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

53 NTU Management Review Vol. 30 No. 1 Apr. 2020 5. Discussion 5.1 Relationship between Networking Actions and Innovativeness of Opportunities Entrepreneurs notice changes and trends around them, especially those regarding new technologies and customer preferences in the field (Ozgen and Baron, 2007). They acquire information that influences whether and how they recognize opportunities (Singh, 2000). The acquisition of information from the environment is particularly critical for stimulating innovative outcomes (Escribano, Fosfuri, and Tribó, 2009). The empirical results supporting Hypothesis 1 show that network broadening actions positively and significantly influence the innovativeness of opportunities. Entrepreneurs engaging in network broadening activities obtain diverse and novel information by interacting with new network ties. This result corresponds with the findings of previous studies (Granovetter, 1977; Newbert et al., 2013; Singh et al., 1999; Sullivan and Marvel, 2011) which assert that weak ties, a large network, and heterogeneous strengths provided by the network can provide novel information and resources. Furthermore, entrepreneurs can use information from various domains or industries to identify innovative opportunities, thereby significantly and positively influence the innovativeness of opportunities. The results fail to support Hypothesis 2, which pertains to the effects of network deepening actions on the innovativeness of opportunities. The results indicate that although entrepreneurs who apply network deepening actions tend to share exclusive information and thus increase their probability of identifying opportunities, they also focus on maintaining network relationships to develop mutual trust (Wu et al., 2008). According to Singh et al. (1999) and Sullivan and Ford (2014), an excessive number of strong ties typically lead to the procurement of redundant information and an overreliance on a select few ties, limiting new resources, partners, and opportunities. Consequently, network deepening actions do not significantly affect the innovativeness of opportunities. This study indicates that entrepreneurs should focus on expanding their networks and increasing new ties to improve the innovativeness of opportunities, and engage in network broadening actions to reinforce their sources of internal information and resources. Network deepening actions oriented toward maintaining existing relationships do not significantly benefit the innovativeness of opportunities. The results of this study show that by using more network broadening actions, entrepreneurs are likely to increase the innovativeness of opportunities.