Promoting green innovations for SMEs in emerging economies: exploring the role of value supporters in innovation ecosystems

Innovation ecosystems represent one of the effective solutions to drive green innovation in emerging economies. Despite joining the ecosystem, numerous small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) still face barriers in the implementation of green innovation. A specific type of complementors within the innovation ecosystem, namely value supporters, plays a pivotal role in facilitating the innovative activities of SMEs, yet the existing research has largely labelled it as a broad term of 'complementors' without differentiating the heterogeneous traits and characteristic behaviours that determine their engagement in value creation activities. Following an inductive approach, we conduct an explorative case study on Bering 3D, a leading 3D printing company in China. Our findings show that the value supporter assists SMEs in achieving green innovation by supplementing, translating, and expanding mechanisms. These mechanisms are efficacious in reducing SMEs' innovation resource constraints and boosting their initiative. We contribute to the innovation ecosystem and green innovation literature.