Volume 15, Issue 3

This study examines the influence of managerial network communities (MNCs) on corporate collaborative innovation. Based on the sample of Chinese A-share listed firms, we demonstrate that embedding in dense MNCs benefits corporate collaborative innovation. This is associated with the information and knowledge exchange and trust establishment. Moreover, firms with managers occupying a position more at the core of MNCs benefit more than firms with peripheral members. In regions with high intellectual property rights protection, firms are more inclined to engage in collaborative innovation through MNCs. Mechanism tests show that cross-regional collaborative innovations benefit more from MNCs, and MNCs’ positive effect on collaborative innovation is more outspoken in regions characterized by low social trust. Our findings enrich the understanding of the managers’ social network from the meso-level network community perspective and provide managerial guidelines for more fully releasing MNCs’ positive role in facilitating corporate collaborative innovation.

To better understand the microfoundations of institutional entrepreneurship, we introduce entrepreneurial self-efficacy (ESE) as a mechanism to explain why some organizations engage in institutional entrepreneurship while others do not. Although it is clear that ESE is critical to understanding entrepreneurship, we lack an understanding of how ESE affects institutions. Drawing on novel survey data on Flemish work-integration social enterprises which are exposed to a significant policy reform, we find that organizations with CEOs who exhibit high ESE are more likely to engage in political tactics to actively shape their institutional environment, and that this effect is amplified for firms that have more resources, reputation and connections in the field. These findings provide a better understanding of the cognitive microfoundations of institutions, complement existing research on conditions enabling institutional entrepreneurship and provide guidance for practice.

While women entrepreneurship is slowly, but progressively, growing in high-technology industries, women still face considerable constraints in many dimensions of the entrepreneurial process. We theorize that these constraints are not related to women’s lack of capabilities and attitudes but rather to a perceived women’s lack of congruity with the entrepreneurial role. We propose that role congruity affects the relationship between the woman entrepreneur and internal stakeholders (e.g., employees), not only external ones, thereby dampening the entrepreneurial orientation of women-led firms. We suggest that women entrepreneurs address the perception of role incongruity by taking actions aimed at improving role congruity and reducing the importance of role-congruity assessment. The former type of action involves the adoption of an entrepreneurial bricolage strategic posture, while the latter involves support from entrepreneurial support organizations (ESOs). Through a regression analysis on a sample of 463 Italian firms, we find that entrepreneurial orientation is lower in women-led ventures and that the adoption of entrepreneurial bricolage behaviors reduces this gender-related penalty; however, we do not find any effect on the part of support from ESOs.

Migrant entrepreneurship is often discussed as a strategy for adapting to the host country, yet studies frequently overlook the nuanced relationship between higher levels of integration and entrepreneurial activities among individuals with migration backgrounds. This study challenges one-dimensional views of entrepreneurship and integration by analysing the lived experiences of individuals of Turkish descent in Germany. Using an autoethnographic approach, drawn from my work experience at a migrant-owned business, and 23 in-depth interviews with Turkish-origin entrepreneurs, the research investigates underexplored domain of migrant family businesses through the framework of mixed embeddedness theory. Empirically derived findings highlight the significance of upward social mobility, migrant agency, family embeddedness, and work flexibility as key motivations and recourses. These intersect with opportunity structures shaped by belonging, adaptation to local markets, market ghettoization and the rise of new migrant entrepreneurs. Additionally, self-employment decisions are influenced more by socio-economic integration and life objectives than by unemployment. This paper emphasizes the agency of individuals with migration backgrounds in navigating structural challenges. It also sheds light on labour and self-exploitation, and interactions among “Muslim” entrepreneurs, offering a nuanced perspective on migrant entrepreneurship.

In recent years, the entrepreneurial activities of tea farmers have experienced rapid development, driven by the rural revitalization strategy. In this study, the fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) method was employed to analyze the key factors and configurations influencing the entrepreneurial performance of tea farmers in the central and western regions of Hunan Province. The findings reveal that no single variable is necessary for either high or non-high entrepreneurial performance. High entrepreneurial performance is achieved through three distinct pathways: willingness-opportunity-driven, willingness-team-opportunity-driven, and team-opportunity-driven. Conversely, non-high entrepreneurial performance is associated with two unfavorable pathways: willingness-opportunity-resource inhibition and opportunity-resource inhibition. It is recommended that tea farmer entrepreneurs proactively enhance their opportunity identification abilities and actively align with national policies. Additionally, the government should formulate and implement talent attraction policies, ensure effective policy execution, create a supportive entrepreneurial environment for tea farmers, and establish relevant institutions to improve their knowledge and skills.

As qualitative empirical entrepreneurship research is increasingly gaining momentum, and newly emerging research streams are pushing commonly applied methods to their epistemological limits, such entrepreneurship studies often have issues regarding their rigour, because important onto-epistemological aspects, such as the positionality of the researcher in the research process, are not duly considered. At the same time, qualitative empirical entrepreneurship studies are highly popular, implying a high level of their relevance. This conceptual article discusses how scholars may perform relevant qualitative empirical entrepreneurship research rigorously by combining two methods. To this aim, the article discusses important methodological challenges and opportunities for qualitative empirical entrepreneurship research, in general, and, based upon both a discussion of the methods studied and a systematic literature review, compares the utility of the methods for the qualitative empirical toolbox, which widely applies the Gioia protocol. This comparison of methods, including the Gioia protocol, allows conclusions on increasing both the relevance and rigour of qualitative empirical entrepreneurship research.