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PurposeInnovation ecosystems can emerge and grow organically, but the process can also be managed through conscious intervention. Therefore, this study observes different motivations and expectations for each group of actors. The lack of alignment between actors could have a negative influence on the development of innovation ecosystems. This study aims to analyze the coordination strategies of the actors throughout the life cycle of innovation ecosystems.Design/methodology/approachThis study develops and proposes a model for coordinating innovation ecosystems based on the theoretical backgrounds of the ecosystem life cycle and ecosystem coordination.FindingsThis study argues that each stage of an innovation ecosystem’s life cycle – inception, launching, growth and maturity – demands different coordination strategies. Initially, networks are simpler and thus the coordination issues are less difficult. However, as the ecosystem evolves and the complexity of the networks increases, a more sophisticated strategy, such as orchestration or choreography, is needed.Research limitations/implicationsThis is a theoretical study that recommends further research to test this model.Practical implicationsThe understanding of coordination and stages of the life cycle of an innovation ecosystem can guide actors in the design of strategies for developing of ecosystems.Social implicationsThe proposed framework could support strategies to engage civil society in actions to develop innovation ecosystems.Originality/valueThis study presents a framework to understand the coordination strategies better, considering the stages of an innovation ecosystem’s life cycle.

Low-technology industry is still commonly regarded as being irrelevant in the modern process of innovation and economic change. However, we believe that innovation may happen in all different types of industries and firms, including low-technology firms. The aim of this paper is to identify the main types of recent innovation in low-tech industries of emerging markets. For the purpose of this research, we conducted an exploratory study in 14 low-tech firms in Brazil. The results suggest that even firms with low technological intensity can be considered innovative, although they presented a different view regarding changes, innovation and competitive differential. Analyzing the innovative performance as a result of four capabilities, technology development, operations, management and transaction, it was possible to identify that in the low-technology industry companies it is mainly related to their transaction capability.

O objetivo deste estudo é investigar a influência dos recursos e competências na capacidade de inovar das empresas. Para tanto, desenvolveu-se um estudo de múltiplos casos na indústria eletroeletrônica no estado do Rio Grande do Sul, abrangendo três empresas de diferentes segmentos de mercado: automação predial, telecomunicações e automação industrial. A partir da Visão Baseada nos Recursos, elaborou-se um esquema teórico-analítico, segundo o qual a empresa motivada para inovar, desenvolve um arranjo de recursos e competências, que resulta nas inovações oferecidas ao mercado. Os critérios para avaliação do valor estratégico das inovações foram quatro características propostas por Barney (1991) para avaliação de recursos: para ser estratégica a inovação deveria ser valiosa, rara, de difícil imitação e sem substituto equivalente. Os resultados indicam que existem duas competências principais para o desenvolvimento de inovações estratégicas nas empresas: a cooperação e a obtenção de financiamento. Dos três projetos avaliados, apenas apresenta todas as características de inovação estratégica. The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of resources and capabilities in the firms´ innovation. This study was carried out in three enterprises of the electric/electronic industry in Brazil. It included enterprises of three different segments: building automation, telecommunications and industrial automation. Resource Based-View was used to develop a framework for analysis of the combination of resources and competences to innovate. The firm, motivated to innovate, develop a pool of resources and competences, resulting in innovations offered to the market. The criteria for assessing the strategic value of the innovations were four characteristics proposed by Barney (1991) for evaluation of resources. The strategic innovation should be valuable, rare, difficult to imitate and without equivalent substitute. The results indicate that there are two main competences for the development of strategic innovations in enterprises: abilities to cooperate and to obtain financing. Of the three projects evaluated, only one has all the four characteristics that leads to strategic innovation.