The Transform Mechanism of New Ventures’ Entrepreneurial Capability among Different Levels: A Case Study Based on the High-Tech Industry

Abstract

Entrepreneurial capability plays a crucial role in the entrepreneurial activities of new ventures. From the preparation of creation, the beginning to the growth stage of new ventures, they all need entrepreneurial capability to support the entrepreneurial activities. The transformation of entrepreneurial capability from the individual level to the organizational level is of great significance. Therefore, it is necessary to transform the individual entrepreneurial capability into the organizational level and make it into impersonal entrepreneurial capability, which is owned by the enterprise, for example, transferring the individual entrepreneurial capability to organizational systems, rules, regulations and company cultures. Only with such a transfer, can new ventures become less dependent on the individual entrepreneurial capability. This will help to promote the whole level of entrepreneurial capability and entrepreneurial success for new ventures. This paper selects three information technology companies as research objects and collects date mainly from secondary date, semi-structured interviews and archives. Through the multi-case study method, this paper reveals the transform mechanism of entrepreneurial capability among different levels, and further reveals the evolution process of entrepreneurial activities in new ventures. First, the research finds that the concept of entrepreneurial capability at the individual level and the team/organizational level are consistent, and the connotation includes three dimensions, which are opportunity-related capability, resource-related capability and integration capability. Second, the single-case analysis shows that entrepreneurial capability on different levels plays different roles in the transformation process. Third, the cross-case analysis shows that entrepreneurial capability can be transformed dynamically among individuals, teams and organizations mainly through knowledge transformation. Specifically, new ventures can transfer at different levels mainly through interpersonal communication, coding and institutionalization, which reveals the internal mechanism how entrepreneurial capability can provide sustained motivation for new ventures. The contributions of this study include the following aspects. First, previous studies define entrepreneurial capability from different perspectives and levels, resulting in controversial conclusions; while this study explores the essential connotation of multilevel entrepreneurial capability, and unifies the different point of views understanding entrepreneurial capability. Second, previous studies only focus on the concept of entrepreneurial capability and its influence factors statically; while this study not only reveals the specific entrepreneurial capability required by new ventures at each stage, but also reveals where this capability come from and how it can be transformed among the individual level, team level and organizational level. Third, previous studies only explore the relationship between entrepreneurial capability and corporate performance on superficial, but neglect the internal influencing mechanism between them; while this study explores how new ventures maintain sustained competitive advantages. New ventures, especially high-tech enterprises facing rapidly changing markets, tend to generate short-term competitive advantages. Therefore, this study explores how entrepreneurial capability can be transformed among different levels to help new ventures gain sustained competition advantages. Although this study has drawn some meaningful conclusions, there are still many problems to be further explored in the future. First, we need to make a comparative study of how to transform entrepreneurial capability among persons with different positions. Second, this study only analyzes the transformation of entrepreneurial capability with a general application of the knowledge transfer mechanism, but does not deeply compare the differences between tacit knowledge and explicit knowledge in the process of transfer. This needs further exploration in the future. Third, in order to reveal the transformation process of entrepreneurial capability, we need to interview two more new ventures to make a comparative analysis.