Entrepreneurial orientation and network board diversity in network organizations

• EO of network organizations.
• Influence of insider/outsider diversity and functional diversity on network level EO.
• Board tenure moderates the influence of diversity measures on network EO in different ways.

This study extends the concept of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) to the network level to investigate how diversity among officers serving on network organization boards affects network-level entrepreneurial orientation (NEO). Using data from 53 strategic network organizations across five years, we found that insider/outsider and functional diversity among network board members promotes NEO. The results also demonstrate that board group tenure moderates the influence of diversity in opposite ways. The impact of board insider/outsider diversity is stronger in networks in which board members lack long tenure. On the contrary, the effect of functional diversity on network entrepreneurial orientation is stronger in network organizations with tenured boards.