Ciência-IUL
Publications
Publication Detailed Description
Another post-heroic view on entrepreneurship: the role of employees in networking the start-up process
Journal Title
British Journal of Management
Year (definitive publication)
2018
Language
English
Country
United States of America
More Information
Web of Science®
Scopus
Google Scholar
Abstract
Moving beyond the present post-heroic perspective known from leadership and entrepreneurship research that emphasizes the importance of external context, we shift the focus from the entrepreneurial luminary and his or her core team to the entrepreneurial firm as an organization with employees. This organizational view captures the vital role of employees, in particular for deepening the external relationships of the firm. Towards this end, the authors investigate how three antecedents increase the organizational innovativeness of start-ups: (i) the external relationships of the start-up; (ii) the initiation and maintenance of such relationships through networking by entrepreneurs and employees; and (iii) the differentiation of hierarchical levels in this process. A survey-based study drawing from the data of 96 entrepreneurs and 228 employees in start-ups is conducted. To analyse the data, the authors tested the conditional indirect effects through a multilevel moderated mediation analysis. According to the results, interorganizational relationships (IORs) are particularly effective for entrepreneurial innovativeness if networking practices are pursued at the employee level. The collective involvement of employees in fact has a mediation effect compared with the individual efforts developed by the entrepreneur. These findings advance the post-heroic perspective by emphasizing the distinctive role of employees in the utilization of IORs.
Acknowledgements
--
Keywords
Fields of Science and Technology Classification
- Economics and Business - Social Sciences
Funding Records
Funding Reference | Funding Entity |
---|---|
UID/GES/00315/2013 | Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia |
Contributions to the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations
With the objective to increase the research activity directed towards the achievement of the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, the possibility of associating scientific publications with the Sustainable Development Goals is now available in Ciência-IUL. These are the Sustainable Development Goals identified by the author(s) for this publication. For more detailed information on the Sustainable Development Goals, click here.