Relationship between past experience, social network participation and innovative capacity: Vietnamese entrepreneurship in transition

摘要

The notions of entrepreneurship and creativity in developed economies, despite having gained attention among researchers, remain embryonic in numerous emerging economies. Being focused on entrepreneurs in a typical transitional and emerging market economy, Vietnam, this paper aims to empirically explore the influence that past entrepreneurial efforts may exert on the perceptions of entrepreneurs about their own creative performance. The study also seeks to understand how entrepreneur's social networks contribute to perceived innovative capacity by entrepreneurs who participate in those societies. The empirical research results suggest that entrepreneurs with business experience and active networking engagement are more likely to believe in their own innovative capacity. The knowledge and insights in turn offer some implications for addressing the lack of radical innovation among Vietnamese entrepreneurs.