Examining Facilitative Configurations of Entrepreneurially Oriented Growth: An Information Processing Perspective

This study examines how the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and firm growth is shaped by learning orientation in technologically sophisticated environments. We draw upon an information processing perspective that emphasizes alignment between information processing demands and support mechanisms. Using data from 116 small to medium‐sized enterprises in the Netherlands, we observe that the ability of entrepreneurial orientation to drive firm growth greatly depends on the joint consideration of technological sophistication and learning orientation. Our findings contribute to a better understanding of how configurations of strategic orientations and environmental considerations work in concert to influence the efficacy of organizational entrepreneurial efforts dramatically.     

From Entrepreneurial Orientation and Learning Orientation to Business Performance: Analysing the Mediating Role of Organizational Learning and the Moderating Effects of Organizational Size

Following the organizational learning theory and the knowledge‐based view approach, this contribution aims to study the influence of entrepreneurial orientation and learning orientation on organizational learning, considering the latter as a mediating variable in the relationships between both antecedent cultural values and business performance. We also analyse the moderating role of organizational size on these previous relationships. The hypotheses proposed in our research model are tested on a sample of 140 Spanish industrial companies, applying variance‐based structural equation modelling: partial least squares. In order to assess the moderating effects of organizational size, we adopt a multi‐group approach using two subsamples with large firms and small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs). Our findings indicate that organizational learning partially mediates the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and performance and fully mediates the link between learning orientation and performance. Likewise, the results reveal that the relationship established between entrepreneurial orientation and organizational learning is more intense for the group of large firms than for the group of SMEs. Moreover, the influence of learning orientation on organizational learning is greater in SMEs than in large firms.     

The extended dynamic capabilities model: A meta-analysis

This paper investigates, from meta-analytic approach, some topics that were unexplored in others dynamic capabilities meta-analysis. Hence, our research advances to identify and test the main antecedents of dynamic capabilities, the possible moderation effects of economic and cultural contexts in the relationship between dynamic capabilities and firm performance and the mediation effects between the antecedents of dynamic capabilities and firm performance. (1) The elements that stimulate dynamic capabilities development are resources, knowledge and learning, alliances and environmental dynamism. However, entrepreneurial orientation has no direct relationship with dynamic capabilities. (2) Dynamic capabilities play a mediating role between resources, knowledge and learning, alliances and firm performance. Curiously, entrepreneurial orientation is not mediated by dynamic capabilities in relation to performance. (3) Economic and cultural moderation affect the relation between dynamic capabilities and performance. Surprisingly, we detected that an Eastern orientation, presenting a high level of power distance and a low level of individualism, promotes stronger effects in the relationship between dynamic capabilities and firm performance than a Western orientation. Thus, our main contribution is to broaden the previous research on dynamic capabilities and to propose a future research agenda. In addition, this study adds new empirical evidence to the study of dynamic capabilities, which reduces the heterogeneity of previous results.     

Entrepreneurial Cognition,Entrepreneurial Orientation and Firm Capability in the Creative Industries

Creative industries are firms which are characterized largely by the labour inputs of creative individuals, and surrounded by a degree of rhetoric as to their significance, but are a comparatively under‐researched sector. In this study we developed a research framework which integrated entrepreneurial cognition, entrepreneurial orientation and firm capabilities and explored the relationships between these variables, market conditions and the performance of small creative industry enterprises. The data suggest that high growth small firms are characterized by well‐developed internal capabilities allied to an entrepreneurial orientation and that the combination of the various sub‐attributes associated with each of these appear to be especially salient under conditions of intense competition. The policies, managerial and educational implications of the findings are discussed.     

Exploitative Learning and Entrepreneurial Orientation Alignment in Emerging Young Firms: Implications for Market and Response Performance*

We examine exploitative learning and entrepreneurial orientation (EO) in emerging young high technology firms located within business incubators. In the last five years, the UK government has invested approximately £125m in incubation activities. The rationale for supporting business incubation is to maximize knowledge sharing across firms with an expectation that it will leverage performance. This represents exploitative learning – the acquisition of established knowledge that carries clear known value and outcomes. Paradoxically, research into EO has repeatedly emphasized the value of knowledge created through exploratory learning mechanisms (‘play, discovery and experimentation’) in securing advantage. Theoretical and empirical questions are raised herein with regard to the value of exploitative learning within a network context which might negatively influence the impact of EO on the firm. Using configuration theory, we demonstrate that firms cannot sustain dual‐dominant orientations of exploitative learning and EO. A strongly configured EO generates high performance returns. However, multi‐group analysis reveals that these effects are particularly strong for those firms whose exploitative learning is weak. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.     

Knowledge Management Using Information Technology: Determinants of Short‐Term Impact on Firm Value*

The importance of knowledge management (KM) processes for organizational performance is now well recognized. Seeking to better understand the short‐term impact of KM on firm value, this article focuses on public announcements of information technology (IT)‐based KM efforts, and uses cumulative abnormal return (CAR) associated with an announcement as the dependent variable. This article employs a contingency approach, arguing that the KM announcement would have a positive short‐term impact on firm value in some conditions but not in others. Thus, it pursues the following research question: What are the effects of contextual factors on the CAR associated with the announcement of an IT‐based KM effort? Specific hypotheses are proposed based on information‐processing theory, organizational learning theory, the knowledge‐based theory of the firm, and the theory of knowledge creation. These hypotheses link CARs to alignment between industry innovativeness and the KM process, alignment between firm efficiency and the KM process, firm‐specific instability, and firm diversification. The empirical study utilizes secondary data on 89 KM announcements from 1995 to 2002. The results largely support the hypotheses. Overall, this article provides empirical support for the theory‐based arguments, and helps develop a contingency framework of the effectiveness of KM efforts.     

高新技术企业联盟导向、创业导向与企业绩效关系的实证研究

基于我国195家高新技术企业的问卷调查数据,实证分析了联盟导向和创业导向对企业绩效的影响,以及创业导向和环境动态性在联盟导向与企业绩效关系间的调节作用。研究结果表明:联盟导向和创业导向对企业绩效具有显著的正向影响;创业导向和市场动态性在联盟导向与企业绩效关系中起到正向调节作用;技术动态性在联盟导向与企业绩效的关系中起到负向调节作用。     

组织创业气氛、创业导向与创业企业绩效研究

基于创业认知理论,拓展了创业导向与创业绩效的经典模型.通过数据调查,实证检验了组织创业气氛、创业导向以及创业企业绩效三者之间的关系,由此得出结论:①组织创业气氛与创业绩效具有正向关系,创业导向与创业绩效具有正向关系;②创业导向在组织创业气氛与衍生企业绩效之间起中介作用.     

基于不同战略导向的创新选择与控制方式研究

本文从战略导向的角度出发,研究了企业的创新选择和管理控制方式选择问题.从战略思维和组织学习两个方面对企业家导向和市场导向在创新程度和管理控制方式上的不同进行了分析,提出概念模型和理论假设.利用从10个省市不同行业得到的585家企业有效样本数据的分析,验证了本文的理论模型.分析结果表明,企业家导向更加注重突破式创新并通过战略控制对其进行管理,而市场导向更加注重渐进创新并通过财务控制对其进行管理.分析结果还表明虽然企业家导向与渐进创新没有直接关系,但却可以通过财务控制方式鼓励企业中渐进创新的出现.     

创业导向与创新绩效：高管团队特征和市场动态性的影响

创业导向对创新绩效的提升具有重要的影响,但创业导向与创新绩效的关系还可能受高管团队特征和市场动态性的影响。根据基于注意力的观点,对创业导向、创新绩效、高管团队的异质性、高管团队的共同愿景和市场动态性的关系进行研究,探讨高管团队的异质性和共同愿景对创业导向与创新绩效关系的调节作用,并进一步研究这种调节作用是否受市场动态性的影响。利用在广东、江苏、山东、陕西和河南5地收集的264份调查问卷,采用多元线性回归和调节效应的检验方法对研究假设进行实证检验。研究结果表明,创业导向对创新绩效有正向促进作用,高管团队的异质性有助于加强创业导向与创新绩效的关系。在稳定的市场环境下,高管团队的异质性对创业导向与创新绩效关系的调节效应更强;在不考虑环境动态性和环境动态性较低的情况下,高管团队的共同愿景对创业导向与创新绩效关系的调节效应不显著,但在动态性较高的市场环境下,可以显著地正向调节创业导向与创新绩效的关系。     

手段导向、知识获取与新企业创业能力的实证研究

创业能力对于新企业创造和维持竞争优势具有重要意义,相关研究受到创业领域学者们的广泛关注。然而创业能力的实证研究主要集中于创业者个体层面创业能力的前因和结果分析,组织层面的创业能力的实证研究尚处于探索阶段,仍有待运用有效的理论揭示新企业如何构建组织层面创业能力的内在机理和路径。作为新兴的创业理论,手段导向理论有助于面临高不确定性的新企业在创业过程中持续进行迭代式学习,而组织学习理论认为,知识获取作为组织学习的核心环节有助于组织创业能力的构建。因此,手段导向可能通过知识获取提升新企业创业能力。然而,少有学者关注此方面研究。 运用手段导向理论和组织学习理论,深入剖析手段导向各维度对创业能力的积极影响,检验知识获取在手段导向与创业能力关系间的中介作用。采取大样本问卷调查,收集215家中国新企业数据,并运用多元线性回归分析和因子分析等方法进行实证检验。 研究结果表明,手段导向的4个维度均对创业能力具有积极影响,试验、可承受损失和先前承诺3个维度通过知识获取提升新企业创业能力,但是知识获取在柔性与新企业创业能力关系间的中介作用不显著。 研究结论对于丰富和拓展组织层面创业能力相关研究和推动手段导向理论的发展具有重要意义,为新企业如何在高不确定性和强资源约束下构建组织创业能力提供必要的理论指导。     

领导权变更、创业导向及自主创新间关系的实证研究

基于制度理论,考察了领导权变更对企业创业导向的影响,以及创业导向与环境不确定对企业自主创新的影响。通过对195家企业的问卷调查,验证了提出的假设。结果发现:领导权变更与企业的创业导向存在倒"U"型关系;需求不确定削弱创业导向对自主创新的促进作用,而技术不确定加强创业导向对自主创新的促进作用。     

Top Management Teams,Business Models,and Performance of Biotechnology Ventures: An Upper Echelon Perspective*

In this paper we introduce a new contingency variable that moderates the effect of top management team composition on organizational performance – the organization's business model. Arguing from an upper echelon perspective and drawing on data from 99 German biotechnology ventures, we show that founder‐based firm‐specific experience of management team members can have either a positive or a negative effect on performance, depending on whether the venture pursues a platform or a therapeutics business model, respectively. Our results also show that managers' experience collected in the pharmaceutical industry has a positive effect on performance, and that this effect is more positive for therapeutics than for platform ventures. We discuss the implications of these findings for the literature on upper echelons and entrepreneurial founding teams.     

创业导向与探索式创新的关系：一个双中介效应模型

  创业导向对探索式创新的影响决定创业企业在不确定商业生态环境中的市场机会捕捉能力和价值创造效果。虽然已有研究部分证实了创业导向与探索式创新的相互作用,但面对创业企业生存环境不确定性更高、资源约束更明显的事实,创业企业如何借助合理的战略决策和高效的资源使用行为帮助自身实现由生存到发展的过渡显得尤为重要,鲜有研究对此类问题予以深入探讨。         基于战略创业理论、创新管理理论和资源基础观理论,以创业导向为解释变量,以探索式创新为被解释变量,引入战略灵活性和创业拼凑两个可能影响导向与产出关系的关键要素,探讨创业导向对探索式创新的直接影响,以及战略灵活性和创业拼凑可能起到的特殊中介作用。借鉴并改进已有研究的成熟量表形成问卷,选取深圳的创业企业为调研对象,以电子邮件的形式发放问卷,基于最终获得的283份有效问卷,采用结构方程和双中介模型的研究方法,全面检验创业导向、战略灵活性、创业拼凑与探索式创新之间的关系。         研究结果表明,创业导向、战略灵活性和创业拼凑均对探索式创新产生促进作用;创业导向与战略灵活性呈显著的正相关关系,也对创业拼凑产生积极影响;战略灵活性与创业拼凑呈显著的正相关关系。创业拼凑在创业导向与探索式创新之间和战略灵活性与探索式创新之间起部分中介作用。由战略灵活性和创业拼凑形成的中介链部分中介了创业导向与探索式创新之间的关系。         研究结论从导向-策略-行为-产出的研究框架拓展了战略创业理论的研究内容,揭示了创业导向、战略灵活性、创业拼凑与探索式创新之间的关系机理,为创业企业理解战略灵活性和创业拼凑的影响、充分实践和发挥创业导向的创新精神、促进探索式创新活动的持续开展提供了重要的理论依据和经验证据。     

Cooperating to Commercialize Technology: A Dynamic Model of Fairness Perceptions,Experience, and Cooperation

Technology entrepreneurship is an important driver of economic growth, although entrepreneurs must maintain cooperative ties with the owners of any technology they hope to bring to market. Existing studies show that fairness perceptions have a great influence on this cooperation, but no research investigates its precise mechanisms or dynamic patterns. This study explores the development of 17 ventures that cooperated with a university‐owner of technology and thereby identifies different cooperation patterns in which fairness perceptions influence the degree of cooperation. These perceptions also change over time, partly as a function of accumulated experience and learning. A system dynamics model integrates insights from existing literature with the empirical findings to reveal which cooperation mechanisms relate to venture development over time; the combinations of individual experience, fairness perceptions, and market circumstances lead to four different patterns. This model can explain changes in entrepreneurial cooperation as a result of changes in fairness perceptions, which depend on learning effects and entrepreneurial experience. Each identified cooperation pattern has implications for research and offers insights for practitioners who need to manage relationships in practice.     

Toward a Typology of Buyer–Supplier Relationships: A Study of the Computer Industry*

Buyer–supplier relationship typologies are useful analytical tools for purchasing managers in managing exchange relationships with suppliers and monitoring their purchasing portfolios. Existing buyer–supplier relationship typologies are mainly focused on either relational contents or power‐dependence and have limited empirical support for their performance implications. In this study, we developed an alternative buyer–supplier relationship typology that integrates both relational content and power‐dependence dimensions, resulting in four generic relationship types: market, power, autonomous‐link, and constrained‐link relationships. We then performed a longitudinal exploratory investigation of eight leading firms in the U.S. computer industry to explore the performance implications of the typology, using a combinatorial qualitative approach that leverages the strengths of case study research, content analysis, and quasi‐experimental design. The results suggest three theoretical propositions. First, the association between the type of buyer–supplier relationships and buyer firm performance varies such that constrained‐link relationships are superior in terms of operational efficiency while autonomous‐link relationships are superior in terms of product innovation. Second, the positive association between buyer–supplier relational contents (i.e., relationalism) and buyer firm operational efficiency is strengthened as the suppliers' dependence on the buyer firm increases. And finally, the positive association between buyer–supplier relationalism and buyer firm product innovation is weakened as the suppliers' dependence on the buyer firm increases.     

Breaking the routines: Entrepreneurial orientation,strategic learning,firm size,and age

Drawing upon prior research suggesting inertia prevents organizations from learning, we suggest that the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and strategic learning (SL) is not as straightforward and linear as has been suggested. The size and age of an organization, considered indicators of inertia, are important factors affecting how EO contributes to the components of SL. Data from 182 software companies confirm the non-linear relationships between EO and the dissemination, interpretation, and implementation components of SL. The results also indicate that the U-shaped association between EO and specific components of SL is more pronounced for larger and established companies than for younger and smaller ones. These findings depart from previous work based on strategic learning from mistakes, and offer a specific understanding of the relationship between EO and the four distinct components of SL. These results suggest that companies should opt to facilitate the individual components of SL as they are affected differently depending on the level of EO, and the age and size of the organization.     

新企业网络导向如何影响其创业导向

作为战略管理与创业管理的交叉领域,创业导向研究日益成为学界关注的热点,而受到"新生弱性"困扰的新创企业往往缺乏必要的资源基础和实力,尤其在中国经济转型背景下,如何通过外部关系网络来增强创业导向成为新企业面临的关键难题。结合社会网络理论与组织学习理论,对网络导向影响创业导向的内在过程进行剖析,发现网络嵌入机制和创业学习机制是影响新企业网络导向与创业导向关系的两种主要机制。运用多层次回归分析的方法实证研究新企业网络导向影响其创业导向的影响机理,结果显示:(1)网络导向与创业导向之间呈倒U型关系;(2)新企业的网络嵌入与创业学习在"网络导向—创业导向"主效应中能起到正向调节作用,不过其中的利用性创业学习调节作用不显著;(3)网络嵌入与创业学习之间存在一定的匹配互补性,其中关系嵌入与利用性学习、结构嵌入与探索性学习具有显著的协同调节效应。本文研究深化了网络与学习双重视角下的创业导向前因理论研究,研究结论有助于新企业把握网络导向影响创业导向的内在规律,从而指导新企业对网络嵌入与创业学习行为进行科学规划。     

The Role of Operational Capabilities in Enhancing New Venture Survival: A Longitudinal Study

We investigate relationships between operational capabilities and new venture survival. On the basis of operations management and entrepreneurship literature, we develop a contingency framework of operational capabilities especially appropriate at different life phases of a new venture's evolution. We expect that in the first years of a new venture's life, entrepreneurs should emphasize high inventory turnover to preserve working capital, support customer responsiveness, and aid firm adaptability. As new ventures grow, entrepreneurs should emphasize internal working capital generation via larger gross margins to support production ramp‐up. Later, new venture entrepreneurs should emphasize employee productivity to buttress sustainable volume production. We analyze a 6‐year longitudinal sample of 812 Swedish manufacturing new ventures using a gamma frailty‐based Cox regression. The findings show that specific operational capabilities, while always supporting new venture survival, have exceptional influence in specific new venture life phases. The three hypotheses are confirmed, suggesting that higher inventory turnover, gross margin, and employee productivity further increase new venture survival likelihoods, respectively, in the venture's start‐up, growth, and stability phases. This suggests a phased‐capabilities approach to new venture survival. This study contributes to operations management and entrepreneurship theory and practice, and sets a foundation for future research on operations strategy for new ventures.     

Internationalization and performance: The moderating effects of organizational learning

By proposing a conceptual outline for a general model that explains the internationalization–performance link, we test the moderating effects of organizational learning on the relationship between internationalization and performance empirically. Integrating two distinct literature streams from the organizational learning perspective and the resource-based view, we present an integrated, multidimensional framework for analyzing multinational enterprises’ (MNEs’) resources, internationalization, and organizational learning, as well as their associated impact on firm performance. Specifically, using a sample of 110 American MNEs, we find that while certain MNE resources motivate and precede internationalization, social and market learning (whereas technological learning does not) moderates the relationship between internationalization and performance. These findings extend prior research by establishing the importance of the relationships among MNE resources, internationalization, organizational learning, and firm performance.