IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hal/journl/hal-04096075.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Assessing the effect of 3D printing technologies on entrepreneurship
[Évaluer l'effet des technologies d'impression 3D sur l'entrepreneuriat]

Author

Listed:
  • Thierry Rayna

    (i3-CRG - Centre de recherche en gestion i3 - X - École polytechnique - IP Paris - Institut Polytechnique de Paris - IP Paris - Institut Polytechnique de Paris - I3 - Institut interdisciplinaire de l’innovation - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

  • Ludmila Striukova

    (SKEMA Business School - SKEMA Business School)

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to critically assess the effect of 3D printing technologies on entrepreneurship. While 3D printing technologies (also known as ‘additive manufacturing') have been considered as highly transformative technologies, they have been so far (despite over 30 years of existence) restricted to niche markets, and until recently, it seemed that only the largest firms were able to take advantage of those technologies. However, the cost of use of such technologies has sharply decreased over the past few years, and an increasing number of service companies offer both offline (Fab Labs, makerspaces, bureaus) and online (3D printing platforms) access to 3D printing capacities, enabling to "bridge the gap" and provide access to 3D printing technologies to everyone.In this context, using a case-based exploratory methodology, this research aims to explore the benefits of 3D printing technologies for entrepreneurs and new ventures, in particular in relation to overcoming specific challenges these smaller and younger structures face. After identifying the key types of hurdle faced by entrepreneurs – NPD issues, technical issues, market issues, financial issues, and business model issues – this article investigates the manner in which different forms of usage of 3D printing technologies – prototyping, tooling, direct manufacturing, distributed and localised manufacturing – can help alleviate each of those types of barrier.The results of this research indicate that 3D printing technologies are indeed likely to enable entrepreneurs to overcome the five main types of barriers they generally face. Furthermore, because of the very particular situation of entrepreneurs and new ventures and the specific challenges they face in terms of scale, access to markets, and lack of financial resources, 3D printing may in fact be more transformative for smaller and younger structures, than for larger and well-established corporations. However, this research also indicates that benefits for entrepreneurs derived from the use of 3D printing may depend on the degree of involvement of 3D printing in the overall productive process – the more the merrier – and that using 3D printing only at design and tooling stage, although helpful to some extent, may not be so impactful.

Suggested Citation

  • Thierry Rayna & Ludmila Striukova, 2021. "Assessing the effect of 3D printing technologies on entrepreneurship [Évaluer l'effet des technologies d'impression 3D sur l'entrepreneuriat]," Post-Print hal-04096075, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04096075
    DOI: 10.1016/j.techfore.2020.120483
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-04096075v1
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://hal.science/hal-04096075v1/document
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.techfore.2020.120483?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Howard E. Van Auken & Lynn Neeley, 1996. "Evidence of Bootstrap Financing among Small Start-Up Firms," Journal of Entrepreneurial Finance, Pepperdine University, Graziadio School of Business and Management, vol. 5(3), pages 235-249, Fall.
    2. David J. TEECE, 2008. "Profiting from technological innovation: Implications for integration, collaboration, licensing and public policy," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: The Transfer And Licensing Of Know-How And Intellectual Property Understanding the Multinational Enterprise in the Modern World, chapter 5, pages 67-87, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    3. Berman, Barry, 2012. "3-D printing: The new industrial revolution," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 55(2), pages 155-162.
    4. Morris, Michael & Schindehutte, Minet & Allen, Jeffrey, 2005. "The entrepreneur's business model: toward a unified perspective," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 58(6), pages 726-735, June.
    5. Blanchflower, David G & Oswald, Andrew J, 1998. "What Makes an Entrepreneur?," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 16(1), pages 26-60, January.
    6. Satish Nambisan, 2017. "Digital Entrepreneurship: Toward a Digital Technology Perspective of Entrepreneurship," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 41(6), pages 1029-1055, November.
    7. Harrison, Debbie & Waluszewski, Alexandra, 2008. "The development of a user network as a way to re-launch an unwanted product," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 115-130, February.
    8. Sabrina Phua & Oswald Jones, 2010. "Marketing in new business ventures: examining the myth of informality," International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 11(1), pages 35-55.
    9. Ronald K. Mitchell & Lowell W. Busenitz & Barbara Bird & Connie Marie Gaglio & Jeffery S. McMullen & Eric A. Morse & J. Brock Smith, 2007. "The Central Question in Entrepreneurial Cognition Research 2007," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 31(1), pages 1-27, January.
    10. Lowell W. Busenitz & James O. Fiet, 1996. "The Effects of Early Stage Venture Capitalist Actions on Eventual Venture Disposition," Journal of Entrepreneurial Finance, Pepperdine University, Graziadio School of Business and Management, vol. 5(2), pages 97-114, Summer.
    11. Thierry Rayna & Ludmila Striukova, 2009. "Public venture capital: missing link or weakest link?," International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 9(4), pages 453-465.
    12. Danny Miller, 1983. "The Correlates of Entrepreneurship in Three Types of Firms," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 29(7), pages 770-791, July.
    13. James J. Chrisman & John Leslie, 1989. "Strategic, Administrative, and Operating Problems: The Impact of Outsiders on Small Firm Performance," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 13(3), pages 37-52, April.
    14. Bhawe, Nachiket & Rawhouser, Hans & Pollack, Jeffrey M., 2016. "Horse and cart: The role of resource acquisition order in new ventures," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 6(C), pages 7-13.
    15. Dean A. Shepherd & Andrew Zacharakis, 1999. "Conjoint analysis: A new methodological approach for researching the decision policies of venture capitalists," Venture Capital, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 1(3), pages 197-217, July.
    16. Richard T. Harrison & Colin M. Mason, 2000. "Venture capital market complementarities: The links between business angels and venture capital funds in the United Kingdom," Venture Capital, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 2(3), pages 223-242, July.
    17. Fabrizio Salvador & de Holan Pablo Martin & Franck Piller, 2009. "Cracking the Code of Mass Customization," Post-Print hal-02312930, HAL.
    18. Bruno, Albert V. & Mcquarrie, Edward F. & Torgrimson, Carol G., 1992. "The evolution of new technology ventures over 20 years: Patterns of failure, merger, and survival," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 7(4), pages 291-302, July.
    19. Maidique, Modesto A. & Zirger, Billie Jo, 1985. "The new product learning cycle," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 14(6), pages 299-313, December.
    20. Gideon D. Markman & Donald S. Siegel & Mike Wright, 2008. "Research and Technology Commercialization," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(8), pages 1401-1423, December.
    21. Hamalainen, Markko & Karjalainen, Jesse, 2017. "Social manufacturing: When the maker movement meets interfirm production networks," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 60(6), pages 795-805.
    22. Michael, Steven C., 2003. "First mover advantage through franchising," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 61-80, January.
    23. Robert A. Peterson & George Kozmetsky & Nancy M. Ridgway, 1983. "Perceived Causes of Small Business Failures: A Research Note," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 8(1), pages 15-19, July.
    24. Aarikka-Stenroos, Leena & Sandberg, Birgitta, 2012. "From new-product development to commercialization through networks," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 65(2), pages 198-206.
    25. Gerard George & Adam J. Bock, 2011. "The Business Model in Practice and its Implications for Entrepreneurship Research," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 35(1), pages 83-111, January.
    26. Jarkko Pellikka & Markku Virtanen, 2009. "Problems of commercialisation in Small Technology-based Firms," International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 9(3), pages 267-284.
    27. repec:eme:mrn000:01409170710779971 is not listed on IDEAS
    28. Malte Brettel & Andreas Engelen & Thomas Müller & Oliver Schilke, 2011. "Distribution Channel Choice of New Entrepreneurial Ventures," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 35(4), pages 683-708, July.
    29. Troxler, Peter & Wolf, Patricia, 2017. "Digital maker-entrepreneurs in open design: What activities make up their business model?," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 60(6), pages 807-817.
    30. John T. Perry & Gaylen N. Chandler & Gergana Markova, 2012. "Entrepreneurial Effectuation: A Review and Suggestions for Future Research," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 36(4), pages 837-861, July.
    31. Giones, Ferran & Brem, Alexander, 2017. "From toys to tools: The co-evolution of technological and entrepreneurial developments in the drone industry," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 60(6), pages 875-884.
    32. Chris Freeman & Luc Soete, 1997. "The Economics of Industrial Innovation, 3rd Edition," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 3, volume 1, number 0262061953, April.
    33. Letizia Mortara & Nicolas Gontran Parisot, 2016. "Through entrepreneurs’ eyes: the Fab-spaces constellation," International Journal of Production Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 54(23), pages 7158-7180, December.
    34. Christoph Zott & Raphael Amit, 2007. "Business Model Design and the Performance of Entrepreneurial Firms," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 18(2), pages 181-199, April.
    35. Angelo Bonfanti & Manlio Del Giudice & Armando Papa, 2018. "Italian Craft Firms Between Digital Manufacturing, Open Innovation, and Servitization," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 9(1), pages 136-149, March.
    36. Haemin Dennis Park & H. Kevin Steensma, 2012. "When does corporate venture capital add value for new ventures?," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(1), pages 1-22, January.
    37. Weller, Christian & Kleer, Robin & Piller, Frank T., 2015. "Economic implications of 3D printing: Market structure models in light of additive manufacturing revisited," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 43-56.
    38. Baron, Robert A., 2004. "The cognitive perspective: a valuable tool for answering entrepreneurship's basic "why" questions," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 19(2), pages 221-239, March.
    39. Andre Laplume & Gerald C Anzalone & Joshua Pearce, 2016. "Open-source, self-replicating 3-D printer factory for small-business manufacturing," Post-Print hal-02113502, HAL.
    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. Dhir, Amandeep & Talwar, Shalini & Islam, Nazrul & Alghafes, Rasha & Badghish, Saeed, 2023. "Different strokes for different folks: Comparative analysis of 3D printing in large, medium and small firms," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    2. Marić, Josip & Opazo-Basáez, Marco & Vlačić, Božidar & Dabić, Marina, 2023. "Innovation management of three-dimensional printing (3DP) technology: Disclosing insights from existing literature and determining future research streams," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 193(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. Rayna, Thierry & Striukova, Ludmila, 2021. "Assessing the effect of 3D printing technologies on entrepreneurship: An exploratory study," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 164(C).
    2. M. Moore, 2021. "Collaboration in Coworking Spaces: Impact on Firm Innovativeness and Business Models," Papers 2111.09866, arXiv.org.
    3. Ales Novak, 2014. "Business Model Literature Overview," FINANCIAL REPORTING, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2014(1), pages 79-130.
    4. Raphaël Maucuer & Alexandre Renaud, 2019. "Business Model Research: A Bibliometric Analysis of Origins and Trends," Post-Print hal-01918188, HAL.
    5. Culot, Giovanna & Orzes, Guido & Sartor, Marco & Nassimbeni, Guido, 2020. "The future of manufacturing: A Delphi-based scenario analysis on Industry 4.0," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    6. 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.
    7. Mariani, Marcello & Borghi, Matteo, 2019. "Industry 4.0: A bibliometric review of its managerial intellectual structure and potential evolution in the service industries," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    8. Amandine Maus & Sylvie Sammut, 2018. "Business model innovation in incubators: the role played by dynamic capabilities theory," Post-Print hal-02466175, HAL.
    9. Erik Lundmark & Anna Krzeminska & Dean A. Shepherd, 2019. "Images of Entrepreneurship: Exploring Root Metaphors and Expanding Upon Them," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 43(1), pages 138-170, January.
    10. Ancillai, Chiara & Sabatini, Andrea & Gatti, Marco & Perna, Andrea, 2023. "Digital technology and business model innovation: A systematic literature review and future research agenda," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    11. Sascha Kraus & Alexander Brem & Miriam Schuessler & Felix Schuessler & Thomas Niemand, 2019. "Innovative Born Globals: Investigating the Influence of Their Business Models on International Performance," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Alexander Brem & Joe Tidd & Tugrul Daim (ed.), Managing Innovation Internationalization of Innovation, chapter 11, pages 275-328, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    12. Gedas Baranauskas & Agota Giedrė Raišienė & Renata Korsakienė, 2020. "Mapping the Scientific Research on Mass Customization Domain: A Critical Review and Bibliometric Analysis," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-20, September.
    13. Xuerong Li & Han Qiao & Shouyang Wang, 2017. "Exploring evolution and emerging trends in business model study: a co-citation analysis," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 111(2), pages 869-887, May.
    14. Rong, Ke & Patton, Dean & Chen, Weiwei, 2018. "Business models dynamics and business ecosystems in the emerging 3D printing industry," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 234-245.
    15. Randhawa, Krithika & Wilden, Ralf & Gudergan, Siegfried, 2021. "How to innovate toward an ambidextrous business model? The role of dynamic capabilities and market orientation," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 618-634.
    16. Beltagui, Ahmad & Sesis, Achilleas & Stylos, Nikolaos, 2021. "A bricolage perspective on democratising innovation: The case of 3D printing in makerspaces," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).
    17. Barneto, Pascal & Ouvrard, Stéphane, 2015. "Is the firm's business model related to segment reporting?," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 122-137.
    18. Massimo G. Colombo & Douglas Cumming & Ali Mohammadi & Cristina Rossi-Lamastra & Anu Wadhwa, 2016. "Open business models and venture capital finance," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 25(2), pages 353-370.
    19. Holzmann, Patrick & Breitenecker, Robert J. & Schwarz, Erich J. & Gregori, Patrick, 2020. "Business model design for novel technologies in nascent industries: An investigation of 3D printing service providers," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    20. James J. Chrisman & Alan Bauerschmidt & Charles W. Hofer, 1998. "The Determinants of New Venture Performance: An Extended Model," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 23(1), pages 5-29, October.

    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:hal:journl:hal-04096075. 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: CCSD (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/ .

    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.