International Entrepreneurial Ecosystem, Knowledge Exploitation and Innovation: Case of International Pharma-Biotech SME

Although the literature has generally well defined the actors and their roles within international entrepreneurial ecosystems, more insight is needed on how SMEs fit into these networks and use them to broaden their knowledge exploitation frontiers and leverage their international innovation. This study draws upon knowledge-based theory and an international perspective on entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial ecosystems to examine how collaboration between actors within an international entrepreneurial ecosystem (IEE) stimulates knowledge exploitation and, consequently, the success of international SME innovation and commercialization. To this end, we examined an international pharma-biotech SME and collected primary data from in-depth interviews with its top management team and triangulated the interview data with secondary data. The study was initiated before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and continued 11 months after. Our research findings contribute to the theory that the diversity of an IEE’s actors and the intensity of collaboration between them are fundamental to the dynamics of scientific, technological, market, and institutional knowledge exploitation and to international innovation success. Further, the dynamics of this knowledge exploitation can support the development of business agility, that is, adapting quickly and efficiently—and even gaining an advantage in pursuing new opportunities—in turbulent context such as the COVID-19 pandemic.