Entrepreneur role analysis on adoptive management innovation: an exploratory case in China

PurposeIn China the maturity of the industrial development has the demonstration and reference implications for how to achieve enterprises competitiveness among the developing industries in a country. With the development of globalization, how to improve the enterprises competitiveness has became a serious problem to be solved for Chinese enterprises. The management innovation is reasonable and appropriate to solve this problem. Compared with the independent innovation, adoptive management innovation has become the main way for enterprises to fulfill the management innovation and change the management styles under the open economy condition. The research strives to reveal the “black box” in the management innovation adoptive process and give an answer to a series of questions, such as “what is the role of entrepreneurs in management innovation adoptive process?”Design/methodology/approachExploratory case study approach is taken to find the entrepreneurs' role in management innovation adoptive process of Chinese traditional industry.FindingsThis paper constructs the adoptive management innovation model from three dimensions, using exploratory case technique, which explores the key factors and mechanism of realizing management innovation adoption. Through the exploratory case analysis to verify the viewpoint which is proposed by the model: entrepreneurs played a leading role in the adoptive management innovation of non‐procedural process, and the role is the result of the mixed function of the external and internal environment. Entrepreneurs analyze and explore the new problems and opportunities, and their own experience and ability determine the cognition and explore degree towards these problems directly; entrepreneurs' integration ability of resources can be approved and accepted after the new practice has been proposed and become mature. Entrepreneur long‐term shaping on organizational resources determines whether the management innovations introduction would be really integrated into enterprise management system. The entrepreneur's typical behavior on “integration, learning and shaping” is the foundation and guarantee of adoptive management innovation, which have connective effect on adjacent stages.Originality/valueThe article describes Haier BPR process of adoptive management innovation and the adoptive management innovation mode, and analyzes the effect of entrepreneurs' role on adoptive management innovation of China's color TV industry. The Chinese color TV industry as the maturity industry has the demonstration and reference implications for how to achieve enterprises competitiveness in Chinese developing industries.