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Social Capital and Innovative Performance in Networks: The Journey of Romanian SaaS Entrepreneurs

  • Anca Maria Clipa ORCID logo EMAIL logo , Iuliana M. Chițac ORCID logo , Cătălin Ioan Clipa ORCID logo and Nelu Florea ORCID logo
Published/Copyright: July 28, 2023

Abstract

Entrepreneurship is increasingly acknowledged as a critical economic and growth driver. As a result, practitioners’ and scholars’ inquiry into the link between the entrepreneurial social network and its pursuit of innovation have gained momentum in developed economies. However, it remains scarce in the context of emergent economies. Drawing upon social network theory, this qualitative study explores this knowledge gap by examining how Romanian software as a service (SaaS) entrepreneurs enable innovative performance by using social capital in national and international entrepreneurial networks. This qualitative interpretative study relies on the experiences and practices shared by 24 Romanian SaaS entrepreneurs interviewed to expand our understanding of how these entrepreneurs use social capital-driven networks to achieve innovative performance in international markets. Feeling unsupported by a weak institutional entrepreneurial context, Romanian SaaS entrepreneurs build their international entrepreneurial journeys and achieve innovative performance extensively by relying on social capital-driven networks. This paper contributes to the emergent economies stream on entrepreneurship literature and regional entrepreneurship policies. These findings show that motivated to overcome the challenges of a weak institutional context and pursue their entrepreneurial path, these Romanian SaaS entrepreneurs’ international presence and innovative performance are relational manifestations of bonding and bridging social capital-based networks.


Corresponding author: Anca Maria Clipa, Management, Marketing and Business Administration Department, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, University Alexandru Ioan Cuza of Iași, Carol I Bd. nr. 22, Iași, 700505, Romania, E-mail:

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank all the SaaS and SSBS entrepreneurs who are part of our ongoing research journey on entrepreneurship as practice and innovation. We are extremely grateful for the generous support from Distinguished Professor Alistair Anderson and we honour his memory, having had the privilege of his direct guidance. We gratefully acknowledge the reviewers’ support, and we are also truly indebted to Professor Miruna Radu Lefebvre for her constant guidance in the research process. We owe special appreciation to Professor Mathew Hughes that provided us with very constructive feedback that allowed us to resubmit our work.

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Received: 2021-08-25
Accepted: 2023-07-08
Published Online: 2023-07-28

© 2023 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Competitive Research Articles
  3. Impact of Entrepreneurial Orientation on MSME Performance: Mediating Role of Entrepreneurial Competency
  4. The Development of Corporate Entrepreneurship among Emerging Economy SMEs: Insights from Both Institutional and Contingency Theory
  5. The Dynamic Capabilities of High-Turbulent Markets: Indonesian Start-Up Cases During COVID-19 Pandemic
  6. Entrepreneurship, Resource Rents and Institutions
  7. The Scaling Strategies and the Scaling Performance of Chinese Social Enterprises: The Moderating Role of Organizational Resources
  8. Research on Corporate Entrepreneurship in Developing Countries: A Review and Agenda for Future Directions
  9. The Impact of Initial Intellectual Property Decisions of Start-Ups on Innovation Performance
  10. Social Capital and Innovative Performance in Networks: The Journey of Romanian SaaS Entrepreneurs
  11. Gender Differences in the use of Social Capital for Entrepreneurial Activity Within Contexts of Poverty
  12. Commitment Helps: The Positive Effects of Long-Term Orientation and Family Ownership on Firms’ International Expansion
  13. Institutional Environment, Executive Equity Incentive, and Enterprise Innovation: The Case of China
  14. Determinants of Entrepreneurial Employee Activity in Saudi Arabia
  15. How Does Entrepreneurial Role Model Connect to Entrepreneurial Perceptions: The Moderating Role of Psychological Distance
  16. The Influence of Top Management’s Strategic Planning Capacity and Entrepreneurial Orientation on Corporate Entrepreneurship
  17. Innovation Ambidexterity and Firm Performance: The Moderating Effects of Contextual Factors
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