Entrepreneurial Bricolage Theory: Theories on the Path to Innovation-Driven Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurial bricolage theory is an emerging theory in the entrepreneurship field that explains how entrepreneurial firms survive and sometimes flourish in a resource-constrained environment (Baker & Nelson, Administrative Science Quarterly, 50: 329–366, 2005). The development of digital technology and acceleration of ecologicalization and globalization are creating an increasingly complex and rapidly changing market environment for entrepreneurs. However, improving data analytics capabilities promote the level of entrepreneurial bricolage (Chen et al., International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 42, 440–470). As a kind of intangible resource, a global mindset affects innovation by improving bricolage capabilities (Chang & Huang, Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, 37(12), 2587–2602). Resource bricolage is also an important way to help achieve sustainable production and adaptive innovation (Lin & Yi, European Journal of Innovation Management, 26(4), 1150–1167). Digital technology’s development and the extensive use of data resources challenge the premise assumptions, core constructs, and behavioral characteristics of entrepreneurial bricolage theory, which to some extent weakens the theory’s legitimacy and the effectiveness of its application. Reviewing the theory’s development and combining it with a theoretical exploration of innovation-driven entrepreneurship will further enrich and improve entrepreneurial bricolage theory.