Virtual Entrepreneurial Networks in the Russian Arctic: Design, Management, and Assessment of Network Entrepreneurial Potential

Abstract

Modern conditions for the development of society include informational socioeconomic relations, the system-forming role of entrepreneurship in the knowledge economy, and the need for business process performers to undertake social distancing due to the global pandemic. All these conditions actualize the need for the development of network forms for business organization, the virtualization of management systems, and improvement of the principles of their design. When designing, an important task is to select strong actors, in particular large corporations, whose potential and interests are most “useful” to the network; therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the role of large corporations in the design of entrepreneurial innovation networks. To achieve the goal of the study, a method is proposed for assessing the entrepreneurial potential of corporations and determining their role in the projected networks. This method is based on the system and network approaches, using correlation and network analysis tools. Using the example of corporations operating in the Arctic Zone of the Russian Federation, the capabilities of the method are demonstrated. For this aim, operational data from open sources were collected, the entrepreneurial potential of a pool of the largest corporations was assessed, a network model of corporations’ potentials was visualized, and a network analysis of individual corporations as potential actors of entrepreneurial networks was presented. It is concluded that the hypothesis that all large corporations are potential effective actors for the formation of entrepreneurial alliances is not confirmed. The potential of each corporation must be assessed taking into account the specific requirements of the projected network. In the course of further research, it is planned to expand the pool of potential actors of entrepreneurial networks, develop a methodology for assessing their entrepreneurial potential, and form a methodology for selecting actors for multicomponent or multilevel models of entrepreneurial networks.