The importance of surrogate entrepreneurship for incubated Swedish technology ventures

Universities and incubators that are more experienced in venture creation have been found to appoint surrogate entrepreneurs as one way to improve entrepreneurial team formation. However, it is not known how such intervention into the core of a venture affects performance. This article investigates the impact of surrogate entrepreneurs on technology ventures stemming from leading Swedish university incubators. From a total of 170 ventures incorporated 1995–2005, belonging to 16 incubators, 59 ventures (35%) have received incubator help to recruit a surrogate entrepreneur. Swedish surrogate ventures perform significantly better in terms of growth and revenue compared to non-surrogates. Significantly higher performance of surrogates is also found in the subgroup academic technology ventures as well as the largest technology subgroup of information and communication technology (ICT) ventures. These findings in combination with a case study of the most productive incubation environment are used to propose future research and policy regarding university incubators intervening into entrepreneurial team formation in different ways.     

‘Who Knows What?’ in New Venture Teams: Transactive Memory Systems as a Micro‐Foundation of Entrepreneurial Orientation

The increasing importance of entrepreneurial behaviour has led scholars to embrace the idea that an entrepreneurial orientation (EO) is an important predictor of firm performance. While EO occupies a central position in strategic entrepreneurship research, scholars have yet to explore its origins in new ventures. Drawing on the knowledge‐based and cognitive views, we theorize that a new venture team's transactive memory system is a cognitive mechanism that spurs the development of an EO. In a field study of high‐tech new ventures in China, we examined the relationship between venture teams’ transactive memory systems (representing the distribution, integration, and utilization of the teams’ knowledge) and EO and the moderating influence of team‐, firm‐, and environment‐level factors. We found that the transactive memory system of a new venture team enhanced their EO and that this relationship was positively influenced by intra‐team trust, the structural organicity of a venture, and environmental dynamism. Our findings provide novel insights into the micro‐foundations of TMS in developing an EO in new ventures.     

Entrepreneur political skill and new venture performance: Extending the social competence perspective

Research on the social competence perspective holds that since operating high performing new ventures is dependent on entrepreneurs’ ability to influence stakeholder actions, entrepreneur social competence is likely critically important to new venture performance. Using a sample of 163 entrepreneurs throughout the USA, we extend such research by examining the entrepreneur political skill new venture performance relationship. Our results suggest that political skill, which is the component of social competence which specifically assesses an individual's ability to influence other's actions within the business environment, is positively associated with new venture performance. Study results provide additional support for the social competence perspective.     

Sense and sensibility: The role of business incubator client advisors in assisting high-technology entrepreneurs to make sense of investment readiness status

For high-technology entrepreneurs, attaining an appropriate level of investment to support new ventures is challenging as substantial investment is usually required prior to revenue generation. Consequently, entrepreneurs must present their firms as investment ready in the context of an uncertain market response and an absence of any trading history. Gaining tenancy within a business incubator can be advantageous to this process given that placement enhances entrepreneurial contact with potential investors whilst professional client advisors (CAs) use their expertise to assist in the development of a credible business plan. However, for the investment proposal to be successful, it must make sense to fund managers despite their lack of technological expertise and product knowledge. Thus, this article explores how incubator CAs and entrepreneurs act in concert to mould innovative ideas into plausible business plans that make sense to venture fund investors. To illustrate this process, we draw upon empirical evidence which suggests that CAs act as sense makers between venture fund managers (VFMs) and high-technology entrepreneurs, yet their role and influence appears undervalued. These findings have implications for entrepreneurial access to much needed funding and also for the identification of investment opportunities for VFMs.     

MANAGING FOR AUTONOMY IN JOINT VENTURES: A LONGITUDINAL STUDY OF UPWARD INFLUENCE*

This article explores the relationships among influence, autonomy and control in a joint venture setting. It addresses the mechanisms available to joint venture (JV) managers to influence and gain compliance from parent firms. Control categories derived primarily from research on unified structures are explored in a new domain, an international joint venture. the beginning of new theory specific to relationships in joint ventures is developed based on causal maps of managerial perceptions. the results suggest that the use of upward influence to gain autonomy in a joint venture is different and more complex than in unified structures or among independent organizations.     

Environmental uncertainty,prospector strategy,and new venture performance: the moderating role of network capabilities

We examine the network capability of new ventures and its relationship to uncertainty management, engagement in the prospector strategy, and performance outcome in a transition economy. Using data from a survey of 302 new ventures based in China, we find that new ventures respond to a high environmental uncertainty by engaging more in prospector strategy, consequently enhancing the ventures’ performance. Moreover, we find that network capabilities significantly moderate these relationships by not only strengthening the relationship between environmental uncertainty and engagement in the prospector strategy (the E–S relationship) but also by enhancing the relationship between engagement in the prospector strategy and new venture performance (the S–P relationship). Our findings extend the environment, strategy, and performance paradigm from large firms to small new ventures, highlighting the importance of network capabilities in a new venture’s engagement in an innovative strategy and of performance outcomes in a transition economy with a generally high level of environmental uncertainty.     

Effective entrepreneurial narrative design in reward crowdfunding campaigns for social ventures

One of the most important challenges for social venture entrepreneurs is acquiring resources. Reward crowdfunding is considered a suitable tool for meeting the financing needs of social ventures, whose backers are particularly interested in firm ideas and core values rather than in collaterals or business plans. A strategic factor that is able to influence the outcome of crowdfunding campaigns is the entrepreneurial narrative. Very few scholars have examined the key factors that support a crowdfunding campaign, particularly those on reward-based crowdfunding platforms, and the effects of entrepreneurial narratives on investors’ decisions. Aiming to fill this research gap, this paper investigates how entrepreneurs in the technology industry describe their social ventures and projects on Eppela, an Italian reward-based crowdfunding platform. Thematic analysis was applied to detect the five following key factors of effective entrepreneurial narratives in reward-based crowdfunding campaigns for social ventures: 1) problem/need; 2) project; 3) product; 4) team; and 5) venture. Each key factor includes specific subfactors. Lexical data analysis was then performed to identify the following expected effects of the examined entrepreneurial narratives on potential investors, leading these investors to understand, trust, and approve the project proposal, and thus, finance the social venture’s project: 1) reassurance, 2) reliability, and 3) credibility. Based on these results, this study proposes an explanatory model about how to design effective entrepreneurial narratives to be presented to contribute as much as possible to the success of projects in crowdfunding platforms.

     

When is Effort Contagious in New Venture Management Teams? Understanding the Contingencies of Social Motivation Theory

Consistent with social motivation theory, prior research on managerial motivation suggests that effort is contagious across management team members. In this study, we draw on belongingness theory to develop a model on important boundary conditions to social motivation theory in the management team context. The model predicts that new venture managers react to their teammates’ higher effort levels by investing higher effort levels themselves primarily when they are confronted with a threat – namely, low venture performance and high environmental hostility – but that effort is less contagious when managers face little threat. We test our model with a sample of 103 new venture managers nested in 51 management teams in a longitudinal setting capturing managerial effort over 26 weeks. While we do not find a direct relationship between teammates’ effort and a new venture manager’s subsequent effort, we find support for the crucial role of threat in triggering the contagion of managerial effort. We discuss the contributions of our study for research on management teams, performance feedback, and entrepreneurial effort in new ventures.     

天使投资人的投资行为研究:一个理论综述

在我国,越来越多的天使投资人涌现出来,他们与来自创业资本基金的创业资本家一起,共同促进了创业企业的发展.我国理论研究者对创业投资基金的关注程度越来越高,展开了一系列研究,与此形成对比,研究者们在天使投资相关的理论研究显得比较薄弱.本文对国外天使投资行为相关研究做了一个比较全面的综述,从实践角度,这可能有助于国内的实践者和研究者更深入地了解天使投资人投资行为机理,进而提升参与天使投资的决策能力.     

Technology transfer through international joint ventures: the case of gamma

Technology transfer through international joint ventures is considered important to enhance competitiveness, exploit opportunities and boost economic growth. A common observation is, however, that such ventures often fail. Present insights regarding transfer processes, influencing factors, and relationships between technology transfer and venture success — if any — are modest. This paper reports on a failing German–Russian joint venture established to exploit new business opportunities, where transfer of technology was perceived crucial to success. It was observed that the technology transfer as such was successful, even though the transferring firm sustained monetary loss and worsened its competitive situation.     

China-United States joint ventures: a typological model of goal congruence and cultural understanding and their importance for effective human resource management

Little has been written about enhancing human resource management effectiveness in joint ventures with China. This study presented a typology of potential relationships between Chinese and American partners in a joint venture based on goal congruence and cultural understanding. Each relationship is described, and implications for the management of human resources are discussed.     

The conflict potential of the entrepreneur’s decision-making style in the entrepreneur-investor relationship

While prior research has indicated the importance of conflicts between investors and entrepreneurs, little is known about their causes. We use theory on entrepreneurial decision-making to examine the impact of a founding team’s causal versus effectual decision style on the level of perceived task conflict that founders experience with their venture capitalists. Based on a sample of 141 German ventures, we find that a founding team perceives fewer conflicts when following the causal principle of overcoming the unexpected and the effectual principle of affordable loss.     

The role of Technological Business Incubators in supporting business innovation in China: a case of regional adaptability?

This paper examines the extent to which both the support services of Technological Business Incubators (TBIs) and exogenous local factors facilitate the innovation activity of incubated new ventures. Using data on all 215 surviving Chinese incubators and their incubated firms from government surveys conducted over five consecutive years from 2009 until 2013, combined with information from nine case studies, we examine the effects of four incubator services on three levels of innovation in incubated firms, whilst also taking account of key exogenous factors. Technical service support from an incubator was found to have had a positive influence on all levels of innovation activity across all regions whilst incubator financial support had a positive effect on the making of more advanced innovations. The availability of venture capital had a significant impact on making lower order innovations whereas the availability of scientific knowledge resources influenced more advanced innovation activity. Whereas TBI support services in the more developed Eastern region are mainly concerned with leveraging external resources, those in the less developed Central and Western regions are more concerned with compensating for the lack of external resources to support innovation.     

Gendered cognitions: a socio-cognitive model of how gender affects entrepreneurial preferences

ABSTRACT

This research explores the social-cognitive factors which lead both women and men to pursue ventures consistent with their gendered social identity, therefore, reinforcing the gender gap in entrepreneurship. We measured the self-assessments of individuals presented with experimentally manipulated entrepreneurial opportunities that were either consistent or inconsistent with their self-reported gender. A theoretical model derived from Social Role Theory is presented and tested. It posits that a gender match (mismatch) with the entrepreneurial opportunity results in higher (lower) reported self-efficacy, anticipated social resources, and venture desirability and lower (higher) venture risk perceptions. The experimental data are tested in a sequential mediation SEM model. We find evidence that self-efficacy and anticipated social resources mediate the effect of gender congruency on perceived risk and venture desirability. The results provide insight into the insidious barriers that play a role in reproducing a gender gap in entrepreneurial outcomes by ‘nudging’ women into lower-return ventures in less lucrative industries.     

Looking inside the joint venture to help understand the link between inter-parent cooperation and performance

Cooperation is the Holy Grail for inter-organizational relationships, and significant research effort has been directed towards understanding its antecedents. However, the extant literature on joint ventures indicates that relatively few researchers have attempted to measure either cooperation or its organizational consequences. This paper examines the thesis that the link between inter-parent cooperation and joint venture performance may be mediated by important conditions inside the joint venture. The findings suggest that the nature of relations between the managers transferred into the joint venture from the parents can help explain the link between joint venture performance and inter-parent cooperation. In that regard, this research highlights the mediating roles of interdependence, factionalism, and patterns of influence behaviour. A parsimonious model is offered to help understand joint venture performance.     

Loyalty to supervisor and trust in supervisor of workers in Chinese joint ventures: a test of two competing models

This study examines the factors affecting joint venture employees' loyalty to supervisor in the People's Republic of China. The trust framework and justice framework are employed to develop two competing models for studying the antecedents and consequences of loyalty to supervisor in the context of Chinese joint ventures. The direct effect model proposes that there is a direct effect of employees' perception of interactional justice and of trust in supervisor on their loyalty to supervisor, while the mediation model considers trust in supervisor as a mediating variable between interactional justice and loyalty to supervisor. Additionally, the two models suggest that loyalty to supervisor affects the in-role job performance and organizational citizenship behaviour of workers. The results showed that the mediation model was better supported than the direct effect model. It has been found that trust in supervisor mediates the relationships between interactional justice and loyalty to supervisor. In addition, loyalty to supervisor has significant effects on both employees' performance and organizational citizenship behaviour. Practically, the findings of the present study provide considerable implications for managing Chinese workers in joint ventures.     

Antecedents and Effects of Parent Control in International Joint Ventures

Using a sample of 90 US–China manufacturing joint ventures, this study empirically tested a grounded-theory model of the antecedents and the effects of the structure of parent management control in international joint ventures. The results suggest that competitive and cooperative dynamics occur simultaneously between joint venture partners. On one hand, the relative bargaining power between the partners, derived from the negotiation context and from contributing critical resources to the venture, respectively, is a determining factor in management control; and the level of operational control exercised by a partner over the venture has a positive effect on the extent to which this partner's strategic objectives are achieved. On the other hand, the quality of the interpartner working relationship was found to have a strong, positive relationship with the achievement of strategic objectives for both partners.     

The embedding process of community ventures: creating a music festival in a rural community

Community entrepreneurship is a potentially powerful mechanism to improve the well-being of rural communities. To mobilize inhabitants for collective action, an emerging community venture must be embedded within a local community. Yet, the embedding process of community ventures is not well understood. Accordingly, this study explores how a community entrepreneur (CE) embedded an emerging community venture into a rural community and simultaneously stimulated social change in the community. Drawing on a longitudinal case study of a CE who created a jazz music festival in a rural Norwegian community, a dynamic conceptual framework was developed that highlights the roles and mechanisms that support the embedding process. The CE promoted social change by introducing external impulses to the local community and assumed a bridging role between the villagers and external actors in the embedding process. Some villagers assumed local embedding roles, while several external actors assumed external embedding roles. I identified four strategies that were used to increase the embeddedness of the community venture in the rural community and one strategy that was used by the CE to de-embed the venture in order to avoid constraints imposed by the local community. The importance of the different roles and mechanisms changed over time.     

Balancing dual missions for social venture growth: a comparative case study

ABSTRACT

Balancing social and economic missions in the pursuit of growth is one of the greatest challenges faced by social ventures. Although social ventures strive for growth to scale their social impact, pursuing growth often results in mission drift and the sacrifice of social objectives, which in turn eventually undermine the ventures’ raison d’être. In this study, we investigate how and with what outcomes social ventures that pursue growth can manage the balance of social and economic missions. Through a comparative case study of six for-profit social ventures, we find significant differences in how dual missions are selected, connected, and intertwined, leading to varying degrees of mission spillover effects between social and economic missions. Our findings show that two-sided mission spillover effects are a central mechanism in dual mission management, enabling social ventures to pursue balanced growth, avoid mission drift, and achieve social impact. With these findings, this study adds to the emergent literature on social entrepreneurship, dual mission management, and social venture growth.     

A longitudinal study on the relationship between financial bootstrapping and new venture growth

While bootstrap finance is widely used in entrepreneurial ventures, both scholars and practitioners have presented conflicting views on the relation between financial bootstrapping and venture growth. This article empirically investigates the association between bootstrap strategies used at startup and subsequent venture growth. For this purpose, we use a longitudinal database comprising data from both questionnaires and financial accounts of 214 new ventures. Findings demonstrate that the association between financial bootstrapping and venture growth is either nonexistent or positive. More specifically, new ventures that use more owner funds, employ more interim personnel, encourage customers to pay more quickly, and apply for more subsidy programs exhibit higher growth over time. We discuss the managerial and policy implications of these results and suggest avenues for future research.