The Network Orchestration Role of Accelerators for Value Creation

Corporate accelerators are becoming increasingly important in introducing innovative methods for companies to generate value. Despite their growing importance, the specifics of their activities in value creation, especially in orchestrating and managing network collaborations for companies and startups, are still poorly understood. This study attempts to fill this knowledge gap by describing a set of orchestration activities that shape the synergy between companies and startups in an accelerator program and correlating these activities with value creation. Empirical evidence was collected through a qualitative case study of a corporate accelerator program. The results show that orchestration activities inherent in the accelerator's network are critical to driving value creation. We identified five such orchestration activities: 1) knowledge mobility and innovation sustainability, which leads to novelty; 2) innovation appropriability and 3) network stability for lock-in, keeping members in the network and increasing relationship quality; 4) innovation coherence as a source of complementarity; and 5) leveraging resources for efficiency. Additionally, our research shows that value for startups begins with expanding their network reach, which encourages the development of new skills, the introduction of novel concepts, and the expansion of existing knowledge. The findings from this study contribute to the theoretical discourse on the importance of network orchestration in the context of corporate accelerators. By integrating orchestration activities into the broader network narrative, we gain insights into the central connecting role of accelerators and their practical relevance.