A Contextualized Transactive Memory System View on How Founding Teams Respond to Surprises: Evidence from C hina
研究新兴经济体中创始团队如何利用交互记忆系统应对意外事件，发现市场制度不完善时，强交互记忆系统的团队更少获取外部知识而更多即兴发挥，负面意外会强化这一效应。
Entrepreneurs in emerging economies face not only more opportunities but also heightened levels of uncertainties than their peers in developed economies. They, therefore, frequently encounter surprising events arising from rapid and chaotic environmental changes. Extant research, however, provides only sketchy accounts regarding how founding teams respond to surprises. In this study, we propose that founding teams' transactive memory systems ( TMS ) situated in the unique contextual conditions prevalent in most emerging economies will affect their perceptions regarding how to bridge the knowledge gaps arising from surprises. We test our hypotheses with survey data collected from 137 start‐ups in C hina. Our results suggest that in emerging economies where market supporting institutions are deficient, founding teams with strong TMSs are less inclined to acquire external knowledge but are more prone to improvise in response to surprises than founding teams with weak TMSs . Negative surprises seem to strengthen the above relationships. We conclude by discussing the theoretical and practical implications of this study. Copyright © 2013 S trategic M anagement S ociety.