Organizational learning, entrepreneurial opportunity recognition, and innovation performance in high technology firms in Taiwan.

摘要

Recently, scholars have acknowledged the importance of exploring the linkage between organizational learning (OL), entrepreneurship, especially entrepreneurial opportunity recognition (EOR) and innovation performance. Literature has suggested that OL, one of the strategic human resource development (HRD) learning paradigms and its processes and subprocesses within an organization, contribute important insights for articulating EOR. Despite the increased emphasis on these two constructs, little empirical research has been conducted on them and their relationships and linkages to innovation performance. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the antecedents of and the relationships between OL, EOR, and innovation performance at two levels, including individual-level and firm-level innovation performance.;A quantitative survey design approach was used as the research method for data collection. Initially, the researcher conducted two pre-pilot informal meetings to obtain feedback on two cross-cultural survey instruments developed from preexisting measures drawn from the literature. A pilot study was conducted to examine the psychometric properties of the measures. The main study was conducted at the entire population of high technology firms in one science park in Taiwan. A total of 83 firms (response rate 30.29%) participated in this study. A total of 268 senior R&D project team members (response rate 64.58%) formed the research sample along with 83 R&D managers who evaluated their employees' innovative behaviors.;The results indicated that both OL and EOR were significant to both individual-level and firm-level innovation performance. In addition, OL contributed more than EOR to individual-level innovation performance. In contrast, EOR contributed more than OL to firm-level innovation performance. Regarding the antecedents of EOR, self-efficacy, prior knowledge, social networks, and perception about the industrial environment on opportunities, were significant to EOR. Moreover, perception about the industrial environment on opportunities variable was the most important predictor among all the four antecedents of EOR. The antecedent of OL, perception of external environment, was significant to OL. As expected, the results of this study demonstrated that OL mediated the relationship between EOR and innovation performance at both individual and firm-levels.;The findings from this study have suggested many practical implications to assist HRD professionals, managers, entrepreneurs as well as governmental agencies with interventions designed to maximize learning, entrepreneurial processes, and innovation performance at the individual and firm-level. Suggestions for future research have also been presented.