IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0290849.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Can adopting lean startup strategy promote the sustainable development of new ventures? The mediating role of organizational iterative learning

Author

Listed:
  • Kai Zhuge
  • Huitao He
  • Yongzhi Yuan
  • Peiting Sun

Abstract

When high uncertainty becomes the norm in entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial failure often becomes the first natural barrier that new ventures face. In dynamic environment, there is still a lack of clear answers on what strategic orientation new ventures need to adopt to improve organizational learning efficiency and achieve sustainable development. Lean startup theory believes that the entrepreneurial process is also a process where organizational cognition is constantly iterated and updated, which drives entrepreneurs to explore business opportunities through iteration learning and early customer insight. The paper aims to describe and examine the relationship between lean startup strategy, organizational iterative learning, and sustainable development of new ventures. This model is tested on the survey data of R&D departments of 325 technology new ventures in China. The research results show that: lean startup strategy can positively affect sustainable performance of new ventures; organizational iterative learning plays a mediating role in the relationship between lean startup strategy and sustainable development; market dynamics positively moderate the relationship between organizational iterative learning and sustainable development, while technology dynamics negatively moderate this relationship; furthermore, the two also moderate the process of lean startup strategy influencing sustainable development through organizational iterative learning, and that moderated mediating effect is significant. The research results reveal that entrepreneurs should deepen lean startup practices in new business layout, advocate the iteration and output of advanced knowledge, help enterprises establish proprietary knowledge barriers, and achieve sustainable development.

Suggested Citation

  • Kai Zhuge & Huitao He & Yongzhi Yuan & Peiting Sun, 2023. "Can adopting lean startup strategy promote the sustainable development of new ventures? The mediating role of organizational iterative learning," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 18(8), pages 1-20, August.
  • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0290849
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0290849
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0290849
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0290849&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0290849?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Xin Cao & Taohua Ouyang & Puzant Balozian & Sixuan Zhang, 2020. "The Role of Managerial Cognitive Capability in Developing a Sustainable Innovation Ecosystem: A Case Study of Xiaomi," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-27, September.
    2. Xiaoming Yang & Sunny Li Sun & Xiangyang Zhao, 2019. "Search and execution: examining the entrepreneurial cognitions behind the lean startup model," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 52(3), pages 667-679, March.
    3. J. Robert Baum & Barbara J. Bird, 2010. "The Successful Intelligence of High-Growth Entrepreneurs: Links to New Venture Growth," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 21(2), pages 397-412, April.
    4. Bruno, Albert V. & Leidecker, Joel K., 1988. "Causes of new venture failure: 1960s vs. 1980s," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 31(6), pages 51-56.
    5. Luciana Paula Reis & June Marques Fernandes & Ezequiel Junior Barreto & Mayana Virginia Viegas Lima & Fabiano Armellini, 2021. "Impact Assessment of Lean Product Development and Lean Startup Methodology on Information Technology Startups’ Performance," International Journal of Innovation and Technology Management (IJITM), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 18(06), pages 1-24, October.
    6. Jung Seung Lee & Soo Kyung Kim & Su-Yol Lee, 2016. "Sustainable Supply Chain Capabilities: Accumulation, Strategic Types and Performance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(6), pages 1-16, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Rok Lee, 2021. "The Effect of Supply Chain Management Strategy on Operational and Financial Performance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-18, May.
    2. Jones, Raymond J. & Barnir, Anat, 2019. "Properties of opportunity creation and discovery: Comparing variation in contexts of innovativeness," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 1-10.
    3. Mayer-Haug, Katrin & Read, Stuart & Brinckmann, Jan & Dew, Nicholas & Grichnik, Dietmar, 2013. "Entrepreneurial talent and venture performance: A meta-analytic investigation of SMEs," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(6), pages 1251-1273.
    4. Ingrid Wakkee & Marijke Van Der Veen & Willo Eurlings, 2015. "Effective Growth Paths for SMEs," Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Emerging Economies, Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India, vol. 24(2), pages 169-185, September.
    5. Chong Kyoon Lee & Griffin W. Cottle & Sharon A. Simmons & Johan Wiklund, 2021. "Fear not, want not: Untangling the effects of social cost of failure on high-growth entrepreneurship," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 57(1), pages 531-553, June.
    6. Jianxin Ge & Tong Li, 2019. "Entrepreneurial Resources, Complementary Assets, and Platform Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(16), pages 1-20, August.
    7. Secundo, Giustina & Del Vecchio, Pasquale & Simeone, Luca & Schiuma, Giovanni, 2020. "Creativity and stakeholders' engagement in open innovation: Design for knowledge translation in technology-intensive enterprises," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 272-282.
    8. Yanzhang Gu & Longying Hu & Hongjin Zhang & Chenxuan Hou, 2021. "Innovation Ecosystem Research: Emerging Trends and Future Research," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(20), pages 1-21, October.
    9. Aviad Pe'er & Ilan Vertinsky & Thomas Keil, 2016. "Growth and survival: The moderating effects of local agglomeration and local market structure," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(3), pages 541-564, March.
    10. Sullivan, Diane M. & Marvel, Matthew R. & Wolfe, Marcus T., 2021. "With a little help from my friends? How learning activities and network ties impact performance for high tech startups in incubators," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    11. Bengtsson, Ola & Ekeblom, Daniel, 2014. "The Bright but Right View? New Evidence on Entrepreneurial Optimism," Working Papers 2014:1, Lund University, Department of Economics.
    12. Robert N. Eberhart & Charles E. Eesley & Kathleen M. Eisenhardt, 2017. "Failure Is an Option: Institutional Change, Entrepreneurial Risk, and New Firm Growth," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 28(1), pages 93-112, February.
    13. Pe'er, Aviad & Keil, Thomas, 2013. "Are all startups affected similarly by clusters? Agglomeration, competition, firm heterogeneity, and survival," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 354-372.
    14. Mercy E. Ogbari & David T. Isiavwe & Musibau Akintunde Ajagbe & Adunola Oluremi Oke, 2015. "Forecasting Effect of Creativity on Entrepreneurial Sustainability," International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, Human Resource Management Academic Research Society, International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, vol. 5(7), pages 123-139, July.
    15. Jing Zeng & Yunlu Yang & Soo Hee Lee, 2023. "Resource Orchestration and Scaling‐up of Platform‐Based Entrepreneurial Firms: The Logic of Dialectic Tuning," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(3), pages 605-638, May.
    16. Dabić, Marina & Stojčić, Nebojša & Simić, Marijana & Potocan, Vojko & Slavković, Marko & Nedelko, Zlatko, 2021. "Intellectual agility and innovation in micro and small businesses: The mediating role of entrepreneurial leadership," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 683-695.
    17. Tajana Guberina & Ai Min Wang, 2021. "Entrepreneurial Leadership Impact on Job security and Psychological Well-being during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A conceptual review," International Journal of Innovation and Economic Development, Inovatus Services Ltd., vol. 6(6), pages 7-18, February.
    18. Ghezzi, Antonio, 2020. "How Entrepreneurs make sense of Lean Startup Approaches: Business Models as cognitive lenses to generate fast and frugal Heuristics," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    19. Iurkov, Viacheslav & Koval, Mariia & Zakaryan, Arusyak, 2023. "The role of network community characteristics for firms' rapid business scaling," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 196(C).
    20. Jiguang Wang & Bing Ran, 2018. "Sustainable Collaborative Governance in Supply Chain," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-17, January.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0290849. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: plosone (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.