Strategic networks of discovery and creation entrepreneurs

Current research favors diversity within strategic networks as a source of idea generation and opportunity pursuit. However, diversity may not always be advantageous. Drawing from literature on entrepreneurial opportunities, social network theory, and cognitive psychology, it is argued in this paper that the level of diversity in entrepreneurial strategic networks differs based on the nature of the entrepreneurial opportunity context—discovery or creation. Competing hypotheses are developed for the nature of strategic networks in the discovery and creation opportunity contexts. The results from our two studies (using PSED II dataset and data collected from women entrepreneurs in India) show that entrepreneurial strategic networks differ based on whether entrepreneurs are pursuing discovery or creation opportunities, i.e., entrepreneurs operating in ‘discovery’ contexts tend to use networks ties with individuals who are relatively similar to themselves, while entrepreneurs in ‘creation’ contexts tend to use network ties with individuals who are relatively different from themselves. Further, the results also show that the diversity in strategic networks is not unidirectional in discovery and/or creation contexts but varies depending on the specific matters for which the entrepreneur seeks advice. Discussion and future research directions outline the unique findings of this study and potential implications for theory development.