Work

A configurational approach to strategic entrepreneurship: Unlocking customer success in new ventures in emerging economies

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: New ventures (NVs) in emerging economies often face significant challenges in cultivating quality customer relationships and achieving customer satisfaction. This study applies the strategic entrepreneurship framework and configurational theory to investigate how combinations of strategic behaviors, decision-making logics, resource allocation mechanisms, and leader sociocognitive characteristics influence customer-focused performance. Utilizing multi-informant data from 135 NVs (entrepreneurs and marketing managers) in Sri Lanka, our analysis reveals that NVs employing effectual decision-making and bricolage resource allocation achieve stronger alignment between entrepreneurial and market orientations, resulting in enhanced customer satisfaction and stronger relationships. Additionally, the study identifies entrepreneurs’ long-term orientation and managers’ perfectionism as critical contingency factors in these configurations. These findings offer valuable insights into the strategic configurations that drive customer success in NVs.

Source: Journal of Business Research

DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2025.115689

Authors: Sayuri Wijekoon, Mahdi Vesal, Aron O’Cass

Institutions: Macquarie University, La Trobe University, Edith Cowan University

Language: English

Topic: Entrepreneurship Studies and Influences

Subfield: Management of Technology and Innovation

Field: Business, Management and Accounting

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Decent work and economic growth

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $4,440