An Empirical Study Of The Construct Of E-commerce Venturing Stress And Its Effect On Entrepreneurial Performance

In new economy times, networks economy is becoming the core of economic operation. Reviewing the previous literatures, it was found that there were very limited empirical studies on e-commerce venturing. And most existing researches were simply and separately made in advantages and disadvantages of ventures provided by developing e-commerce pattern. So, on the base of combining the literatures of e-commerce, entrepreneurship and occupational stress, four relative sub-studies were conducted on the antecedent variable, the construct, the evolvement, and its effect on entrepreneurial performance of the E-commerce Venturing Stress (EVS).In study I, EVS in twelve typical e-commerce entrepreneurial firms under different entrepreneurial stages, industries and business patterns were investigated and summarized via semi-structured interview with entrepreneurs and their employees. The result indicated that e-commerce venturing had three main characters: virtual operation, technical, and distributed. Generally, EVS came from four sources: intra-individual, extra-individual, intra-organization, and extra-organization. And great differences may exist among different people or firms on the four aspects. Above-mentioned results established a preparatory construct framework for following studies.In study II, the construct of e-commerce venturing characters and stresses were defined and validated in e-commerce entrepreneurial firms. Based on the literatures and interviews, special questionnaire was developed, and delivered to entrepreneurs and their employees in e-commerce entrepreneurial firms in two different samples. The 152 returned questionnaires were valid. The analyses of exploratory factor and confirmatory factor revealed that EVS had four dimensions: e-market competition stress (ECS), e-system management stress (EMS), e-work adaptation stress (EAS), and e-entrepreneurial role stress (ERS). Some individual and organizational characters would affect above four dimensions. At last, e-commerce venturing characters were confirmed to be the antecedent variable of EVS by a structural equation model.In study III, the evolvement of EVS in different entrepreneurial stages were investigated, based on EVS questionnaires validated in the study II, and scales of type A behavior, locus of control, and organizational support used in previous studies. By means of a quasi-experimentation design for field settings, three e-commerce entrepreneurial firms in startup stage, growth stage, and expansion stage wererandomly selected in the most three popular industries of application service provider (ASP), Internet content provider (ICP), and Internet service provider (ISP) separately. The 123 returned questionnaires were valid. Multivariate analysis of covariance was carried on while type A behavior, locus of control, and organizational support were under controlled. The results indicated that there were great differences among different e-commerce entrepreneurial stages at three dimensions of EVS except for the ERS dimension. Meanwhile, ECS was at the lowest level in the startup stage, at the middle level in the growth stage, and at the highest level in the expansion stage. EMS and EAS were at the highest level in the startup stage, at the middle level in the growth stage, and at the lowest level in the expansion stage.In study IV, the relationship between EVS and entrepreneurial performance was investigated, and functioning mechanism of EVS was validated, based on EVS questionnaires validated in the study II, scales of social network, and stress coping strategies used in previous studies. The sample of 168 valid cases gotten from 46 e-commerce entrepreneurial firms in the cities of China where e-commerce ventures were relative active focused on mediator variables, moderator variables, and direct effect of EVS. The results indicated that all the dimensions of EVS had a negative correlation with the entrepreneurial growth performance. ECS, EMS, and EAS also had a negative correlation with the entrepreneurial survival performance, but ERS had a posi...