initiation (e.g. customer viewpoint, human interfaces, etc.). The simultaneous integration of technological, economic and human-centred aspects has become a critical success factor in new product development. This track seeks to explore and discuss the front end of innovation and the concept and application of integrated product development in more detail.

For mini track submission details, see the call for papers page.

Christiaan Baelus

Mini track on Social Entrepreneurship

Track chair: Heather Fulford, Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, UK

This track aims to bring together researchers in social entrepreneurship to discuss emerging concepts and themes in social entrepreneurship research; consider a future research agenda; and to exchange experiences of undertaking research on social entrepreneurship topics.  Conceptual papers, research papers presenting quantitative and /or. Qualitative data are invited, as well as case studies and practitioner contributions. 

Topics of interest to this mini-track focus include, but are not limited to:

§     Emerging themes in social entrepreneurship

§     Characteristics of social entrepreneurs

§     Start-up motivations

§     Organisational forms of social enterprises

§     Social enterprise case studies

§     Social entrepreneurship process

§     Cross-cultural comparative studies in social entrepreneurship

§     Social entrepreneurship education

§     Research challenges in social entrepreneurship. 

For mini track submission details, see the call for papers page.

Heather Fulford

Mini track on Modelling very early stage valorisation projects
Track chair: Magnus Klofsten, Linköping University, Sweden

Research organisations and academic institutions have gradually become more involved in commercialisation of their research results. Although scholar attention for the subject has grown substantially, knowledge on the earliest stages of valorisation and commercialization projects is still in its infancy. This track emphasizes the modelling of very early stage valorisation projects in all its aspects and from various viewpoints: evolution and development, evaluation and assessment tools and models, survival and performance prediction.

For mini track submission details, see the call for papers page.

Magnus Klofsten

Mini track on Entrepreneurial finance
Track co-chairs: João Leitão, Technical University of Lisbon, Portugal, Manuel da Rocha Armada, University of Minho, Portugal, Christine Mitter, Salzberg University of Applied Sciences, Austria and Paulo Rupino da Cunha, University of Coimbra, Portugal.

This mini-track spotlights entrepreneurial finance in knowledge based firms (KBF) as a core topic for the practitioners and policy makers that are oriented to the promotion of the endogenous growth of the firm, by taking into consideration the importance of financing strategic assets for promoting growth, such as, brand image, research and development (R&D) and other intangible assets, in a long term strategic planning perspective.

The financing sources are critical to accomplish strategic goals, in terms of promoting entrepreneurial growth through the intensive incorporation of knowledge. Bootstrapping is a potential mechanism for promoting technological and organizational change within organizations that is sometimes neglected by the entrepreneurs. Furthermore, the role played by social networks developed by the entrepreneur in the access to financing sources, deserves further research and understanding.

In this sense, the regulatory framework and public policies that aim to promote an entrepreneurial environment through the design of incentives for promoting ambitious and high-growth KBF, which focus their activities in the incorporation of knowledge, under an innovative and sustainable basis, are critical for promoting innovation and growth.

The mini-track will therefore draw attention in the different financing sources, both external and internal that may foster the entrepreneurial performance of ventures, especially, the knowledge based one. This is a priority that deserves to be explored and addressed with grounded and empirical research.

Topics of interest to this mini-track focus include, but are not limited to:

§   Bootstrapping and entrepreneurial performance

§   Financial management for KBF

§   Financing entrepreneurial ventures

§   Financing beyond the startup phase

§   Financing rapid growth trough intangible assets

§   Financing R&D and brand image

§   Public policy and regulatory issues: government programmes, tax

§   policies, and other regulations

§   Social and relational networks of the entrepreneurs and financing

§   Sources of funding available to new and growing businesses

§  Venture capital and venture capitalists

For mini track submission details, see the call for papers page.

João Leitão


Manuel da Rocha Armada

Mini track on Innovation in emerging market economies
Track chair: Catherine L Wang, School of Management, Royal Holloway, University of London, UK

The emerging market economies, such as Brazil, Russia, India, China, Egypt, Mexico, South Africa, Poland, South Korea and Turkey, have become the driving force behind the global economy. The rapid growth of these markets presents lucrative opportunities as well as challenges for large multinational companies in the West. Seizing these opportunities require companies to rethink how they operate in emerging markets to adapt to the local business systems and to customise products to meet the unique preferences of customers in each market. Often, this requires companies to acquire a new set of skills and competences and reconfigure business processes, organisational structures and governance models.

The emerging markets also provide a platform for domestic companies to take off. However, many of them face the pressures from heightened competition as the markets are opened up to foreign firms. Increasingly, domestic companies are required to build their innovative capabilities in order to move up the global value chain. The collaboration between foreign and domestic companies has also taken a new light, moving towards more sophisticated and high value adding activities, including Research and Development (R&D).

This mini track seeks high quality papers exploring the key issues pertinent to the development of innovation theory and practice in the context of emerging markets economies. Both theoretical and empirical papers based on a wide range of methodologies (qualitative, quantitative or mixed methods) are welcome.

Topics include, but are not restricted to, the following areas of interest:

n  The impact of structural, regulatory and market reform on the national innovation system

n  Innovation networks and industry cluster

n  The university-business collaboration on innovation

n  Industry evolution and market dynamism

n  R&D outsourcing and collaboration

n  Technology adoption and diffusion

n  Organising for global innovation

n  Knowledge, absorptive capacity and innovation

n  New product development and speed to market

n  Collaboration in new product development

n  Business process innovation

n  Firms’ innovation capabilities and capability building

n  Cross-country or cross-industry comparison

For mini track submission details, see the call for papers page.

Catherine Wang