发布时间 : 星期四 文章A Model of strategic entrepreneurship-the construct and its dimensions更新完毕开始阅读4d5691fa4431b90d6d85c73d
R.D.Irelandetal./JournalofManagement200329(6)963–989967
Figure1.Amodelofstrategicentrepreneurship.
OurexaminationofSE’sdistinctivedimensionsunfoldsinfourmajorsections.First,wede?neanentrepreneurialmindsetanddescribeitskeycomponents—entrepreneurialopportunities,entrepreneurialalertness,realoptions,andanentrepreneurialframework.Second,weexamineentrepreneurialcultureandentrepreneurialleadershipasvitalaspectsofSE.Inthethirdmajorsection,wediscusshowmanagingorganizationalresourcesstrate-gicallyprovidesthefoundationforthe?rm’sopportunity-seekingandadvantage-seekingbehaviors.Groundedinresource-basedtheory,thestrategicmanagementofresourcesin-volvesacomprehensivesetofactions(i.e.,structuringtheresourceportfolio,bundlingresourcesintheportfoliointocapabilitiesandtheleveragingofmultiplecapabilities)neededtorecognizeopportunitiesandtodevelopcompetitiveadvantagestosuccessfullyexploitthem.Financialcapital,humancapital,andsocialcapitalarethemostimpor-tantresourcesinvolvedwitheffectiveresourcemanagement(Sirmon&Hitt,2003).Thefourthsectionisconcernedwithapplyingcreativityanddevelopinginnovation,whicharecriticaloutcomesofanentrepreneurialmindset,anentrepreneurialcultureanden-trepreneurialleadershippracticesaswellasthestrategicmanagementofthe?rm’sre-sources.DrawingfromSchumpeter’s(1934,1942)argumentsaswellrecentworkonbisociation(Smith&DiGregorio,2002),thissectionhighlightsthevalueofcreativityandinnovationtoopportunity-andadvantage-seekingbehaviors.Thepapercloseswithconclusionsanddiscussionsofresearchquestionsandmanagerialimplicationsthataresuggestedbythepaper’sarguments.AmodelofSEasexplainedhereinispresentedinFigure1.
EntrepreneurialMindset
AnentrepreneurialmindsetisrequiredtosuccessfullyengageinSE.InMcGrathandMacMillan’s(2000:xv)words,“Thesuccessfulfuturestrategistswillexploitanen-trepreneurialmindset,meldingthebestofwhatoldermodelshavetotelluswiththeabilitytorapidlysense,act,andmobilize,evenunderhighlyuncertainconditions.”Anentrepreneurialmindsetisbothanindividualisticandcollectivephenomenon;thatis,anentrepreneurialmindsetisimportanttoindividualentrepreneursaswellastomanagersandemployeesinestablished?rmstothinkandactentrepreneurially(Covin&Slevin,2002).
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McGrathandMacMillan(2000)viewanentrepreneurialmindsetasawayofthinkingaboutbusinessthatfocusesonandcapturesthebene?tsofuncertainty.Uncertaintyisaperceptualphenomenonderivedfromaninabilitytoassignprobabilitiestofutureevents,largelybecauseofalackofinformationaboutcause/effectrelationships(Hoskisson&Busenitz,2002).Riskandambiguityarepartoforganizationaluncertainty(Priem,Love&Shaffer,2002).Organizationscapableofsuccessfullydealingwithuncertaintytendtooutperformthoseunabletodoso(Brorstrom,2002).Thus,anentrepreneurialmindsetcancontributetoacompetitiveadvantage(Miles,Heppard,Miles&Snow,2000)andisnecessaryforcreatingwealth.
Basedonearlierwork,wede?neanentrepreneurialmindsetasagrowth-orientedperspec-tivethroughwhichindividualspromote?exibility,creativity,continuousinnovation,andrenewal.Inotherwords,evenunderthecloakofuncertainty,theentrepreneuriallymindedcanidentifyandexploitnewopportunitiesbecausetheyhavecognitiveabilitiesthatallowthemtoimpartmeaningtoambiguousandfragmentedsituations(Alvarez&Barney,2002).Evidencesuggeststhatanentrepreneurialmindsetmaysupportthegrowthofanentireecon-omy(e.g.,Sweden’seconomy)aswellasthegrowthofindividual?rms(Jury,1999).TheComponentsofanEntrepreneurialMindset
Recognizingentrepreneurialopportunities.Recognizingentrepreneurialopportunitiesisakeywealth-creationactivityandisacommonoutcomeofanentrepreneurialmindset.Entrepreneurialopportunitiesarefoundinmarketsinwhichnewgoods,services,rawmate-rials,andorganizingmethodscanbeintroducedandsoldatapriceexceedingthecostoftheirproduction(Casson,1982;Shane&Venkataraman,2000).Informationasymmetriesinthemarketplaceoftenprovideentrepreneurialopportunities.Asymmetricalinformationstockssuggestthatopportunitiesaren’tequallyrecognizabletoeveryone(Hayek,1945).Indeed,onlyasubsetofanypopulationwillrecognizeagivenentrepreneurialopportunity(Kirzner,1973;Shane&Venkataraman,2000).Changingdemographics,socialchange,theemer-genceofnewmarketsegmentsandchangesingovernmentalregulationsrepresentconditionsthatmaycreateentrepreneurialopportunities(Morris,1998).Inthebroadestsense,en-trepreneurialopportunitiesexistbecauseofinformationasymmetriesthroughwhichdiffer-entactorsdevelopseparatebeliefsregardingtherelativevalueofresourcesaswellasthepo-tentialfuturevalueofthoseresourcesfollowingtheirtransformationfrominputsintooutputs(Alvarez&Barney,2002;Kirzner,1973;Schumpeter,1934;Shane&Venkataraman,2000).Entrepreneurialalertness.Kirzner(1997)viewedentrepreneurialalertnessas“?ashesofsuperiorinsight”(Alvarez&Barney,2002).Thosewiththeabilitytoidentifywhennewgoodsorservicesbecomefeasibleorwhenexistinggoodsorservicesbecomeunexpect-edlyvaluabletoconsumerspossessentrepreneurialalertness.Thelureofcreatingwealthbypursuingentrepreneurialopportunitiesstimulatesentrepreneurialalertness(Hitt&Ireland,2000).The?ashofsuperiorinsightresultingfromentrepreneurialalertnessinformsthepur-suitofentrepreneurialopportunitiesaswellasstimulatesdevelopmentofanentrepreneurialcultureandentrepreneurialleadershipina?rm.Inslightlydifferentwords,entrepreneurs’insightsin?uencethesearchformarketsinwhichtheinsightcanbeappliedthroughnewgoodsornewservices.
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Thosewithkeenentrepreneurialalertnessdemonstrateastrongentrepreneurialmind-set.McGrathandMacMillan(2000)labelsuchpeoplehabitualentrepreneurs.Focusingonopportunity-seekingbehavior,butwithanorientationtoengageinadvantage-seekingbehaviortosuccessfullyexploitidenti?edopportunities,habitualentrepreneurssharesev-eralcharacteristics,including:(1)thepassionatepursuitofentrepreneurialopportunities—habitualentrepreneursconstantlyseekwaystopro?tfromdisruptionstothecurrentcon-ductofbusiness;(2)thedisciplinedpursuitofthemostpromisingopportunities—habitualentrepreneursmaintainaninventoryofentrepreneurialopportunitiesandpursuethemonlywhentheycanbeeffectivelymatchedwithcompetitiveadvantages;(3)aconsis-tentfocusonexecution—habitualentrepreneurscarefullyanalyzeentrepreneu-rialopportunitiesbutmovequicklytodevelopcompetitiveadvantagestoexploitthemratherthanoveranalyzingindividualopportunities;and(4)acommitmenttoengageev-eryoneinidentifyingandpursuingentrepreneurialopportunities(McGrath&MacMillan,2000).
Realoptionslogic.Thoughtofcommonlyintermsof?nancialassets,anoptionistheright,butnottheobligation,tobuyorsellaparticularassetatapredeterminedpriceonapredetermineddate.Realoptionsentailthesameconditionsas?nancialoptionsbutarewrittenintermsof“real”assets(c.f.thehuman,organizational,andphysicalcapitalthe?rmusestoselectandimplementitsstrategies)ratherthan?nancialassets(Barney,2002).Realoptionslogic,whichenhancesstrategic?exibility(Mosakowski,2002),helps?rmsandentrepreneursdealwiththeuncertaintiesassociatedwithidentifyingandpursuingentrepreneurialopportunities(Hoskisson&Busenitz,2002;McGrath,1999).
Insomeinstances,?rmsusingrealoptionslogicmaylimittheirinitialinvestmentinaninitiativebasedonanentrepreneurialopportunity.Asarealoption,thelimitedinvestmentyieldsinformationsuggestingthepotentialwealthcreationoffurtherinvestmentintheidenti?edopportunity.Thus,the?rmcanbemorecon?dentinitsallocationdecisionstopursueornottopursueanopportunity.Inaninstancewheretheuncertaintyassociatedwithaninitialinvestmentislowormoderate,the?rmmayallocateamoresigni?cantamountofresources.Themostsuccessful?rmsdevelopadynamicportfolioofentrepreneurialopportunities(options),allocatingtheirresourcesinawaythatbalancestherisksandreturnsgeneratedbytheoptions.Successfuluseofanoptionsapproachminimizesthewasteofresourceswhileincreasingthelikelihoodthatthe?rmconcentratesonitsmostvaluableentrepreneurialopportunities.
Entrepreneurialframework.Thewealth-creatingpotentialofanentrepreneurialmind-setincreaseswhenitisappliedwithinthecontextofanentrepreneurialframework.Anentrepreneurialframeworkincludesactionssuchassettinggoals,establishinganopportu-nityregister,anddeterminingthetimingassociatedwithlaunchingthestrategyrequiredtoexploitanentrepreneurialopportunity.Theentrepreneurialframeworkshouldbecon-sistentlyusedacrossprojectsandtimetoensurecommontreatmentasthe?rmevaluatesalternativesforresourceallocations.Thewealth-creatinggoalstobepursuedbyusinganentrepreneurialmindsetaremorethanincrementalinnature.Theframingofexpectedout-comesallowspartiestounderstandtheprocessandoutcomegoalstheyshouldstrivetoachievewhenpursuingentrepreneurialopportunities.
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Anopportunityregisteriswherethe?rmrecordsentrepreneurialopportunities(McGrath&MacMillan,2000).Fromastrategic-oradvantage-seekingbehaviorperspective,oppor-tunitiescanbepursuedonlywhenthe?rmhasthecapabilitiesrequiredtodoso(DeCarolis,2003).Placingallopportunitiesintoaregistermakesthemvisibletomultipleparties,someofwhomalreadypossessthecapabilitiesneededtopursuethem.Thus,opportunitiesiden-ti?edbythoseinonepartofthe?rmcanbeexploitedbythoseworkinginotherdivisionsorunitsinwhichtheopportunitiesmaybemorevaluable.
Finally,anentrepreneurialframeworkincludesanorientationtotheappropriatetimingtoexploitentrepreneurialopportunities(Miller&Folta,2002).Forexample,?rmsfollowingaprospectorstrategy(Miles&Snow,1978)arefocusedonassessingandusingentrepreneurialopportunitiestoactquicklywhilea?rmfollowingadefenderstrategyismoreconcernedabouttheprecisetimingofexploitinganentrepreneurialopportunity.Thus,prospectorsuseentrepreneurialopportunitiesasapathwaytobecome?rstmovers.Incontrast,defend-ersaremorelikelytomatchtheiridiosyncratic,uniquecapabilitiestoanentrepreneurialopportunitytobesecondmovers,commonlyenteringamarketafter?rstmovers’actionsdemonstrateamarket’sviability.
EntrepreneurialCultureandEntrepreneurialLeadership
EntrepreneurialCulture
Organizationalcultureisasystemofsharedvalues(i.e.,whatisimportant)andbeliefs(i.e.,howthingswork)thatshapethe?rm’sstructuralarrangementsanditsmembers’actionstoproducebehavioralnorms(i.e.,thewayworkiscompletedintheorganization)(Dess&Picken,1999).Moreformally,culturehasbeende?nedbysixproperties:“(1)sharedbasicassumptionsthatare(2)invented,discovered,ordevelopedbyagivengroupasit(3)learnstocopewithitsproblemofexternaladaptationandinternalintegrationinwaysthat(4)haveworkedwellenoughtobeconsideredvalid,and,therefore,(5)canbetaughttonewmembersofthegroupasthe(6)correctwaytoperceive,think,andfeelinrelationtothoseproblems”(Schein,1985,asadaptedbyWeick&Sutcliffe,2001:121).Thus,the?rm’scultureaffectsorganizationalmembers’expectationsofeachotheraswellastheirexpectationsofinteractionswithstakeholdersoutsidethe?rm’sboundaries(e.g.,suppliersandcustomers).Asaguide,culturein?uencesthecognitiveframeworkthataffectshoworganizationalmembersperceiveissuesaswellashowtheyviewtheir?rm’scompetitivelandscape(Johnson,2002).
Aneffectiveentrepreneurialcultureischaracterizedbymultipleexpectationsandfacili-tates?rms’effortstomanageresourcesstrategically.Committedtothesimultaneousimpor-tanceofopportunity-seekingandadvantage-seekingbehaviors,aneffectiveentrepreneurialcultureisoneinwhichnewideasandcreativityareexpected,risktakingisencouraged,failureistolerated,learningispromoted,product,processandadministrativeinnovationsarechampioned,andcontinuouschangeisviewedasaconveyorofopportunities.Thus,anentrepreneurialculturefostersandsupportsthecontinuoussearchforentrepreneurialopportunitiesthatcanbeexploitedwithsustainablecompetitiveadvantages(McGrath&MacMillan,2000).Anentrepreneurialculturedevelopsinanorganizationwheretheleaders