創業初心對創業關鍵決策的影響：基於實效理論視角的探索性研究

Abstract

新創事業處於高度不確定性、資源稀少、目標模糊的脈絡之下，創業家因此需要面臨極大的決策壓力與挑戰。對創業家而言，每個決策都攸關公司行進的軌跡與成敗的命運。創業研究學者以往投注許多心力在研究創業家的決策邏輯，其中又以Sarasvathy（2001及2008）所提出的實效理論(Effectuation Theory) 最受到研究關注，她主張在新創脈絡之下，創業家決策通常採取資源導向邏輯，而非傳統的目標導向邏輯。實效理論自提出後累積相當多的理論討論與實證研究，然而，在諸多針對實效理論的討論中，依然無法針對一個核心問題提出清楚的解釋，那就是，為何創業家會在相同的決策情境下，使用不同的決策邏輯？ 本論文以探索性的研究方法，提出目前在實效理論研究中較少觸及的「創業初心」 (Original Aspiration) 這個概念，及其對創業決策的影響，希望能夠為前述問題提出更多的洞見。我們定義「創業初心」為創業家開啟創業旅程的初衷。面對將要來臨的眾多挑戰，創業家懷抱堅定且強大的初心，方能義無反顧投入每段事業旅程。我們透過多重個案研究法，歷經三年時間，收集了八家臺灣新創公司的142個關鍵決策，並進一步訪談挖掘每個決策背後的邏輯。 我們發現創業初心與一般短期的動機與目標不同。初心是創業家眾多關鍵決策的判準原則，亦有持續不易異動的特性。我們進一步整理關鍵決策並進行跨個案比較，發現初心又分為商業導向 (commercial-centric) 及非商業導向 (non-commercial-centric)，並對於創業家使用實效邏輯進行決策的傾向 (tendency) 產生不同影響。我們的研究顯示，非商業導向的初心使得創業家有較高傾向採用實效邏輯；反之，商業導向初心則有較高傾向使用目標導向的決策邏輯 (causation)。此外，對於目標模糊性 (attitude toward goal ambiguity) 及合作夥伴的態度 (attitude toward partnership) 為解釋初心如何影響實效傾向的重要因子。最後，本論文根據上述發現建立一個概念性的架構，以完整描繪初心與實效決策傾向之間的關聯，並提出對創業研究與實效理論進一步發展的潛在貢獻。

Under entrepreneurial context characterized by high uncertainty, ambiguity, scare resource, and intense pressure, every critical decision significantly affects the destiny of new ventures. Entrepreneurship researchers have thus dedicated substantial efforts to exploring how and why entrepreneurs make decisions differently from both non-entrepreneurs and other entrepreneurs. Among entrepreneurial decision-making research, effectuation theory (Sarasvathy 2001, 2008) has provided a solid framework and emerged as a main research stream. Yet the extant literature still left a puzzle as to why different entrepreneurs use effectual logic differently, even under similar context. In this dissertation, we aim to tackle a critical yet less explored factor, the original aspiration, which affects entrepreneurs’ decision-making logic through the lens of effectuation theory. We postulate that original aspiration, which refers to the entrepreneur’s initial and most dominant aspiration in the venture-creation process, as an undiscovered key antecedent of effectuation tendency which might offer insights to solve the puzzle. Based on a qualitative and process research on 142 entrepreneurs’ decision events from eight start-ups over a three-year time span, we discover the distinctive nature of original aspiration and its significant role on entrepreneurial decision-making over the entrepreneurial process. Subsequently, we classify original aspirations into non-commercial-centric and commercial-centric types, and offer evidences that different types of original aspiration lead to various effectuation tendency. Non-commercial-centric entrepreneurs have a high tendency to engage with effectuation logic, while commercial-centric entrepreneurs tend to use more causal logic. Furthermore, we uncover that attitude toward goal ambiguity and partnership as two manifestation factors underlying the relationship between original aspiration and effectuation tendency. We then develop a conceptual model depicting how original aspiration shapes effectual tendency. These findings extend effectuation theory by advancing one of its most fundamental suppositions and showing how original aspirations influence the thinking behind the critical decisions along the entrepreneurial journey. Overall, our research endeavors to highlight a deeper understanding of the heterogeneity of entrepreneurs, hence broadens the knowledge of entrepreneurship research.