دانلود رایگان مقاله وابستگی شبکه مدل واسطه مدون کسب دانش جهت گیری کارآفرینی

abstract

Opportunity recognition is one of the most important aspects of entrepreneurship. It is particularly crucial for new enterprises, as the identification of opportunities is an indispensable initial step for entrepreneurial activities. This study investigates the internal mechanism through which network reliance affects opportunity recognition. To reveal this internal mechanism, we propose a moderated mediation model of knowledge acquisition and entrepreneurial orientation. Using survey data from 278 startup managers in South Korea, hierarchical regression analysis and bootstrapping analysis are used to investigate mediation and moderation effects. The results show that knowledge acquisition positively mediates the relationship between network reliance and opportunity recognition. Moreover, entrepreneurial orientation negatively moderates not only the relationship between knowledge acquisition and opportunity recognition, but also the overall mediation model. This demonstrates that low entrepreneurial orientation individuals recognize opportunities better when they have accumulated enough business knowledge. Based on these findings, we conclude that opportunity recognition may be achieved more effectively through the complex process of networking, knowledge acquisition, and entrepreneurial orientation.

5. Discussion

The purpose of this study is to verify the mediation effect of knowledge acquisition between the entrepreneur's network reliance and opportunity recognition, and the moderation effect of entrepreneurial orientation. First, the current study reveals that reliance on social resources may be positively related to entrepreneurial activities through specific channels, while previous investigations have mainly identified its direct effect (Shepherd and DeTienne, 2005). The mediating role suggests that knowledge acquisition could be considered a key sensor to explain how network reliance motivates opportunity recognition. Concretely, entrepreneurs' perception of the knowledge obtained from social capital appears to be crucial in that it mediates the relationship between network reliance and opportunity recognition. By verifying this mediation effect, entrepreneurs' perception of knowledge acquisition turns out to be an important factor for opportunity recognition. Second, a moderation effect was confirmed. Entrepreneurs who believe that they could gain plentiful knowledge from the network recognize business opportunities better when their entrepreneurial orientation is low. The result of the moderated mediation effect has been shown to be similar, i.e., the mediation effect is stronger when entrepreneurial orientation is low. These outcomes show that the entrepreneur's perception of acquiring business-related knowledge is more important to those with low entrepreneurial orientation. We speculate that those with high entrepreneurial orientation are not easily dependent on knowledge or networking when making decisions. They are reasonably autonomous and prefer to leverage their own resources, including cognitive biases or heuristics, implying that those with high entrepreneurial orientation adhere to their values in lieu of networking or business information acquisition. This is consistent with previous studies claiming that in uncertain situations, which almost all entrepreneurs may face, some entrepreneurs tend to make decisions based on bias rather than rationality (Busenitz and Barney, 1997). Hence, the level of knowledge may not be very influential in opportunity recognition for those with high entrepreneurial orientation. In contrast, those with low entrepreneurial orientation appear to be heavily dependent on their perception of the amount of knowledge that they possess. This is because those with low entrepreneurial orientation try to lean from external factors rather than internal resources when pursuing entrepreneurial activities. Therefore, they may achieve better opportunity recognition when they believe themselves to have abundant knowledge.