Entrepreneurial Learning, Self-Efficacy, and Firm Performance: Exploring Moderating Effect of Entrepreneurial Orientation

Yan Shen; Qi Wang; Danni Hua; Zhetao Zhang

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.731628

Entrepreneurial Learning, Self-Efficacy, and Firm Performance: Exploring Moderating Effect of Entrepreneurial Orientation

Front Psychol. 2021 Aug 26:12:731628. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.731628. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Yan Shen¹, Qi Wang², Danni Hua², Zhetao Zhang³

Affiliations

¹ Jing Hengyi School of Education, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China.
² School of Management, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, China.
³ College of Business and Public Management, Wenzhou-Kean University, Wenzhou, China.

Abstract

Although the impact entrepreneurial learning on firm performance has attracted significant attention, a comprehensive understanding by integrating entrepreneurial orientation and individual self-efficacy remain poorly understood. We fill this void by integrating the above variables into a model and examine these relations. Findings from a sample of 411 nascent entrepreneurs support that entrepreneurial learning is positively related to firm performance, and this relationship is fully mediated by entrepreneurial self-efficacy (ESE). We also found entrepreneurial orientation strengthens the positive impact of entrepreneurial learning on ESE. The findings indicate that ESE must be in place to maximize the effect of entrepreneurial learning on performance, and entrepreneurial orientation is an important contingency in shaping entrepreneurial learning's impact on nascent entrepreneur's self-efficacy.

Keywords: entrepreneurial learning; entrepreneurial orientation; entrepreneurial self-efficacy; firm performance; formal organizational learning; intergenerational learning; social network learning.