An opportunity-based explanation of entrepreneurial intention: evidence from global sourcing suppliers in China

Abstract

This study examines how knowledge acquisition of global sourcing suppliers in China influences their employees’ entrepreneurial intention through opportunity identification. We analyzed survey data from 144 Chinese global sourcing supplier firms using structural equation modeling. The findings reveal that supplier employees were able to identify more opportunities with their employers’ acquired knowledge and those identified opportunities increase employees’ intention to start their own ventures. In addition to the challenge to incumbent supplier firms, our study also provides insight on potential remedies by showing that a strategic focus on the pursuit of opportunities weakens employee entrepreneurial intention. This study represents a first step toward integrating organizational and individual level variables to clarify the underlying mechanism through which firm knowledge leads to individual entrepreneurial intention.

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