Assessing the Relationship between Human Capital and Firm Performance: Evidence from Technology-Based New Ventures

2007 ◽  
Vol 31 (6) ◽  
pp. 893-908 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rod Shrader ◽  
Donald S. Siegel
Author(s):  
Mohd Noor Mohd Shariff ◽  
Khansa Masood ◽  
Halim Mad Lazim

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are considered as foundation stones of economic development and growth of any economy (Centobelli, Cerchione, & Esposito, 2019). Performance of SMEs is of fundamental significance for all developed as well as developing nations. Similarly, Pakistan is no exception to aforementioned fact. The economic development and growth of Pakistan depend on the performance of SMEs to a great extent. Like, most countries in the world, SMEs comprise more than 90% of total business entities in Pakistan (Degong et al., 2018; Waqas & Nawaz, 2019) and leather industry in one that is attracted by the researchers of present study. Constraints in the growth of leather industry of Pakistan include, lack of skilled human capital, rising cost of production, lack of modern-day knowledge about new products and processes, low profitability and lack of capability to penetrate into international markets, lack of market research, access to finance, intensive competitive rivalry (Khalique et al., 2011; Daily Times, 2016, Awan et al., 2019). Few studies have revealed mixed findings regarding the relationship between knowledge management and firm performance and there is abundance of literature that demonstrates the presence of significant and positive relationship between Market Orientation and Firm performance (Slater & Narver , 1995; Baker & Sinkula, 2009; Udriyah, Tham, & Azam, 2019). On the other hand, some studies have argued that there is no direct and significant relationship between Market Orientation and Firm Performance (Polat & Mutlu, 2012; Shehu & Mahmood, 2014). Moreover, keeping in view the mixed and inconclusive findings regarding the relationship between cause and effect variables, it is appropriate to introduce moderating variables that can significantly influence the relationship between independent and dependent variables as recommended by Baron and Kenny (1986). Access to Finance and Competitive Environment can be served as prospective moderators which are quite appropriately related to proposed variables of the study (Prajogo & Oke, 2016; Rogo et al., 2016; Jaworski & Kohli, 1993) which are quite appropriately related to selected variables of the study. Thus, the research problem expressed that "Access to finance and competitive environment can potentially moderates and affect the relationship between independent and dependent variables. Hence, based on the past literature and aforementioned discussion, the present study intended to examine the moderating effects of Access to Finance and Competitive Environment on the Relationship between Human Capital, Knowledge Management, Market Orientation and SMEs Performance in Leather Industry of Pakistan". Keywords: Small medium enterprise, performance, access to finance, competitive environment


2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yang Yang ◽  
Xiao Feng Ju

AbstractPrior literatures have argued that the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and firm performance may be not as straightforward as expected. With EO–performance contingency framework, this study investigates how product quality mediates the relationship between EO and firm performance. Using survey data from 153 new ventures, we find that EO dimensions have non-uniform and non-linear, rather than merely linear, relationships with product quality. Specifically, the results reveal that innovativeness and autonomy may lead to superior product quality, however, risk-taking would decrease, not increase, product quality. Proactiveness has U-shaped, not inverse U-shaped, effect on product quality and competitive aggressiveness has U-shaped, not positive linear, effect on product quality. Our results enrich the EO-performance contingency framework and highlight the significance of concerning independent and unique effects of individual EO dimension.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xingyang Yu ◽  
Mingji Liu

The economic restructuring and rapid rise of the economy in Northeast China have resulted in a proliferation of new ventures. Studying the psychology of new entrepreneurs is conducive to understanding the relationship between human capital and economic growth. The work reported here aims to explore the impact of human capital on economic growth in Northeast China and the influencing factors of psychological capital of new entrepreneurs in the entrepreneurial process. Based on Cobb–Douglas production function, the relationship between labor, physical capital, or human capital and economic growth in Northeast China is analyzed by econometric methods, and a model of human capital and economic growth in Northeast China is constructed. Besides, a psychological capital intervention (PCI) model is proposed to develop the psychological capital of new entrepreneurs, and the psychological quality structure model of entrepreneurial entrepreneurs and its operation mechanism. The results of the empirical analysis demonstrate that the elasticity coefficient of human capital in Northeast China is 0.15902, five times smaller than that of labor and physical capital. Moreover, 70% of new ventures are willing to accept higher education. The fitting degree of using the PCI model to develop the psychological capital of new ventures is only 0.3%. In addition, the modified external environment PCI instead of the external environment PCI model has a huge operating potential in the macro-entrepreneurial environment. In conclusion, the impact of human capital on economic growth in the northeast is smaller than the impact of labor and material capital investment on regional economic growth. The development of human capital and research on the composition and mechanism of psychological quality of entrepreneurial entrepreneurs are of significant theoretical and practical values to promote the economic growth in the northeast.


2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lee J. Zane ◽  
Donna Marie DeCarolis

Abstract This research examines the relationship between a founding team’s social network and the acquisition of its critical human capital. First, explicitly dealing with technology-based firms, we disaggregate the founder(s) social network into four sub-networks: academic, industry, finance, and personal (family and community). Then, we detail the relationship between these individual sub-networks and the acquisition of both technical and business skilled human capital. Our results confirm that individual sub-networks have a differential effect on acquiring both technical and business human capital.


2011 ◽  
Vol 96 (3) ◽  
pp. 443-456 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Russell Crook ◽  
Samuel Y. Todd ◽  
James G. Combs ◽  
David J. Woehr ◽  
David J. Ketchen

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 326-344
Author(s):  
Sarminah Samad

AbstractFor the past decade, human capital has been recognized as one of the crucial assets of any firm’s overall performance. Previous studies widely advocated a linear link between human capital and innovative firm performance, arguing that there are a variety of factors to examine if the relationship between human capital and innovative firm performance is to be properly understood. The focus of this study was to examine the effect of social capital on the relationship between human capital and innovative firm performance. Specifically, it examined the relationship between human capital and social capital and between human capital and innovative firm performance. It also examined the relationship between social capital and innovative firm performance. A total of 294 questionnaires were obtained from managerial staff in automotive companies in Malaysia and the data was analysed using the Partial Least Squares (PLS) test. The results indicated a direct effect between human capital and innovative performance. It was found that human capital is significantly related to social capital and that there is a significant relationship between social capital and innovative firm performance, indicating the ability of social capital to improve innovative firm performance. Finally, it revealed that innovative firm performance could be achieved by human capital through the role of valuable social capital and that good innovative firm performance leads to more prudent and sustainable organisations. The results provide pertinent implications for academia, policymakers and market players while also contributing to the research fields of strategic management, human capital, social capital and performance.


SAGE Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 215824402110672
Author(s):  
Xiu-e Zhang ◽  
Qing Li

It is still unclear whether the green proactiveness orientation (GPO) adopted by agricultural new ventures boost firm performance, and what is its internal mechanism, especially in the transition economies where agriculture accounts for a significant proportion. Therefore, drawing on the theory of green entrepreneurial orientation and natural-resource-based view, this study used the structural equation model combined with Bootstrapping to test the direct and indirect effects of GPO on firm performance. Results from 301 agricultural new ventures in China demonstrate that GPO has a positive influence on environmental performance, but its influence on financial performance is not significant. Sustainable opportunity recognition (SOR) partially mediates the relationship between GPO and environmental performance and fully mediates the relationship between GPO and financial performance. Besides, we find that environmental performance plays a mediating role between SOR and financial performance. This study, the first of its kind, focuses on green entrepreneurship of agricultural new ventures in the transition economy to enrich the literature on green entrepreneurial orientation through GPO. It also provides some valuable references for managers to recognize sustainable entrepreneurial opportunities through GPO to improve their environmental and financial performance. These could be important in terms of both management and policy implications.


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