Journal of Business Venturing最新文献

One of the major entrepreneurial challenges faced by scaling firms involves changing their internal organization. Our study focuses on a particular aspect of internal organizing—namely, how founder roles evolve in preparation for scaling. By means of an in-depth case study and a combination of data collection methods, we study the evolution of formal and informal founder roles. For both types of roles, we identify a founder-driven and an interaction-driven phase, during which founder and/or joiner role-crafting take place. Through both types of role-crafting, founder roles are (re)shaped. Particularly unique to our study is that we identify three scaling-specific paths through which the role-crafting of joiners shapes founders' roles. Specifically, founders experience a role efficiency increase as they take over some of the joiner-introduced role behaviors, or a role set decrease as joiners take over some of their (formal or informal) roles. We further point to the importance of psychological safety and value fit for successful joiner role-crafting to occur and for founder roles to change following founder-joiner interactions. Our study adds to the literatures on scaling and entrepreneurship as well as to role theory and role-crafting literature.

While an economic paradigm has been productive for entrepreneurship, religion has been proposed as an alternative rationality to advance research in our field. To extend a theological turn in entrepreneurship and identity research, our study inductively develops a conceptual model that explains how individuals navigate entrepreneurial identity threats based on the interaction between a relational identity with God (RIG) and an entrepreneurial identity to persist in entrepreneurial action. Our study suggests this can happen when entrepreneurs engage in inter-identity work mechanisms - affirming and humbling - to mitigate these identity threats. Specifically, a relational identity with God acts as a countervailing force to an entrepreneurial identity during times of identity threats to generate inter-identity meaning change, resulting in interidentity stability and entrepreneurial persistence. Through our study, we advance knowledge on the theological turn in entrepreneurship and identity by inductively developing theory on a new religious identity construct (RIG), elaborating theory of inter-identity work by shifting the focus from structural to content changes, and extending theory on entrepreneurial action, persistence, and well-being based on theological rather than economic considerations.

We study the development of entrepreneurial motivation of participants in an Ecuadorian incubator. Using a narrative inquiry approach based on 41 interviews, we uncover how different modes of rootedness in distinct communities shape entrepreneurial dispositions and shed light on the role of a temporary community of practice in intermediating the development and ultimate transformation of these dispositions into individuated motivations. By bringing to the frontline the role of communities in shaping the formation process of entrepreneurial motivation, we offer a new theoretical angle for understanding intricate relations between social embeddedness, temporary communities of practice, and entrepreneurial pursuits in non-Western contexts.

In this special issue, we aim to explore the topic of rationality and its manifestations in entrepreneurship. The six articles in this special issue cover a range of questions about rationality – what it is, where it comes from, how it influences decision-making as well as understanding contextual factors that influence it. Reflecting our call for submissions as well as the accepted articles included in this special issue, we recognize, but also depart from, rationality's origins in economics to provide a range of perspectives on rationality in the entrepreneurship process. We also discuss common themes and future research directions for the field.

Entrepreneurial action only rarely results in the full transition to venture creation. Yet, extant research has focused almost exclusively on explaining how entrepreneurial action influences venture performance outcomes such as emergence and growth. Therefore, to advance theory, there is a need to uncover other outcomes of entrepreneurial action by decoupling it from venture creation. In this study, we begin such decoupling by exploring how entrepreneurial action can create individual benefits irrespective of venture emergence and financial success. We collected longitudinal data from a group of individuals who, due to forced migration, experienced significant disruption and then engaged in entrepreneurial action with the general goal of adapting to a new (to them) context. From this data, we integrated theory on entrepreneuring to develop a grounded model of post-disruption entrepreneuring. This model has three main components: (a) disruption assessment impact—interpretation of how the disruption will influence one's ability to pursue tasks and goals that provide meaning in life; (b) use of entrepreneuring—function and application of entrepreneuring activities in addressing opportunities or threats; and (c) projected goals—anticipated outcomes that provide meaning, motivation, and purpose. These attempts at assessing the contextual conditions provide individuals with an objective way of framing their situation. Thus, entrepreneuring can serve as an accessible mental structure that facilitates adaptation. In elaborating on post-disruption entrepreneuring, this study contributes to the literature by demonstrating the generative capacity of entrepreneurial action even in the absence of venture creation.

This paper uses system dynamics modelling to explore processes through which entrepreneurial initiatives within firms lead to firm growth. Our model captures the interplay among various sub-processes and finds these processes form a complex system involving multiple interacting feedback processes. Simulation analysis shows that minor changes in firm conditions could lead to qualitatively different growth trajectories. They involve growth dynamics such as better before worse and worse before better scenarios. These findings prompt us to move beyond linear understanding of how entrepreneurship contributes to firm growth.

Do employers perceive former entrepreneurs as suitable candidates for paid employment? We argue that (positive and negative) stereotypes and uncertainty drive employability perceptions regarding former entrepreneurs; these perceptions are contingent upon job type and the background of both the applicant and the person evaluating them. Two empirical studies yield broad support for our predictions. In Study 1 (a vignette study), we find lower employability perceptions regarding former entrepreneurs compared to other applicants, which are significantly mediated by positive and negative stereotypes as well as uncertainty perceptions. In Study 2 (conjoint experiments with two separate samples: recruiters and executives), we substantiate the results of Study 1, revealing that when former entrepreneurs apply for a job involving personnel responsibility or when there is evidence of a failure in their vita, they are less likely to face devaluations. Further, we find evidence for similarity effects; more specifically, entrepreneurs do not suffer from employability devaluation when the recruiter is a part-time entrepreneur or the executive is the business owner. We discuss the implications as part of the employability debate about former entrepreneurs.

As social enterprises seek to share knowledge, they must navigate social hierarchy. In this study, we examine social enterprises' efforts to share knowledge in rural areas and how they seek to mitigate some of the consequences of women's marginalization during this process. We use a two-step, multi-method approach. We begin with a quantitative study that explores outcomes for women, and how caste and patriarchy influence their ability to adopt new practices introduced by social enterprises. We then draw on data from a seven-year qualitative case study to unpack our quantitative findings and explore the actual mechanisms through which intersectionality shapes the social enterprises' efforts. Our qualitative efforts also uncover how social enterprises' practices, as well as women's activities, can mitigate some of the negative consequences of marginalization, even while the social setting is largely unchanged. We seek to contribute to theory by exploring how social enterprises can potentially mitigate some of the negative consequences of exclusion due to intersectionality.

Crime is an anti-social blight on communities that increases the cost of doing business, including for entrepreneurs. Drawing on Australian longitudinal data, this study examines the links between crime rates and the propensity for entrepreneurship within communities. We do so by matching propensity for entrepreneurship with types of crime found at the community level where crime occurs. We find that higher total crime rates, crimes against the person and property crime, significantly lower the propensity for entrepreneurship in communities. We also show that the core facets of community social capital – trust, membership in voluntary organizations and support and cooperation – mediate this relationship.

Executive summary

We comprehensively examine whether higher community crime rates – crime on people and crime on property – cause lower rates of entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship research extensively examines how gaining social capital, defined as the social resources one gains within one's community, promotes entrepreneurship. This study considers whether a pervasive community dynamic in crime impedes entrepreneurship. Specifically, we show that the two main kinds of crime – people and property – inhibit entrepreneurship.

We show the facets of community social capital that mediate the relationship between crime and entrepreneurship. We inform the role of community-based social capital in promoting entrepreneurship (Kwon et al., 2013) by considering how higher crime lowers social capital and in turn entrepreneurship. We show that core facets of relational social capital – trust, voluntary membership in community bodies, support, and cooperation – mediate the relationship between crime and entrepreneurship. Likewise, communities with more robust reserves of social capital are better able to withstand crime and promote entrepreneurship.

Examining the link between crime and entrepreneurship allows us to contribute to the literature on entrepreneurship and social capital. We discuss the various ways in which crime diminishes social capital to shape entrepreneurship. In our framework that is predicated on theory on community social capital, crime creates distrust because it causes citizens to be wearier and more suspicious of each other, impeding sharing of ideas and knowledge for ventures. Crime impedes the efficacy and membership of community-based organizations that allow entrepreneurs to network. Crime reduces the support available for founders to start and sustain businesses in focal communities, as individuals seek opportunities and resources outside their communities. Crime diminishes the extent to which people take pride in and identify with their communities, as evidenced by voluntary membership in community organizations. Crime reduces collaboration because it leads to self-protective behaviors, including flight from high-crime communities, that