By Office of Communications and Public Affairs
AIT continues to strengthen its global research leadership as Dr. Steven White, Associate Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship at AIT’s School of Management, publishes two influential studies in internationally respected journals, advancing new thinking on sustainable growth and entrepreneurial systems.
Conducted in collaboration with leading scholars from top international institutions, Dr. White’s research appears in the globally recognized journals, Journal of Product Innovation Management (JPIM) and Research Policy, both widely regarded as premier outlets in innovation, strategy, and policy research.
Dr. White underscored the practical relevance of the studies, noting: “In recent years we have been focusing on two areas that we feel are globally relevant. Our JPIM paper provides one answer to the challenge facing firms from stakeholders; namely, how firms may simultaneously increase financial performance and sustainability impact. Our RP paper addresses a key question for policymakers, entrepreneurs and investors: how to develop the entrepreneurial infrastructure to support new venture creation and growth. We hope that our research is both academically rigorous and also practically relevant.”
Prof. Yuosre Badir, Dean of AIT’s School of Management noted, “Our faculty’s publications in top-tier journals reflect the School of Management’s unwavering commitment to rigorous, relevant, and globally impactful research”.
Scaling Growth Through Innovation Ecosystems
In the first study, “Realizing Latent Use Contexts: Innovation Ecosystem Strategies to Drive Growth and Sustainability,” Dr. White and his co-authors examine how firms can simultaneously achieve economic performance and environmental sustainability by strategically designing and managing innovation ecosystems.
Using a longitudinal case study of CATL, a global leader in electric vehicle batteries, the research demonstrates how companies can expand beyond core product innovation into ecosystem-based growth models that generate system-level, value-chain, and process innovation. The study identifies four distinct growth modes and highlights how internal project management capabilities enable firms to scale innovation across multiple interconnected ecosystems.
The findings provide practical insights for business leaders navigating the global transition toward sustainable industrial development and low-carbon economic transformation.
Building Entrepreneurial Infrastructure Over Time
In his second publication, “Building Entrepreneurial Infrastructure: Discursive Strategies and the Development of China’s Venture Financing System,” Dr. White and his collaborators analyze the 40-year evolution of China’s venture financing system to better understand how entrepreneurial infrastructure develops and transforms over time.
Extending existing entrepreneurial ecosystem frameworks, the study explores how policymakers, financial actors, and industry stakeholders collectively shape institutional change. It proposes a discourse-driven process model in which strategies such as framing, theorizing, lobbying, convening, and demonstration gradually reshape regulative, normative, and cognitive institutions. These institutional shifts, in turn, legitimize new actors, transform financing mechanisms, and influence the trajectory of venture creation.
The research offers valuable insights for policymakers and emerging economies seeking to strengthen innovation capacity, deepen venture financing systems, and build resilient entrepreneurial ecosystems.
Strengthening AIT’s Global Research Leadership
Together, these two publications highlight AIT’s growing influence in sustainability, innovation strategy, and entrepreneurship research, reinforcing the Institute’s commitment to scholarship that bridges industry, policy, and societal impact across Asia and beyond.
As economies worldwide seek pathways toward sustainable growth and resilient innovation systems, AIT faculty continue to contribute evidence-based frameworks that inform both business practice and public policy. By publishing in top-tier journals and collaborating with leading international institutions, AIT strengthens its role as a hub for impact-driven research addressing global development challenges.
Dr. White’s work reflects AIT’s broader mission to advance research that drives innovation, strengthens institutions, and supports sustainable economic transformation, positioning the Institute as a leading center of excellence for strategic and entrepreneurial research in Asia.
