臺大管理論叢 NTU Management Review VOL.30 NO.1

41 NTU Management Review Vol. 30 No. 1 Apr. 2020 The innovativeness of an opportunity may reflect the quality of the opportunity (Ucbasaran, Westhead, and Wright, 2008; Hsieh and Kelley, 2016). Holmén, Magnusson, and McKelvey (2007) emphasize that innovative opportunities are a critical element of entrepreneurship and continual enterprise growth. Ucbasaran et al. (2009) examines the inverse U-shaped relationship between proportion of failed businesses relative to innovativeness of the latest opportunity exploited, but does not find the business failure experience associated with the innovativeness of exploited opportunities. The innovativeness of opportunities involves developing technological innovations, providing customers with novel products or services, inducing changes in current industries, and helping customers solve their problems (Birley, 1985; Smeltzer, Van Hook, and Hutt, 1991). Entrepreneurs typically experience difficulty in surviving in the market due to numerous challenges associated with sustaining growth. If the innovativeness of opportunities identified in the early venture stage cannot drive new venture growth, then entrepreneurs must use various industry dimensions and experiences to seek new market opportunities. The concept of the innovativeness of opportunities comprises aspects related to the potential of a market and knowledge required to serve this specific market (Holmén et al., 2007). 2.2 Entrepreneurs’ Networking Actions Mitchell (1969) defines social networks as the specific ties or connections among people within a group, comprising formal and informal interpersonal relationships. Specifically, networks are structures created by the ties or connections among nodes. Nodes can represent people, teams, or organizations (Borgatti and Foster, 2003). Kristiansen (2004) suggests that social networks are composed of the formal and informal links between core actors and the people they are familiar with. In this study, social networks are defined as the relationships formed between two or more people or organizations. Networks are vital channels through where entrepreneurs obtain external information and resources. Network broadening refers to “the extent to which an entrepreneur reaches out to new people and establishes interpersonal knowledge about them” (Vissa, 2012). Vissa (2011) uses matching theory to gain a deeper understanding of dynamic networks by examining the intentions of entrepreneurs to add ties to individual social networks. Vissa also suggests that task complementarity and social similarity are critical matching criteria because they influence an entrepreneur’s interpersonal tie formation intentions, and examines whether matched relationships increase the potential for economic exchange.