Entrepreneurs’ behavioural competencies and social network for innovation generation

Objectives: The purpose of this research is twofold. First, it develops an original classification of the behavioral competencies for innovative entrepreneurs. Second, it aims to provide empirical evidence of the most frequently activated competencies and the related social networks mobilized by the entrepreneurs during the innovation process. Prior Work: Literature on entrepreneurial competencies is still scarce and fragmented, devoting more attention only to specific skills required to recognize business opportunities, to initiate and achieve challenging activities as well as to influence stakeholders’ actions within the business environment. Only recently research has focused its attention on the relevance of the competencies entrepreneurs require to promote and introduce innovation in their business. However, these studies consider only some cognitive and exploratory competencies such as experimenting, questioning and observing the environment. Moreover, literature on innovation has increasingly highlighted the relevance of external sources in promoting innovation outcomes, but few contributions have been devoted to the analysis of the structure of the entrepreneur’s social network mobilized during the different stages of the innovation process. Approach: We carried out an empirical study on a sample of Italian firms operating in different sectors that have demonstrated to be resilient to the economic crisis thanks to their innovative capacity. In order to collect data on the competency profiles and social networks of innovative entrepreneurs, we administrated a Behavioural Event Interview to our sample. The interviews were structured in order to examine specific events of innovation, and to detect - through thematic analysis - the competencies and networks that the entrepreneurs activated during the described episodes. Results: The paper provides a comprehensive repertoire of innovative entrepreneurs’ behavioural competencies. It is composed of six clusters that include: Awareness, Action Management, Social, Cognitive, Strategic and Exploratory competencies. Moreover, the results include the most frequent competencies and the representation of the network activated by the entrepreneurs during the generation and implementation of different types of innovation. Implications: Findings have implications in terms of designing educational programs for entrepreneurs to assess and enhance their innovative capacity. Furthermore, the analysis of the social network according to the types of nodes and the different stages of the innovation process in which they have been involved, allows to draw implications in terms of design of the social network. Value: This paper adds to the literature introducing an original and fine-grained classification of behavioural competencies for innovative entrepreneurs and on the structure of the social network for attaining innovative outcomes.