An Operationalization of Stevenson's Conceptualization of Entrepreneurship as Opportunity-based Firm BehaviorAbstract Stevenson (1983) holds that entrepreneurial management, defined as a set of opportunity-based management practices, can help firms remain vital and contribute to firm and societal level value creation. While his conceptualization has received much attention, little progress has been made because of a lack of empirical tools to examine his propositions. This article seeks to resolve this by describing a new instrument that was developed specifically for operationalizing Stevenson's conceptualization. After two pre-tests, the instrument was tested full scale on a very large (1200+ cases) stratified random sample of firms with different size, governance structure, and industry affiliation. The results show that both in the full sample and in various sub-samples it was possible to identify six sub-dimensions with high discriminant validity and moderate to high reliability, which represent dimensions of Stevenson's theoretical reasoning. We label these Strategic Orientation, Resource Orientation, Management Structure, Reward Philosophy, Growth Orientation and Entrepreneurial Culture. We were further able to show that these dimensions only partly overlap with 'Entrepreneurial Orientation', the hitherto best established empirical instrument for assessing a firm's degree of entrepreneurship. Our instrument should open up opportunities for researchers to further evaluate entrepreneurship in existing firms.2
Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the influence that adopting open innovation (OI) has on the innovativeness and performance of specialized small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This paper also examines the adoption of OI within a firmâ\u80\u99s practices and models, and within the three dimensions of firm sustainability. Design/methodology/approach: Survey data from 48 specialized SMEs manufacturing supercars were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling. SmartPLS software was used to conduct a path analysis and test the proposed framework. Findings: The findings suggest that high adoption of OI models tends to increase firm innovativeness. Similarly, the adoption of OI practices has a positive effect on innovativeness but to a lesser extent than OI models. The moderation results of innovativeness further show that OI models and practices can benefit the performance of SMEs. Specifically, two dimensions of performance â\u80\u93 environmental and social performance â\u80\u93 were found to be greatly influenced by OI. Research limitations/implications: Due to parsimony in the investigated model, this study only focuses on OI adoption as practices and models without considering its drivers or other contingency factors. Practical implications: This paper could help practitioners in SMEs better understand the benefits of adopting OI to be more innovative but also more sustainable. Originality/value: This study contributes to the literature on the role of OI practices and models regarding the dimensions of firm sustainability performance by being the first paper to investigate this relationship in the context of small and medium manufacturers of supercars
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