Agency in national innovation systems: Institutional entrepreneurship and the professionalization of Taiwanese IT

This paper examines institutional entrepreneurship as a form of internal agency within national innovation systems. In particular, we consider the entrepreneurship of Taiwanese IT firms over 1980–2007 in creating a new professionalized organizational form markedly different from the traditional Taiwanese model of family business. We compare two successful sectors – personal computers and semiconductors – and one failure – hard disk drives. We emphasize how entrepreneurial firms used strategies of framing, aggregating and networking (F.A.N.) to build legitimacy, mobilize local resources and reach out beyond the limitations of their immediate contexts. We discuss how F.A.N. strategies may evolve from ‘introversion’ to ‘extraversion’ and develop implications for policy-makers and further research.

Research highlights
► We show the emergence of the new professional form in Taiwanese IT, 1980–2007.
► We highlight how institutional entrepreneurs can change national innovation systems.
► We develop three strategies for change: framing, aggregating and networking.
► We propose policies for institutional entrepreneurship with system-wide benefits.