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This research explores the lived experiences of entrepreneurs from the creative industries, focusing on their interactions with support agencies. We examine the support that creative entrepreneurs use to assist them in achieving financially stable, sustainable, and personally fulfilling careers. The research involved an extensive literature review, followed by interviews with selected creative entrepreneurs and representatives from support agencies. The analytical framework was a qualitative approach using an interpretive philosophy, exploring the lived experience of the creative entrepreneur. The data were analysed using thematic analysis. The findings reveal the presence of dual identities: the creative and the entrepreneur. Funding and support are aimed at entrepreneurs who are focused on high turnover and employment creation. This is often in contrast to the motivations and ambitions of the creative entrepreneur. This research enhances the existing literature on entrepreneurship, the creative industries, and entrepreneurial support structures. It informs best practices in the design of support to creative entrepreneurs and is of use to entrepreneurs, support agencies, sponsors and academics.

In the increasingly knowledge-based economy, the role of the service sector, and in particular, of Knowledge Intensive Business Services (KIBS), is widely acknowledged. KIBS are considered 'bridges of innovation'. Furthermore, in addition to this pivotal role in supporting the competitiveness and development of other firms, KIBS sectors are, per se, increasingly relevant in terms of economic dimensions and employment. Creative KIBS span architecture, advertising, multimedia and internet applications, branding, design agencies, etc and leverage creative processes and creative individuals. The importance of these firms is directly related to the increasingly acknowledged role of creativity and innovation for competitiveness. In fact, while some KIBS have grown to significant sizes in the creative sector (e.g., IDEO and Continuum Innovation), normally, these firms fail to grow and consist of only the founding professionals and a limited number of close collaborators. As argued by Florida and Goodnight (2005), the company's most important asset is its creative capital and this is not just a collection of individuals' ideas, but a product of interaction. This paper relies on a sample of eight Italian creative KIBS to analyse the value creation and appropriation strategies adopted by companies that were able to transform their creative capabilities from an individual asset to a company one (creative capital). On the basis of a theoretical framework that is derived from the literature and based on three pillars (Unique Assets Development, Unique Assets, and Unique Assets Value Appropriation), we identify several peculiar assets and strategies that are adopted by creative KIBS. Furthermore, we highlight the importance of Unique Asset Embodiment strategies, i.e., the importance of strategies for formalizing and codifying the unique assets in specific technologies, archives, processes, and even products. We show that these strategies allow (i) to extract more value from the already adopted value appropriation strategies and (ii) to adopt specific strategies of value appropriation.

Previous research on open innovation (OI) has primarily focused on the organisational level of R&D intensive industries. With this paper, we contribute to research on the individual level of analysis by analysing specific perspectives in the context of creative industries. Our study is based on 36 interviews with Haute cuisine chefs in France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland listed in the 2012 Michelin Guide. Building on the OI capability concept, our results demonstrate that chefs use absorptive and desorptive capacity (AC, DC) as means to generate and market culinary innovations, respectively. Moreover, we found that chefs almost exclusively rely on their own inventive and innovative capabilities in the early stages of the culinary innovation process. In subsequent phases, however, chefs increasingly integrate other sources such as employees, suppliers, and guests. Our study contributes to the literature in two ways. First, we research the individual level within the OI process, and second, we provide insight into OI practices in the creative industries.

Within the dynamic environment of the recent creative industries, collaboration performs a central role. The literature has consistently explored the interaction between creative professionals with three types of actors: (1) the clients or public; (2) co-workers and; (3) business agents. The relative importance of each actor in the face of creative activities, however, remains theoretically fragmented and empirically under-researched. Therefore, this study aims to address the following question: what is the role of creativity in the relation between the type of partner to which the collaborative efforts are directed and the performance factors? To answer that question, a quantitative study comparing university students in more creative-intensive and less creative-intensive occupations was performed. An exploratory structural equations modelling (SEM) was developed for that purpose. Performance factors of both groups seem to follow similar priorities. Their collaborative efforts, however, show different patterns, supporting the conclusion that creativity is indeed related to different collaboration strategies. Although collaboration with co-workers seems to be developed similarly between more creative and less creative professionals, that with clients and business agents showed different results.

Under the background of economic globalization and rapid industrial transformation, the cultural industry has gradually become a new pillar industry in various countries. However, how to realize the rapid development of the cultural industry needs to be further investigated. This study uses the grey correlation analysis model to study the related development of scientific and technological innovation, the total demand of the cultural market, the existing cultural resources, the policy environment of the cultural industry, and the supply of special high-end talents. We find that these five indicators are highly correlated with the development of cultural industries. And then five suggestions are put forward, namely strengthening the national policy support and consolidating the cultural industry system foundation; excavating the existing cultural resources and laying a solid foundation for the cultural industry; enhancing the integration of production, education, and research, and cultivating high-end talents in the cultural industry; expanding the total market demand and opening up the development space of cultural industry. We will vigorously promote scientific and technological innovation and boost the development of cultural industries.