Jörg Freiling

Although prior research emphasizes the essential role of anchor organizations’ leadership in entrepreneurial ecosystem development in the early stages, their strategic functions are undertheorized. This study conducted a single case study with the entrepreneurial ecosystem of Santiago de Chile as a revelatory case by examining how anchor organizations catalyze the early evolution of the entrepreneurial ecosystem from the perspective of the orchestration theory. We developed a framework of ecosystem orchestration to demonstrate how anchor organizations adapt their strategic functions in managing and building various networks and resources to dynamic environments in entrepreneurial ecosystems.