Involvement in knowledge-acquisition activities by venture team members and venture performance

Entrepreneurship: Theory and Practice, May, 2009 by Gaylen N. Chandler, Douglas W. Lyon

Results

In this section of the article we report the results of our study. Table 2 reports the Pearson's correlations among all variables. The correlation between independent variables is relatively small (.40 or less). In a univariate sense, our vicarious/search-and-notice variable is more strongly correlated with venture performance (sales growth) than any of the other measures. Also of interest is the finding that level of education is significantly correlated with involvement in knowledge-acquisition activities. Hence, individuals with higher levels of education are more likely to be engaged in ongoing knowledge-acquisition activities. In addition, the number of team members added is significantly correlated with vicarious/search-and-notice knowledge-acquisition activities, yet not significantly correlated with venture performance.

Results of the regression analysis are displayed in Table 3. Our first hypothesis tested the relationship between two measures of congenital learning and venture performance. The control variables were entered in the first block, followed by the independent variables in the second block. Industry experience is significant in a positive direction. Education level is significantly correlated with venture performance in the correlation matrix, but that relationship disappears in the multivariate analysis due to some level of multicollinearity. However, the combined results provide support for our first hypothesis that congenital learning is related to venture performance.

Hypotheses 2 and 3 were also tested using regression. Participation in vicarious/ search-and-notice knowledge-acquisition activities is strongly and significantly related to venture performance, while grafting is not significant. This suggests that participation in vicarious and search-and-notice knowledge-acquisition activities does result in learning for the team, and that the learning is distributed, interpreted, and applied in the organization (Huber, 1991). In contrast, grafting team members either does not add knowledge, or alternatively, the knowledge acquired in such a manner is not distributed, interpreted, and applied effectively (Huber). Hence, hypothesis 2 is supported, but hypothesis 3 is not supported.

Our final group of hypotheses (hypotheses 4-7) specified that environmental dynamism would be a significant positive moderator of the relationship between knowledge-acquisition activities and venture performance. The control variables were first entered in a base model. In the second step we included the main variables, and the third step included the moderating variables. The results (also displayed in Table 3) indicate that task environment dynamism is a positive moderator of the relationship between (1) educational level and venture performance, (2) vicarious/search-and-notice knowledge-acquisition activities and venture performance, and (3) grafting and venture performance. Task environment dynamism does not moderate the relationship between experience and venture performance, thus providing support for hypotheses 4, 6, and 7, but not for hypothesis 5.