IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/entthe/v36y2012i2p387-414.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Determinants of Corporate Entrepreneurial Intention within Small and Newly Established Firms

Author

Listed:
  • Riccardo Fini
  • Rosa Grimaldi
  • Gian Luca Marzocchi
  • Maurizio Sobrero

Abstract

In this article, we study the determinants of corporate entrepreneurial intention (CEI) within small and newly established firms. Given that in these ventures, entrepreneurial activities usually occur as a result of individuals’ behaviors, the CEI of their founders is key to explaining these companies’ ability to become engaged in entrepreneurial actions. Building on the theory of planned behavior, we conceptualize how individual characteristics and contextual variables influence CEI. Our theoretical model of the micro–foundation of CEI is tested on a sample of 200 entrepreneurs, founders of 133 new technology–based firms. Results show that CEI is influenced by situationally specific motivation, individual skills, and perceived environmental dynamism. Managerial implications are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Riccardo Fini & Rosa Grimaldi & Gian Luca Marzocchi & Maurizio Sobrero, 2012. "The Determinants of Corporate Entrepreneurial Intention within Small and Newly Established Firms," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 36(2), pages 387-414, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:entthe:v:36:y:2012:i:2:p:387-414
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-6520.2010.00411.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1111/j.1540-6520.2010.00411.x
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.1540-6520.2010.00411.x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Phan, Phillip H. & Wright, Mike & Ucbasaran, Deniz & Tan, Wee-Liang, 2009. "Corporate entrepreneurship: Current research and future directions," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 24(3), pages 197-205, May.
    2. Niosi, Jorge & Bas, Tomas G, 2001. "The Competencies of Regions--Canada's Clusters in Biotechnology," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 17(1-2), pages 31-42, Aug.-Sept.
    3. Danny Miller & Peter H. Friesen, 1982. "Innovation in conservative and entrepreneurial firms: Two models of strategic momentum," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 3(1), pages 1-25, January.
    4. Ajzen, Icek, 1991. "The theory of planned behavior," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 179-211, December.
    5. J. Robert Baum & Stefan Wally, 2003. "Strategic decision speed and firm performance," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(11), pages 1107-1129, November.
    6. Anil K. Gupta & Vijay Govindarajan, 2000. "Knowledge flows within multinational corporations," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(4), pages 473-496, April.
    7. Daily, Catherine M. & Dalton, Dan R., 1992. "The relationship between governance structure and corporate performance in entrepreneurial firms," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 7(5), pages 375-386, September.
    8. Shaker A. Zahra & Igor Filatotchev, 2004. "Governance of the Entrepreneurial Threshold Firm: A Knowledge‐based Perspective," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(5), pages 885-897, July.
    9. Mian, Sarfraz A., 1996. "Assessing value-added contributions of university technology business incubators to tenant firms," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 25(3), pages 325-335, May.
    10. Warren Boeker & Robert Wiltbank, 2005. "New Venture Evolution and Managerial Capabilities," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 16(2), pages 123-133, April.
    11. Michael Lubatkin & Zeki Simsek & Yan Ling & John F. Veiga, 2006. "Ambidexterity and Performance in Small-to Medium-Sized Firms : The Pivotal Role of Top Management Team Behavioral Integration," Post-Print hal-02311781, HAL.
    12. Lerner, Josh, 1999. "The Government as Venture Capitalist: The Long-Run Impact of the SBIR Program," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 72(3), pages 285-318, July.
    13. Chen, Chao C. & Greene, Patricia Gene & Crick, Ann, 1998. "Does entrepreneurial self-efficacy distinguish entrepreneurs from managers?," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 13(4), pages 295-316, July.
    14. Vincent Mangematin & Stéphane Lemarié & Jean-Pierre Boissin & David Catherine & Frédéric Corolleur & Roger Coronini & Michel Trommetter, 2003. "Development of SMEs and heterogeneity of trajectories: the case of biotechnology in France," Post-Print hal-00422563, HAL.
    15. Autio, E., 1997. "New, technology-based firms in innovation networks symplectic and generative impacts," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 26(3), pages 263-281, October.
    16. Riccardo Fini & Rosa Grimaldi & Maurizio Sobrero, 2009. "Factors fostering academics to start up new ventures: an assessment of Italian founders’ incentives," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 34(4), pages 380-402, August.
    17. John M. Stopford & Charles W. F. Baden‐Fuller, 1994. "Creating corporate entrepreneurship," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(7), pages 521-536, September.
    18. Mangematin, Vincent & Lemarie, Stephane & Boissin, Jean-Pierre & Catherine, David & Corolleur, Frederic & Coronini, Roger & Trommetter, Michel, 2003. "Development of SMEs and heterogeneity of trajectories: the case of biotechnology in France," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(4), pages 621-638, April.
    19. Bagozzi, Richard P. & Baumgartner, Johann & Yi, Youjae, 1989. "An investigation into the role of intentions as mediators of the attitude-behavior relationship," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 10(1), pages 35-62, March.
    20. Beise, Marian & Stahl, Harald, 1999. "Public research and industrial innovations in Germany," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 28(4), pages 397-422, April.
    21. Zahra, Shaker A. & Filatotchev, Igor & Wright, Mike, 2009. "How do threshold firms sustain corporate entrepreneurship? The role of boards and absorptive capacity," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 24(3), pages 248-260, May.
    22. Danny Miller, 1983. "The Correlates of Entrepreneurship in Three Types of Firms," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 29(7), pages 770-791, July.
    23. Johan Wiklund & DEAN Shepherd, 2003. "Knowledge‐based resources, entrepreneurial orientation, and the performance of small and medium‐sized businesses," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(13), pages 1307-1314, December.
    24. Witt, Ulrich, 2000. "Changing Cognitive Frames--Changing Organizational Forms: An Entrepreneurial Theory of Organizational Development," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 9(4), pages 733-755, December.
    25. Der Foo, Maw & Kam Wong, Poh & Ong, Andy, 2005. "Do others think you have a viable business idea? Team diversity and judges' evaluation of ideas in a business plan competition," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 20(3), pages 385-402, May.
    26. Peter Abell & Teppo Felin & Nicolai Foss, 2008. "Building micro-foundations for the routines, capabilities, and performance links," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(6), pages 489-502.
    27. Evans, David S & Leighton, Linda S, 1989. "Some Empirical Aspects of Entrepreneurship," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 79(3), pages 519-535, June.
    28. Norris F. Krueger Jr., 2000. "The Cognitive Infrastructure of Opportunity Emergence," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 24(3), pages 5-24, April.
    29. KruegerJR, Norris F. & Reilly, Michael D. & Carsrud, Alan L., 2000. "Competing models of entrepreneurial intentions," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 15(5-6), pages 411-432.
    30. Danny Miller, 1987. "The structural and environmental correlates of business strategy," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 8(1), pages 55-76, January.
    31. Jeffrey G. Covin & Dennis P. Slevin, 1989. "Strategic management of small firms in hostile and benign environments," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 10(1), pages 75-87, January.
    32. Souitaris, Vangelis & Zerbinati, Stefania & Al-Laham, Andreas, 2007. "Do entrepreneurship programmes raise entrepreneurial intention of science and engineering students? The effect of learning, inspiration and resources," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 22(4), pages 566-591, July.
    33. Zahra, Shaker A. & Covin, Jeffrey G., 1995. "Contextual influences on the corporate entrepreneurship-performance relationship: A longitudinal analysis," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 10(1), pages 43-58, January.
    34. Lars Kolvereid, 1996. "Prediction of Employment Status Choice Intentions," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 21(1), pages 47-58, October.
    35. Robert A. Burgelman, 1983. "Corporate Entrepreneurship and Strategic Management: Insights from a Process Study," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 29(12), pages 1349-1364, December.
    36. Lockett, Andy & Siegel, Donald & Wright, Mike & Ensley, Michael D., 2005. "The creation of spin-off firms at public research institutions: Managerial and policy implications," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(7), pages 981-993, September.
    37. Wendy C. Handler, 1990. "Succession in Family Firms: A Mutual Role Adjustment between Entrepreneur and Next-generation Family Members," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 15(1), pages 37-52, October.
    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. Erik Lundmark & Anna Krzeminska & Dean A. Shepherd, 2019. "Images of Entrepreneurship: Exploring Root Metaphors and Expanding Upon Them," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 43(1), pages 138-170, January.
    2. Jeffery S. McMullen & Katrina M. Brownell & Joel Adams, 2021. "What Makes an Entrepreneurship Study Entrepreneurial? Toward A Unified Theory of Entrepreneurial Agency," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 45(5), pages 1197-1238, September.
    3. Maria Glinyanova & Ricarda B. Bouncken & Victor Tiberius & Antonio C. Cuenca Ballester, 2021. "Five decades of corporate entrepreneurship research: measuring and mapping the field," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 17(4), pages 1731-1757, December.
    4. Lennart Burger & Ivana Blažková, 2020. "Internal Determinants Promoting Corporate Entrepreneurship in Established Organizations: A Systematic Literature Review," Central European Business Review, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2020(2), pages 19-45.
    5. Shirokova, Galina & Osiyevskyy, Oleksiy & Bogatyreva, Karina, 2016. "Exploring the intention–behavior link in student entrepreneurship: Moderating effects of individual and environmental characteristics," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 386-399.
    6. Zellweger, Thomas & Sieger, Philipp & Halter, Frank, 2011. "Should I stay or should I go? Career choice intentions of students with family business background," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 26(5), pages 521-536, September.
    7. Maria de Lurdes Calisto & Soumodip Sarkar, 2017. "Innovation and corporate entrepreneurship in service businesses," Service Business, Springer;Pan-Pacific Business Association, vol. 11(3), pages 581-600, September.
    8. Mitja Ruzzier & Evan J. Douglas & Maja Konečnik Ruzzier & Jana Hojnik, 2020. "International Entrepreneurial Orientation and the Intention to Internationalize," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(14), pages 1-19, July.
    9. Patrick M. Kreiser, 2011. "Entrepreneurial Orientation and Organizational Learning: The Impact of Network Range and Network Closure," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 35(5), pages 1025-1050, September.
    10. Christopher Schlaegel & Michael Koenig, 2014. "Determinants of Entrepreneurial Intent: A Meta–Analytic Test and Integration of Competing Models," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 38(2), pages 291-332, March.
    11. William Wales & Erik Monsen & Alexander McKelvie, 2011. "The Organizational Pervasiveness of Entrepreneurial Orientation," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 35(5), pages 895-923, September.
    12. Lee, Lena & Wong, Poh Kam & Foo, Maw Der & Leung, Aegean, 2011. "Entrepreneurial intentions: The influence of organizational and individual factors," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 26(1), pages 124-136, January.
    13. Gümüsay, Ali Aslan & Bohné, Thomas Marc, 2018. "Individual and organizational inhibitors to the development of entrepreneurial competencies in universities," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(2), pages 363-378.
    14. Palmer, Carolin & Niemand, Thomas & Stöckmann, Christoph & Kraus, Sascha & Kailer, Norbert, 2019. "The interplay of entrepreneurial orientation and psychological traits in explaining firm performance," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 183-194.
    15. Tobias Kollmann & Christoph Stöckmann, 2014. "Filling the Entrepreneurial Orientation–Performance Gap: The Mediating Effects of Exploratory and Exploitative Innovations," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 38(5), pages 1001-1026, September.
    16. Heinrichs, Simon & Walter, Sascha, 2013. "Who Becomes an Entrepreneur? A 30-Years-Review of Individual-Level Research and an Agenda for Future Research," EconStor Preprints 68590, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    17. Andreas Rauch & Johan Wiklund & G.T. Lumpkin & Michael Frese, 2009. "Entrepreneurial Orientation and Business Performance: An Assessment of past Research and Suggestions for the Future," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 33(3), pages 761-787, May.
    18. Anca-Otilia Dodescu & Elena-Aurelia Botezat & Alexandru Constăngioară & Ioana-Crina Pop-Cohuţ, 2021. "A Partial Least-Square Mediation Analysis of the Contribution of Cross-Campus Entrepreneurship Education to Students’ Entrepreneurial Intentions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-26, August.
    19. Rajib Roy & Fatima Akhtar & Niladri Das, 2017. "Entrepreneurial intention among science & technology students in India: extending the theory of planned behavior," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 13(4), pages 1013-1041, December.
    20. Maresch, Daniela & Harms, Rainer & Kailer, Norbert & Wimmer-Wurm, Birgit, 2016. "The impact of entrepreneurship education on the entrepreneurial intention of students in science and engineering versus business studies university programs," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 172-179.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:sae:entthe:v:36:y:2012:i:2:p:387-414. 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: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    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.