Entrepreneurship and innovation logics: Fundamental Dilemma of Market Pull and Technology Push. A Case Study of leading Moroccan Cluster

Abstract

Innovation constitutes a strategic dilemma for managers. It originally means new ideas implementation through a firm’s processes which take a form of innovation practices that managers must perform while facing some fundamental questions related to technological opportunities and market needs within a local or regional ecosystem.

Often, entrepreneurs in an innovative milieu seek the equilibrium between technology-push and market pull logics to foster innovation, and achieve successful competition (E. Von Hippel, 1988; P.Anderson and M. L. Tushman, 1990).

For a long time, the classical school of management had recognized that innovation strategies are a direct consequence of technology (technology push paradigm). Even so, some radical changes have occurred during the last past years and induced the increase of firm’s R&D expenditures, worldwide competition and short life cycle of inventions which in turn introduced a new kind of thought about innovation and entrepreneurial strategies (Schmidt, 2005; Sandmeier et al., 2004; Koen et al., 2001; Boeddrich, 2004).

As result, appears a new paradigm called a dynamic model of innovation strategy (A shift from Technology-based to Market-driven innovation), while scholars and managers try to overcome all challenges that face entrepreneurs operating in high innovative and competitive milieu.

In Morocco, the modern firm’s issues have taken the same importance as it happened elsewhere. That’s why public and private operators were thinking in a joint way the adequate framework to incubate new innovative SME’s and startups, especially in the industrial clusters.

As a leading one, the M. Cluster of cosmetic and agri-food situated in the south of Morocco is presented as an individual case study of this theoretical work. The M. Cluster will help us to test the above paradigms and to understand in depth the structure, dynamics, and context of clusters in Morocco, using the information gathered with the qualitative method. Also, the present work will give us the ability to move from the analysis of a single case towards the comparative analysis of more cases.