Title: Causes of heterogeneity in the entrepreneurial business modelling of small firms: a human capital perspective

Authors: Arash Najmaei

Addresses: Macquarie Graduate School of Management, 99 Talavera Road, North Ryde, Sydney, NSW 2113, Australia

Abstract: To enrich the literature on the determinants and mechanisms of entrepreneurial success this research examines the importance of entrepreneurial business modelling (EBM) as an emerging theme in the entrepreneurship literature and investigates the role of human capital (general and specific) in this phenomenon. Data from a sample of 222 Australian small manufacturing firms were analysed using a partial least squares (PLS) approach. Results show that variation in EBM accounts for variance in the firm growth. In addition, both general and specific human capital account for the adoption of EBM but to varying degrees. Specifically, technological knowledge of executives and their general managerial experience tend to facilitate the adoption of EBM whereas tenure and education seem to reduce the capacity of executives to pursue EBM. Finally, it was found that although market knowledge of executives is positively related to their tendency to pursue EBM but the effect is not significant. Implications of these findings for theory and practice were illuminated and few directions for future research were illustrated.

Keywords: entrepreneurial business modelling; EBM; business model innovation; BMI; human capital; partial least squares; PLS; heterogeneity; small firms; manufacturing industry; entrepreneurship; Australia.

DOI: 10.1504/IJESB.2015.067288

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, 2015 Vol.24 No.2, pp.233 - 248

Received: 07 Feb 2014
Accepted: 11 Aug 2014
Published online: 02 Feb 2015 *

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