Explaining the formation of international new ventures: The limits of theories from international business research☆

We study network activities of entrepreneurs through three phases of establishing a firm in four countries. Entrepreneurs access people in their networks to discuss aspects of establishing and running a business. We find that entrepreneurs build networks that systematically vary by the phase of entrepreneurship, analyzing number of their discussion partners, and the time spent networking. Entrepreneurs talk with more people during the planning than other phases. Family members are present in their networks in all phases, particularly among those who took over an existing firm. However, women use their kin to a larger extent than men, and even more than men when they take over an existing firm. Experienced entrepreneurs have the same networking patterns as novices. Moreover, these networking patterns are the same in all countries. However, there are country differences in size of discussion networks and time spent networking.

Social Networks and Entrepreneurship

Traditional approaches to theory building are not entirely consistent with the assumptions of alternative research paradigms that are now assuming more prominence in organizational study. We argue for a multiparadigm approach to theory building as a means of establishing correspondence between paradigms and theory-construction efforts. Because of the implications of the multiparadigm approach, we also examine ways of bridging across blurred paradigm boundaries. In addition, we explore a metaparadigm perspective that might allow disparate approaches to theory building to be considered together. Such a perspective can produce views of organizational phenomena that not only allow scholars to recognize inherent and irreconcilable theoretical differences, but also can encourage them to adopt a more comprehensive view by accounting for those differences.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/258683.pdf

Multiparadigm Perspectives on Theory Building

Institutional theory is an increasingly utilized theoretical lens for entrepreneurship research. However, while institutional theory has proven highly useful, its use has reached a point that there is a need to establish a clearer understanding of its wide-ranging application to entrepreneurship research. Therefore, we will initially review the existing entrepreneurship literature that employs institutional theory to both understand the current status of the field, its current shortcomings, and where we need to move in the future. We then summarize and discuss the articles in this special issue and how they contribute to this process of advancing institutional theory and its application in entrepreneurship research.

https://ir.nctu.edu.tw:443/bitstream/11536/14109/1/000276860600001.pdf

Institutional Theory and Entrepreneurship: Where Are We Now and Where Do We Need to Move in the Future?:

Content dimensions of the socialization domain were defined in order to determine relationships between learning particular features of a job/organization and the process and outcomes of socialization. Six socialization dimensions-performance proficiency, politics, language, people, organizational goals/values, and history-were supported by a factor analysis on data from 594 full-time professionals. The socialization process was then examined by comparing three groups of respondents who did not change jobs, changed jobs within the organization, or changed jobs and organizations. Results showed these groups had significantly different response patterns on all dimensions

Organizational socialization: Its content and consequences.

Although new ventures are commonly started by entrepreneurial teams, relatively little has been written about the process of effectively assembling and maintaining them. Systematic, descriptive research is needed to define the dimensions of entrepreneurial teams, to identify the costs and problems of assembling teams, and to identify successful strategies for resolving the problems.

Entrepreneurial Teams in New Venture Creation: A Research Agenda:

This model of multi-founder organizational formation assumes that organizations emerge In stages, following an a priori sequence of transitions. The idea stage comes first. In it, individuals or gr...

The stages of team venture formation: a decision-making model

Although social movements and legislation have provided the impetus for women to enter the managerial ranks, relatively few females have become top-level managers. Using the sociological theory of marginality, the paper explores this phenomenon and suggests that women are still caught between emerging corporate and traditional roles. Implications of this marginal status are then examined in the context of the multistaged process of organizational socialization.

Marginality and the Organizational Socialization of Female Managers

Few would argue with the notion that innovation is an investment in the future. The complexity of innovation decisions can be squarely confronted with the use of the portfolio concept by general managers at the division level. When applied at this level, portfolio strategy can be instrumental in achieving broader objectives and economic wealth despite the drawbacks of uncertainty, expense, and inefficiency that are sometimes associated with innovation.

Judith B. Kamm

Papers

Entrepreneurial Teams in New Venture Creation: A Research Agenda:

The stages of team venture formation: a decision-making model

Marginality and the Organizational Socialization of Female Managers

The portfolio approach to divisional innovation strategy