Elephants and gazelles: the role of large corporations in entrepreneurial ecosystems. A case study of the impact of the corporate sector on Munich’s entrepreneurial ecosystem

Abstract

The wide-spread assumption that technological advancements eradicated the importance of geographical distance and flattened the world does not apply to its driving force, entrepreneurial activity. Its increasing concentration in entrepreneurial communities provides evidence that location clearly matters and gave rise to the concept of entrepreneurial ecosystems. The systemic approach aims to explain the spatial development of entrepreneurship and gained widespread acceptance among scholars. While they proposed various components and actors which constitute successful entrepreneurial ecosystems, little understanding of their roles, relevance and interactions has been established. Though
corporations were stated to be an imperative actor of entrepreneurial ecosystems, their role has widely been neglected in ecosystems literature. Hence, the conducted research explored their uninvestigated role within ecosystems through an illustrative case study placed in Munich, which combines an emerging ecosystem
with a strong corporate sector. Whereas prior literature revealed numerous ways in which corporations foster the development of ecosystems, semi-structured interviews supported by secondary sources revealed that even though corporations have a significant impact on Munich's start-up scene adverse effects dominated.
Most of these can be attributed to the traditional mind-sets of corporations which clashed with the disruptive attitude and agility of start-ups.