The coevolution of innovation ecosystems and the strategic growth paths of knowledge-intensive enterprises: The case of China’s integrated circuit design industry

Knowledge-intensive enterprises (KIEs) play a significant role in creating value in larger ecosystems by exploiting innovative opportunities. The survival and development of KIEs significantly rely on the resources that they can obtain from heterogeneous regional endowments. However, few studies have investigated KIE development in relation to the evolutionary characteristics of the external environment under a specific regional context. Adopting the lens of ecosystems and a processual approach, using a case study of China’s IC design industry, the present study explores how KIEs coevolve with innovation ecosystems over time. More specifically, our case study reveals the mechanism by which KIEs benefit from innovation ecosystems by responding to changing resource dynamics over the course of ecosystem development, which in turn facilitates and shapes the development of KIEs into either market-oriented growth or technology-oriented growth paths. The theoretical contribution and practical implications based on our findings are discussed.