ENTREPRENEURIAL ACTION AND THE EMERGENCE OF CHINA’S PRIVATE SOLAR PHOTOVOLTAIC FIRMS

Time：May 14th (Thursday) 2pm -4pm

Location: Zhifuxuan, National School of Development, Peking U.

Speaker: Wei Zhang, Associate Professor & Steven White, Associate Professor

Department of Innovation, Entrepreneurship & Strategy

School of Economics and Management, Tsinghua University

 

 

Abstract：

This study explores how entrepreneurs introducing a new organizational form can build legitimacy and capabilities to overcome significant liabilities of newness, and how their actions and the institutional structure co-evolve.  Our multiple case study design enabled us to explicate specific actions that entrepreneurs founding China’s private solar photovoltaic (PV) firms took as they built organizational capabilities and established their legitimacy vis-à-vis resource holders and global markets.  We identified three legitimacy-based strategies they used: leveraging their existing sources of legitimacy, aligning their actions with established institutional rules, norms and beliefs, and enacting the institutional environment to change perceptions of what is legitimate.  We also found a stark contrast between the earliest entrants—the “explorers”—who not only had to build an effective organizational capability and establish their own firm’s legitimacy, but who also had to establish the legitimacy of the private Chinese solar PV firm as a viable organizational form, both domestically and abroad. Later entrants—the “exploiters”—could leverage the legitimacy established by the earlier explorers and more easily access critical resources and more quickly develop the organizational capability to pursue a clear market opportunity.  Our findings also suggest an important role for government in promoting and supporting entrepreneurship that complements well-established approaches. Namely, through its policies and actions, the government can create an environment in which experimentation and exploration is legitimate, thereby making it easier for entrepreneurs, new ventures and new organizational forms to access critical resources and realize their potential.

张帏，清华大学经济与管理学院副教授，清华x-lab（清华大学创意创新创业教育平台）主任，清华大学中国创业研究中心副主任。张帏老师于1995年和1998年分别获得清华大学工学学士和硕士，2002年获得清华大学管理学博士学位。2004年秋季学期美国斯坦福大学商学院访问学者，2011-2012年度中美富布莱特访问研究学者/MIT斯隆管理学院国际访问教师。张帏老师主持及参与了4个国家自然科学基金项目和1个教育部人文社科基地重大项目， 共同主编出版了《创业管理学》教材（北京市高等教育精品教材、国家“十一五”教材规划项目）；近5年内，有4篇案例收录于清华大学工商管理案例中心，其中1篇案例入选“首届全国百篇优秀教学案例”。张帏老师的课程《创业管理》2007年被评为国家级高等教育精品课程（第二负责人），合作创设的《创业机会识别与商业计划》2010年被评为清华大学研究生精品课程。张帏曾获得清华大学教学成果一等奖、二等奖各一次。

Steven White,清华大学经济与管理学院副教授。他毕业于美国杜克大学，获得动物学学士学位；1988年，在日本国际大学，获得日本学硕士学位；1997年，在美国麻省理工大学获得管理学博士学位。Steven老师主要研究领域包括国际化，创新，战略，战略执行，企业并购，战略联盟等，主持参与了“组织间合作的战略管理：强制，交易和协作模式”、“新兴低碳产业：美国和中国的新兴低碳产业的地区和国家比较研究”等项目。在《Strategic Management Journal》、《Research Policy》、等核心期刊上发表多篇学术论文，同时发表过25篇案例。Steven发表的专著包括《Hong Kong’s venture capital system and the commercialization of new technology, in Innovation Policy and the Limits of Laissez-Faire》、《Venture capital and the financing of China’s new technology firms》、《Lenovo’s pursuit of dynamic strategic fit》等。Steven曾经在住友商事株式会社、香港科技大学、香港中文大学、INSEAD、中欧国际工商学院工作。