Nguyen Kien Quoc

Type of the article: Research Article

Abstract
Startups in emerging economies face pressures to translate strategic orientations and organizational capabilities into competitive performance amid resource constraints and institutional uncertainty. Despite interest in entrepreneurial orientation and dynamic capabilities as performance drivers, how they jointly influence startup performance through capability-conversion mechanisms – and how artificial intelligence (AI) amplifies these effects – remains underexplored. This study examines the mediating role of innovation capability in the entrepreneurial orientation–performance and dynamic capabilities–performance relationships, and the moderating role of AI adoption intensity, within Vietnamese startups. Data were collected from 315 founders, chief executive officers, and senior managers from September to December 2025 and analyzed using PLS-SEM. Results reveal that entrepreneurial orientation exerts a weak direct effect on performance (β = 0.135, p < 0.01) and a significant indirect effect through innovation capability (β = 0.098, p < 0.001), suggesting entrepreneurial orientation operates as a strategic catalyst rather than an immediate performance driver. Dynamic capabilities demonstrate both direct (β = 0.176, p < 0.001) and indirect effects via innovation capability (β = 0.044, p = 0.004), positioning it as a core value-creation engine. AI adoption intensity significantly moderates the entrepreneurial orientation–performance (β = 0.232), innovation capability–performance (β = 0.202), and dynamic capabilities–performance (β = 0.282) relationships, with the strongest amplification observed for dynamic capabilities. The model explains 66.5% of performance variance (R2 = 0.665). These findings advance understanding of capability-conversion logic in emerging-economy startups and offer practical guidance for managers seeking to build competitive advantage through capability development and technology adoption.