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The aim of this review began with the ambition to frame and clearly define the objective of the study, which is innovative entrepreneurship. The review firstly focused on the definition of entrepreneurship, which is different depending on the author, to later give the definition of the concept we adopt in this thesis. The review of entrepreneurship literature leads us to identify two main processes that characterise innovative entrepreneurship: the process of innovative project (i.e. opportunity) exploitation and the concept of firm creation through organisational processes.

Innovative entrepreneurship was therefore defined as the action of exploiting an opportunity of

innovation through the creation of a firm.

The chapter has worked around this definition in order to then find a suitable framework in order to study the entrepreneur and his actions. The aim was then to discuss a workable framework to study the process lying in innovative entrepreneurship. In order to study entrepreneurial action, the chapter called on literature on theories of action, especially human agency literature. This literature enabled us to build on the concept of human agency and adapt it to the concepts in the entrepreneurship literature, which we referred to as entrepreneurial agency. We define this as the

power of the entrepreneurs to have influence over their decision and actions stemming from them.

This definition hypothesises that the entrepreneur has neither full power, nor passivity over his action and the fate of his venture. Thus the human agency literature has also helped us to build a framework to study innovative entrepreneurship, especially the variables influencing entrepreneurial agency. The entrepreneurial agency framework features three components: the entrepreneur (i.e. the agent), the entrepreneurial action and the environment. These three components form the triadic reciprocal relationship that influences the entrepreneurial agency and thus the entrepreneurial process. The thesis objective is therefore to understand how these three components affect the entrepreneurial agency during the early stages of firm creation. In order to do so, the review focused on each component identified in the framework and their characteristics. The concept of entrepreneurial agency therefore aims at providing a framework in which the different literature tackled in entrepreneurship theories can be understood together. It aims at developing a holistic framework that explains the interaction between components that influence the e t ep e eu s st ateg , his business model and ultimately the firm path of evolution.

When discussing the researchable characteristics of the entrepreneur, we emphasised the difference that has to be made between the theoretical level and the practical level. In theory, the entrepreneur is represented as a unique entity who has many abilities to bring a firm to success (e.g.

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like the übermensch described in Schumpeterian theories). However, in practice it is difficult to observe a unique individual fulfilling the entrepreneurial function from beginning to end (both the identification and exploitation of an opportunity, as well as building and running a newly created organisation). The thesis can therefore refer to the entrepreneur on a theoretical level, but will not try to identify a unique entrepreneur leading the entrepreneurial action. Rather, it defines identifies individuals that take a lead and responsibility for a specific part of the entrepreneurial action (as defined above). In practice, it therefore tries to identify an individual leader in charge at some point in time of the entrepreneurial action. This observation is reinforced by the choice of the sector. As the biotechnology sector has been chosen, the complexity of technologies developed for innovating and the complexity of specific markets are rarely known in depth by a unique individual. Consequently, we hypothesise that the entrepreneur may not be a single individual over time, but rather there may be different individuals that fulfil the entrepreneurial action over time. The thesis therefore also wants to understand the consequences that the change of individual fulfilling the entrepreneurial function has on the project and firm evolution overall. This is especially relevant, since the experience and personality of an entrepreneur has an effect on his preferences and choice over risk and profit, as was discussed in the section about the entrepreneur. This issue is especially discussed in Chapter 5.

The e t ep e eu s histo is ot the o l dete i a t that is take i to account when making choice and taking action for advancing the entrepreneurial project. As was pointed out, environmental factors also have an impact on the entrepreneurial decision and actions, and therefore on entrepreneurial agency. Specific determinants that may have an influence on the decision and action of the entrepreneur were identified in the literature review. However, the thesis does not aim at identifying or discussing an exhaustive list of environmental determinants, but to highlight how those external factors can affect the project over time. As the literature on new ventures highlights, the financial issue of getting enough capital to start and develop a venture is a key concern for new firms. Furthermore it is important to look at that particular view, as biotechnology product or service development needs subsequent financing, especially when developing drugs for the human pharmaceutical markets. Thus the choice towards a particular external financing organisation and their involvement in the new venture is key to our study and is the focus of Chapter 4. The above section on environmental factors has also highlighted different organisations in an innovation system which also influences on entrepreneurship at different points in time and at different levels. The section has pointed out that the biotechnology emerged from science and relies on the public sector to generate innovative products. Thus in our case we also consider university as having a prominent role in the development of technology and in the

73 entrepreneurial process. Therefore, Chapter 6 focuses on the relationship between innovative projects, firm creation and the fi s link with their parent organisation, the university. Other environmental factors can also have an influence on firm development, such as incubators, property rights in a specific country, regional support organisations, etc...

Finally, and most importantly, the study of this framework includes the study of the entrepreneurial action. The question of characterising the entrepreneurial action is inferred from our definition of innovative entrepreneurship, by the inclusion of the innovative project development together with the firm creation and development. This is because both of these aspects involve a dynamic action or process individually (since firm creation and innovation are both described as processes in their respective literature). However, this definition also creates questions in terms of the way to study the relationship between the innovation and firm creation processes. Are those processes separate, sequential or is there overlap and co-evolution? The literature review has not been conclusive on this matter since the two processes have generally been studied separately. This is therefore an important question that we aim to tackle in our study in order to fill the gap left in the literature. In the analytical chapters we decided to focus, first on components affecting entrepreneurial agency, which could lead us to understand the early stages by dividing the study in separate steps (which are also overlapping) in order to closely follow this notion of co- evolution. The two first analytical chapters, Chapter 4 and 5, link different components of the developed framework between each other, respectively the environment (here financing) and the entrepreneur (the agent) to the strategy of the firms and its activities (i.e. entrepreneurial decision and action). These two chapters look at specific aspects that could influence the early path of the firm in terms of strategy and business model choice. Chapter 4 concentrates on the early interaction with the financial environment (especially financial organisation) while the firm is created. It particularly emphasises how the mode of financing can impact on the project versus the firm development. Chapter 5 looks at the organisational infancy and the managerial transition from scientific organisation to the newly created firm management team. In the final analytical chapter (Chapter 6), the notion of evolution is taken on a larger scale, to fully understand the process of transition between the parent organisation and the new venture. The focus lies more in the project development and the steps taken from project development to the firm creation. As the processes have been mainly studied separately, we need to understand the reasons and transitions from developing their innovative project in an incumbent organisation to creating their own organisation. The chapter therefore focuses on the step before firm creation and thus does not directly focus on the co-evolution of the two processes.

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The analytical chapters are also in line with the framework we have set up. They seek to understand this triadic relationship of the different components in the early life of the firm. In order to avoid unnecessary complexity, these chapters do not look at the triadic relationship as a whole but rather at the relationship between each pair of components. For instance, Chapter 4 emphasises the influence of a central external actor, the financier, over the choice of the business model for the firm. Chapter 5 emphasises the relationship between cultural background and experience by looking at the decision over the business strategy. Chapter 6 looks at the relationship of entrepreneur specificities (through his different relationship with university) and entrepreneurial action over the transition phase between incubation and creation of the firm.

Further environmental factors are discussed in Chapter 2, which examines the sectoral characteristics of the biotech sector. The specificities of the sector are important as it defines the entrepreneurial needs in terms of competences but also external help needed. The following chapter therefore proceeds to give an overview of the chosen sector and relates it to the entrepreneurial action by discussing it in relation to specific business models developed in this sector. The following chapter (Chapter 3) follows on the methodology, which justifies the choice towards the multiple case study design. This chapter concludes with an overview of the case studies, including an overview of the cluster under study and details about each firm story.

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