Study goals
The article aims to explore the process that entrepreneurs cope with the tensions and consequences of perceived uncertainty during partnerships between startups and large firms.
Relevance / originality
Although the literature on management speaks about the entrepreneurial learning process, the connections are yet incomplete. The literature on logics of approach in uncertainty management does not address in detail the origin and types of perceived uncertainty (Packard & Clark, 2020).
Methodology / approach
We employed a qualitative, longitudinal retrospective approach (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). A qualitative paradigm is focused in deepen the understanding of meanings and significations created by the actors involved on certain phenomenon. This research is designed following a theory and data-driven approach.
Main results
In contexts of open innovation partnerships, complexity increases when there are
differences between counterparts regarding the level of collaboration, or excessive control over the decisions made, openness in knowledge
sharing, expectations about technology and as possible future actions together.
Theoretical / methodological contributions
The results of this research contribute to the current literature on three key aspects: entrepreneurship, uncertainty, and open innovation literature. We attempt to close the gap between uncertainty and entrepreneurial learning highlighting the richness of studying entrepreneurial learning in open innovation context.
Social / management contributions
We also provide evidence about different kind of tensions in relations between startups and large firms, which are inherently asymmetric in size, resources, and agility, and how it interacts with the entrepreneurial process (Urbaniec & Zur, 2021).