ABSTRACT

The increasing adaptation of digitalisation has engendered numerous venture ideas and entrepreneurial opportunities. Many of these ideas bear the potential to address grand societal challenges. However, perceived opportunities can be elusive, especially in the context of complex problems. Opportunity confidence (OC) can be essential to venture creation and firm development. OC depends on evaluating socioeconomic, socio-ethical, and socioecological factors, which are not straightforward. Responsible innovation (RI) can be a viable approach to building OC. However, whether or how firms and entrepreneurs pursue RI to build OC needs to be clarified. Accordingly, we explore these issues through a case study of nine for-profit firms in digital healthcare and welfare services. The findings reveal that although the firms do not integrate RI principles in innovation and entrepreneurial activities per se, they practice them to varying degrees. This helps them to build OC. The study contributes to theory, practice, and policy.

摘要

数字化的不断发展催生了无数的创业想法和创业机会。其中许多想法具有解决重大社会挑战的潜力。然而，感知到的机会可能难以捉摸，尤其是在复杂问题的背景下。机会信心 (OC) 对于创业和公司发展至关重要。OC 取决于评估社会经济、社会伦理和社会生态因素，这些因素并不简单。负责任的创新 (RI) 可以成为构建 OC 的可行方法。然而，企业和企业家是否或如何通过RI来建立OC需要澄清。因此，我们通过对数字医疗和福利服务领域的九家营利性公司的案例研究来探讨这些问题。研究结果表明，尽管企业本身并未将 RI 原则融入创新和创业活动中，但它们在不同程度上实践了这些原则。这有助于他们构建 OC。该研究对理论、实践和政策做出了贡献。