IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/techno/v113y2022ics0166497221002029.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Leveraging accelerator spaces to foster knowledge communities

Author

Listed:
  • Caccamo, Marta
  • Beckman, Sara

Abstract

Knowledge communities are critical for spurring innovation. For knowledge communities to develop and thrive, appropriate choices must be made around their geographic locations, as well as their physical and digital infrastructure. This paper explores the role of the materiality of boundary spaces, specifically geography and physical/digital infrastructure, in knowledge communities using startup accelerators as an empirical context through which to examine their development and structure. Based on a multi-case study of seventeen accelerators in the San Francisco Bay Area, we shed light on how to leverage boundary space design to foster knowledge communities. Using the construct of knowledge communities, we identify three accelerator archetypes – (1) knowledge spoke hubs, (2) knowledge centers, and (3) knowledge networks – and describe the distinct roles that boundary space design plays in each. The discovery of these archetypes and the associated boundary space design considerations inform a discussion about the implications for both the knowledge community and startup accelerator literature.

Suggested Citation

  • Caccamo, Marta & Beckman, Sara, 2022. "Leveraging accelerator spaces to foster knowledge communities," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:techno:v:113:y:2022:i:c:s0166497221002029
    DOI: 10.1016/j.technovation.2021.102421
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0166497221002029
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.technovation.2021.102421?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ross Brown & Colin Mason, 2017. "Looking inside the spiky bits: a critical review and conceptualisation of entrepreneurial ecosystems," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 49(1), pages 11-30, June.
    2. Natalia Levina, 2005. "Collaborating on Multiparty Information Systems Development Projects: A Collective Reflection-in-Action View," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 16(2), pages 109-130, June.
    3. Yael V. Hochberg, 2016. "Accelerating Entrepreneurs and Ecosystems: The Seed Accelerator Model," Innovation Policy and the Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 16(1), pages 25-51.
    4. Lars Lindkvist, 2005. "Knowledge Communities and Knowledge Collectivities: A Typology of Knowledge Work in Groups," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(6), pages 1189-1210, September.
    5. Patrick Cohendet & Frédéric Creplet & Morad Diani & Olivier Dupouët & Eric Schenk, 2004. "Matching Communities and Hierarchies within the Firm," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 8(1), pages 27-48, March.
    6. Patrick Cohendet & David Grandadam & Laurent Simon & Ignasi Capdevila, 2014. "Epistemic communities, localization and the dynamics of knowledge creation," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 14(5), pages 929-954.
    7. Mark Thompson, 2005. "Structural and Epistemic Parameters in Communities of Practice," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 16(2), pages 151-164, April.
    8. Cohen, Susan & Fehder, Daniel C. & Hochberg, Yael V. & Murray, Fiona, 2019. "The design of startup accelerators," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(7), pages 1781-1797.
    9. Ignasi Capdevila, 2015. "Co-Working Spaces And The Localised Dynamics Of Innovation In Barcelona," International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 19(03), pages 1-28.
    10. Borzillo, Stefano & Aznar, Stéphane & Schmitt, Achim, 2011. "A journey through communities of practice: How and why members move from the periphery to the core," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 25-42, February.
    11. Michelle Gittelman, 2007. "Does Geography Matter for Science-Based Firms? Epistemic Communities and the Geography of Research and Patenting in Biotechnology," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 18(4), pages 724-741, August.
    12. Ignasi Capdevila, 2017. "A typology of localized spaces of collaborative innovation," Chapters, in: Maarten van Ham & Darja Reuschke & Reinout Kleinhans & Colin Mason & Stephen Syrett (ed.), Entrepreneurial Neighbourhoods, chapter 5, pages 80-97, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    13. Susan Cohen, 2013. "What Do Accelerators Do? Insights from Incubators and Angels," Innovations: Technology, Governance, Globalization, MIT Press, vol. 8(3-4), pages 19-25, December.
    14. Ash Amin & Patrick Cohendet, 2004. "Architectures of knowledge : Firms, capabilities, and communities," Post-Print hal-00279605, HAL.
    15. Alessia Contu & Hugh Willmott, 2003. "Re-Embedding Situatedness: The Importance of Power Relations in Learning Theory," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 14(3), pages 283-296, June.
    16. Mrkajic, Boris, 2017. "Business incubation models and institutionally void environments," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 44-55.
    17. Pauwels, Charlotte & Clarysse, Bart & Wright, Mike & Van Hove, Jonas, 2016. "Understanding a new generation incubation model: The accelerator," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 50, pages 13-24.
    18. Browder, Russell E. & Aldrich, Howard E. & Bradley, Steven W., 2019. "The emergence of the maker movement: Implications for entrepreneurship research," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 459-476.
    19. Ron Boschma, 2005. "Proximity and Innovation: A Critical Assessment," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(1), pages 61-74.
    20. Patrick Cohendet & David Grandadam & Laurent Simon, 2010. "The Anatomy of the Creative City," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(1), pages 91-111.
    21. Claire Champenois & Henry Etzkowitz, 2018. "From boundary line to boundary space: The creation of hybrid organizations as a Triple Helix micro-foundation," Post-Print hal-01988410, HAL.
    22. Achim Schmitt & Stefano Borzillo & Stéphane Aznar, 2011. "A journey through communities of practice: How and why members move from the periphery to the core," Post-Print hal-00771842, HAL.
    23. Amin, Ash & Roberts, Joanne, 2008. "Knowing in action: Beyond communities of practice," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 353-369, March.
    24. Ignasi Capdevila & Patrick Cohendet & Laurent Simon, 2018. "From a local community to a global influence. How elBulli restaurant created a new epistemic movement in the world of haute cuisine," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(5), pages 526-549, May.
    25. John Seely Brown & Paul Duguid, 1991. "Organizational Learning and Communities-of-Practice: Toward a Unified View of Working, Learning, and Innovation," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 2(1), pages 40-57, February.
    26. Champenois, Claire & Etzkowitz, Henry, 2018. "From boundary line to boundary space: The creation of hybrid organizations as a Triple Helix micro-foundation," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 76, pages 28-39.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Alexander Kramer & Dominik K. Kanbach, 2023. "Relationship-building in the post-acceleration phase of corporate accelerators: empirical evidence from Germany," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 19(2), pages 755-779, June.
    2. Becker, Kai & Ebbers, Joris J. & Engel, Yuval, 2024. "Going online: Peer entrepreneur networks in a startup accelerator before and during the COVID-19 pandemic," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Caccamo, Marta & Pittino, Daniel & Tell, Fredrik, 2023. "Boundary objects, knowledge integration, and innovation management: A systematic review of the literature," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 122(C).
    2. Amin, Ash & Roberts, Joanne, 2008. "Knowing in action: Beyond communities of practice," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 353-369, March.
    3. Michael Kaethler, 2019. "Curating creative communities of practice: the role of ambiguity," Journal of Organization Design, Springer;Organizational Design Community, vol. 8(1), pages 1-17, December.
    4. Benjamin Cabanes & Pascal Le Masson & Benoît Weil, 2020. "Organiser la création de connaissance pour l’innovation de rupture. Des communautés aux sociétés proto-épistémiques d’experts," Revue française de gestion, Lavoisier, vol. 0(3), pages 35-60.
    5. Lall, Saurabh A. & Chen, Li-Wei & Roberts, Peter W., 2020. "Are we accelerating equity investment into impact-oriented ventures?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    6. Kuebart, Andreas & Ibert, Oliver, 2019. "Beyond territorial conceptions of entrepreneurial ecosystems: The dynamic spatiality of knowledge brokering in seed accelerators," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 63(2-4), pages 118-133.
    7. Verena Brinks, 2016. "Situated affect and collective meaning: A community perspective on processes of value creation and commercialization in enthusiast-driven fields," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 48(6), pages 1152-1169, June.
    8. Simon Turner, 2013. "Absorptive Capacity: The Role of Communities of Practice," Working Papers wp444, Centre for Business Research, University of Cambridge.
    9. Kuebart, Andreas Sebastian Carl & Ibert, Oliver, 2020. "Choreographies of entrepreneurship: How different formats of co-presence are combined to facilitate knowledge creation in seed accelerator programs [Choreographien von Unternehmensgründungen: Wie v," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 78(1), pages 35-51.
    10. Charlene L. Nicholls-Nixon & Dave Valliere & Steven A. Gedeon & Sean Wise, 2021. "Entrepreneurial ecosystems and the lifecycle of university business incubators: An integrative case study," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 17(2), pages 809-837, June.
    11. Simon Turner, 2009. "Networks of Learning within the English Wine Industry: Communitarian, Distanciated, Organisational, and Redundant," Working Papers wp386, Centre for Business Research, University of Cambridge.
    12. Lizzie Richardson, 2016. "Sharing knowledge: Performing co-production in collaborative artistic work," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 48(11), pages 2256-2271, November.
    13. Moritz, Alexandra & Naulin, Tamara & Lutz, Eva, 2022. "Accelerators as drivers of coopetition among early-stage startups," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    14. Manhart, Niklas, 2022. "The Mission Comes First: Exploring the Mechanisms of Organizational Sponsorship for the Acceleration of Social Start-Ups," Junior Management Science (JUMS), Junior Management Science e. V., vol. 7(2), pages 289-337.
    15. Emmanuelle Vaast & Geoff Walsham, 2009. "Trans-Situated Learning: Supporting a Network of Practice with an Information Infrastructure," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 20(4), pages 547-564, December.
    16. Emil Lucian Crișan & Irina Iulia Salanță & Ioana Natalia Beleiu & Ovidiu Niculae Bordean & Raluca Bunduchi, 2021. "A systematic literature review on accelerators," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 46(1), pages 62-89, February.
    17. Fink, Alexander A. & Klöckner, Maximilian & Räder, Tobias & Wagner, Stephan M., 2022. "Supply chain management accelerators: Types, objectives, and key design features," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 164(C).
    18. Lam, Alice, 2008. "The Tacit Knowledge Problem in Multinational Corporations: Japanese and US Offshore Knowledge Incubators," MPRA Paper 11487, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    19. Müller, Felix Claus & Ibert, Oliver, 2014. "(Re-)Sources of Innovation: Understanding and Comparing Innovation Dynamics through the Lens of Communities of Practice," IRS Working Papers 52, Leibniz Institute for Research on Society and Space (IRS).
    20. Dejean, Sylvain & Jullien, Nicolas, 2015. "Big from the beginning: Assessing online contributors’ behavior by their first contribution," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(6), pages 1226-1239.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:techno:v:113:y:2022:i:c:s0166497221002029. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/01664972 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.