Encouraging organizational performance through the influence of technological distinctive competencies on components of corporate entrepreneurship

Firms’ technological distinctive competencies (TDCs) help CEOs to confront their reality based on technological knowledge to achieve and exploit competitive advantage by encouraging the different dimensions of corporate entrepreneurship (innovation, new business venturing, proactiveness and self-renewal). The main purpose of this paper is thus to highlight how companies that strive to improve technological competencies within the firm achieve higher organizational performance through different components of corporate entrepreneurship and their interrelationships. This study seeks to fill this research gap by analyzing theoretically and empirically how TDCs enhance innovation, new business venturing and proactiveness and their interrelationships to achieve self-renewal and thus improve firms’ organizational performance. The methodology used is LISREL analysis. We test the model with data from 201 Spanish organizations. Our research contributes theoretical and empirical arguments on the value of TDCs to the organization, arguments that are especially important because organizations sometimes fail to achieve sustainable competitive advantage due to their limited understanding of the relationships between these strategic variables.     

A comparative analysis of corporate entrepreneurial orientation between selected firms in the Netherlands and the USA

Firms in turbulent or fast-changing environments must continually innovate to remain competitive. This study examined how a firm's strategic management practices influence its entrepreneurial behaviour as compared to an international competitor. Four firms in the Netherlands were each matched with a key competitor in the USA. Several survey measures related to the strategic management process were used along with an instrument related to corporate entrepreneurship practices. Both managers and employees participated in the study. Results revealed significant differences between the Netherlands firms and the US competitors in entrepreneurial orientation. Results also supported these comparative differences along three key dimensions of strategic management as they relate to corporate entrepreneurship. The final set of data revealed a relationship between corporate entrepreneurship and three measures of firm performance. The implications focus upon the key role that culture may play in facilitating corporate entrepreneurship and adaptable organizational practices. Suggestions for further research are also made.     

The interplay of corporate entrepreneurship,environmental orientation,and performance in clean‐tech firms—A double‐edged sword

Clean‐tech innovations are an important driver in solving global issues such as climate change and for the sustainable development of economies around the world. Whereas a large part of the literature focuses on clean‐tech ventures, less is known on corporate entrepreneurship, that is, entrepreneurial behavior in established firms and its relation to sustainability. This paper extends the sustainable entrepreneurship debate to corporate entrepreneurship, which represents a fruitful avenue to further developing clean technologies. We focus particularly on clean‐tech firms' organizational preparedness for corporate entrepreneurship (OPCE), that is, how well a firm's structures and processes are set for entrepreneurial activities. On the basis of contingency theory, this study investigates how the level of OPCE influences the environmental and financial performance of clean‐tech firms and whether their environmental orientation affects these relationships. Building on data from 103 firms, we find support for a positive effect of OPCE on both environmental and financial performance. Both effects are stronger the higher the external environmental orientation. In contrast, the leverage of internal environmental orientation is not equally positive. Our study reveals that the effect of OPCE on financial performance diminishes for firms that are more strongly driven by an internal than an external environmental orientation.     

Entrepreneurial by Design: How Organizational Design Affects Family and Non‐family Firms’ Opportunity Exploitation

Opportunity exploitation is a key aspect of the corporate entrepreneurship process and is particularly important to maintain a family firm through multiple generations. Drawing on an organizational design perspective, we investigate opportunity exploitation in family versus non‐family firms. The empirical analyses on survey data from a sample of 224 Italian firms reveal that family firms exploit significantly fewer opportunities than non‐family firms, and this result is fully mediated by the organization of their TMT. Our findings show that how family firms organize is crucial for opportunity exploitation, thus extending and enriching prior corporate entrepreneurship research, highlighting the importance of bringing an organizational design perspective to corporate entrepreneurship and family business studies.     

The impact of human resource management practices and corporate entrepreneurship on firm performance: evidence from Turkish firms

This paper outlines the important role of human resource management practices with a link between corporate entrepreneurship and firm performance. Data were collected from a survey of 124 firms operating in different industries in Turkey. The findings of this study indicated that human resource management (HRM) practices partially mediated the relationship between corporate entrepreneurship and firm performance. In other words, corporate entrepreneurship affects firm performance, both directly and through its effects on HRM practices. In addition to corporate entrepreneurship, it is found that HRM practices explain a significant level of additional variance (9 per cent) in firm performance. The theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.     

The rise of the entrepreneurial economy and the future of dynamic capitalism

A major shift in the organization of developed economies has been taking place: away from what has been characterized as the managed economy towards the entrepreneurial economy, or what Kirchhoff (1994) has called dynamic capitalism. However, the factors underlying this observed shift have not been identified in a systematic manner. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the main factors leading to this shift and implications for public policy. In particular, we find that technological change is a fundamental catalyst underlying the shift from the managed to the entrepreneurial economy. However, it was not just technological change but rather involved a multitude of factors, ranging from the demise of the communist system, increased globalization, corporate reorganization, increased knowledge production and higher levels of prosperity. Recognition of the causes of the shift from the managed to the entrepreneurial economy implies a shift in public policy directions. Rather than to focus directly and exclusively on promoting new firms and small firms, it may be that the current approach to entrepreneurship policy is misguided. The priority should not be on entrepreneurship policy but rather a more pervasive and encompassing approach, policy consistent with an entrepreneurial economy, in order to foster dynamic capitalism.     

How effective human resource management promotes corporate entrepreneurship: evidence from China

Strategic human resource management (SHRM) represents a set of HRM practices that are aligned with firm strategies. The relationship between SHRM and organizational performance has been extensively examined; however, whether and how SHRM influences corporate entrepreneurship remains unknown. Based on the resource-based perspective, this study examined a model linking SHRM with corporate entrepreneurship. The importance of HRM people's political skill for a firm's development of devolved management through SHRM implementation was also examined. Data from a survey of 201 Chinese manufacturing firms confirm a significant relationship between SHRM and corporate entrepreneurship and that the relationship is partially mediated by a devolved management style. The relationship between SHRM and devolved management was shown to be stronger for firms with more politically skillful HRM people.     

Technology and external conditions at play: A study of learning-by-licensing practices in China

Learning-by-licensing is a widely used strategy to build technological capabilities. The previous research has often focused on the learning process from the perspective of the technology recipient based on single-level analyses at either the organizational level or the regional level. Relatively little is known about the interactions between cross-level factors. In this study, we look at both the attributes of licensed technology and the external conditions in which the licensee operates, investigating how they interact in the learning-by-licensing process. Based on a unique Chinese dataset, our empirical results reveal that the external technological conditions surrounding licensee firms exert a positive impact on the relationship between licensee innovation performance and technology attributes in terms of both technological complexity and technological generality.     

Links between entrepreneurial culture,innovation, and performance: The moderating role of family firms

The relationships between corporate entrepreneurship, innovation and performance have been previously addressed by the literature. However, they have yielded mixed and often inconclusive results. The purpose of this paper is hence to empirically test a model that links entrepreneurial culture, innovation outcomes and business performance. In this model, the family nature of firms is subsequently included as a moderator variable. The empirical investigation is based on a sample of 145 family firms from the automotive components manufacturing sector in Spain. This study uses Partial Least Squares (PLS) path-modeling to test our research model and hypotheses. Our results reveal the increasing importance of fostering an entrepreneurial culture within family firms in order to yield innovation processes and performance.     

Shaping the organisational context for corporate entrepreneurship and performance in Iran: the interplay between social context and performance management

Abstract

Prior research highlighted the importance of an organisational context stimulating autonomous behaviour when trying to increase levels of corporate entrepreneurship. From a social exchange perspective, we argue that firms in developing countries need to complement such supportive practices with performance-oriented practices. Our findings indicate that Iranian firms with an organisational context characterised by an interaction of social context and performance management have more engagement in corporate entrepreneurship, and that corporate entrepreneurship mediated the relationship between the organisational context and firm performance. This provides a better understanding of the way firms in developing economies can shape their organisational context to promote corporate entrepreneurship in order to achieve better firm performance.     

The Context of Entrepreneurial Judgment: Organizations,Markets, and Institutions

The economics and management literatures pay increasing attention to the technological, competitive, and institutional environment for entrepreneurship. However, less is known about how context influences the judgment of entrepreneurs. Focusing on the emerging judgment‐based approach to entrepreneurship, we argue that economics can say much about how the organizational, market, and institutional context shapes entrepreneurial judgment. We describe entrepreneurs as individuals who deploy scarce, heterogeneous resources to service customer preferences at a profit. Because of uncertainty, this process is essentially experimental, and context influences the experimental process. Thus, entrepreneurs will seek to design the internal organization of the firm so that it facilitates internal experimentation. Moreover, the market or task environment determines the need for experimentation (e.g., how fast do consumer preferences change, how does technology evolve, which assets are available at which terms, etc.). Finally, the institutional environment influences, for example, the transaction costs of acquiring and divesting assets as firms adjust their boundaries through ongoing commercial experimentation.     

在华跨国公司企业文化对组织公民行为的影响研究

进入新世纪以来,经济全球化己成为不可逆转的发展趋势,跨国公司作为主要推动力量以其特有的核心竞争力日益彰显出强大的生命力。企业文化在被视为企业发展的引擎、企业的无形资源的同时,由于其对企业长期经营业绩的重要作用。本文重点研究在华跨国公司企业文化与组织公民行为的关系,并以组织信任为中介变量进行研究,研究结果表明企业文化与组织信任有显著的相关性,组织信任对组织公民行为也有显著的预测作用。最后通过改变企业文化维度为提高企业组织公民行为提供合理建议。     

技术轨道理论与企业技术创新管理实践——以广西百色银海铝业有限责任公司为例

文章以技术轨道(Technological Trajectory)理论为基点,分析技术轨道的基本特性及对企业技术创新的启示,并总结广西百色银海铝业有限责任公司的“两全一导向”(全面、全过程、以市场为导向)的技术创新管理模式.广西百色银海铝业有限责任公司实践证明,基于技术轨道理论的技术创新和管理,对培养企业科技人才,提升企业技术创新能力和创新管理能力具有中英意义.     

External corporate venturing modes as new way to develop dynamic capabilities

Today, firms encounter scarce resources and rapid technology change which render formerly successful business models obsolete. Research shows that some firms perform better than others in continuously discovering, evaluating, and exploiting opportunities in volatile environments and that this is dependent on firm’s dynamic capabilities. Besides obtaining dynamic capabilities through internal R&D activities, firms have open up their innovation process to pursue dynamic capabilities outside their organizational boundaries through external corporate venturing by accessing startup's technological capabilities necessary to innovate. External corporate venturing is a means to develop new distinctive capabilities and businesses by exploring and exploiting business opportunities outside a firm’s existing boundaries. Drawing on the dynamic capability literature, we use a multiple case study approach to examine the contribution of external corporate venturing to firms’ dynamic capabilities. Our results reveal that firms indeed use corporate venturing to identify and exploit startup’s technological knowledge and competencies to increase firm’s dynamic capabilities. But our empirical data also shows that not every firm is fully profiting from all dynamic capability phases as their corporate venturing modes are not linked with each other and cumulative effects are not realized.     

Supply organizations in North America: A 24 year perspective on roles and responsibilities 1987–2011

The recent completion of a major survey of 249 large North American supply organizations in 2011 permits a longitudinal perspective on supply roles and responsibilities over a 24 year period. The latest survey complements three earlier CAPS studies in 1987, 1995 and 2003, thereby providing a valuable opportunity to examine trends and changes over time. Data was collected from 112 firms that responded in 2003 and 2011, which included 53 firms that responded in 1995, 2003 and 2011 and 24 firms that responded to all four surveys. Major areas of investigation included supply organizational structure, purchase category and supply chain responsibilities, supply involvement in major corporate activities, teams, and CPO reporting line, title and background. Findings indicate that the pace of organizational change remains high, which can represent significant challenges for supply executives. Cluster analysis was used to assess the relationship between supply organizational changes and firm performance. Firms in the “underperforming” category more frequently changed their supply organizational structure, and these changes were more likely directed towards greater centralization, compared to the “growing” and “profitable” clusters. Findings provide important implications for supply executives and opportunities for future research are also identified.     

From Trade Among Nations to Trade Within Firms Across National Borders

SUMMARY

Based on international economics, evolutionary economics, and organizational theories, this paper discusses the evolution of the multinational corporation's intra-organizational cross-border trade and production network. The paper suggests that firms are social and economic entities, whose intra-organizational, cross-border trade and production networks coevolve with their multilocal competitive environments. Since organizational evolution, technological innovation, and organizational learning are path-dependent, a firm-specific inertia makes it to differentiate itself from its competitors in both its intra-organizational network and market outcome. The growing trends in intra-firm transactions and intra-firm division of labor on global basis present a challenge to national governments. This paper discusses intra-firm cross-border trade versus arm's-length international trade and the implications for national-based policies.     

The impact of corporate governance on state-owned and non-state-owned firms efficiency in China

The purpose of this paper is to expand the literature on the corporate governance of transition economies by analyzing the relationship between corporate governance and productive efficiency in China's publicly listed manufacturing industry firms. We use the principal component analysis and the hybrid meta-frontier DEA model, separating inputs into radial inputs that change proportionally and non-radial inputs that change non-proportionally to measure the technical efficiency and technology gap ratios of publicly listed Chinese firms in different manufacturing industries during 2010–2013. The input variables are the net value of fixed assets, staff number, and the characteristics of the corporate governance system, while the output variables are gross revenue and total profit. The empirical result shows that inefficiency due to corporate governance is the main reason for lower efficiency in most manufacturing firms. For the technology gap ratio (TGR), the metal and mineral and the machinery, equipment and instrument are the two highest efficient sectors, whereas the paper and allied products sub-industry has the lowest efficiency during 2010–2013. In addition, the ratio of state-owned firms whose inefficiency is mainly caused by corporate governance to total state-owned firms is greater than that of non-state-owned firms in each year. The TGR analysis shows that the efficiency performance of non-state-owned firms is greater than state-owned firms.     

Strategic entrepreneurship and competitive advantage of established firms: evidence from the digital TV industry

Although strategic entrepreneurship in established firms is recognized as a vital source of sustainable competitive advantage, this field has no clearly developed research paradigm. This study proposes a conceptual framework to investigate dimensions of strategic entrepreneurship and its function in sustainable competitive advantage of established firms in a modern volatile environment, through the lens of the dynamic capability view. By conducting a systematic literature review of previous research documents and considering conceptual interrelationships between strategic entrepreneurship and dynamic capabilities, we propose categories that comprise dimensions of a firm’s strategic entrepreneurship: environmental sensing, opportunity seizing, strategic flexibility, entrepreneurial orientation and organizational learning. We establish a conceptual framework of strategic entrepreneurship in which entrepreneurs’ managerial capabilities of environmental sensing, opportunity seizing, strategic flexibility and entrepreneurial orientation closely interact with organizational learning, thereby facilitating sustainable performance of established firms. Following empirical studies of established firms in the digital TV manufacturing industry, the proposed conceptual framework suggests that each dimension of strategic entrepreneurship plays a critical role in competitive advantage of firms. In addition, case study results indicate that a firm’s position and evolutionary path form antecedent factors influencing entrepreneurs’ managerial capabilities and organizational learning of established firms.     

Corporate entrepreneurship and information technology towards employee retention: a study of New Zealand firms

While the benefits of entrepreneurship towards firm performance are established, the role of information technology (IT) is mixed. The present study of 158 New Zealand firms responds to calls to extend performance measures to include non‐financial outcomes and focuses on employee retention. Direct and substantial relationships between corporate entrepreneurship and employee retention were found. Furthermore, moderating effects were tested from IT dimensions, and high IT objects (hardware software and personnel) had the greatest interaction with an entrepreneurial culture, reporting a 10 per cent higher retention rate than similar entrepreneurial firms with low IT objects. However, IT was not universally positive, with high IT knowledge interacting with entrepreneurial culture, leading to lower employee retention. The study highlights the way some IT dimensions can enhance entrepreneurial capabilities, although cautions the effects of others, highlighting the potential complexities of IT that may repel rather than retain employees.     

Corporate entrepreneurship: a test of external and internal influences on managers’ idea generation,risk taking,and proactiveness

Because upper managers have the responsibility to set the corporate entrepreneurship agenda, their entrepreneurial characteristics matter to a firm's successful implementation of corporate entrepreneurship. This study investigated influences on the idea creation, risk taking, and proactiveness perceptions of upper managers in a random sample of 105 Thai manufacturing firms. Results indicate that these managers' idea generation was influenced by the type of product produced, the size of the company, and the extent of firm support for individual entrepreneurship. Managerial risk taking was associated with firm size and extent of support for personal entrepreneurship. Managerial proactiveness as associated only with the scope of firms' competition, firm size, organizational entrepreneurial climate and support for personal entrepreneurship. Results suggest that firm context can influence the basis for corporate entrepreneurship.