Driving Innovation by Managing Entrepreneurial Orientation, Cooperation and Learning for the Sustainability of Companies in the Energy Sector

Abstract

Nowadays, the attitude of companies seems to play a relevant role in detecting and exploiting opportunities to create value, especially in terms of knowledge and cooperation. Thereon, the concept of entrepreneurial orientation has become relevant over the last years. Firms are entrepreneurially oriented when their decision-making, techniques, and procedures allow them to identify opportunities, develop a proactive mindset, and use creative ways to achieve their objectives. The purpose of this paper is to empirically analyze the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and companies’ innovation capacity, in addition to the mediating effect of entrepreneurial networks and firms’ learning capacity in this relationship. A sample of 197 Spanish companies in the energy sector is analyzed using the variance-based structural equation modeling technique (PLS-SEM), using the software “SmartPLS” in its version 3.9. The results show a direct positive and significant influence of entrepreneurial orientation on companies’ innovation capacity, as well as the existence of an indirect effect through the mediation of entrepreneurial networks and the learning capacity of firms. It is concluded that businesses must dedicate time and resources to develop a strong entrepreneurial orientation which, in addition to allowing them to exploit external entrepreneurial networks, boosts their learning and innovation capabilities, favoring the development of new sustainable possibilities for value creation.