| China is the second largest economy after the United States,and it is the largest emerging economy,making it a fertile ground for entrepreneurship.China’s market economy offers entrepreneurs the opportunity to witness numerous business opportunities.However,Chinese entrepreneurs need to learn how to develop their businesses in an underdeveloped institutional environment that lacks supportive organizations and legal protections(Zheng,& Mai,2013).Thus,the increased complexity of the macro-level business environment makes studying the improvisational behavior of Chinese entrepreneurs provides an important emerging economy perspective for understanding firm-level outcomes.Startups strive to open up market space and grow,while also developing competitive advantages to survive(Caseiro and Coelho,2018).But not all startups survive.In fact,start-ups typically have a high failure rate.Within five years of creation,more than 90% of startups fail,and less than 10% succeed in surviving.Startups are always under a state of stress-partly due to resource constraints(Gopalkrishnan,2017).Of this mere 10% of startups,most entrepreneurs experience a near-death experience in the process(Marmer et al.,2011).Many startups fail early on,but the reasons why some survive while others do not are not clear(Stenholm and Renko,2016).What makes some entrepreneurs successful and achieve higher new venture performance,while others fail in their ventures? This study further advances this emerging research theme by addressing the following six questions:(1)Is entrepreneur`s improvisational behavior a significant factor influencing entrepreneurial performance?(2)How does entrepreneurial passion affect entrepreneur`s improvisational behavior?(3)What role does entrepreneurial passion play in entrepreneurial performance?(4)Does entrepreneur`s improvisational behavior mediate the relationship between entrepreneurial passion and entrepreneurial performance?(5)Can institutional support moderate the relationship between entrepreneur`s improvisational behavior and entrepreneurial performance?(6)Does cognitive flexibility play a moderating role in the relationship between entrepreneur`s improvisational behavior and entrepreneurial performance?Drawing on identity theory,effectuation logic theory,affective interpersonal dependence theory,and contingency theory,this study aims to explore the antecedents,outcomes,boundary conditions of entrepreneur`s improvisational behavior,and effects of entrepreneur`s improvisational behavior as a mediator between entrepreneurial passion and entrepreneurial performance.In this study,I explored the mechanistic modeltheoretical model of the relationship between entrepreneurial passion,entrepreneur`s improvisational behavior and entrepreneurial Performance,and provides insight into the mechanisms of entrepreneur`s improvisational behavior(creativity,extemporaneity,and persistence)on entrepreneurial performance during the creation and development of new ventures;the robust role of entrepreneurial passion(harmonious passion and Obsessive Passion)in driving entrepreneur`s improvisational behavior(creativity,extemporaneity and persistence);the role of entrepreneurial passion(harmonious passion and Obsessive Passion)in facilitating entrepreneurial performance.The effect of entrepreneurial improvisation in mediating the relationship between entrepreneurial passion and entrepreneurial performance.In addition,the moderating effects of cognitive flexibility and institutional support on entrepreneur`s improvisational behavior and entrepreneurial performance are analyzed.In this study,four high-tech new ventures were selected for a multi-case study.The aim is to verify the rationality of the theoretical model constructed in this study using qualitative case studies.Based on the case studies,the corresponding theoretical hypotheses are proposed in this paper.I investigated the relationship between entrepreneurial passion,entrepreneur`s improvisational behavior and entrepreneurial performance.228 start-ups(a total of 456samples)in three regions,Beijing,Tianjin,Hebei,Jiangsu,Zhejiang and Shanghai,and the Pearl River Delta,where entrepreneurial activities are more active,are selected as the data source for the empirical study.I utilized SPSS 23.0 and AMOS 23.0 software to conduct corresponding empirical analyses on the questionnaire data.These analyses included sample descriptive statistics,t-test,common method deviation analysis,analysis of covariance,Pearson correlation analysis,validation factor analysis,exploratory factor analysis,multiple regression analysis.Using empirical data from a sample of 456 entrepreneurs,I found that two sub-dimensions of entrepreneurial passion(harmonious passion and obsessive passion)were positively associated with each of the three sub-dimensions of entrepreneur`s improvisational behavior(creativity,extemporaneity,and persistence).This indicates that entrepreneurial passion is a strong antecedent variable of improvisational behavior.Each of the three sub-dimensions of entrepreneur`s improvisational behavior(creativity,extemporaneity,and persistence)is positively related to entrepreneurial performance.Each of the two sub-dimensions of entrepreneurial passion(harmonious passion and compulsive passion)is positively related to entrepreneurial performance.Using a multilevel regression analysis,I find that each of the three sub-dimensions of entrepreneur`s improvisational behavior partially mediates the relationship between entrepreneurial passion and entrepreneurial performance.In addition,I empirically tested the moderating effects of cognitive flexibility and institutional support on the relationship between entrepreneur`s improvisational behavior and entrepreneurial performance and draw the following conclusions.(1)Institutional support positively moderates the relationship between creativity and entrepreneurial performance.Institutional support positively moderates the relationship between extemporaneity and entrepreneurial performance.Institutional support positively moderates the relationship between persistence and entrepreneurial performance.(2)The hypothesis that cognitive flexibility positively moderates the relationship between creativity and entrepreneurial performance is supported by the data.The hypothesis that cognitive flexibility positively moderates the relationship between persistence and entrepreneurial performance is supported by the data.However,the hypothesis that cognitive flexibility positively moderates the relationship between extemporaneity and entrepreneurial performance was not supported by the data.Based on the shortcomings of the studies related to entrepreneur improvisational behavior and the studies of effectuation logical theory and identity theory,I focused on new ventures with the main purpose of revealing the mechanisms underlying the role of entrepreneur`s improvisational behavior and revealing the differential results of the role of entrepreneurial passion(harmonious passion and obsessive passion)on entrepreneur`s improvisational behavior based on a two-way drive perspective.In addition,I focused on the moderating effects of institutional support(institutional level)and cognitive flexibility(individual level)on both entrepreneur`s improvisational behavior and entrepreneurial performance.This study has certain theoretical contributions and innovations in three main areas.First,given that there is no research on entrepreneur`s improvisational behavior based on the two-way drive perspective of both internal and external drives,I explored the internal(harmonious passions)and external(obsessive passions)drivers of entrepreneur`s improvisational behavior based on identity theory and interpersonal dependency theory.I then considered both harmonious and obsessive passions and argues that entrepreneurs can actively and passively guide the entrepreneurial process through identity,affective interpersonal dependence,and self-determination,thus building an integrated mechanism of action from a two-way drive perspective(intrinsic and extrinsic motivation).Second,I explored the mechanistic model of the impact of entrepreneurial passion on entrepreneurial performance from a two-way driver perspective,propose the key role of improvisational behavior in the entrepreneurial process,and open entrepreneur`s improvisational behavior into three sub-dimensions(creativity,extemporaneity,and persistence)to explore the mediating role of creativity,extemporaneity,and persistence,respectively,in the relationship between entrepreneurial passion and entrepreneurial performance.Existing research has identified entrepreneurial passion as an important antecedent variable influencing entrepreneurial behavior;however,to the best of our knowledge,integration of this research has determined that the effect of entrepreneurial passion on entrepreneur`s improvisational behavior has not been studied.Some scholars argue that entrepreneurial passion is positively related to entrepreneurial performance;however,others argue that there is a negative relationship between the two;furthermore,some scholars argue that the relationship is not simply linear,but rather an inverted U-shaped relationship.The dissimilarity of the relationship between entrepreneurial passion and entrepreneurial performance has driven scholars to explore in depth the factors that influence the intrinsic relationship between the two.Existing research has identified entrepreneurial passion as an important antecedent variable influencing entrepreneurial behavior.However,to our knowledge,none of the existing studies have explored the potential mediating role of entrepreneur`s improvisational behavior in the relationship between entrepreneurial passion and entrepreneurial performance.If such a mediating role could be found,this would go a long way in explaining why the effect of entrepreneurial passion on entrepreneur`s improvisational behavior would have such a large impact on entrepreneurial performance.Third,despite the growing body of research on the impact of entrepreneur`s improvisational behavior on organizational outcomes,there is limited understanding of the institutional-level and individual-level boundary conditions that determine whether entrepreneur`s improvisational behavior is effective in driving the success of start-ups.I filled this theoretical gap by examining the moderating effects of institutional support and cognitive flexibility on the relationship between entrepreneur`s improvisational behavior and start-up firm performance.I exploreed the relationship between entrepreneur`s improvisational behavior and entrepreneurial performance by selecting institutional support and cognitive flexibility as moderating variables at the institutional level and the individual level,respectively.Given that there is no good or bad entrepreneurial improvisational behavior,but the heterogeneity of the findings on the relationship between entrepreneur`s improvisational behavior and entrepreneurial performance suggests that there are also some potential boundary condition factors that influence the above relationship.I incorporated institutional support and cognitive flexibility into the study to help clarify the boundaries of the role of entrepreneur`s improvisational behavior. |
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