The External Enablers framework was developed to provide structure and terminology for the analysis of entrepreneurial opportunities. External Enablers (EEs) refer to changes in the environment such as regulatory changes, demographic shifts, or new technologies that enable an individual to create and develop ventures (Davidsson, 2015; Davidsson et al., 2020; Kimjeon & Davidsson, 2021). The framework aims to explain the cause-effect relationships between environmental changes and benefits that ventures experience, via EE mechanisms. EE mechanisms connect to responses in entrepreneurs through relational qualities called opacity and agency intensity. However, recent studies have found that entrepreneurs may ignore significant external changes in the environment, regardless of opacity and agency intensity considerations. Consequently, something else might explain agents’ engagement in venture creation. Another shortcoming of the framework is that it has yet to integrate the possibility that EEs might trigger consecutive EEs, in addition to agents acting on them through, for example, cascading effects. This thesis explores entrepreneurial action and its interplay with external enablers. We investigate why certain individuals act entrepreneurially upon multiple EEs. Previous research has stated that entrepreneurs may ignore opacity and agency intensity considerations. Hence, opacity and agency intensity may not be enough to explain why agents act on EEs. We conducted a qualitative multicase study, to identify patterns and relationships for theory building adhering to grounded theory traditions. Four cases from the Swedish wine industry were chosen, two “pioneers” (that is, early entrants in the wine industry in Sweden) and two “followers” (that is, later entrants). The industry serves as an appropriate empirical setting due to its novelty, where the environment changed rapidly, enabling a new industry to emerge from the 90s. Archival material and semi-structured interviews were combined, where a total of 21 interviews were conducted with vineyard founders, owners, and one expert. The findings show that the pioneers faced high opacity and agency intensity. Therefore, we introduce a third relational quality called Enthusiasm Fit. A high enthusiasm fit helps the pioneers “see through” a high opacity and overcome agency intensity, resulting in acting upon multiple and consecutive EEs. We also found that pioneers contribute to creating other EEs, resulting in cascading effects, where one EE generates reactions in another. Moreover, the followers don’t require a high enthusiasm fit but need the cascading effects produced by pioneers, to lower opacity and agency intensity considerations.

This thesis evaluates and develops a method for studying the occurrence of cascading effects between critical infrastructures. The thesis also analyzes how the results of previous research using the method may have been affected by certain aspects of the method. Applying different inclusion thresholds and exploring how material could be gathered differently, the thesis provides some tentative answers to the value of using newspaper articles when studying cascading effects. In addition, the thesis offers recommendations for future research and policy on the protection of critical infrastructures.

This thesis evaluates and develops a method for studying the occurrence of cascading effects between critical infrastructures. The thesis also analyzes how the results of previous research using the method may have been affected by certain aspects of the method. Applying different inclusion thresholds and exploring how material could be gathered differently, the thesis provides some tentative answers to the value of using newspaper articles when studying cascading effects. In addition, the thesis offers recommendations for future research and policy on the protection of critical infrastructures.

Les crises se développent en temps et en espace via les liens de dépendances entre les réseaux techniques vitaux au fonctionnement de la société : on parle alors d’effets cascade. Après avoir étudié les risques d’effets cascade liés aux actions des sapeurs-pompiers, ce travail compare deux modélisations techniques de ces effets cascades : les bases de données orientée graphe - contenant des zones d’influence statiques de chaque infrastructure réseau, et le couplage faible de deux simulateurs pour obtenir des zones d’influence évolutive – approche dont ce rapport propose une méthodologie d’application. Cette thèse s’intéresse également à l’amélioration de l’évaluation des conséquences d’un scénario de crise, en proposant une modélisation de l’évolution quotidienne des densités humaines sur un territoire. Un effet cascade entre réseaux techniques est facilité par la vulnérabilité de chaque infrastructure et ralenti par la résilience de chaque système. Cette thèse soumet donc une méthode d’évaluation de la vulnérabilité et la résilience des réseaux techniques, transposable aux différents réseaux et scénarios. Elle l’applique à des scénarios détaillés proposés par les opérateurs de trois réseaux d’eau potable, et discute de son extension à d’autres réseaux techniques. Ces résultats visent à proposer à la sécurité civile une vision globale des vulnérabilités et des stratégies de résilience mises en place par les opérateurs, et permet aux opérateurs de construire des outils de suivi de leurs capacités de résilience en cas de scénarios de crise. / Crisis spread spatially and temporally inside the society through dependency links between physical critical networks: these phenomena are called cascading effects. After exploring cascading effects linked to the intervention of the fire brigade, this PhD thesis compares two modelling techniques: graph oriented database incorporating static impacts zones, and coupling of simulators in order to define evolutionary impacts zones – a method for applying this latest approach is proposed. It suggests also improving the automatic assessment of consequences per crisis scenario, in modelling the variation of population density on a territory. The vulnerability of each infrastructure contributes to cascading effects but the system resilience helps to stop them. This work proposes a global method for assessing vulnerability and resilience of physical critical networks (PCN). It has been applied first on detailed scenarios proposed by three different water utility companies. This work discusses then the extension of this approach to others PCNs. These results aim at helping the civil safety institutions to have a global view of PCNs vulnerability and resilience strategies proposed by utility companies. They aim also to help utility companies to have indicators for assessing and following their weak and strength facing threats, and to better identify axes of improvement.