| Entrepreneurs usually build networks to gain support from internal members and external stakeholders,when they set up and operate a new venture.According to the differences of network types,they can be divided into instrumental networks and expressive networks.In practice,especially in the Chinese context,entrepreneurs tend to build expressive networks and regard them as superior to instrumental networks.But many entrepreneurs who devote themselves to building expressive networks can not ultimately make their organization growth.So,a question that needs to be explored is,what kind of network should entrepreneurs choose to build in order to improve the performance of start-ups? More specifically,if instrumental and expressive networks both have their own advantages,and there is no absolute substitution,under what situation should entrepreneurs choose to build instrumental or expressive networks internal employees and external stakeholders in order to get higher new venture performance towards? Solving these problems will help entrepreneurs to better allocate the time and energy for network building and maximize the organization-level benefits of network building.Previous scholars have explored the network attributes and networking behavior of new ventures and their impact on new venture performance extensively,and initially formed a contingency view on entrepreneurial network effects.However,these studies focus more on network structure attributes such as size,density,intensity,position,and less on the content attributes of the network,that is,whether the network is used as a tool for information transmission,resource flow or an emotional use for expressive connection and sustenance.In addition,although previous studies have initially confirmed that entrepreneurs adopt different networking strategies for different purposes,there is still a lack of in-depth recognition of the mechanism and contingency factors of the impact of instrumental and expressive networks on the new venture performance when entrepreneurs face different actors(such as internal employees and external stakeholders).Therefore,exploring the contingency relationship between instrumental and expressive networks building by entrepreneurstowards internal employees and external stakeholders of new ventures and the performance of new ventures,as well as the differences and mechanisms of the use of instrumental and expressive networking strategies in different stages of the development of new ventures,will be a research direction with great theoretical significance.This paper focuses on the types and target people of network ties,trying to explain a core research problem-how the network connection of entrepreneurs affect the performance of start-ups.Based on the questionnaire survey and data collection of528 start-ups in 44 business incubators in 11 cities of ZheJiang Province,this study constructs a systematic and complex contingency model of relationship of entrepreneurs' network and new venture performance;based on the analysis of four cases,this paper elaborates the networking strategy selection of start-ups for internal employees and external stakeholders,and the mechanisms of this strategy selection,as well as the dynamic change process basing on new ventures development cycle.The conclusions of this study are as follows: Firstly,both instrumental and expressive network of entrepreneurs towards internal employees and external stakeholders have significant positive effects on new venture performance.In the context of new ventures,this positive impact will not weaken with the increase of the number of linkages.Both instrumental and expressive ties can help entrepreneurs to obtain business opportunities,resources,knowledge,legitimacy and promote entrepreneurial learning from external stakeholders.Therefore,the mechanism of effect between these two network types are similar,but the path of effect are different The effect of instrumental network ties is based on the principle of mutual benefit,while the role of emotional network ties is more based on the principle of private emotion,which is reflected in the contingency of external institutional factors.Secondly,the relationship between entrepreneurs' network ties towards internal employees and external stakeholders and new venture performance are contingency,and this conditional dependence will be different based on the type of network linkages-instrumental and expressive network ties.Specifically,to the internal ties,the regional and professional similarities between entrepreneurs and employees who have ties with entrepreneurs can help to improve the positive effect of instrumentalnetwork ties on the new venture performance.The organizational procedure fairness climate can help to improve the positive effect of expressive network ties on new venture performance,while regional similarities can reduce the effect of expressive network ties on the new venture performance.To the external ties,the level of science park which new ventures locate helps to improve the positive effect of instrumental network ties on new venture performance,while the strength of the regional institutional environment will weaken the positive effect of expressive network ties on new venture performance.Thirdly,the differences between the three stages of the development of new ventures,i.e.initial,adolescence and growth,will make the entrepreneurs make different choices in the networking strategies of instrumental and expressive networks,which will change the three network characteristics of entrepreneurs: centrality,extensiveness and compactness,and finally contribute to difference performance.Specifically,in the initial stage,entrepreneurs tend to adopt the strategy of expressive networking strategy towards both internal employees and external stakeholders,so as to obtain some key resources and information,which can improve their centrality in the network position and increase the tightness of the ties,finally improve performance;in the adolescence stage,entrepreneurs tend to adopt a combination strategy which dominant by expressive networking strategy in order to further consolidate the network centrality,strengthen the relationship tightness and properly increase the relationship tightness,and finally achieve higher performance;in the growth stage,entrepreneurs tend to adopt the combination strategy with the construction strategy which dominant by instrumental networking strategy and supportive by expressive networking strategy,to increase the breadth of the relationship to obtain information and cooperation possibilities,finally achieving higher performance.The theoretical contributions of this paper are as follows: Firstly,by distinguishing the instrumental and expressive network ties between entrepreneurs and internal employees and external stakeholders,and examining the differential influence mechanism of the two types of network ties from the perspective of integration of resources and emotions,this paper can deepen the understanding of therelationship between network and organizational performance in the context of entrepreneurship,and provides a possible explanation about the paradox relationship between network and organizational performance;secondly,this paper examines the differences between the types of network ties established between entrepreneurs and internal employees and external stakeholders and the performance of start-ups under the influence of a series of contingency factors,which reveals the key mechanism of instrumental and expressive network ties to the performance promotion effect of start-ups;thirdly,this paper proposes a matching model of instrumental and expressive networking strategies in the development cycle of new ventures,which reveals the dynamic selection mechanism of networking strategies of new ventures based on organizational life cycle.The conclusion of this study provides practical implications for entrepreneurs to choose networking strategies when they are facing internal employees and external stakeholders in different situations. |
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