User dynamic capabilities and entrepreneurial mode preference: a mixed-methods study from an effectuation perspective

Purpose This study investigates how users' dynamic capabilities are associated with their preference between independent and collaborative entrepreneurship in online innovation communities, drawing on dynamic capabilities theory and effectuation theory. Design/methodology/approach This study employed a mixed-methods approach combining structural equation modeling (SEM) and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to analyze questionnaire data from 215 users of open-source and brand-oriented innovation communities. Findings Resource-integration capabilities are the key factor distinguishing preferences for different entrepreneurial modes: they exhibit a significantly positive association with independent entrepreneurship preference while exhibiting a significantly negative association with collaborative entrepreneurship preference. Opportunity-sensing, network-building and agile-learning capabilities, as general foundational and higher-order meta-capabilities, are jointly positively associated with both types of entrepreneurial modes. fsQCA further identifies multiple equivalent configurations: the combination of low resource-integration capabilities and high social capital is associated with a preference for collaborative entrepreneurship, whereas the combination of internal capability completeness and strong entrepreneurial intention is associated with a preference for independent entrepreneurship. Originality/value This study extends dynamic capabilities theory to the micro-level of user entrepreneurship, offers an effectuation-based interpretation of how user dynamic capabilities, as antecedents of entrepreneurial means, relate to entrepreneurial mode preferences in patterns consistent with effectuation principles and illuminates the configurational complexity of entrepreneurial mode preference through a configurational lens.