ESC

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JCR Category: Business in ESCI edition

Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Issues Open access
Journal Impact FactorTM (2025) 1.5 Q3
Journal Citation IndicatorTM (2025) 0.25 Q4
Received: 2025-05-03  |  Accepted: 2025-07-04  |  Published: 2025-09-30

Title

Asset-light construction of technology-driven startups: insights from case studies in China


Abstract

The resource-efficient allocation advantages of asset-light operations have garnered considerable attention from technology-driven startups in China. Clarifying the construction pathways of asset-light operations is crucial for guiding the development of such enterprises. This study examines two asset-light, technology-driven startups in China to identify key elements of the asset-light operation process and comparatively analyze their heterogeneous construction pathways using imprinting theory. The findings reveal that the alignment of open demand and connectivity conditions forms the foundation for establishing asset-light operation partnerships, while shared logic facilitates collaborations. Establishing symbiotic relationships is identified as a key factor in the sustainable development of asset-light operations. Regarding resource integration pathways, relationship-based entrepreneurial teams typically form asset-light resource networks in a 0 → n diffusion pattern by engaging in acquisitive resource integration behavior, exhibiting the characteristic of expansive resource capability. Conversely, technology-based entrepreneurial teams form 0 → 1 → n bridging resource networks through accumulative resource integration, demonstrating exploratory resource capability. These findings contribute to the study of asset-light operations in independent entrepreneurship and offer differentiated asset-light construction pathway references for technology-driven startups.


Keywords

asset-light operations, distinctive construction pathways, resource integration, symbiosis, technology-driven startups


JEL classifications

M31 , M41 , G32


URI

http://jssidoi.org/jesi/article/1339


DOI


Pages

210-231


Funding

This research was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant number 72002169

This is an open access issue and all published articles are licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

Authors

Hui, Xiang
Xi'an University of Technology, Xi'an, China https://www.xaut.edu.cn
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Li, Bingxiang
Xi'an University of Technology, Xi'an, China https://www.xaut.edu.cn
Articles by this author in: CrossRef |  Google Scholar

Li, Mingmin
Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan, China https://www.tyut.edu.cn
Articles by this author in: CrossRef |  Google Scholar

Journal title

Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Issues

Volume

13


Number

1


Issue date

September 2025


Issue DOI


ISSN

ISSN 2345-0282 (online)


Publisher

VšĮ Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Center, Vilnius, Lithuania

Cited

Google Scholar

Article views & downloads

HTML views: 1209  |  PDF downloads: 836

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