Abstract

     Entrepreneurs require human resources to establish and scale their ventures; however, constraints often prevent entrepreneurs from investing in formal human resource systems. How entrepreneurs overcome human resource challenges by leveraging their entrepreneurial ecosystems as informal inter-organizational talent management systems has been overlooked by scholars. We propose a model of entrepreneurial ecosystem human resource management, theorizing that ecosystem participants collectively perform the human resource management function for entrepreneurship communities. Drawing from economic rents theory, we explain how entrepreneurial ecosystems encourage a form of meta-organizational human resource management that allows ecosystem participants to coordinate talent acquisition, learning and development, performance management and rewards, and retention. Coordinated entrepreneurial ecosystems improve entrepreneurial performance by sourcing talent, onboarding selected members, enculturating ecosystem values, developing entrepreneurial skills, and retaining human resources, which in turn generates rents. We discuss how our theory catalyzes research at the HR and entrepreneurial ecosystems interface and reveals insights for practitioners.

Introduction

     The ecosystem perspective in business research draws attention to how organizational activity is shaped by complex systems of interdependent actors (e.g., consumers, investors, government officials) and socio-economic forces (e.g., values, institutions, narratives) that extend beyond firm, industry, and sectoral boundaries (Datt´ee, Alexy, & Autio, 2018; Fuller, Jacobides, & Reeves, 2019; Ganco, Kapoor, & Lee, 2020; Jacobides, Cennamo, & Gawer, 2018; Shipilov & Gawer, 2020). The ecosystem lens has become prevalent in studies of entrepreneurship, with scholars acknowledging that entrepreneurial activity does not occur in a vacuum but is placebased, context-specific, and embedded in entrepreneurial ecosystems (EEs)—the interconnected actors and forces that support entrepreneurial activity within geographic areas (Acs, Stam, Audretsch, & O’Connor, 2017; Berger & Kuckertz, 2016; Bouncken & Kraus, 2021; Roundy, Bradshaw, & Brockman, 2018; Spigel, 2017a; Stam, 2015; Thompson, Purdy, & Ventresca, 2017). Research focusing on vibrant EEs in cities and regions with high levels of entrepreneurial activity, such as Silicon Valley, Bangalore, and Stockholm, has made strides in understanding ecosystem development (Cao & Shi, 2020; Goswami, Mitchell, & Bhagavatula, 2018; Roundy, 2019). However, despite human resources (HR) appearing in most lists of the key components of ecosystems (e.g., Feld, 2012; World Economic Forum, 2013; Vedula & Kim, 2019), how human resources are acquired, developed, and coordinated in EEs—and by EEs—is unclear and has received scant attention in the literature.

Conclusion

     Entrepreneurial ecosystems are increasingly recognized as engines for economic and community development (e.g., Mason & Brown, 2014; Spigel & Harrison, 2018). However, navigating an ecosystem is especially challenging for resource-constrained entrepreneurs who may struggle to identify where talented individuals are located. To date, EE research has not been able to shed light on these challenges because the processes by which ecosystems influence HRM have not been explicitly explored. Our theoretical model addresses this issue by identifying a specific set of mechanisms through which coordinated EEs benefit entrepreneurs’ performance via talent management and rent generation. Our theory of EE-HRM is designed to spur further research on the human resource component of EEs and reveals new connections between HR and entrepreneurship research.