IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v14y2022i12p6961-d833340.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A Taxonomy of Social-Network-Utilization Strategies for Emerging High-Technology Firms

Author

Listed:
  • Carla Riverola

    (Department of Business Strategy and Innovation, Griffith University, Nathan 4111, Australia)

  • Ozgur Dedehayir

    (Faculty of Business and Law, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane 4000, Australia)

  • Francesc Miralles

    (Department of Management and Technology, Ramon Llull University, 08022 Barcelona, Spain)

Abstract

Lack of network transparency limits entrepreneurs’ effective utilization of their networks for resource acquisition. Virtual platforms (e.g., SNS-Social Networking Sites) have the potential to leverage entrepreneurial networks. The purpose of this study is to understand why and how technology-based entrepreneurs use social media to effectively access resources and, in turn, shed light on how they overcome network transparency in the early stages of their new venture formation process. Through in-depth interviews with the (co-) founders of 18 technology-based start-ups, this work reports a four-way taxonomy of strategic use of SNS. This research provides new theoretical insights for the technoentrepreneurship literature and reports practical insights for entrepreneurs on how to use social media effectively. Furthermore, this work is a guide for future research looking at digital literacy in entrepreneurship.

Suggested Citation

  • Carla Riverola & Ozgur Dedehayir & Francesc Miralles, 2022. "A Taxonomy of Social-Network-Utilization Strategies for Emerging High-Technology Firms," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-14, June.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:12:p:6961-:d:833340
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/12/6961/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/12/6961/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mack, Elizabeth A. & Marie-Pierre, Lisa & Redican, Kyle, 2017. "Entrepreneurs’ use of internet and social media applications," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(2), pages 120-139.
    2. Elia, Gianluca & Margherita, Alessandro & Passiante, Giuseppina, 2020. "Digital entrepreneurship ecosystem: How digital technologies and collective intelligence are reshaping the entrepreneurial process," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    3. Wilert Puriwat & Suchart Tripopsakul, 2021. "Explaining Social Media Adoption for a Business Purpose: An Application of the UTAUT Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-13, February.
    4. Penrose, Edith, 2009. "The Theory of the Growth of the Firm," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, edition 4, number 9780199573844.
    5. Shu, Rui & Ren, Shenggang & Zheng, Yi, 2018. "Building networks into discovery: The link between entrepreneur network capability and entrepreneurial opportunity discovery," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 197-208.
    6. Arent Greve & Janet W. Salaff, 2003. "Social Networks and Entrepreneurship," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 28(1), pages 1-22, January.
    7. Rippa, Pierluigi & Secundo, Giustina, 2019. "Digital academic entrepreneurship: The potential of digital technologies on academic entrepreneurship," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 900-911.
    8. Yang SONG, 2015. "From Offline Social Networks to Online Social Networks: Changes in Entrepreneurship," Informatica Economica, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 19(2), pages 120-133.
    9. Eighmey, John & McCord, Lola, 1998. "Adding Value in the Information Age: Uses and Gratifications of Sites on the World Wide Web," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 41(3), pages 187-194, March.
    10. Daniel Z. Levin & Jorge Walter & J. Keith Murnighan, 2011. "Dormant Ties: The Value Of Reconnecting," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 22(4), pages 923-939, August.
    11. Francesca Mariotti & Rick Delbridge, 2012. "Overcoming Network Overload and Redundancy in Interorganizational Networks: The Roles of Potential and Latent Ties," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 23(2), pages 511-528, April.
    12. Davidsson, Per & Honig, Benson, 2003. "The role of social and human capital among nascent entrepreneurs," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 18(3), pages 301-331, May.
    13. Diane M. Sullivan & Cameron M. Ford, 2014. "How Entrepreneurs use Networks to Address Changing Resource Requirements during Early Venture Development," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 38(3), pages 551-574, May.
    14. Kaplan, Andreas M. & Haenlein, Michael, 2010. "Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of Social Media," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 53(1), pages 59-68, January.
    15. Balagopal Vissa, 2012. "Agency in Action: Entrepreneurs' Networking Style and Initiation of Economic Exchange," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 23(2), pages 492-510, April.
    16. Scott Newbert & Erno Tornikoski, 2012. "Supporter networks and network growth: a contingency model of organizational emergence," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 39(1), pages 141-159, July.
    17. Joo Y. Park & Chang Soo Sung & Il Im, 2017. "Does Social Media Use Influence Entrepreneurial Opportunity? A Review of its Moderating Role," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(9), pages 1-16, September.
    18. Kietzmann, Jan H. & Hermkens, Kristopher & McCarthy, Ian P. & Silvestre, Bruno S., 2011. "Social media? Get serious! Understanding the functional building blocks of social media," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 54(3), pages 241-251, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Smith, Claudia & Smith, J. Brock & Shaw, Eleanor, 2017. "Embracing digital networks: Entrepreneurs' social capital online," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 18-34.
    2. Thommie Burström & Jussi Harri & Timothy. L. Wilson, 2018. "Nascent Entrepreneurs Managing in Networks: Equivocality, Multiplexity and Tie Formation," Journal of Enterprising Culture (JEC), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 26(01), pages 51-83, March.
    3. Shepherd, Dean A. & Sattari, Rose & Patzelt, Holger, 2022. "A social model of opportunity development: Building and engaging communities of inquiry," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 37(1).
    4. Yáñez-Valdés, Claudia & Guerrero, Maribel & Barros-Celume, Sebastián & Ibáñez, María J., 2023. "Winds of change due to global lockdowns: Refreshing digital social entrepreneurship research paradigm," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 190(C).
    5. Kim Klyver & Benson Honig & Paul Steffens, 2018. "Social support timing and persistence in nascent entrepreneurship: exploring when instrumental and emotional support is most effective," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 51(3), pages 709-734, October.
    6. Gundel, Hannah Franziska, 2024. "Accelerator impact on peer networking: Examining the formation, use, and development of inter-organizational networks among early-stage start-ups," Junior Management Science (JUMS), Junior Management Science e. V., vol. 9(3), pages 1700-1732.
    7. Alfonso Pellegrino & Masato Abe, 2023. "Leveraging Social Media for SMEs: Findings from a Bibliometric Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-15, April.
    8. Samuel Mayanja & Michael Omeke & Josue Vajeru Tibamwenda & Henry Mutebi & Fredrick Mufta, 2021. "The mediating role of the novelty ecosystem between personality traits, entrepreneurial networks and entrepreneurial ambidexterity among small and medium enterprises," Journal of Global Entrepreneurship Research, Springer;UNESCO Chair in Entrepreneurship, vol. 11(1), pages 379-395, December.
    9. Yang Song & Leo Paul Dana & Ron Berger, 2021. "The entrepreneurial process and online social networks: forecasting survival rate," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 56(3), pages 1171-1190, February.
    10. Pruthi, Sarika, 2014. "Social ties and venture creation by returnee entrepreneurs," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(6), pages 1139-1152.
    11. Soetanto, Danny, 2019. "Examining change in entrepreneurial networks: Using visualisation as an alternative approach," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 139-150.
    12. Ngai, Eric W.T. & Tao, Spencer S.C. & Moon, Karen K.L., 2015. "Social media research: Theories, constructs, and conceptual frameworks," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 33-44.
    13. Chatterjee, Sheshadri & Chaudhuri, Ranjan & Vrontis, Demetris & Thrassou, Alkis, 2022. "SME entrepreneurship and digitalization – the potentialities and moderating role of demographic factors," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).
    14. Honig, Benson & Hopp, Christian, 2019. "Learning orientations and learning dynamics: Understanding heterogeneous approaches and comparative success in nascent entrepreneurship," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 28-41.
    15. Katharina Scheidgen & Anna Brattström, 2023. "Berlin is Hotter Than Silicon Valley! How Networking Temperature Shapes Entrepreneurs’ Networking Across Social Contexts," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 47(6), pages 2233-2262, November.
    16. Stam, Wouter & Arzlanian, Souren & Elfring, Tom, 2014. "Social capital of entrepreneurs and small firm performance: A meta-analysis of contextual and methodological moderators," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 152-173.
    17. Thorsten Semrau & Christian Hopp, 2016. "Complementary or compensatory? A contingency perspective on how entrepreneurs’ human and social capital interact in shaping start-up progress," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 46(3), pages 407-423, March.
    18. Butticè, Vincenzo & Croce, Annalisa & Ughetto, Elisa, 2021. "Network dynamics in business angel group investment decisions," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    19. Salih Zeki Ozdemir & Peter Moran & Xing Zhong & Martin J. Bliemel, 2016. "Reaching and Acquiring Valuable Resources: The Entrepreneur's Use of Brokerage, Cohesion, and Embeddedness," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 40(1), pages 49-79, January.
    20. Smith, Andrew N. & Fischer, Eileen & Yongjian, Chen, 2012. "How Does Brand-related User-generated Content Differ across YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter?," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 26(2), pages 102-113.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:12:p:6961-:d:833340. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.