Contributions of sustainable start-up ecosystem to dynamics of start-up companies: the case of Lithuania

Abstract

The purpose of the present study is to evaluate contributions ofsustainable start-up ecosystems to the development and dynamics ofstart-up companies. To illustrate how the sustainability of start-upecosystems affects the development trends of start-up companies the caseof Lithuania is analysed. Lithuania is chosen because of its experienceof dynamically transforming its start-up ecosystem; the case is usefulfor both further scientific analysis of start-up ecosystems andapplication of the Lithuanian experience to other countries. Cooperationand networking among companies have been important research topics formany decades. In the second half of the 20th century the networkexpansion evolved due to the development of social, economic, politicaland technological systems (Iansiti and Levien, 2004); however, companiesfaced new challenges in adapting to the rapidly changing environment,creating synergies from cooperation in ecosystems and sustainablystrengthening their competitive advantage. In the early 1990s the term`business ecosystem' was introduced into popular management parlance byJames F. Moore (1993). Moore suggested an ecological approach tomanagement, where modern business is viewed not only as a member of asingle industry, but rather a part of a business ecosystem that crossesa variety of industries. The present research is centred on effects ofthis business ecosystem on the dynamics of start-ups. Given themultifactor and trans-disciplinary nature of start-up ecosystems, thetriangulation method of combining the scientific literature overview,semi-structured qualitative interviews and quantitative survey method ischosen: the quantitative survey was designed to reveal the generalprofile of a start-up company and its' approach towards start-upecosystems, while qualitative semi-structured expert interviews wereconducted to acknowledge why and how start-up ecosystem influences thedevelopment of companies. The research question is how sustainability ofstart-up ecosystems affects the development patterns of start-upcompanies. This should help other countries such as Georgia, Moldova,Bulgaria or Romania to avoid of possible mistakes in enhancing their ownstart-up ecosystems.