The innovative entrepreneur: A new model for achieving innovation through behavioral competencies and social network

Literature on entrepreneurial behavioural competencies is still fragmented, devoting more attention only to specific skills required to recognize business opportunities, to initiate new ventures as well as to influence stakeholders’ actions. Only recently research has focused its attention on the relevance of the competencies entrepreneurs require to promote and introduce innovation in their business. Moreover, literature on innovation has increasingly highlighted the relevance of external sources in promoting innovation outcomes, but few contributions have been devoted to the analysis of the structure of the entrepreneur’s social network mobilized during the different stages of the innovation process. The paper addresses these gaps through an empirical study on a sample of Italian entrepreneurs. Findings introduce an original and finegrained classification of entrepreneurs’ competencies and provides new insights on the social network structure for attaining innovation. Implications on competency assessment and social network design to enhance entrepreneurs’ innovative capacity are discussed.