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Regulatory focus, environmental turbulence, and entrepreneur improvisation

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Abstract

Improvisation is increasingly recognized as a critical strategy used by entrepreneurs for effectively dealing with unexpected events. Nevertheless, limited effort has been exerted in the investigation of the antecedents of entrepreneur improvisation. This study proposes and analyzes regulatory focus as an important antecedent of entrepreneur improvisation, and examines the moderating role of environmental turbulence in this relationship. Data are obtained from a two-wave survey of 99 entrepreneurs in the largest economic area in China. Empirical results indicate that promotion focus (but not prevention focus) is significantly related to entrepreneur improvisation. Furthermore, environmental turbulence significantly moderates the relationship between prevention focus and entrepreneur improvisation. These findings advance the understanding of entrepreneur improvisation and regulatory focus theory, and provide practical implications for entrepreneurs, investors and boards of directors.

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Notes

  1. According to the common practice (e.g., Farmer et al. (2011)), the current study measured Chinese entrepreneurs’ educational attainment with four levels: master’s degree, bachelor’s degree, associate’s degree (i.e., three-year colledge), and high school education.

  2. Based on the SME criteria made by Chinese National Bureau of Statistic (NBS), we classified the assets of respondent firms as five levels.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Management, University of Science and Technology of China, 96 Jinzhai Road, Hefei, Anhui, People’s Republic of China

    Lingyu Hu, Jibao Gu & Jianlin Wu

  2. Logistics and e-Commerce College, Zhejiang Wanli University, Ningbo, Zhejiang, China

    Lingyu Hu

  3. School of Business, Clarkson University, 8 Clarkson Street, P.O. Box 5790, Potsdam, NY, 13699, USA

    Augustine A. Lado

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  1. Lingyu Hu
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  2. Jibao Gu
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  4. Augustine A. Lado
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Correspondence to Jianlin Wu.

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Natural Science Foundation of Anhui Province (No.:1708085MG174, PI: Professor Jibao Gu).

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Hu, L., Gu, J., Wu, J. et al. Regulatory focus, environmental turbulence, and entrepreneur improvisation. Int Entrep Manag J 14, 129–148 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11365-017-0446-7

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