Entrepreneurial Search, Innovation, and Initiative: The Stage, Network, and Level Analysis

Abstract

Drawing on the lean startup model, network theory, institutional theory, learning theory, and symbiosis view, this dissertation examines three important issues of entrepreneurship. This dissertation consists of three essays, each focusing on one specific aspect of entrepreneurship, namely: stage, network, and subsidiary initiative. Based on the lean startup model, the first essay focuses on the development processes of startups and the dominant cognition an entrepreneur might use at each stage. The second essay proposes an appropriateness perspective to examine the optimal configuration of network characteristics, learning experience, and legal environment that is most conducive to innovation performance. The third essay focuses on the relationship between informal institutional distance and subsidiary initiatives, investigating how the trust between headquarters and subsidiary mediates the relationship and how communication effectiveness moderates such relationship. As a whole, these three essays address important questions of entrepreneurship at different levels.