Entrepreneurial orientation (EO), market orientation (MO) and network ties are typically modeled as separate antecedents of performance. However, the boundary conditions for such models are ...under-explored, as is their applicability to developing economy settings. Accordingly, drawing on institutional and social capital theories, the current paper argues that the performance benefits of EO and MO are complementary, and vary across different levels of social and business network ties. Using primary data gathered from entrepreneurial firms operating in Ghana, the study findings indicate that aligning high levels of EO and MO improves business performance, and particularly so when social and business network ties are well developed, since under these latter conditions, the performance benefits of aligning EO and MO are greatest.
•A strategy that aligns high levels of EO and MO supports business success.•Strong social and business ties facilitate performance benefits of the alignment.•Managers earn greater rewards from EO and MO activities by leveraging network ties.
▶ Our findings indicate that in family SMEs, intermediary network ties are a more important source of international opportunity recognition than they are in other types of firm. These intermediary ...network ties are most often mediated by international trade exhibitions. Interestingly, informal ties with family members do not generally help in the international opportunity recognition of family SMEs. In this regard, we observe a contrast with the knowledge-intensive SMEs where existing network ties had a more significant role in their international opportunity recognition. ▶ It seems that in family SMEs, international opportunities are more often recognized through weak ties than is the case in other types of firm. Furthermore, in family SMEs, more time resources are dedicated to the rapid development of new weak ties into strong ties than is the case in other types of firm. ▶ In family SMEs, foreign market selection is more related to reactiveness and less to proactive opportunity-seeking with a particular foreign market in mind. The rather low level of activeness towards a certain market can also be explained by the fact that family entrepreneurs trust their feelings about the rightness of a certain tie.
The importance of network ties is emphasized in the current literature on opportunity recognition. However, it is unclear how firms with limited bridging networks, such as family SMEs, recognize international opportunities through their network ties. In this case study we found that in gaining foreign market entry, those family SMEs that lack existing network ties recognize opportunities through weak ties formed in international exhibitions. The findings also indicate that rather than being proactive, family SMEs respond reactively to opportunities that emerge coincidentally. The trustfulness of the tie is important when they consider these opportunities and form new ties for internationalization. The nature of the cooperator appears to be more important than the target country. From these findings we develop five propositions that are intended to lead to further studies on this topic.
This study examines the association among relationship types, their strength, and contribution behavior in reward crowdfunding. We analyzed data on 568 relational dyads between fundraisers and ...backers from successful campaigns on KarolinaFund. We collected data from fundraisers and classified the relations they had with backers before the campaign, and their strength. Our findings show that pre-existing relations contribute to a greater extent than previously unknown backers. Among backers with whom relations exist prior to the campaigns, those that have stronger relations with the fundraiser make higher contributions. Strength of relations negatively moderates the association between purely private relations and contribution extent, and positively moderates the association between professional relations and contribution extent. When comparing sub-samples of early and late contributors, we find that private relations contribute to a significantly greater extent at earlier stages, and professional relations contribute to a significant lesser extent in later stages.
Despite the prevalence and value of self-managed teams, questions remain about the factors that influence how team members perform in contexts where there is no formal leader to give advice and ...provide support. Drawing on social network, diversity and personality theories, this study enhances our understanding of the role of individual and group factors in shaping individuals' performance in these teams. Based on three time-lagged data collections, including two surveys from 70 self-managed project teams, we found that conscientious team members perform better because they have more instrumental network ties (i.e., they provide task advice). We also found that having more expressive ties (i.e., being liked) compensates when a team member is not able to give advice, most likely because s/he provides more socio-emotional support to team members. Finally, expressive ties are more important in gender homogenous teams, possibly because socio-emotional support has greater value when from similar team mates.
•We study how network ties moderate Chinese SMEs’ IE-internationalization links.•We explain the boundary conditions of the moderating effects of network ties.•We found political ties more important ...in non-SOEs’ IE-internationalization links.•We found business ties more important in SOEs’ IE-internationalization links.
The paper first investigates how Chinese small-to-medium enterprises’ (SMEs) network ties at home moderate the relationships between different international entrepreneurship (IE) characteristics and the degree of internationalization of the firm. The paper further explores how the Chinese SMEs’ ownership arrangement might explain the boundary conditions of the proposed moderating effects of network ties on the relationship between IE characteristics and internationalization. Findings of our empirical study generally support the hypotheses derived from our theoretical framework. The paper offers new insights into the internationalization of Chinese SMEs by ascertaining the differential contingent value of business versus political ties in the relationship between IE characteristics and internationalization and explores the bounds of our findings in terms of the ownership arrangement unique to the Chinese context.
Using nationally representative data from the 2017 China Migrants Dynamic Survey, this study investigated the mediating role of place attachment and the moderating role of spatial pattern in the ...association between local network ties and urban settlement intentions among rural-to-urban migrants. We found that local ties were positively associated with urban settlement intention measured by permanent settlement intention (PSI) and place attachment served as a mediating mechanism of this relationship. Results from the moderated path analysis showed that spatial pattern of migration positively moderated the linkage between local ties and PSI, indicating that beneficial role of local ties in urban settlement was more pronounced for inter-provincial migrants than for intra-provincial migrants. This study enhances our understanding of the association between social ties and migrant settlement, elucidating the conditions under which these effects are more pronounced in the context of internal migration. We thus call for a more targeted policy design aimed at integrating rural-to-urban migrants into local communities and eliminating the welfare gaps between migrants and local residents through appropriate intervention measures.
•This study explored the linkage between local ties and urban settlement intentions.•Local ties were positively associated with permanent settlement intention (PSI).•Place attachment served as a mediating mechanism.•The positive association between local ties and PSI was more pronounced for inter-provincial migrants.•Local ties ranked second, following the impact of college education.
While the international entrepreneurship literature suggests that international entrepreneurial orientation (IEO) is a critical strategic posture that can enhance the speed of internationalisation, ...the drivers pertaining to entrepreneurial aspiration in the international entrepreneurship context remains underexplored. Using the theory of planned behaviour, this study explored how IEO arising from international entrepreneurial aspiration triggers the speed of internationalisation of entrepreneurial ventures in an emerging economy – Ghana. Based on a moderated mediation model, this study posits that international political network ties moderates the positive link between IEO and internationalisation speed and strengthens the positive indirect effect between international entrepreneurial aspiration and the speed of internationalisation. Results from a sample of 229 entrepreneurial ventures supported our hypotheses. Theoretical and practical implications, as well as the limitations and future research directions are discussed.
Using a longitudinal dataset of research collaborations over 15 years at Stanford University, we build a theory of intraorganizational task relationships that distinguishes the different factors ...associated with the formation and persistence of network ties. We highlight six factors: shared organizational foci, shared traits and interests, tie advantages from popularity, tie reinforcement from third parties, tie strength and multiplexity, and the instrumental returns from the products of ties. Findings suggest that ties form when unfamiliar people identify desirable and matching traits in potential partners. By contrast, ties persist when familiar people reflect on the quality of their relationship and shared experiences. The former calls for shallow, short-term strategies for assessing a broad array of potential ties; the latter calls for long-term strategies and substantive assessments of a relationship's worth so as to draw extended rewards from the association. This suggests that organizational activities geared toward sustaining persistent intraorganizational task relationships need to be different from activities aimed at forging new ones.
Rooted in neoclassical economics, network effects research has revolved around size, arguing that the more users a network has, the more valuable that network will be to each user. I argue that a ...network's structure (feasibility of transactions, centrality of members, structural holes, network ties, the number of roles each member plays) and its conduct (opportunistic behavior, reputation signaling, perceptions of trust) also have significant impacts on a network's value to users and to network providers. Network research that neglects structure and conduct and focuses only on size can lead to wrong strategies or a misleading research agenda.
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