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Antecedents of corporate entrepreneurship in Iran: the role of strategic orientation and opportunity recognition
Abstract
In a study of 130 Iranian small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), we predict and find that market orientation, learning orientation, and their interaction are positively related to opportunity recognition, which impacts firm-level corporate entrepreneurship positively. This study makes two important contributions to the corporate entrepreneurship literature. First, the majority of studies on corporate entrepreneurship concern western economies or China; as such, we broaden research on the international context of corporate entrepreneurship by examining a unique dataset of Iranian SMEs, which have grown significantly in recent years during their transition to knowledge-based enterprises. Second, we build upon previous literature on corporate entrepreneurship antecedents by explicating and testing the relationships of how and when learning orientation and market orientation affect opportunity recognition and the development of corporate entrepreneurship. © 2016, © 2016 Journal of the Canadian Council for Small Business and Entrepreneurship/Council de la PME et de l'entrepreneuriat.
... CE researchers have generally agreed that entrepreneurial activities in established firms have three distinct but related components: innovation, corporate venturing and strategic renewal (Chen et al., 2014;Zahra, 1996). A growing body of literature suggests a positive and significant relationship between CE and firm performance (Boone et al., 2019;Chen et al., 2014;Goodale et al., 2011), showing that CE is a necessary condition for value creation and firm survival in increasingly dynamic technological environments (Kakapour et al., 2016). ...
... In explaining the predictors of CE, the mainstream literature focuses on organizational and strategic factors, such as top-level management support (Boone et al., 2019;Chen et al., 2014), chief executive officer (CEO) leadership styles and work experience (Wei and Ling, 2015), the bricolage and redeployment of resources Makitie, 2020), opportunity identification (Turner and Pennington, 2015;Yunis et al., 2018) and strategic orientation (Kakapour et al., 2016). Scholars have also examined the effect of knowledge searches on EJIM established firms' entrepreneurial actions (Bojica et al., 2017;An et al., 2018). ...
... The discovery of such opportunities is accompanied by the consideration of different growth vectors, the opening of new development spaces and the initiation of another round of entrepreneurial practice (Schneider, 2019). Thus, firms may channel their strategic responses towards CE when they discover opportunities that are valuable and attractive (Kakapour et al., 2016). That is, a larger set of opportunities leads firms to take more entrepreneurial actions because of the prospect of profiting from these opportunities . ...
Purpose
This study aims to explore the impact of search breadth and depth on corporate entrepreneurship (CE) through the mediating effect of opportunity discovery under the consideration of the technological environmental dynamism as a moderating factor.
Design/methodology/approach
This study adopts a quantitative method, collecting 246 questionnaires from high-tech firms in the national industrial park of the Yangtze River Delta zone in China. The authors examine the hypotheses using multiple hierarchical regressions and conduct Sobel and bootstrapping tests to further assess the mediating and moderated mediating effects of the variables.
Findings
The results indicate that both the relationship between search breadth and CE and the relationship between search depth and CE are mediated by opportunity discovery. The authors further show that technological environmental dynamism positively moderates the indirect effect of knowledge search breadth on CE and negatively moderates the indirect effect of knowledge search depth and CE.
Originality/value
This study provides a valuable theoretical framework for entrepreneurship literature by differentiating the effects of search depth and search breadth on the promotion of CE in established firms and pioneers the examination of the mediating role of opportunity discovery and the moderating role of technological environmental dynamism in these links as well.
... This approach enables the investigation of firm-based activities from several aspects, such as the market, technology, and entrepreneurial orientation (Hakala 2011). Moreover, in previous studies, SO has already been found to support opportunity recognition (Kakapour et al. 2016), the emergence of radical innovations (Kocak et al. 2017) and the use of innovation-based strategies as competitive advantage (Knight and Cavusgil 2004) of SMEs. Additionally, in doing so, this study can offer novel and significant perspectives for SO literature as more knowledge is required regarding the influence of prior experience on strategic orientation dimensions (Presutti and Odorici 2018). ...
... Firstly, the SO approach provides several aspects to investigate entrepreneurial opportunity recognition such as the market, technological, and learning orientations (Hakala 2011). Secondly, previous studies have found that SO supports opportunity recognition (Kakapour et al. 2016) and links to the radicality of innovation (Kocak et al. 2017) and how innovation-based strategies are applied as competitive advantage in SMEs (Knight and Cavusgil 2004). These insights are beneficial for this article. ...
... This implies that special attention was paid to observing the role of prior experience (Haynie et al. 2009) and prior knowledge (George et al. 2016) in opportunity emergence. In relation to the SO literature, the analysis focused on how the SO of the individuals affected their ability to recognize opportunities (Kakapour et al. 2016). ...
This article conducts an in-depth investigation of entrepreneurial opportunity recognition in an international new venture (INV) during the time period before the organizational emergence. While doing so, the study applies a strategic orientation (SO) approach that seems to provide the possibility of observing firm activities from multiple perspectives. A qualitative and interpretive method is used for this purpose. The findings of this study support the notion that the phase before organizational emergence is a significant period for entrepreneurial opportunity recognition. Additionally, this study illustrates the reason and processes involved are the same. Firstly, the findings indicate that the initial opportunity recognition and the development throughout this phase rely on the entrepreneurial orientation of the individuals. Moreover, entrepreneurial opportunity results from information-seeking behavior regarding ways to respond to demand. Such a process seems to require a reconciliation of technological and commercial knowledge domains. Secondly, the findings indicate that the context has a distinct role in the opportunity recognition process. In this study, the support of the parent corporation, particularly, seemed to have a significant impact on the initial discovery and subsequent development of entrepreneurial opportunity.
... Three studies (Kakapour et al. 2016;Singh and Gibbs 2013;Wang et al. 2020) addressed the essential element of entrepreneurial intention termed "opportunity recognition-OR." According to Kakapour et al. (2016), the interaction between duo factors of market and learning orientations enhance OR and impacts "firm-level corporate entrepreneurship." ...
... Three studies (Kakapour et al. 2016;Singh and Gibbs 2013;Wang et al. 2020) addressed the essential element of entrepreneurial intention termed "opportunity recognition-OR." According to Kakapour et al. (2016), the interaction between duo factors of market and learning orientations enhance OR and impacts "firm-level corporate entrepreneurship." Similarly, Singh and Gibbs (2013) identify the issue of limited "opportunity recognition" processes (internally stimulated opportunities) as the hindrance to blooming entrepreneurial intentions among would-be black entrepreneurs, rather than the usual overemphasized problem of restrictive access to financing (externally stimulated opportunities). ...
This study offers the first scientometric analysis, visual analytics, and visualization of the documents published in the Journal of small business and entrepreneurship (JSBE). The paper utilizes big data analytics and network analysis to analyze the production trends of articles, the citation impacts, and the research focus covering the period 1996 to 2019. The intellectual and social structures of the articles are also evaluated. Data for the analyses come from the 535 articles produced by JSBE and indexed on SCOPUS. The results highlight four outcomes. First, the average annual literature production rate is 3.53%, with astronomical upward trend occurring in recent years, and the articles' productivity and impacts. Second, the visual and text analytics of scientific production and visualization reveals the terms dynamics, the thematic trends, intellectual structure, and clusters of the literature showing themes and topics covered by the articles published in JSBE. Third, the social and network structures of the scientific production highlight the impacts and patterns of cooperation and collaboration among authors and the associated institutions and countries. Finally, the overall results indicate that the published research papers align with the aims and scope of JSBE and point to areas that need to attract more articles to satisfy the Journal's multidisciplinary goals. The paper contributes to the scholarship of integration. It provides a guide to scholars in the field of entrepreneurship, small business, and innovation, and particularly the readers of JSBE, the opportunity to identify the past research streams as a pointer to areas requiring future work.
... The majority of studies on corporate entrepreneurship have been conducted in western countries. There is only one study which was conducted in an Iranian context to learn about the antecedents of corporate entrepreneurship in SMEs (Kakapour et al., 2016). In this research, we concentrated on TMTs to identify which Iranian SMEs are willing to do more organizational renewal by deviating from prior routines, strategies and business models and embrace new resource combinations (Goodale et al., 2011). ...
... Due to years of sanctions, our understating about Iranian businesses are limited ( Jahanshahi and Brem, 2017;Kakapour et al., 2016). After UN-led sanctions have been released, a lot of international and multinational corporations strived to identify potential opportunities in the Iranian market. ...
Purpose
In order to learn more about the antecedents of strategy at the top management team’s (TMT) level, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of TMT cultural intelligence on corporate entrepreneurship strategy. Then, the authors examine how TMT’s ambiguity tolerance mediates this relationship.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors tested the hypothesis by collecting survey data from 41 TMTs of small- and medium-sized enterprises in the south-east of Iran.
Findings
The survey results confirm that a high level of cultural intelligence in TMTs is conducive to corporate entrepreneurship. Furthermore, the result shows that higher levels of cultural intelligence in TMTs relate to a higher level of ambiguity tolerance, which, in turn, enhances the possibility of pursuing corporate entrepreneurship strategy by SMEs.
Research limitations/implications
The data for this study were obtained from 41 TMTs in the south-east of Iran, which increases the probability that the results may not be directly transferable to certain companies in Western countries. Future research might attempt to test the ideas developed in this paper across different settings and samples.
Originality/value
Several theoretical and empirical studies have explored possible antecedents of corporate entrepreneurship. But a few papers investigated the role of TMT dispositions on corporate entrepreneurship strategy. By addressing the prominent role of TMT psychological dispositions on corporate entrepreneurship strategy, this paper attempts to fill this gap.
... Boards that meet regularly are more likely to engage in meaningful discussions about the company's CSR and Social Entrepreneurship strategy and oversee its implementation effectively (Lipton and Lorsch 1992). Frequent meetings provide opportunities for board members to review CSR and Social Entrepreneurship performance, address potential challenges, and ensure that the company's social and environmental responsibilities are met (Olutuase, Brijlal, and Yan 2023;Kakapour et al. 2016;Laksmana 2008; Frias-Aceituno, Rodriguez-Ariza, and Garcia-Sanchez 2013). Although some studies suggest that excessive meetings can reduce the board's efficiency, the majority of research supports the idea that active boards contribute positively to CSR and Social Entrepreneurship disclosure (Liao, Luo, and Tang 2015;Jizi 2017). ...
This paper investigates the influence of institutional dynamics and governance structures on private equity investment in Saudi Arabia, with a particular focus on corporate social responsibility (CSR). In the context of Saudi Arabia's evolving regulatory framework under Vision 2030, the study examines how both formal institutions, such as legal regulations, and informal cultural norms shape investment decisions and outcomes in the private equity sector. By applying Institutional Theory, this research explores the complex interplay between governance structures, CSR practices, and investment behaviour. Data collected from a variety of industry sources is analysed to determine the extent to which institutional pressures, governance policies, and CSR initiatives affect the decision-making processes of private equity firms. The findings highlight that institutional frameworks and CSR strategies play a pivotal role in shaping investment patterns, fostering a sustainable approach to investment in the region. The implications of these findings for policymakers and private equity firms are discussed, with recommendations aimed at enhancing the alignment between governance standards, CSR, and investment growth. This study contributes to the growing literature on private equity and CSR, offering insights into the unique institutional environment of Saudi Arabia.
... Central to MO is the emphasis on creating and delivering exceptional customer value [94], underscored by a dedicated focus on customer needs [14,97]. MO is distinguished by its commitment to a market-driven approach, particularly in developing and launching new products with a customer-centric strategy [98]. Firms that embrace MO prioritize continuous learning and the development of new product offerings based on customer preferences, competitive dynamics, societal trends, and other factors influencing customer satisfaction and firms' capabilities [91]. ...
Digitalization has forced emerging market (EM) firms operating in resource-constrained environments to adopt market-driven strategies, particularly frugal innovation, to provide affordable, optimized processes and high-value solutions. However, understanding the mechanisms behind developing frugal innovation capability (FIC) at the firm level in diverse EMs remains limited. From the perspective of the resource-based view, this study added to the existing body of knowledge by exploring how strategic orientation (entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and market orientation (MO)) and organizational ambidexterity (OA) impact the development of FIC in EMs. To empirically validate our theoretical predictions, this study used a cross-sectional survey to collect data from 386 valid respondents from Tanzanian manufacturing firms. The results demonstrate that both EO and MO have a strong and positive relationship with OA and the development of FIC in EMs. In addition, OA partially mediates the relationship of both EO and MO with the development of FIC. Furthermore, our results indicate that MO exerts a more significant impact on the development of FIC than EO in EMs. Managers of manufacturing firms in EMs can use these findings to review their strategic decisions and their exploitative and exploratory approaches to enhance supply chains, develop cost-effective technologies, and produce affordable offerings that cater to the preferences of price-conscious consumers in the digital age.
... Bontis et al. (2002) argued that organizational learning influences performance in a number of ways: it could be by incorporating information flows and resources that enhance organizational processes and procedures; it can have a positive impact on individual and organizational performance with a more extreme impact on the individual (Wang and Ellinger, 2011) or by fostering a feeling of loyalty in the employees that encourages them to continue learning (Jain and Moreno, 2015). Organizations that embrace more active forms of organizational learning potential are also more open to creativity and more likely to identify opportunities (Spicer and Sadler-Smith, 2006;Kakapour et al., 2016). They make businesses more competitive to survive the turbulent business environment, to produce better outcomes on new service growth and business efficiency (Marsick, 2009;). ...
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the mediating effect of learning capacity in the relationship between the social media usage by the construction of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and their business performance in Nigeria.
Design/methodology/approach
A quantitative survey technique was used to collect data from the owner/manager of construction SMEs in Nigeria. The partial least square structural equation modeling was used in the assessment of the measurement model and structural model to assess the validity and reliability of the measures and to evaluate the hypotheses proposed in the conceptual model.
Findings
Empirical findings indicated a significant positive relationship between learning capacity and performance of SMEs. Similarly, the use of social media is significantly and positively associated to the business performance of SMEs. It has also been shown that learning capacity is a mediator of the relationship between social media and SME performance.
Research limitations/implications
The data for the study is are all from a single industry and a related line of business, so it could be more interesting to include more companies across sectors or industries. The finding contributes to the ongoing debate on the effect of social media on business performance. It also defined the need for the owner/manager of SMEs to understand and appreciate the effect of social media through the organization's learning potential to gain a sustainable competitive advantage.
Practical implications
There are a number of theoretical and practical implications for academics and practitioners who are interested in further studies of organizational social media. The research presents a quantitative study on the effect of social media adoption on the organizational performance of the construction industry. This study confirms the mediating role of learning capability in the relationship between the use of social media and performance of SMEs operating in the construction industry.
Originality/value
This study empirically examined the relationship between social media adoption and the SMEs learning capability and business performance by evaluating a hypothesized conceptual framework to establish the relationships.
... Within the corporate entrepreneurship literature, individual level activity in a corporate environment is subjected to a variety of firm-level situational contingencies. For example, prior studies have shown the impact of an organization's strategic orientation (Kakapour et al. 2016), barriers to technological adoption (Laplume et al. 2014), organizational design (Foss et al. 2014), and organizational structure (Bhardwaj and Momaya, 2006) on the entrepreneurial efforts of individuals within an organization. Other organization-based situational contingencies have been identified, including: the diversity of the top management team (Hayton 2005), quality of business and institutional ties (Yiu et al. 2007), information system capabilities of a firm (Simek, et al. 2009), structural factors (Burgers & Covin, 2016), absorptive capacity (Zahra, 2015), and networking capabilities of a firm (Sakhdari et al. 2014). ...
... Because extant literature primarily focuses on Western economies and applies to stable conditions or periods of growth (Nelson, 1990;Thornhill, 2006;Kakapour et al., 2016), we chose not to adopt a specific theoretical stance in this study, as the applicability of such frameworks to our context would be necessarily stretched. Instead, we rely on the abductive approach where we investigate the phenomenon of interest in the atypical, non-western, crisis-laden context, and then use the insights gained from our analysis to position our findings within the existing literature, extending it where such insights appear valuable and consequential. ...
In a sample of 2,980 firm-year observations collected from three industries over the
five-year period during the Russian economic crisis of 2013-2017, we demonstrate the
relative effectiveness of conservative and aggressive strategies for technological
leadership in affecting firm performance. Both the conservative strategy aimed at
minimizing firm inputs per the set volume of outputs and the aggressive strategy aimed
at maximizing the outputs per the set volume of inputs affect performance positively. Of
the two alternatives, the aggressive strategy clearly outperforms the conservative one
during times of crisis. Additionally, without a clear commitment to either of the
strategies, firms stand to lose. We offer a novel way of assessing a firm’s strategy
based on the secondary data utilized in this manuscript that can be implemented by
the future research.
... Market orientation is grounded in perceiving customers' needs and offering products as valuable solutions in their totality, thus enabling firms to benefit from new product success (Ashrafi and Zare Ravasan, 2018;Mu et al., 2017). Moreover, this knowledge-based asset narrows the risk of new product development efforts and adds to the success rate of new products through organization-wide responsiveness to the generated market intelligence (Aloulou, 2019;Kakapour et al., 2016). Given the considerable number of empirical studies (Atuahene-Gima, 1995;Gotteland and Boule, 2006;Najafi-Tavani et al., 2016;Wang et al., 2020) indicating a direct association among market orientation and new product performance, previous work has found that there is a substantial influence of market orientation on new product performance. ...
Purpose-Based on the resource-based view and dynamic capabilities theory, this study examines the complementarity between market orientation and launch proficiency as a driver of new product performance.
Design/methodology/approach-In this research, an on-site survey of Iranian, R&D-intensive, manufacturing firms was carried out to examine the proposed hypotheses. Based on the 179 workable survey responses, a covariance-based structural equation modeling was applied to verify the proposed theoretical model.
Findings-The empirical findings reveal that the effects of market orientation or launch proficiency alone are not significant while the complementarity between them significantly influences new product performance. These research outcomes suggest that this complementarity leads to a bidirectional co-specialization relationship in firms, promoting both market intelligence generation processes and product-launch capabilities and therefore resulting in superior new product performance.
Originality/value-The current characterization of the resource-based theory signifies that strategic resources merely have potential value, and actualizing this value needs complementary organizational capabilities. Furthermore, the literature notably lacks empirical findings supporting these complementarities. Therefore, the findings concerning the bidirectional co-specialization between market orientation and launch proficiency not only provide empirical support for the dynamic capabilities theory but also address recent research calls to identify and calibrate the importance of dynamic capabilities for leveraging market orientation on new product performance.
... Similarly, Ebrahimi et al. (2018) have shown that LO has a positive effect on entrepreneurship of SMEs. Kakapour et al. (2016) conducted a study on 130 Iranian SMEs and found that LO has positive effects on both the determination of opportunities and entrepreneurship of a company. Zhu et al. (2019) found that EO is influenced by the organizational learning of a firm, where EO plays a mediating role between the organizational learning and performance of 181 enterprises in the processing and service sectors in China. ...
... It may be easier for entrepreneurs in developing economies and economies in transition to take advantage of arbitrage opportunities during exogenous shocks if local markets are not as heavily regulated as developed countries and so, information asymmetries more pronounced. Moreover, developing economies and economies in transition may not have the societal resources, such as small business development centres and financing options (Kakapour et al., 2016), needed to develop innovations that have the most potential for long-term success. Furthermore, in an international context, entrepreneurs may be tempted by arbitrage when neighbouring countries have different regulations or policies that may be exploited, even if the returns are short-lived and the decision to pursue such opportunities is socially irresponsible. ...
Following major exogenous shocks, firms often contemplate business model pivoting where they change product or service offerings to capitalize on emerging opportunities. We assess potential bright and dark sides of pivoting for new and existing firms in regard to quality of opportunities, fit with current capabilities, and potential costs. Extant literature suggests that two forms of opportunities exist, arbitrage and innovation. We discern that post-shock, new firms may be better positioned to pursue arbitrage opportunities whereas existing firms should target innovation. Existing firms may have more complications when pursuing arbitrage due to resource embeddedness and stakeholder obligations, and have a greater ability to innovate with an established resource base. Conversely, new firms can capitalize on arbitrage due to lack of embeddedness since arbitrage requires a significant investment in opportunity selection. Additionally, we offer suggestions for future research in regard to the current pandemic and more broadly exogenous shocks.
... Firms that adopt more active types of OL are more open to innovation (Spicer & Sadler-Smith, 2006) and more prone to opportunity recognition (Kakapour, Morgan, Parsinejad, & Wieland, 2016), making the firms to be more successful and live longer (Marsick, 2009), having better results on new service development and business performance (Tajeddini, 2009). OL stimulates openness to new ideas, which explains both the effectiveness and efficiency of innovative performance (Calisir, Gumussoy, & Guzelsoy, 2013). ...
Purpose
This paper aims to analyze the influence of organizational learning (OL) and service innovation (SI) on organizational performance of knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) and examine the mediating role of SI.
Design/methodology/approach
Hypotheses were tested using the theoretical OL model of knowledge acquisition, distribution, interpretation and organizational memory (Huber, 1991; Lopez, Peon, & Ordas, 2005; Jiménez-Jiménez & Sanz-Valle, 2011), using structural equation modeling partial least squares analysis of a survey data set of Brazilian architectural firms.
Findings
Findings suggest that OL is significantly linked to SI and so is SI to organizational performance. However, neither the direct relationship between OL and organizational performance could be verified, nor the mediating effect of SI.
Practical implications
These results can offer KIBS managers insights that suggest that OL alone does not guarantee a significant impact in organizational performance, but it is a starting point for achieving SIs, that lead to performance improvement and competitive advantages.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the knowledge production in the following ways: to the understanding of the relationship between OL and SI and its effect on organizational performance, traditionally overlooked in the literature; to the study of SIs, considering the importance of the service sector; and to the study of innovation processes in architectural firms, a sector traditionally understudied, because of the focus on large construction firms.
... Upon analyzing familiness in a more in-depth way, we may distinguish several sets of these idiosyncratic resources (Carnes and Ireland 2013;Minichilli, Corbetta, and MacMillan 2010;Pearson, Carr, and Shaw 2008;Rutherford, Kuratko, and Holt 2008) which can be reconciled into the scheme of Shepherd, Williams, and Patzelt (2015), who reviewed the literature about entrepreneurial decision-making processes and summarized it into three dimensions: knowledge resources, emotional resources, and perceptions of the environment. First, in terms of knowledge resources, tacit and explicit knowledge is absorbed as individual cognitions from the experiences arising from a person's own idiosyncratic social environment (Kakapour et al. 2016). Traditionally, deterministic orientation overlooks the idea that proactive subjects may have new means-ends combinations of knowledge with new perceptions of economic conditions. ...
This article focuses on the multi-subject opportunity recognition processes in family firms recognizing the mutual impact of indi- viduals and collective cognitions shared by the multiple subjects. In doing so, we propose an interpretative framework based on distinguishing two psychological perspectives: following a deter- ministic approach, we outline the impact of a collective cognition on individual cognitions of the participants; on the other hand, a voluntaristic approach shows the impact of individuals on collect- ive cognitions in terms of intuition, emotional support, and per- ception. Specifically, we stress the need of a more voluntaristic approach in family business literature, examining the sources of family members’ heterogeneous individual cognitions. Such differ- ences can be analyzed through the entrepreneurial family vision which encompasses both on a temporal focus prospected future market conditions and the composition of different individual cognitions via a family’s value congruence. We propose that the first element confers a forwarding looking to the prospect on opportunity recognition, while the second one grants to such a prospect a collectively shared understanding.
... Essentially, MO allows the firm to produce new products that have a greater product-market fit for target markets (Hult and Ketchen 2001). A market-oriented firm helps increase the success rate of new products via engaging in organization-wide development of and responsiveness to information about the expressed and latent needs of customers (Im and Workman, 2004;Tzokas et al. 2015;Kakapour et al. 2016). Substantively, to help increase success and reduce the risk of NPD efforts, firms must develop an in-depth understanding of the current and future needs of the target market (Lukas and Ferrell, 2000;Day 1994;Day and Wensley, 1988), which are core components of an MO philosophy. ...
With a greater number of B2B firms integrating customers into the new product development (NPD) process, how to utilize customer involvement in NPD is an important decision because it may be a double-edged sword carrying both bright and dark sides. Utilizing a sample of 193 B2B firms across various industries, we validate previous research that suggests market orientation positively influences NPD performance and subsequently examine how this relationship may either be enhanced or diminished contingent upon how customers are utilized in the NPD process. The results show that the market orientation–NPD performance relationship is enhanced by having customers participate in a greater number of activities throughout NPD (customer participation breadth) and diminished when customers are involved at deeper levels (customer participation depth). This research suggests that the exact involvement of customers is a critical decision and has clear implications for the dialogues about customer involvement and management of customer relationships. © 2019
... According to Auh and Menguc (2005), it is the collective guidance and direction that drive an organization to obtain a sustainable competitive advantage (Narver and Slater 1990). It can also be understood as a cognitive understanding and interpretation of the external environment and internal resources (Kakapour et al. 2016;Lau and Bruton 2011). Strategic orientation represents the priority of resource allocation, with long-term growth and shareholders' wealth as the ultimate objective (Hitt et al. 1997). ...
The research looks at the crucial role of CEOs in the development of the corporate reputation of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). A quantitative survey of 246 SMEs shows first the direct influence of management style (MS) on corporate reputation. The results also highlight an indirect influence of MS on corporate reputation through strategic orientation and the non-influence of information technology capabilities. This study contributes to the field by studying the influence of MS within the context of small-scale business from a non-US perspective. It also completes current research on the antecedents of corporate reputation.
... Studies on CE mainly focuses on external factors (Zahra, 1991), hence, ignoring the impact of middle line managers who are responsible for organizational strategy implementation. In fact contemporary researchers (see., Kakapour et al., 2016;Bakar et al., 2016) have identified the need for studies on individual factors as antecedence of corporate entrepreneurship. ...
The role of leaders toward the development of entrepreneurship has been fully acknowledged.
However, Leaders’ characteristics such as strategic improvisation and entrepreneurial self-efficacy
were mainly examined in the private sector. Hence, it is imperative to extend empirical
studies to public sector organizations. The present study, therefore, proposed and validated a
model linking leaders’ strategic improvisation and entrepreneurial self-efficacy to corporate
entrepreneurship in Nigerian Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). Using a structured
questionnaire, 220 responses were generated from large HEIs in Kano State, Nigeria. The data
of the study was analyzed using SmartPLS 3.0 to ascertain both measurement and structural
model validity of the model. The results showed that both leaders’ strategic improvisation and
entrepreneurial self-efficacy were significantly related to corporate entrepreneurship in HEIs.
Implication and limitation of the study; and suggestions for future study are also provided.
In the field of entrepreneurship, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are highly regarded due to their substantial contributions to growth, development, and innovation. In Morocco, SMEs constitute nearly 97% of the country’s production sector, span various industries, generate 38% of national wealth74% of the workforce, as per the 2021 report from the Moroccan SME Observatory. However, in the face of international trade liberalization, these businesses face intense domestic market competition, impacting their competitiveness and performance. This study explores the significance of ‘market orientation’ and ‘organizational learning orientation’ as crucial managerial practices, enabling SMEs to gain competitive advantages, market differentiation, and higher performance. Utilizing the resource-based view and dynamic capabilities theory, the research investigates how learning orientation transforms market practices into improved organizational performance. The study distributed a questionnaire to 113 Moroccan SME managers and applied the Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) method to test hypotheses. The results indicate a positive impact of market orientation on Moroccan SME performance. Additionally, the study uncovers a partial mediating effect of organizational learning orientation in this relationship. These findings suggest that enhancing organizational learning orientation can amplify the benefits of market orientation for Moroccan SMEs, providing valuable insights for strategic decisions aimed at enhancing overall performance.
The purpose of this study is to review and synthesize corporate entrepreneurship (CE) related studies using the referencing of their historical principles, and the construction of a new knowledge scheme to represent the current focus of research. This is to provide an integration guideline, which contributes to the comprehension of the current situation of CE and organizational learning (OL). This study was based on Escobar-Sierra, Valencia-DeLara, and Vera-Acevedo (2018) who contribute mapping of the research on CE studies, and Brandi and Thomassen (2020) who conceptualize the integration of CE and OL. The search result found 52 articles between 1996 to 2021 that focused on CE and OL. In the context of this study, the concurrency of the terms found in the topic of various scientific articles indexed by Scopus was analyzed using the VOSviewer software. Radically innovations through exploration and exploration are considered fulfilled through the creation of new companies to achieve ambidexterity. New companies by implementing digital platforms that provide process improvement that can open up conversion opportunities for motivation in the absorption of CE in product innovation.
El objetivo de este estudio es explorar la relación entre la pasión empresarial por desarrollar y la orientación estratégica basada en oportunidades considerando la alerta empresarial como variable mediadora y la capacidad de adaptación como variable
moderadora. Se recopilaron datos de 137 pequeñas empresas de la región sur de México entre agosto y noviembre de 2019, los cuales fueron analizados con un método de mediación moderada. Los resultados muestran que la alerta empresarial media parcialmente la relación entre la pasión empresarial y la orientación estratégica. Los hallazgos también indican que los efectos indirectos de la pasión empresarial sobre la orientación estratégica a través de la alerta empresarial son moderados por la capacidad de adaptación. La originalidad de este estudio contribuye a la literatura sobre emprendimiento y estrategia al demostrar que la relación entre la pasión empresarial y la orientación estratégica puede entenderse mejor cuando se incluyen variables mediadoras y moderadoras adecuadas teniendo en consideración las limitaciones que esto conlleva.
Purpose
The purpose of the research was to examine the effect of strategic orientation on organizational innovativeness of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Moreover, in order to highlight the constructive role of strategic orientation, the study also observes the intervening role of strategic alignment and moderating role of strategic flexibility.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from 209 owner/managers of SMEs through self-administered questionnaires. Descriptive statistics, correlation and hierarchical regression were used for testing the study hypotheses.
Findings
Results revealed that strategic orientation is positively related to SMEs innovativeness. Strategic alignment mediates between the strategic orientation and innovativeness link. Furthermore, the findings also established that the association between strategic orientation and strategic alignment is stronger when SMEs are strategically flexible.
Originality/value
Organizational innovativeness is of vital importance for SMEs strength, especially in the context of developing economies. Although researchers have acknowledged several antecedents of SMEs innovativeness, however, it is still unclear how strategic orientation influences organizational innovativeness. Moreover, the study focuses on another important element of strategic alignment through the integration of goals and strategies to achieve innovativeness.
Background. Nowadays, corporate entrepreneurship (CE) is perceived as an essential approach to boost the innovation and creativity within existing organizations for achieving higher opportunities in the market. This paper examines this concept, which has been largely discussed in the Anglo-Saxon world over the last thirty years. Like for many other phenomena, also in case of CE, this discussion has provided numerous conceptualizations, and consequently, there is not one unique definition of CE. In this respect, the search for an appropriate basis for understanding and describing the phenomenon of CE engenders a challenging issue for entrepreneurship researchers.
Previous research has suggested important environmental and firm factors may be involved in the individual and joint implementation of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and market orientation (MO). In a sample of 179 SMEs, we examine firm-level and environmental-level contingencies regarding EO and MO's joint impact on new product development performance. This study provides further context to which firms should avoid or pursue an EO-MO dual implementation. Contrary to our arguments, the results show that larger firms may be more adept at managing EO and MO simultaneously, whereas inefficiencies may arise with smaller firms. In support of our arguments, we empirically show that firms that focus on services rather than goods benefit from the joint impact of EO and MO. Additionally, environmental turbulence and industries characterized by high technological intensity provide benefits for EO-MO implementation due to opportunities in volatile environments aligning with EO and hedging risk by staying close to customers.
The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of organizational innovation (OI), learning orientation (LO) and entrepreneurship on small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) performance considering the moderating role of market turbulence and ICT. The statistical population was all active SMEs in Rasht industrial park (193 companies). SPSS Sample Power software was used to calculate the optimum sample size and the lowest optimum sample size was 85. Simple random sampling was carried out using SPSS 22. Field data was collected by questionnaire. A five-point Likert scale was used for the responses to the questionnaire. The reliability and validity was confirmed. Before testing the hypotheses, outlier data and FIMIX were analyzed to ensure the homogeneity of community-level variance. To assess the measurement and structural models and test the hypothesis, PLS-SEM in SmartPLS3 was used. The results show that both OI and LO have a positive effect on entrepreneurship, but have no effect on SME performance considering the mediating role of entrepreneurship. The findings illustrate that an increase in market turbulence decreased the impact of innovation, LO and entrepreneurship on SME performance. On the other hand, an increase in ICT was found to increase the effect of innovation, LO and entrepreneurship on SME performance.
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.
Extant research on learning orientation (LO) has primarily examined the effects of LO on organizational-level performance from a management perspective. Meanwhile, the black box relationship between high-performance work systems (HPWS) and individual outcomes has not been fully explored. The current study examines the cross-level relationship between perceived unit-level LO and individual-level performance and investigates the moderation effect of LO in the HPWS – individual performance relationship. With a participant sample of 1887 individuals from 74 work-units in the banking industry in China, a cross-level model was tested using hierarchical linear modeling. Work-unit-level LO was found to have significant impact on individual performance and positively moderate the relationship between HPWS and individual performance. The implications of these findings and the research limitations were also discussed.
Businesses should strive to identify and nurture internal organisational factors that cultivate a dynamic entrepreneurial culture. This paper scrutinizes the contribution of the internal organisational factors, measured by market orientation, flexibility and job satisfaction, to intrapreneurship, as measured by the Corporate Entrepreneurship Assessment Instrument (CEAI). Information from a sample of 333 managers explores the relationships of corporate entrepreneurship with different work variables by means of Product-Moment Correlation, Multiple Regression Analyses and Structural Equation Modelling. Structural Equation Modelling confirms that four of the corporate entrepreneurship factors were predicted reasonably well by means of the market orientation, flexibility and job satisfaction sub-scales. The article attempts to fill the research gap of identifying which market orientation, flexibility and job satisfaction factors play an important role in facilitating corporate entrepreneurial actions.
Corporate entrepreneurship (CE), flexibility (F), and market orientation (MO) are being recognized as key success factors in our increasingly competitive, global economy. This study builds a model (CEFMO) and examines the relationships among these factors and the relationship between these variables and business performance. All of these factors are controllable by management. Practical application of this research can lead to increased effectiveness for the firm and benefits for the firm's stakeholders.
Small and medium Enterprises (SMEs) play a key role to innovation, employment, and competitive advantage. One of the requirements for growth, creativity as well as entrepreneurship in societies is to study their failure process. The purpose of this survey study was to investigate factors which affect business failure from successful versus unsuccessful entrepreneurs’ points of view. Our sample includes 120 entrepreneurs in newly established small businesses who work in Iranian industry sector. Data was gathered through questioners around general themes of “immediate environment”, “general environment”, “manager/entrepreneur”, and “corporate policy”. Our findings show a significant difference between successful and unsuccessful entrepreneurs’ viewpoints and also prioritize the business failure factors.
This article examines the dark side of the entrepreneurial orientation–market orientation interplay, and introduces consumer learning to the research stream. In a sample of 206 mid-sized manufacturing firms, the study shows that entrepreneurial orientation has a positive impact on new product development performance, but the effects are reduced when firms simultaneously implement a market orientation philosophy. While having both an entrepreneurial orientation and market orientation philosophy may hinder new product development performance, the article examines how a high market orientation may help reduce consumer learning and enhance the adoption of radical new products.
Despite considerable research, empirical findings on the relationship between Corporate Entrepreneurship (CE) (i.e., strategic renewal, innovation and corporate venturing) and performance remain inconclusive. Using a meta-analysis, the present paper synthesizes prior literature regarding the CE-performance relationship of 43 independent samples including 13,237 firms. Our results reveal that strategic renewal, innovation and corporate venturing positively influence overall, subjective and objective firm performance. In addition, we conduct moderator analyses to reflect on the context and to verify whether and how the relationships vary in the presence of several study-specific factors. We find that innovation has a stronger effect on performance in high-tech as opposed to low-tech industries, and the association between corporate venturing and performance is strongest in Europe (compared to North America and Asia). Against our theoretical predictions, we find the association between strategic renewal and performance to be stronger for larger than for smaller firms. Based on our results, we derive recommendations for future research and point to managerial implications.
Purpose
The main purpose of this study is to explore knowledge management and learning features in some Iranian small and medium‐sized enterprises.
Design/methodology/approach
A questionnaire was designed, applied and then analyzed using statistical methods. The results discuss various perspectives from the knowledge management point of view, and provide some important findings and a regression model to show the essential issues of the subject.
Findings
The learning factor was assumed as a dependent variable to carry out regression analysis with four factors: training; interactive participation of employees; flat structures in SMEs; and CEO support and commitment. The statistical analysis determined the four factors as important issues in the regression model. The results also showed that there is no relationship between organizational size and the need for knowledge management.
Practical implications
Most SMEs in Iran are still traditional. Their school of thought belongs to the industrial age and their efforts are not aligned to the knowledge era's requirements. Today's changes dictate a new model of thinking as a basic requirement. SMEs in Iran have to restructure their way of thinking towards a knowledge‐based paradigm for competitiveness and survival.
Originality/value
This study is probably the first to provide an integrated perspective of exploring knowledge management through Iranian SMEs. It gives valuable information and guidelines that hopefully will help SME leaders in decision making in the KM area.
Does market orientation impede breakthrough innovation? To date, researchers have presented opposing arguments with respect to this important issue. To address this controversy, the authors conceptualize and empirically test a model that links different types of strategic orientations and market forces, through organizational learning, to breakthrough innovations and firm performance. The results show that a market orientation facilitates innovations that use advanced technology and offer greater benefits to mainstream customers (i.e., technology-based innovations) but inhibits innovations that target emerging market segments (i.e., market-based innovations). A technology orientation is beneficial to technology-based innovations but has no impact on market-based innovations, and an entrepreneurial orientation facilitates both types of breakthroughs. Different market forces (demand uncertainty, technology turbulence, and competitive intensity) exert significant influence on technology- and market-based innovations, and these two types of innovations affect firm performance differently. The results have significant implications for firm strategies to facilitate product innovations and achieve competitive advantages.
This article attempts to bring coherence to the diversity that characterizes organizational learning research. It argues that
organizational learning is embedded in four schools of thought: an economic school, a managerial school, a developmental school,
and a process school. The article provides a comprehensive analysis of the schools, describes how they differ from each other,
and outlines how each of them can be employed effectively. To demonstrate the benefits of theoretical plurality, the four
schools are applied to the key marketing topics of market orientation and new product development. Implications for future
research in marketing are provided.
Effective organizations are configurations of management practices that facilitate the development of the knowledge that becomes the basis for competitive advantage. A market orientation, complemented by an entrepreneurial drive, provides the cultural foundation for organizational learning. However, as important as market orientation and entrepreneurship are, they must be complemented by an appropriate climate to produce a ''learning organization''. The authors describe the processes through which organizations develop and use new knowledge to improve performance. They propose a set of organizational elements that comprise the learning organization and conclude with recommendations for research to contribute to the understanding of learning organizations.
Researchers have suggested that general self-efficacy (GSE) can substantially contribute to organizational theory, research, and practice. Unfortunately, the limited construct validity work conducted on commonly used GSE measures has highlighted such potential problems as low content validity and multidimensionality. The authors developed a new GSE (NGSE) scale and compared its psychometric properties and validity to that of the Sherer et al. General Self-Efficacy Scale (SGSE). Studies in two countries found that the NGSE scale has higher construct validity than the SGSE scale. Although shorter than the SGSE scale, the NGSE scale demonstrated high reliability, predicted specific self-efficacy (SSE) for a variety of tasks in various contexts, and moderated the influence of previous performance on subsequent SSE formation. Implications, limitations, and directions for future organizational research are discussed.
This paper aims to identify and prioritize the importance of critical success factors (CSFs), which have been proposed in the form of empirical and theoretical studies by different authors and scholars. Through an in-depth and comparative study twelve CSFs along with their related elements were identified and an instrument then was developed to collect the views of knowledge management (KM) experts on the perceived importance of CSFs. Through statistical analysis tests, reliability and validity including construct validity of the instrument was approved by factor analysis. The analysis of these CSFs showed that leadership and support of top management and organizational culture factors were perceived to be the most important factors, whereas rewarding and motivation and benchmarking factors were the least. Since companies may not be able to manage all aspects of knowledge at the same time, an ordered list of CSFs will provide a clue to Iranian organizations, particularly SMEs which are keen to implement KM initiative to prioritize and adjust their knowledge practices. The research adds knowledge in the field of KM within the context of developing countries and gives a particular focus on the Iran SMEs; as a review of literature has identified no studies that have undertaken a comprehensive analysis of KM practices in the Iranian context. Also this study has the potential to enhance the understanding of KM practices amongst researches and practitioners.
Research on market orientation and organizational learning addresses how organizations adapt to their environments and develop competitive advantage. A significant void exists in current models of market orientation because none of the frameworks incorporates constructs related to innovation. The authors present a conceptual framework for incorporating constructs that pertain to innovation in market orientation research. Some of the critical relationships in this conceptual framework are tested among a sample of 9648 employees of 56 organizations in a large agency of the U.S. federal government. The results indicate that higher levels of innovativeness in the firms' culture are associated with a greater capacity for adaptation and innovation (number of innovations successfully implemented). In addition, higher levels of innovativeness are associated with cultures that emphasize learning, development, and participative decision making. The authors make recommendations for incorporating constructs related to innovation into research on market orientation and organziational learning.
Firms engage in entrepreneurship to increase performance through both strategic renewal and the creation of new venture opportunities. Organizational learning (OL) has become an effective avenue for strategic renewal. But what of creating venture opportunities—can OL enhance the process of recognizing and pursuing new ventures? This article argues that OL can strengthen a firm's ability to recognize opportunities and help equip them to effectively pursue new ventures. First, we identify three approaches to OL—behavioral, cognitive, and action. Then, we introduce a creativity-based model of opportunity recognition (OpR) that includes two phases—discovery and formation. Next, we show how each of the three types of learning is linked to the two phases of OpR. We suggest propositions that support our claim that OL enhances OpR and offer examples of firms that have used these organizational-learning approaches to more effectively recognize and pursue venture opportunities. These insights have important implications for entrepreneurial firms seeking to advance the venture-creation process.
We develop an econometric model to study a setting in which a new product is launched first in its domestic market and only at a later stage in foreign markets, and where the product's performance (“demand”) and availability (“supply”) are highly interdependent over time within and across markets. Integrating literature on international diffusion, “success-breeds-success” trends, and the theatrical motion picture industry—the focus of the empirical analysis—we develop a dynamic simultanenous-equations model of the drivers and interrelationship of the behavior of consumers (“audiences”) and retailers (“exhibitors”). Our findings emphasize the importance of considering the endogeneity and simultaneity of audience and exhibitor behavior, and challenge conventional wisdom on the determinants of box office performance (which is predominantly based on modeling frameworks that fail to account for the interdependence of performance and availability). Specifically, we find that variables such as movie attributes and advertising expenditures, which are usually assumed to influence audiences directly, mostly influence revenuesdirectly, namely through their impact on exhibitors' screen allocations. In addition, consistent with the idea that the “buzz” for a movie is perishable, we find that the longer is the time lag between releases, the weaker is the relationship between domestic and foreign market performance—an effect mostly driven by foreign exhibitors' screen allocations.
Empirical studies have shown that the characteristics of the competitive environment influence the corporate innovation activities of U.S. firms. This study attempts to internationalize these studies in two ways. First, it examines the environment-corporate innovation relationship in Norwegian manufacturing firms. Second, it examines how the firms’ corporate innovation activities are influenced by their international activities. Results indicate that environment and internationalization are positively related to corporate innovation, but models developed using U.S. firms may not be generalizable to firms from other countries.
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.
KeywordsCorporate entrepreneurship–Entrepreneurial orientation–Qualitative research–Case study–Swiss watch industry
The authors conduct a meta-analysis that aggregates empirical findings from the market orientation literature. First, the study provides a quantitative summary of the bivariate findings regarding the antecedents and the consequences of market orientation. Second, the authors use multivariate analyses of aggregate study effects to identify significant antecedents of market orientation and the process variables that mediate the relationship between market orientation and performance. In addition, using regression analysis, the authors find that the market orientation-performance relationship is stronger in samples of manufacturing firms, in low power-distance and uncertainty-avoidance cultures, and in studies that use subjective measures of performance. The authors also find that the market orientation-performance correlation is stronger for both cost-based and revenue-based performance measures in manufacturing firms than in service firms. On the basis of the findings, the authors conclude with a discussion of the implications for practice and further research.
In recent years, academic and practitioner interest has focused on market orientation and factors that engender this orientation in organizations. However, much less attention has been devoted to developing a valid measure of market orientation. Here we define market orientation as the organizationwide generation of market intelligence pertaining to current and future needs of customers, dissemination of intelligence horizontally and vertically within the organization, and organization-wide action or responsiveness to market intelligence. The authors describe a procedure to develop a measure of the construct. Key features of the research methodology include several rounds of pretesting, a single-informant assessment, and a multi-informant (both marketing and nonmarketing executives) replication and extension. The multi-informant results indicate that the proposed 20-item market orientation scale (MARKOR) may be best represented by a factor structure that consists of one general market orientation factor, one factor for intelligence generation, one factor for dissemination and responsiveness, one marketing informant factor, and one nonmarketing informant factor. Taking into account the informant factors, the subsequent validation tests are moderately supportive of the market orientation construct. The authors discuss methodological, substantive, and application directions for future research in light of these findings.
The authors extend previous research by examining antecedents and consequences of the market intelligence dissemination process across functional boundaries. Their study, involving 788 nonmarketing managers in high-tech equipment manufacturing companies, suggests that both dissemination frequency and formality have nonlinear effects on perceived intelligence quality. In addition, they find evidence of a mere formality effect; that is, intelligence received through formal channels appears to be used more than that obtained through informal channels. The authors also find that the frequency with which market intelligence is disseminated is related to interfunctional distance, joint customer visits, senders’ positional power, a receiver's organizational commitment, and trust in a sender. Additionally they find the formality of the dissemination process is shaped by interfunctional distance, receivers’ trust in senders, and structural flux. Interestingly, the effects of internal environmental volatility (i.e., structural flux) appear to be different from those of external environmental volatility (i.e., market dynamism). For example, structural flux is found to affect dissemination formality, but not frequency, whereas the opposite is true for market dynamism.
This research addresses three questions: (1) Why are some organizations more market-oriented than others? (2) What effect does a market orientation have on employees and business performance? (3) Does the linkage between a market orientation and business performance depend on the environmental context? The findings from two national samples suggest that a market orientation is related to top management emphasis on the orientation, risk aversion of top managers, interdepartmental conflict and connectedness, centralization, and reward system orientation. Furthermore, the findings suggest that a market orientation is related to overall (judgmental) business performance (but not market share), employees’ organizational commitment, and esprit de corps. Finally, the linkage between a market orientation and performance appears to be robust across environmental contexts that are characterized by varying degrees of market turbulence, competitive intensity, and technological turbulence.
Empirical research into firm-level entrepreneurship spans over a quarter of a century. This article reviews the current state of this research by identifying key trends in 45 published empirical studies; examining the key issues addressed and methods used to examine them; and outlining six key areas that need greater attention in future research.
In today's context of increasing market globalization, firms wishing to maintain their competitiveness must innovate constantly. Many authors have suggested Intrapreneurship as a method of stimulating innovation and using the creative energy of employees by giving them the resources and independence they need to innovate within the firm. It is somewhat surprising, however, that research into Intrapreneurship has so far concentrated exclusively on large organizations, even though small businesses face the same need for innovation if they are to remain competitive. This exploratory research, which examines the phenomenon of intrapreneurship in the small business context, is aimed at filling the gap. This paper concentrates on some specific aspects of the research, including the different types of intrapreneurship observed, the factors governing their emergence, motivating factors for the intrapreneurs and the owner-managers of the firms, and the strategic processes involved.
Corporate entrepreneurship is important for organizational survival, profitability, growth, and renewal. Data from 127 Fortune 500 companies show that executive stock ownership and long-term institutional ownership are positively associated with such entrepreneurship. Conversely, short-term institutional ownership is negatively associated with it, as is a high ratio of outside directors on a company's board. Outside directors' stock ownership somewhat mitigates the latter negative association. Outsiders, including stock owners, might lead companies away from internal product development, the traditional route to corporate entrepreneurship. Finally, an industry's technological opportunities moderate the associations observed between corporate governance and ownership variables and corporate entrepreneurship.
Purpose
– This study aims to examine the impact of entrepreneurial orientation, firm market power and their interaction on opportunism in horizontal exchange networks. The aim is to investigate how entrepreneurial orientation and market power individually can lead to opportunism, but possessing both characteristics will mitigate such behavior.
Design/methodology/approach
– Based on an analysis of 108 firms in 25 networks using a panel-corrected standard errors approach, the study tests hypotheses regarding how entrepreneurial orientation, firm market power and their interaction impact opportunism within a focal horizontal network.
Findings
– The results of the analysis show that entrepreneurial orientation and firm market power are both positively related to network opportunism, but when firms possess both characteristics, opportunism toward fellow network actors is mitigated.
Research limitations/implications
– Research on entrepreneurial orientation has primarily examined the positive outcomes of the strategic orientation. Firm power has been studied as an antecedent of opportunism and governance mechanisms. This study examines the joint impact of the two and brings new insight to the research streams.
Practical implications
– Horizontal networks are conduits for resource and knowledge exchange, yet managers need to be concerned about how firms seek competitive advantage. Our framework suggests that managers should be concerned about dealing with network actors with an entrepreneurial orientation philosophy or high market power, but when firms possess both, they are deemed safer partners.
Originality/value
– The manuscript extends research on entrepreneurial orientation, firm power and horizontal networks. While both entrepreneurial orientation and power may impede networking relationships, this paper shows that firms that possess both may be the best relational partners.
This article presents a model which identifies entrepreneurial activity as a natural and integral part of the strategic process in large, established firms and offers a conceptual framework to help top management assess entrepreneurial business proposals. It also examines various organization designs for structuring the relationship between entrepreneurial endeavors and the corporation.
Corporate entrepreneurship (CE), which embodies a company’s innovation and venturing activities, is necessary in today’s competitive markets. CE is important for organizational renewal, the creation of new business, and improved performance. CE, however, requires strong and continued support from the company’s top executives. Data from 231 medium-size manufacturing companies show that commitment to CE is high when: (1) executives own stock in their company; (2) the board chair and the chief executive officer are different individuals; (3) the board is medium in size; and, (4) outside directors own stock in the company. The relationships between the ratio of outside directors and CE, and institutional ownership and CE, are mixed. CE is also positively associated with future company performance.
This study examines the relationship between corporate entrepreneurship intensity and five specific strategic management practices in a sample of 169 U.S. manufacturing firms. The five strategic management practices include: scanning intensity, planning flexibility, planning horizon, locus of planning, and control attributes. The results of the study indicated a positive relationship between corporate entrepreneurship intensity and scanning intensity, planning flexibility, locus of planning, and strategic controls. The fine-grained nature of these results may be of practical use to firms that are trying to become more entrepreneurial and may help researchers better understand the subtleties of the interface between strategic management and corporate entrepreneurship. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
While there is a broadly held belief in the need for and inherent value of entrepreneurial action on the part of established organizations, much remains to be revealed about how corporate entrepreneurship (CE) is defined in organizational settings. Fortunately, knowledge accumulation on the topic has been occurring at a rapid rate and many of the elements essential to constructing a theoretically grounded understanding of CE can be readily identified from the extant literature. Corporate entrepreneurship may possess the critical components needed for the future productivity of global organizations. However, it is a far reaching concept that encompasses differing aspects and as research continues to increase in this field a stronger perspective of what constitutes corporate entrepreneurship needs to be examined. Our purpose in this article is to outline the various domains that currently exist in the research arena of corporate entrepreneurship. Exploring these domains and gaining a sharper focus on the corporate entrepreneurship process may be a most important step for scholars interested in moving the field forward.
This article develops a concept of an alignment between market and entrepreneurship orientations and reports the results of a study designed to investigate its effect on a firm's product innovation. A sample of 181 firms was classified into four categories labeled as market/entrepreneurship orientation (ME), entrepreneurship orientation (EO), market-oriented (MO), and conservative (CO) firms. One-way ANOVA and planned contrast tests (PCT) were used to identify whether or not specific product innovation decisions, activities, and performance vary across the groups. The results indicate that these groups of firms significantly differ with respect to both subjective and objective measures of new product performance, and with product innovation strategies and activities pertaining to timing of market entry, product quality, marketing synergy, proficiency of market launch, and management support for innovation. Further, the findings suggest that these groups of firms are not significantly different with respect to perceived environmental hostility and intensity of market competition. This finding suggests that the groups of firms are robust across environments and that the findings presented in this study are not an artifact of environmental variation. Managerial and research implications of the results are discussed.
The authors seek to understand which of three different strategic orientations of the firm (customer, competitive, and technological) is more appropriate, when, and why it is so in the context of developing product innovations. They propose a structural model of the impact of the strategic orientation of the firm on the performance of a new product. The results provide evidence for best practices as follows: (1) A firm wishing to develop an innovation superior to the competition must have a strong technological orientation; (2) a competitive orientation in high-growth markets is useful because it enables firms to develop innovations with lower costs, which is a critical element of success; (3) firms should be consumer- and technology-oriented in markets in which demand is relatively uncertain - together, these orientations lead to products that perform better, and the firm will be able to market innovations better, thereby achieving a superior level of performance; and (4) a competitive orientation is useful to market innovations when demand is not too uncertain but should be de-emphasized in highly uncertain markets.
Market orientation (MO) and entrepreneurial orientation (EO) are correlated, but distinct constructs. MO reflects the degree to which firms' strategic market planning is driven by customer and competitor intelligence. Entrepreneurial orientation reflects the degree to which firms' growth objectives are driven by the identification and exploitation of untapped market opportunities. When modeled separately, research has reported direct effects of both constructs on firm profitability. When modeled simultaneously, however, the direct effect of EO has disappeared. This has led some scholars to postulate that EO is an antecedent of MO. The results of this study contradict this presumption and suggest that EO and MO complement one another, at least in small businesses, to boost profitability. The major difference between this and previous studies is the inclusion of innovation success, which captures an indirect effect of EO on profitability. At least in small firms, the results suggest that EO complements MO by instilling an opportunistic culture that impacts the quality and quantity of firms' innovations.
Although a large body of research theoretically asserts a positive relationship between market orientation and organizational
performance, fewer empirical studies demonstrate it using multiple and varied organizational performance measures. Additionally,
a series of recent studies have theoretically proposed, but not empirically demonstrated, that a firm’s learning orientation
is likely to indirectly affect organizational performance by improving the quality of its market-oriented behaviors and directly
influence organizational performance by facilitating the type of generative learning that leads to innovations in products,
procedures, and systems. This empirical study supports all of these specific contentions and the more global notion that higher
order learning processes may be critical in creating a sustainable competitive advantage in the firm.
This article develops an empirically grounded definition of social capital. Drawing on the work of Coleman and Putnam and others, the article discusses social capital in terms of participation in networks, reciprocity, trust, social norms, the commons, and social agency. Potential items to measure these elements were developed in an empirical study. A questionnaire containing 68 potential items was administered to approximately 1,200 adults in five Australian communities: two rural communities, two outer metropolitan areas, and one inner-city area of Sydney. The responses were subjected to extensive statistical analysis involving a hierarchical factor analysis, which identified a single general underlying factor and eight orthogonal specific factors, accounting for 49% of the variance. Three of the specific factors identified were community participation, agency, and trust. The five communities differed significantly in terms of the general and specific factors.
In recent years, academic and practitioner interest has focused on market orientation and factors that engender this orientation in organizations. However, much less attention has been devoted to developing a valid measure of market orientation. Here we define market orientation as the organizationwide generation of market intelligence pertaining to current and future needs of customers, dissemination of intelligence horizontally and vertically within the organization, and organizationwide action or responsiveness to market intelligence. The authors describe a procedure to develop a measure of the construct. Key features of the research methodology include several rounds of pretesting, a single-informant assessment, and a multi-informant (both marketing and nonmarketing executives) replication and extension. The multi-informant results indicate that the proposed 20-item market orientation scale (MARKOR) may be best represented by a factor structure that consists of one general market orientation factor, one factor for intelligence generation, one factor for dissemination and responsiveness, one marketing informant factor, and one nonmarketing informant factor. Taking into account the informant factors, the subsequent validation tests are moderately supportive of the market orientation construct. The authors discuss methodological, substantive, and application directions for future research in light of these findings.
Purpose
This paper reviews literature of corporate entrepreneurship (CE) and explores the relationship between CE and market performance in China by taking a disaggregated approach after developing a reliable and valid scale of CE.
Design/methodology/approach
The empirical paper is based on questionnaire survey and statistical analysis.
Findings
This paper identifies the key dimensions of CE and finds that each dimension exerts differentiated impacts on market performance of firms in China.
Originality/value
Nowadays, more and more studies have been conducted on entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial orientation, intrapreneurship or CE. However, no agreement has been reached about the key dimensions of CE and much less is know about the generalizability of related research findings in emerging economies. This paper is intended to bridge these gaps.
This paper seeks to address two main problems. First, it evaluates the direct effect of entrepreneurship and business orientations namely, learning orientation, integrated market orientation and human resource practices on innovation and customer value. Second, it examines the interaction effect of entrepreneurship and business orientations on innovation and customer value. Data were collected from small and medium-size hotels in Indonesia and analysed using the structural equation model. The results show that entrepreneurship and human resource management were shown to be the most significant drivers of innovation and customer value. The results further suggest that interaction of entrepreneurship and integrated market orientation as well as human resource practices has significant impact on customer value and innovation respectively. Theoretical and practical implications of the study are discussed.
The authors extend previous research by examining antecedents and consequences of the market intelligence dissemination process across functional boundaries. Their study, involving 788 nonmarketing managers in high-tech equipment manufacturing companies, suggests that both dissemination frequency and formality have nonlinear effects on perceived intelligence quality. In addition, they find evidence of a mere formality effect; that is, intelligence received through formal channels appears to be used more than that obtained through informal channels. The authors also find that the frequency with which market intelligence is disseminated is related to interfunctional distance, joint customer visits, senders' positional power, a receiver's organizational commitment, and trust in a sender. Additionally they find the formality of the dissemination process is shaped by interfunctional distance, receivers' trust in senders, and structural flux. Interestingly, the effects of internal environmental volatility (i.e., structural flux) appear to be different from those of external environmental volatility(i.e., market dynamism). For example, structural flux is found to affect dissemination formality, but not frequency, whereas the opposite is true for market dynamism.
Understanding communication processes is the goal of most communication researchers. Rarely are we satisfied merely ascertaining whether messages have an effect on some outcome of focus in a specific context. Instead, we seek to understand how such effects come to be. What kinds of causal sequences does exposure to a message initiate? What are the causal pathways through which a message exerts its effect? And what role does communication play in the transmission of the effects of other variables over time and space? Numerous communication models attempt to describe the mechanism through which messages or other communication-related variables transmit their effects or intervene between two other variables in a causal model. The communication literature is replete with tests of such models. Over the years, methods used to test such process models have grown in sophistication. An example includes the rise of structural equation modeling (SEM), which allows investigators to examine how well a process model that links some focal variable X to some outcome Y through one or more intervening pathways fits the observed data. Yet frequently, the analytical choices communication researchers make when testing intervening variables models are out of step with advances made in the statistical methods literature. My goal here is to update the field on some of these new advances. While at it, I challenge some conventional wisdom and nudge the field toward a more modern way of thinking about the analysis of intervening variable effects.
This research addresses three questions: (1) Why are some organizations more market-oriented than others? (2) What effect does a market orientation have on employees and business performance? (3) Does the linkage between a market orientation and business performance depend on the environmental context? The findings from two national samples suggest that a market orientation is related to top management emphasis on the orientation, risk aversion of top managers, interdepartmental conflict and connectedness, centralization, and reward system orientation. Furthermore, the findings suggest that a market orientation is related to overall (judgmental) business performance (but not market share), employees' organizational commitment, and esprit de corps. Finally, the linkage between a market orientation and performance appears to be robust across environmental contexts that are characterized by varying degrees of market turbulence, competitive intensity, and technological turbulence.
Purpose
– Small to medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) constitute 90 percent of all enterprises in Iran. Thus they have an important role in the development of the country. SMEs need to utilise management systems, especially quality systems such as the ISO 9000 series, in their operations. The purpose of this paper is to address the following questions: to what extent do the performances of SMEs change before and after acquiring the ISO 9000 certification and how far do they differ from non‐ISO certified companies?
Design/methodology/approach
– The authors have studied a sample of SMEs, comprising those that have acquired the ISO 9000 certification after the end of September 2004 and were located in Greater Tehran. Based on the literature review, the authors designed the following methodology to survey the selected SMEs: they developed a questionnaire containing 27 questions relevant to advantages of acquiring ISO certification and sent the same to the selected SMEs; then analysed the responses and performed non‐parametric tests such as sign‐test and chi‐squared test; and they used Minitab and SPSS to analyse the data.
Findings
– Acquiring the ISO 9000 certification appeared to improve the performance of SMEs in the sample studied. In other words, SMEs have benefited from achieving the ISO 9000 certification.
Originality/value
– This paper will help the non‐ISO certified SMEs to consider investing in development and deployment of a suitable quality management system, preferably leading to certification under the ISO 9000 standard. It will also help the ISO‐certified SMEs to build on their success and move to apply a suitable performance assessment and improvement model such as the EFQM.
Corporate entrepreneurship (CE), which embodies a company’s innovation and venturing activities, is necessary in today’s competitive markets. CE is important for organizational renewal, the creation of new business, and improved performance. CE, however, requires strong and continued support from the company’s top executives. Data from 231 medium-size manufacturing companies show that commitment to CE is high when: (1) executives own stock in their company; (2) the board chair and the chief executive officer are different individuals; (3) the board is medium in size; and, (4) outside directors own stock in the company. The relationships between the ratio of outside directors and CE, and institutional ownership and CE, are mixed. CE is also positively associated with future company performance.
There appears to be widespread agreement that optimal new product development programs require a balance between customer-led and lead-the-customer innovation practices. The former is associated with adaptive learning inspired incremental innovation, whereas the latter is associated with generative-learning-inspired radical innovation. There is debate, however, as to whether a strong market orientation can facilitate this balance. Some believe that a strong market orientation causes firms to overemphasize customer-led incremental innovations. Others believe that a strong market orientation can facilitate this balance but assert that traditional measures of market orientation only capture the types of behaviors associated with customer-led incremental innovations. This latter concern has led some to abandon the single-construct operationalization of market orientation and to introduce two constructs—responsive and proactive market orientation—into the literature. The purpose of this research is to address these developments. The study makes use of a national sample of marketing executives and employs a cross-sectional survey design. Measures used are market orientation, radical and incremental innovation priority, generative and adaptive learning priority, and new product success. Confirmatory factor analyses and structural equations models are employed to develop measures and to test hypotheses. The study's results reaffirm the position that a strong market orientation helps facilitate a balance between incremental and radical innovation by shifting firms' innovation priority more toward radical innovation activities. It also suggests that the abandonment of traditional conceptualizations and measures of market orientation are premature.
Purpose
The purpose of this article is to analyze both the opportunity recognition and product development management processes not only among technology firms, but among non‐technology firms as well at two points in time, 1998 and 2003.
Design/methodology/approach
The current study included two data sets: a 1998 survey of technology‐based and non‐technology firms located in US incubators; and a new 2003 study of technology and non‐technology based firms in the Inland Northwest. All respondents indicated they considered themselves entrepreneurs.
Findings
Findings suggest that the opportunity recognition process changed between 1998 and 2003. Some of the authors' prior work suggested that the process, at least for technology‐based firms, had been similar between 1989 and 1998. Industry changes over time, perhaps different firm types, and insufficient data could be rational reasons for the changes. Thus, as far as the opportunity recognition process then, there is evidence that suggests that the process is different for manufacturing and non‐manufacturing firms.
Practical implications
The study of management and marketing processes should be performed by industry or business type over time. The researcher should consider that if the opportunity recognition or product development management processes reflect the changing nature of entrepreneurship over time, then characterizing those processes as constant models is inappropriate.
Originality/value
The overall results are consistent with other research studies and serve to further substantiate the use of single industry data. An “equation of state” for an opportunity recognition model or a product development management model is suggested by the empirical results reported on in the current paper as well as the diversity of other researchers' work.
The authors review the concept of organizational learning and present a broad conceptual framework for its modeling. Within
this framework, one specific process for market-based organizational learning is postulated. An empirical test of this model
leads the authors to conclude that a more positive learning orientation (a value-based construct) will directly result in
increased market information generation and dissemination (knowledge-based constructs), which, in turn, directly affects the
degree to which an organization makes changes in its marketing strategies (a behavioral construct). Managerial implications
are discussed.
In today’s hyper-competitive global economy corporate entrepreneurship (CE) has increasingly been recognized as a legitimate
path to high levels of organizational performance (Garvin, 2004; Garvin & Levesque, 2006; Morris et al., 2008). Researchers
have continually cited corporate entrepreneurship’s important potential as a growth strategy (Antoncic & Hisrich, 2001; Kuratko,
1993; Kuratko et al., 1993; Merrifield, 1993; Pinchott, 1985; Stopford & Baden-Fuller, 1994; Zahra, 1991; Zahra & Covin, 1995;
Zahra et al., 1999). The understanding of corporate entrepreneurship as a valid and effective area of research has real and
tangible benefits for emerging scholars, as their work will have significant impact on an important strategy. As an example,
Dess, Lumpkin, and McGee (1999) noted that, “Virtually all organizations—new start-ups, major corporations, and alliances
among global partners—are striving to exploit product-market opportunities through innovative and proactive behavior”—the
type of behavior that is called for by corporate entrepreneurship. Barringer and Bluedorn (1999) suggested that in light of
the dynamism and complexity of today’s environments, “… entrepreneurial attitudes and behaviors are necessary for firms of
all sizes to prosper and flourish.” Developing organizational environments that cultivate employees’ interest in and commitment
to innovation contribute to successful competition in today’s global economy. Ireland, Kuratko, and Morris (2006a, 2006b)
pointed out that to simultaneously develop and nurture today’s and tomorrow’s competitive advantages, advantages that are
grounded in innovation, firms increasingly rely on “corporate entrepreneurship.”
textlessptextgreaterThe literature reflects remarkably little effort to develop a framework for understanding the implementation of the marketing concept. The authors synthesize extant knowledge on the subject and provide a foundation for future research by clarifying the construct's domain, developing research propositions, and constructing an integrating framework that includes antecedents and consequences of a market orientation. They draw on the occasional writings on the subject over the last 35 years in the marketing literature, work in related disciplines, and 62 field interviews with managers in diverse functions and organizations. Managerial implications of this research are discussed.textless/ptextgreater
textlessptextgreaterMarketing academicians and practitioners have been observing for more than three decades that business performance is affected by market orientation, yet to date there has been no valid measure of a market orientation and hence no systematic analysis of its effect on a business's performance. The authors report the development of a valid measure of market orientation and analyze its effect on a business's profitability. Using a sample of 140 business units consisting of commodity products businesses and noncommodity businesses, they find a substantial positive effect of a market orientation on the profitability of both types of businesses.textless/ptextgreater
Contemporary organizations require a strong learning orientation to gain competitive advantage. Based on in-depth interviews with senior executives and a review of the literature, the present investigation delineates four components of learning orientation: commitment to learning, shared vision, open-mindedness, and intraorganizational knowledge sharing. A framework is tested using data from a broad spectrum of US industries. Learning orientation is conceptualized as a second-order construct. Its effect on firm innovativeness, which in turn affects firm performance, is examined. The results generally support theoretical predictions, and some interesting findings emerge.