The role of organizational size in the heterogeneous nature of corporate entrepreneurship

Organizational size is an important factor contributing to the heterogeneous nature of corporate entrepreneurship (CE). We focus on explicating size-based differences in CE and integrating them into new theoretical development. Through a search of the contemporary CE literature, we argue that there has been a tendency toward examining CE dimensions within the context of large public firms, even though they represent a relatively small proportion of the firms that engage in CE activities. Drawing on resource-based theorizing, we identify how size confers CE competitive advantages via slack resources and resource structuring processes, but disadvantages via bureaucratic structures and resource bundling. Aware of these weaknesses, we suggest that small firms are more likely to utilize CE for growth to overcome liabilities of smallness, while large firms are more likely to utilize CE for learning to overcome liabilities of inertia. We thereby provide greater specificity to CE research and stimulate new theoretical development with a forward-looking CE research agenda that incorporates the role of organizational size.