The concept of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) is universally applicable, and many empirical studies report a positive relationship between EO and performance in different national contexts. Empirical research, however, scarcely addresses which country-level contingencies affect the EO-performance link. Building on two secondorder factors of societal culture-performance-based culture (PBC) and socially supportive culture (SSC)-the present study proposes and tests such a contingency framework. Using a data set of 1248 SMEs from seven national contexts, multilevel analyses show that PBC positively moderates the relationship between EO and performance, whereas SSC has no moderation effect.

Entrepreneurs are expected to profit from network relationships. Research addressing the link between entrepreneurs’ network characteristics and their performance, however, has so far produced inconclusive results. In an attempt to explain these inconsistencies, we investigate the resource returns connected to network size and relationship quality. Based on a sample of 379 nascent entrepreneurs, we find that increasing network size and relationship quality results in diminishing marginal returns in terms of access to financial capital, knowledge and information, and additional business contacts. Additionally, we observe that the returns vary strongly by resource type.

Whether, and to what extent, employees learn from their failure experiences remains an unresolved issue for practitioners and scholars alike. On the one hand, failure provides individuals with opportunities for learning, whereas on the other hand, failure can also trigger defensive reactions that stifle learning. The present study expands experiential learning theories by incorporating the social context, thus offering a more comprehensive understanding of employee learning from failure. Specifically, we propose that team contexts that are psychologically safe and exhibit a well-developed transactive memory system provide important socioemotional and informational resources, enabling individual employees to seize the learning opportunities inherent in failure. Analysis of archival data on individual failure and subsequent performance in the domain of workplace creativity from 218 employees working in 42 teams supports our hypotheses. Employees are more likely to learn from their failure experiences if they work in teams with medium-to-high levels of psychological safety. Under these conditions, individual learning from failure is further stimulated by a well-developed transactive memory system. Our results also demonstrate the behavioral pathway linking failure experiences to subsequent outcomes. Interview data from 28 employees further illustrate the processes underlying these findings.

Building on prior research, this study provides insights on the complex interaction between individual, organizational, and environmental factors in the field of new venture success. Specifically, we develop and test hypotheses on how venture size, institutional context, and their interaction moderate the effect of entrepreneurs' networking ability on the financial performance of new ventures. Based on a sample of 283 new ventures in Germany and Brazil—two countries that differ significantly in terms of their institutional frameworks—our analyses reveal moderating effects of venture size and the interaction between venture size and institutional environment.

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We hypothesize that entrepreneurs' networking ability—an individual‐level skill widely studied in career research—positively influences new ventures' financial performance. Additionally, we propose that this impact is mediated by new ventures' network characteristics and moderated by venture age. When testing our hypotheses based on a sample of 146 German entrepreneurs, we find them largely confirmed. Our results show a significant relationship between entrepreneurs' networking ability and their new ventures' financial performance, which is mediated by new ventures' network size and the strength of network relationships. Additionally, the relationships observed are salient for younger but not for more mature firms. Copyright © 2012 Strategic Management Society.