Prior knowledge and new product and service introductions by entrepreneurial firms: the mediating role of technological innovation

Most research on new product and service development by entrepreneurial firms takes an individual-level, pre-launch perspective or firm-level post-launch perspective. Our study examines two components of the new product and service introduction process: how entrepreneurs’ prior knowledge underpins (1) firm technological innovation prior to the introduction of new products and services (pre-launch) and (2) post-launch viability of those new products and services. Our findings, based on a series of analyses of data from 158 entrepreneurial firms, show that formal technological innovation fully mediates the relation between prior knowledge and the introduction of viable new products and services. ______________________________________________________________ *This study was supported by a faculty research leave award to the first author by Saint Louis University. An early version of this research was presented at the 2007 Babson College Entrepreneurship Research Conference in Madrid, Spain. Jintong Tang (Ph.D., The University of Alabama) is an assistant professor of entrepreneurship and management at Saint Louis University. Her research interests include entrepreneurial orientation, alertness, affect, social skills, ethics, and innovation. She has published in various entrepreneurship and management journals such as Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, Journal of Business Venturing, Journal of Management, British Journal of Management, etc. Patrick J. Murphy (Ph.D., University of Illinois-Chicago) is associate professor of management at DePaul University. His research focuses mainly on the entrepreneurial discovery phenomenon and his work has appeared in leading journals such as Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice and Academy of Management Perspectives. Currently he is writing a book for Yale University Press that explores the underpinnings of mutiny in modern business organizations.