Entrepreneurial orientation and organizational knowledge creation: A configurational approach

Drawing upon the resource dependence theory, this study develops a configurational framework to focus on how business ties and market dynamism independently and interactively affect the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and organizational knowledge creation. Findings from a sample of Chinese firms indicate that a configurational approach (three-way interactions) that aligns EO, business ties, and market dynamism has greater explanatory power for organizational knowledge creation than a contingency model (two-way interactions) and a main-effect-only model. Organizational knowledge creation benefits most from an EO in the presence of both high levels of business ties and market dynamism, while it benefits least with strong business ties under low market dynamism. Overall, our findings contribute to a better understanding of whether and when an EO enhances organizational knowledge creation.