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.     

Old flames never die – the role of binding social ties for corporate entrepreneurship in family firms

This paper investigates the role of social ties and family embeddedness for corporate entrepreneurship in family firms. Family firms are mostly characterized by close and often inseparable ties between the dominant family coalition and the firm and offer specific resources within a context of both rational as well as non-rational factors that influence entrepreneurial strategies. We empirically test (n =?181) the relationship between binding social ties and innovation, strategic renewal, and corporate venturing. Our findings indicate a strong significance for networks and close and stable relationships both to inside the firm and the outside in decision making for corporate venturing and innovation. In contrast, the results for strategic renewal show no relevance of strong social ties. We link up with the debate on the role of owners as an important stakeholder group.

     

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.     

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.     

International entrepreneurship and the small business

The topic of ‘international entrepreneurship’ is becoming increasingly popular with researchers concerned with examining how international and entrepreneurial activities intersect when people in organizations engage in pro-active brokering and risk-taking behaviour in cross-border contexts. Some caution is needed in over-generalizing the meaning and significance of international entrepreneurship – especially in relation to small businesses. Not all entrepreneurial risk-taking, brokering and opportunity-seeking activities lead to internationalization (as the statistics on small business international activities indicate). This might suggest then that the only truly internationally entrepreneurial firms are those that are ‘born global’. However, their entrepreneurial activities are more ‘spatial’, concerned with what can be constructed again in relation to global markets rather than in relation to the local/regional context in which the business is located. For small firms that internationalize a few years after start-up (late starters), processes of international entrepreneurship are different. For ‘later starters’, international entrepreneurship is distinctive in that it is characterized by extending and modifying entrepreneurial understandings and practices that have been socially constructed in relation to the local and regional context in which the small firm is located.     

Behavioral agency and corporate entrepreneurship: CEO equity incentives & competitive behavior

Scholars have long studied drivers of entrepreneurial behavior among established firms. Yet little is known about how individual factors shape a firm’s choice to pursue entrepreneurship. We draw on behavioral agency theory to explore the role of equity incentives in driving corporate entrepreneurship. Our findings suggest CEOs avoid corporate entrepreneurial behaviors as their option wealth increases. However industry dynamics also prove to be an important contingency when predicting the effects of both restricted stock and stock options on the likelihood that the CEO engages in corporate entrepreneurship. Our findings provide a theoretical platform for predicting dimensions of entrepreneurial behavior and highlight effects of CEO equity ownership.

     

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.     

公司创业导向、能力、战略与竞争优势的关系研究

旨在分析创业导向对于企业竞争优势的影响机制,重点进行公司创业、企业能力、竞争战略、竞争优势等相关理论的探究和模型的构建,并在理论分析的基础上提出若干命题。分析表明,创业导向通过企业能力和竞争战略内外两条互为补充的路径,实现竞争优势。不仅丰富了公司创业和战略管理理论研究,还为企业如何在动态、复杂、不确定的全球环境中生存和发展提供借鉴和指导。     

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.     

Environmental influences on corporate entrepreneurship: executive perspectives on the internet

This paper focuses on the likelihood of firms adopting corporate entrepreneurship in response to the challenges and opportunities presented by a change in their business environment shaped by the growth of the Internet. We further examined if firms are willing to modify their existing systems in response to such a change. We also investigated the paths or modes of entrepreneurship that firms would adopt when they perceive being entrepreneurial to be a viable response in light of a specific change in their business environment. Finally, we identified the impediments that firms may need to overcome when adopting corporate entrepreneurship. Results based on the data from senior executives lend support to our hypotheses. Managerial implications of the results are discussed.     

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.     

Corporate Entrepreneurship and Family Business: Learning Across Domains

Research at the interface of corporate entrepreneurship (CE) and family firms’ domains has grown steadily based on the premise that family firms’ specific elements uniquely affect CE antecedents, strategies, and outcomes. However, much remains to be uncovered. In this article, we offer a theoretical advancement of a corporate entrepreneurship process model for the case of family firms organized around the categories of ontology (i.e., domain redefinition), epiphany (i.e., new components and mechanisms), and heterogeneity (i.e., family firm variety and contingencies). This development paves the way for an agenda for future research and for possible generalizations to non‐family firms.     

Resources,Capabilities and Entrepreneurial Perceptions*

abstract We review and develop a subjectivist theory of entrepreneurship that focuses on individuals, their knowledge, resources and skills, and the processes of discovery and creativity, which constitute the heart of entrepreneurship. First, we establish the fundamental importance of subjectivity in entrepreneurial discovery and creativity. Second, we build on Penrose (1959 ) to elaborate how entrepreneurs' perceptions and personal knowledge shape a firm's subjective productive opportunity set. Third, we explain that entrepreneurial perceptions and knowledge partly originate from entrepreneurs' experiences in specific business settings such as the firm, the management team, and the industry. Fourth, we highlight the causal connections between subjectivity in entrepreneurship and observed heterogeneity in firm‐level economic performance. Lastly, we suggest directions for further advancing a subjectivist resource‐based approach to future entrepreneurship research.     

The relationship between resources,entrepreneurial orientation and performance in farm-based ventures

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how firm-specific resources and entrepreneurial orientation (EO) of the firm may influence performance in small farm-based ventures. It builds upon theoretical strands from the resource-based and entrepreneurship perspectives. Research within these fields indicates that these relationships might be dependent on the context within which the firm operates. Hypotheses are developed to test the possible effect of entrepreneurial efforts and resources (financial position, farm size, location, network and unique competence) on short- and long-term performance. Data gathered in 2003 and 2006 from farms engaged in innovative ventures were used to test the hypotheses. The results show that financial capacity, unique competence and entrepreneurial efforts influence performance in the investigated firms. This suggests that firms do get paid back in the long run for engaging in entrepreneurial efforts. Thus, entrepreneurial activities and attitudes represent an important factor enabling firms to create, reconsider and apply their resources in more efficient ways.     

Individual entrepreneurial orientation and performance: the mediating role of international entrepreneurship

This paper analyses the role that individual entrepreneurial orientation (IEO) plays in the success of international entrepreneurship moves. We focus on the mediation effect of international entrepreneurship in the relationship between IEO and firm performance. We argue that entrepreneurial experience constitutes an important source of IEO and propose an objective measure of IEO. The hypotheses are empirically analysed using a 22-year panel of family SMEs. Our results confirm the hypotheses and provide a better understanding of the role of IEO in the success of corporate strategies such as internationalisation. Specifically, IEO is found to improve firm performance indirectly by increasing the speed of internationalisation, and this effect is non-linear. Our study contributes to the literature by extending international entrepreneurship literature by offering a more complete view of the causes and consequences of IEO. Finally, our results also contribute to the literature on family firm heterogeneity.

     

Corporate entrepreneurship in Switzerland: evidence from a case study of Swiss watch manufacturers

The purpose of this study is to examine the extent to which Swiss companies engage in corporate entrepreneurship. To that end, a case study was undertaken to better understand how corporate entrepreneurship is practiced in the watch-making industry. Using a stratified sampling method, 18 corporate-level managers of Swiss watch manufacturers were interviewed over a 5-month period to determine their perception of their firm??s entrepreneurial orientation in terms of proactiveness, risk taking, innovativeness, competitive aggressiveness, and autonomy. Findings were mixed. As anticipated, given the conservative nature of Swiss culture and tradition, the executives reflected corporate values that inhibit proactiveness, risk-taking, and competitive aggressiveness. On the positive side, these executives espoused values that support a corporate culture of innovativeness and autonomy reflecting a resurgence of innovativeness in an otherwise mature industry.     

The moderating role of entrepreneurial management in the relationship between absorptive capacity and corporate entrepreneurship: an attention-based view

Despite a growing interest in corporate entrepreneurship, we know little of how managers can better utilise their firm’s absorptive capacity to increase levels of corporate entrepreneurship. Building on the attention-based view, we investigate entrepreneurial management as an attentional driver to channel absorptive capacity towards corporate entrepreneurship. From the analysis of a sample of 298 supplier companies providing products and services to the mining industries in Australia and Iran, we observed that absorptive capacity fosters corporate entrepreneurship. Our findings also demonstrate that the dimensions of entrepreneurial management differentially affect the relationship between absorptive capacity and corporate entrepreneurship. The results show that a firm’s absorptive capacity in tandem with other organisational factors may generate higher levels of corporate entrepreneurship.     

Narrow‐Framing and Risk Preferences in Family and Non‐Family Firms

Building upon prospect theory’s concept of narrow‐framing, we explore family firms’ risk preferences across multiple decisions in corporate entrepreneurship. We argue that family firms’ decisions are less likely to be narrowly framed (more likely to be made as a group rather than in isolation) compared to non‐family firms. Examining the interaction between two risky decisions (internationalization and R&D investment) in two samples of publicly traded firms in the USA and China confirms our hypotheses. Family firms appear more likely than non‐family firms to diversify risk when making multiple decisions concerning corporate entrepreneurship. However, given inferior performance, risk taking across multiple decisions in family firms is positively related.     

Relatedness and entry mode choice in the context of entrepreneurial business entries

In this research we aim to study how established firms develop new entrepreneurial business entry. We based our hypotheses on the theoretical propositions arising from the entrepreneurship strategic management interface. Specifically, we analyse which factors influence the entry mode choice in entrepreneurial business entries. We consider three groups of determinant factors: industry, firm and transaction-related factors. We test our hypothesis in a Spanish firm sample of 197 entrepreneurial business entries. Our results allow us to describe in which circumstances firms are more likely to perform entrepreneurial business entries by low resource commitment and control modes, such as strategic alliances. As a result, a theoretical model is proposed to assess the entry mode choice in this type of entry. Thus, this study contributes to generating debate in this topic.

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.