Technological opportunism and firm performance: moderating and mediating contexts of strategic entrepreneurship

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, University of the Witwatersrand, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Master of Management in Entrepreneurship and New Venture Creation Johannesburg, March 2017The underlying problem of the empirical study is with the perceived influential relationship between technological opportunism and firm performance in a context of the banking institution in South Africa. The study combines the resource based view theory and dynamic capabilities perspective to investigate the mediating and moderating roles of strategic entrepreneurship in the influence of technological opportunism on firm performance. Quantitative data for the research was collected from the employees of the banking institution through an online research survey. The researcher adopted multiple regression models to study the data of 347 respondents. The study demonstrates that the banking institution is perceived to hold a positive relationship between technological opportunism and firm performance through mediating and moderating effects of strategic entrepreneurship. However, the higher levels of strategic entrepreneurship weaken the relationship between technological opportunism and firm performance. Firm performance was measured based on a collective indicators of new product success rates, return on investment (RoI), revenue growth rates, market share and profitability. Overall, the research provides fresh theoretical and practical insights. Firstly, the study is fundamental to academic research advancement and refinement of existing theories in technology, strategic management and entrepreneurship in a context of an emerging economy. Secondly, the development of technology sensing and responding resources and capabilities to leverage technological opportunities has to be viewed as a strategic enabler to organizational business performance, competitive advantage and this bodes well for the objectives of national economic developments. Thirdly, the study of an interdependence of strategic management and entrepreneurial orientation to technological opportunism is imperative to understanding how could these innovative practices be leveraged within an existing organizational ecosystem.MT201