Abstract
Understanding the development of the industry creates major challenges for cleantech firms looking to renew their strategies to meet the continuously changing business conditions. Recent studies have argued that energy sector transition is both a technological and a social phenomenon that needs to be looked at from more holistic and comparative perspectives. The cognitive construction view of industry shows promise in opening up the role of managerial cognition and social construction in this regard. The cognitive construction view of industry suggests that the collective changes in firms' beliefs about market boundaries drive development of the industry. Drawing on this view, we investigate cleantech firms' shared beliefs about the key technologies to recognize development patterns in the collective strategy frames and propose an approach to capture the emergence and development of the industry. For this purpose, the study analyzes longitudinal data collected from the annual reports of the incumbent firms operating within the cleantech industry. The results of the study found two sequentially developing phases in industry-level belief structures regarding renewable energy, sustainability, and digitalization as the key technology areas among the firms. In addition, it was possible to trace the differences between the firms’ beliefs about technology development to their different social networks. Thus, the findings suggest that the cognitive construction view of industry provides an opportunity to shed light on the complex dynamics of energy transition and envision industry development within the fast-changing industry conditions.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1170-1181 |
| Number of pages | 12 |
| Journal | Journal of Cleaner Production |
| Volume | 233 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 31 May 2019 |
| MoE publication type | A1 Journal article-refereed |
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Keywords
- Cleantech industry
- Cognition
- Digitalization
- Energy transition
- Renewable energy
- Sustainability
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Emergence and development of the cleantech industry : A cognitive construction approach. / Bergman, Jukka Pekka; Hajikhani, Arash; Blomqvist, Kirsimarja.
In: Journal of Cleaner Production, Vol. 233, 31.05.2019, p. 1170-1181.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Scientific › peer-review
TY - JOUR
T1 - Emergence and development of the cleantech industry
T2 - A cognitive construction approach
AU - Bergman, Jukka Pekka
AU - Hajikhani, Arash
AU - Blomqvist, Kirsimarja
PY - 2019/5/31
Y1 - 2019/5/31
N2 - Understanding the development of the industry creates major challenges for cleantech firms looking to renew their strategies to meet the continuously changing business conditions. Recent studies have argued that energy sector transition is both a technological and a social phenomenon that needs to be looked at from more holistic and comparative perspectives. The cognitive construction view of industry shows promise in opening up the role of managerial cognition and social construction in this regard. The cognitive construction view of industry suggests that the collective changes in firms' beliefs about market boundaries drive development of the industry. Drawing on this view, we investigate cleantech firms' shared beliefs about the key technologies to recognize development patterns in the collective strategy frames and propose an approach to capture the emergence and development of the industry. For this purpose, the study analyzes longitudinal data collected from the annual reports of the incumbent firms operating within the cleantech industry. The results of the study found two sequentially developing phases in industry-level belief structures regarding renewable energy, sustainability, and digitalization as the key technology areas among the firms. In addition, it was possible to trace the differences between the firms’ beliefs about technology development to their different social networks. Thus, the findings suggest that the cognitive construction view of industry provides an opportunity to shed light on the complex dynamics of energy transition and envision industry development within the fast-changing industry conditions.
AB - Understanding the development of the industry creates major challenges for cleantech firms looking to renew their strategies to meet the continuously changing business conditions. Recent studies have argued that energy sector transition is both a technological and a social phenomenon that needs to be looked at from more holistic and comparative perspectives. The cognitive construction view of industry shows promise in opening up the role of managerial cognition and social construction in this regard. The cognitive construction view of industry suggests that the collective changes in firms' beliefs about market boundaries drive development of the industry. Drawing on this view, we investigate cleantech firms' shared beliefs about the key technologies to recognize development patterns in the collective strategy frames and propose an approach to capture the emergence and development of the industry. For this purpose, the study analyzes longitudinal data collected from the annual reports of the incumbent firms operating within the cleantech industry. The results of the study found two sequentially developing phases in industry-level belief structures regarding renewable energy, sustainability, and digitalization as the key technology areas among the firms. In addition, it was possible to trace the differences between the firms’ beliefs about technology development to their different social networks. Thus, the findings suggest that the cognitive construction view of industry provides an opportunity to shed light on the complex dynamics of energy transition and envision industry development within the fast-changing industry conditions.
KW - Cleantech industry
KW - Cognition
KW - Digitalization
KW - Energy transition
KW - Renewable energy
KW - Sustainability
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85067548772&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.05.369
DO - 10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.05.369
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85067548772
VL - 233
SP - 1170
EP - 1181
JO - Journal of Cleaner Production
JF - Journal of Cleaner Production
SN - 0959-6526
ER -