Subcontracting as entrepreneurial opportunity. Conceptualization and research model proposition
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24917/20801653.294.4Keywords:
entrepreneurship, opportunity-based view, subcontractingAbstract
The development of subcontracting practices is often referred to as one of the ways to stimulate the growth of small-scale enterprises and the creation of entrepreneurial opportunities. Most works focus on situations in which the subcontracting firm is of a relatively larger size than the sub-contractor, operating on a larger scale and sometimes being of foreign origin and ownership. On the example of Northwest Poland’s fishing processing industry, this article brings attention to the potential of partnership subcontracting relationship between firms of a small size, arguing that this stream of research deserves to be given more attention. The paper presents various categories of reasons for which firms engage in subcontracting in its productive activities and various situations in which partnership sub-contracting relationships between small scale enterprises are beneficial to both the contractor and the subcontractor. It then turns to opportunity as unit of research as it outlines the potential entrepreneurial opportunities of both subcontracting firms and their subcontractors. The paper concludes with synthesis of current research in the area of opportunity-based-view of subcontracting and proposes research model that will hopefully serve to test various relationships in the practice of partnership subcontracting. The theoretical development of the paper is illustrated on the example of fish-processing industry in Northwest Poland region.
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