Abbass Farahmand Mehr; Farideh Sharifi Far; Reza Nikbakhsh
Abstract
The study is to identify and locating the ecosystem microsystems of entrepreneurship in the country's sports industry. The research method was qualitative and carried out in five stages. In the first stage, documentary research method was used to identify the current status of entrepreneurship in sport ...
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The study is to identify and locating the ecosystem microsystems of entrepreneurship in the country's sports industry. The research method was qualitative and carried out in five stages. In the first stage, documentary research method was used to identify the current status of entrepreneurship in sport as well as to identify the influential factors in the sports entrepreneurship ecosystem. In the second phase, the other ecosystems of entrepreneurship (startup ecosystems, agriculture and tourism) were adapted. In the third phase, a Semi-structured interview was conducted with 20 experts, and analyzed by the Grounded Theory of data from the interviews. In the fourth stage, based on the information of the three preceding stages, effective micro-systems were identified in the entrepreneurship ecosystem in sport and the proposed framework of the entrepreneurship ecosystem in sport was developed along with the micro-systems. In the final stage, with using the two-step Delphi method, the designed model of entrepreneurship ecosystem was validated in the sport and the position and role of each of the micro-systems was confirmed with respect to the subsystems and main elements. The ecosystem of entrepreneurship in the country has faced many challenges and it is only in the case of all-round attention to all factors involved in the ecosystem within a comprehensive framework that we can provide suitable conditions for the development of entrepreneurial activities in the sports industry. Therefore, the framework outlined in this study can be used as a roadmap for creating an optimal ecosystem of sports entrepreneurship.