تعهدات عضو تیم و راه اندازی رقابت

This study uses resources-base and social capital theories to examine the influences of trust and entrepreneur resources on team member commitments and start-up competitiveness during both the initial and growth stages, and then explores the influences of resources and competitiveness of the initial stage on the growth stage. Empirical results support the following conclusions. In both stages, competitiveness positively associates with the start-up team member commitments; Instead of the entrepreneur or firm resources, what affects team members commitments to the start-up is the team members' trust on the entrepreneurs; Entrepreneur resources and start-up competitiveness accumulate across stages, and competitiveness in the initial stage positively influences new team members commitments in the growth stage.

The success rate of start-ups is extremely low (Nesheim, 2000), and to increase the probability of success, researchers suggest that entrepreneurs should use network connections to accumulate and integrate necessary resources (Li and Zhou, 2010 and Wu et al., 2008). For instance, Bruderl and Preisendorfer (1998) demonstrate that when German entrepreneurs gain support from their interpersonal network connections, not only the start-up establishment is easier, but the subsequent operations of the start-up are more likely to be successful. Usually the resources available to a start-up during the initial stage are scarce, but entrepreneurs can acquire necessary resources through their network connections (Gulati et al., 2000 and Hitt et al., 2001). Therefore, many studies apply social network theories to explain start-up activity recently (Hoang and Antoncic, 2003 and Wu et al., 2009), implying that the entrepreneurs' contacts with, knowledge about, and trust gained from network members can help them to gain necessary resources (Dubini and Aldrich, 1991). Some network studies focus on inter-firm networks and generally refer to them as business networks (Forsgren and Johanson, 1992); however, other studies, particularly studies of Asian countries, focus more on personal relationships or personal networks (Kienzle and Shadur, 1997 and Li and Zhou, 2010). For example, Sivadas and Dwyer (2000) propose that resource endeavors can be intrafirm or interfirm, and the former is more important in the innovation process. The intrafirm resource endeavors of a start-up, that is, the entrepreneurial team members, become an important research issue in entrepreneurship studies (Forbes et al., 2006, Houghton et al., 2009 and Wu et al., 2009). Accordingly, this study focuses on the role the intrafirm resource endeavors of start-ups or the start-up team members. Furthermore, networks are not static, but rather dynamic processes that continuously change and develop (Ostgaard and Birley, 1996). As a start-up evolves through life cycle stages, resources and competitiveness may accumulate; the personal networks of entrepreneurs may evolve accordingly, and some original partners or team members may leave the start-up while new partners may join in (Forbes et al., 2006). In other words, the social capital of entrepreneurs may change as the resources and competitiveness of the start-up change. Therefore, in addition to the influences of the internal partners or personal networks of entrepreneurs on the start-ups, this study also investigates the evolvement of the resources, internal partners, and competitiveness of start-ups in the initial and growth stages.

5.1. Implications This study finds that entrepreneur resources during the initial stage influence firm resources during the growth stage, and firm competitiveness during the initial stage affects firm resources, competitiveness, and new team members commitments during the growth stage. These findings agree with the concept of path dependency (Cooper et al., 1994, Ghemawat and Levinthal, 2008, Stack and Gartland, 2003 and Teece et al., 1997). The practical implications are, for the high-tech start-up entrepreneurs, upgrading of resources and competitiveness requiring sustained accumulation and cultivation. Therefore, it is important for firms to constantly accumulate their resources and maintain their competitive advantage. The building of learning mechanisms offers one possible means of constructing unique paths of dynamic capability (Eisenhardt and Martin, 2000). Trust is a key for high-tech start-ups to build team member commitments during both the initial or growth stages. Trust enables high-tech start-ups to obtain necessary resources and thus improve their competitiveness. On the other hand, though resource is not the major cause of attracting team member commitments during both stages, it does influence firm competitiveness. Consequently, trust and resources are both key success factors for start-ups. As a result, it is important for high-tech start-up managers to recognize that competitive advantages sustain through continuous accumulation of resources and trust. 5.2. Limitations and suggestions One limitation of this study is that the analysis is based on perceptual data (Nakayama and Sutcliffe, 2005). In other words, measurements in this study do not necessarily measure the start-ups, but rather the entrepreneur perceptions of start-ups. For example, this study measures the trust on the entrepreneur and commitments of team members according to the entrepreneurs' subjective assessment. A relevant limitation is the adoption of retrospective data. Though the use of retrospective data is not uncommon in empirical studies (Newbert et al., 2007), including entrepreneurial studies (Barbosa et al., 2007), future research can measure two or more key informants to assure accurate information. A second limitation is that this study does not consider the role of strategy on start-up competitiveness. Many possible factors may influence start-up competitiveness, and strategy is probably one of the most important. Future research can consider strategy as a moderator during the initial stage of high-tech start-up. For instance, a born global strategy can improve future firm growth opportunities (Bell et al., 2001 and Ostgaard and Birley, 1996). That is, start-ups entering international markets during their early years may help to establish their reputation, to develop cooperation networks, and to increase start-up competitiveness. Therefore, future research can include global strategy as a moderator and empirically test its effect. Furthermore, this study examines the roles of new team members during the growth stage, but does not investigate the roles of the existing partners (who join the start-up in the early stage) in the growth stage. As Chandler et al. (2005) suggest, membership change in new venture teams may influence performance. Accordingly, three research questions regarding old team members deserve further research. First, consider whether and why the trust between entrepreneurs and old team members changes as a start-up moves into a later stage. Second, consider whether economic benefits become more important than trust for old team members during the growth stage. Third, consider the relative contributions of new and existing team members to the competitiveness of a firm during the growth stage.