The battle of the souls: cultural and business orientations of creative firms and their effects on business models, growth and internationalisation

More than other entrepreneurs, creative entrepreneurs face the classical dilemma between the head and the heart. They are compelled to develop their entrepreneurship in order to survive, but at the same time they are afraid that this will be at the cost of their creativity and authenticity. This research project therefore investigates the trade-offs between cultural and business orientations of creative enterprises, and their effects on performance. Performance includes cultural performance (reputation), business performance (profits and growth) and international performance. The research includes an analysis of collaboration projects between creative enterprises and firms from other sectors, and will study the role of innovative capabilities, business models (?next revenue models?) and cultural and business networks of creative enterprises. By doing so, this project adds to our insight in three important performance dimensions of the creative industry: growth (?next value?, ?next growth models?), creative impact on other industries (?next ecosystems?) and international development (?next global markets?). The project consists of three subprojects. The first one focuses on business models of creative enterprises themselves, the second on networks of collaboration, and the third which on innovative capabilities. The project includes case studies and large scale empirical research in which we will compare our results with data collected from other sectors. We collaborate with firms and organizations from both the creative industry and other industrial sectors. The external partners contribute to the research itself and play a crucial role in the dissemination of our common insights to creative enterprises and firms in other sectors.