Purpose

Innovation management in the healthcare sector has undergone significant evolutions over the last decades. These evolutions have been investigated from a variety of perspectives: clusters, ecosystems of innovation, digital ecosystems and regional ecosystems, but the dynamics of networks have seldom been analyzed under the lenses of entrepreneurial ecosystems (EEs). As identified by Cao and Shi (2020), the literature is silent about the organization of resource allocation systems for network orchestration in EEs. This article investigates these elements in the healthcare sector. It discusses the strategic role played by entrepreneurial support organizations (ESOs) in resource allocation and elaborates on the distinction between sponsored and nonsponsored ESOs in EEs. ESOs are active in network orchestration. The literature explains that ESOs lift organizational, institutional and cultural barriers, and support entrepreneurs' access to cognitive and technological resources. However, allocation models are not yet discussed. Therefore, our research questions are as follows: What is the resource allocation model in healthcare-related EEs? What is the role played by sponsored and nonsponsored ESOs as regards resource allocation to support the emergence and development of EEs in the healthcare sector?

Design/methodology/approach

The article offers an explanatory, exploratory, and theory-building investigation. The research design offers an abductive research protocol and multi-level analysis of seven (sponsored and nonsponsored) ESOs active in French healthcare ecosystems. Field research elaborates on semi-structured interviews collected between 2016 and 2022.

Findings

This article shows explicit complementarities between top-down and bottom-up resource allocation approaches supported by ESOs in the healthcare sector. Despite explicit originalities in each approach, no network orchestration model prevails. Multi-polar coordination is the rule. Entrepreneurs' access to critical technological and cognitive resources is based on resource allocation modalities that differ for sponsored versus nonsponsored ESOs. Emerging from field research, this research also shows that sponsored and nonsponsored ESOs manage their roles in different ways because they confront original issues about organizational legitimacy.

Originality/value

Beyond the results listed above, the main originalities of the paper relate to the instantiation of multi-level analysis operated during field research and to the confrontation between sponsored versus nonsponsored ESOs in the domain of healthcare-related innovation management. This research shows that ESOs have practical relevance because they build original routes for resource allocation and network orchestration in EEs. Each ESO category (sponsored versus nonsponsored) provides original support for resource allocation. The ESO's legitimacy is inferred either from the sponsor or the services delivered to end-users. This research leads to propositions for future research and recommendations for practitioners: ESO managers, entrepreneurs, and policymakers.

中文翻译：

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医疗保健创业生态系统中的资源配置：创业支持组织的战略作用

目的

过去几十年来，医疗保健行业的创新管理经历了重大演变。人们从多种角度对这些演变进行了研究：集群、创新生态系统、数字生态系统和区域生态系统，但很少在创业生态系统（EE）的视角下分析网络的动态。正如 Cao 和 Shi (2020) 所指出的，文献中没有提及 EE 中网络编排的资源分配系统的组织。本文研究了医疗保健领域的这些要素。它讨论了创业支持组织 (ESO) 在资源配置中发挥的战略作用，并详细阐述了 EE 中赞助和非赞助 ESO 之间的区别。 ESO 积极参与网络编排。文献解释说，ESO 消除了组织、制度和文化障碍，并支持企业家获得认知和技术资源。然而，分配模型尚未讨论。因此，我们的研究问题是：医疗保健相关的EE的资源配置模型是什么？赞助和非赞助的 ESO 在支持医疗保健行业 EE 的出现和发展的资源分配方面发挥什么作用？

设计/方法论/途径

本文提供了解释性、探索性和理论构建的调查。该研究设计提供了对法国医疗保健生态系统中活跃的七个（赞助和非赞助）ESO 的溯因研究方案和多层次分析。实地研究详细阐述了 2016 年至 2022 年期间收集的半结构化访谈。

发现

本文展示了医疗保健领域 ESO 支持的自上而下和自下而上的资源分配方法之间的明显互补性。尽管每种方法都有明显的独创性，但没有网络编排模型能够流行。多极协调是规则。企业家对关键技术和认知资源的获取取决于资源分配模式，而赞助与非赞助的 ESO 的资源分配模式有所不同。这项研究还通过实地研究表明，赞助和非赞助的 ESO 以不同的方式管理其角色，因为它们面临着有关组织合法性的原始问题。

原创性/价值

除了上面列出的结果之外，本文的主要原创性还涉及在实地研究期间进行的多层次分析的实例化以及赞助与非赞助 ESO 在医疗保健相关创新管理领域中的对抗。这项研究表明，ESO 具有实际意义，因为它们为 EE 中的资源分配和网络编排构建了原始路线。每个 ESO 类别（赞助与非赞助）都为资源分配提供原始支持。 ESO 的合法性可以通过赞助商或向最终用户提供的服务来推断。这项研究为未来的研究提出了建议，并为从业者：ESO 管理者、企业家和政策制定者提出了建议。