ABSTRACT
Background: The Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) presents a number of implications for both the public and private sectors. An important feature of the 4IR is enhancing the sustainability of businesses through innovation. Aim: This article examines the government's entrepreneurial role in promoting innovation-led entrepreneurial ecosystems (EEs). Setting: Through a comparative approach, the research presented in this article investigates the role of government in promoting innovation-led EEs, in a top-performing EE, namely Silicon Valley and South Africa. Methods: A qualitative research design is adopted, and unobtrusive research methods are used for the conceptual, contextual and comparative analysis of authoritative literature and secondary data. A best practice case of Silicon Valley is used to analyse factors influencing innovation-led EE development in South Africa. Results: Challenges currently influencing the growth and sustainability of entrepreneurship in South Africa are identified. These challenges include 4IR readiness, policy implementation and the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The findings suggest that governments should play an important role in shaping innovation-led EE policy implementation. Conclusion: The article concludes by proposing a conceptual framework to aid managerial and policy guidance for the development of innovation-led EEs. Contribution: The findings of this article will be useful to guide managerial and policy guidance on the role of government in shaping innovation-led EE policy implementation.
ABSTRACT
The introduction of the Industry 4.0 and Society 5.0 concepts has been undoubtedly challenging, and the readiness towards them could be fundamentally enhanced by strategic management and entrepreneurial governance. Bureaucracy in the majority of developing countries, including Indonesia, is an impediment due to the delays in bureaucratic reform and weak patterns of communication and coordination between their institutions. This study aims to analyze the readiness towards the era of Industry 4.0, and Society 5.0 in Indonesia from the perspectives of strategic management of the bureaucracy and entrepreneurial government. We undertake a case study on the organization of the Deputy for Human Resources of the Indonesian Ministry of Empowerment of the State Apparatus and Bureaucratic Reform and use a mixed method that simultaneously combines quantitative and qualitative methods. The resulted data from observations, in-depth interviews, and focus group discussions were then analyzed using path analysis, descriptive methods, and qualitative approaches. Our results finding shows that there is a strategic value in data-based policies, and the ownership of data from various perspectives is strategically used as a direction for policymakers. One of the impacts of the Industry 4.0 and Society 5.0 concepts is that the world has become increasingly connected. Hence, there are no boundaries between systems. Bureaucratic strategic management and entrepreneurial government have a significant effect on the readiness towards the Industry 4.0, and Society 5.0 concepts, in Indonesia, either partially or simultaneously.