Finding the Right Balance: Antecedents and Consequences of Making, Buying, or Concurrently Sourcing Human Capital

Strategically determining organizational boundaries is one means to achieving better performance. This dissertation examines vertical integration, strategic acquisitions and concurrent sourcing to better understand the strategies used to acquire human capital and the impacts of these choices on performance outcomes. Using transaction cost economics and the organizational capabilities literatures I develop hypotheses to determine and explain the relevant antecedents to these strategic decisions. I then determine how the decision to make or buy (or both) human capital impacts competitive advantage and how competitive advantage impacts financial outcomes (i.e., revenue, and sales). Hypotheses are tested using data on 30 organizations from Major League Baseball (as well as their subsidiaries) spanning from 2002-2011. Regression models are used to identify significant predictors of the sourcing decision and how the sourcing decision impacts performance through competitive advantage

The effects of social spending on entrepreneurship in developed nations

Understanding how national policy can spur entrepreneurial activity is central to entrepreneurship research. Over the past decade, there has been a limited set of research findings to suggest that social spending may increase entrepreneurship in addition to serving more direct social purposes. We examine the topic through the lens of market failure theory and Austrian economics. In accordance with the Austrian perspective, we theorize that social spending increases the opportunity cost of entrepreneurship, thereby decreasing the attractiveness of entrepreneurship in comparison to salaried employment. Drawing from a sample of 31 developed countries spanning 2004–2011, we investigate the effects of social spending on entrepreneurial attitudes and activity. Our results indicate that country level social spending negatively affects entrepreneurial activity, business ownership, and the public’s view of entrepreneurship as a career choice. The findings suggest that social spending may be better suited for addressing social issues compared to spurring entrepreneurial attitudes or activity. Our findings have implications for both the entrepreneurship and national policy literature

Unicorns and agency theory: Agreeable moral hazard?

The number of unicorns, startups valued over $1 billion, has steadily risen over the past decade. The abnormally high valuation of a unicorn from investors is based on their potential to disrupt a market and create a new paradigm. With this as the backdrop, this piece asks the question, what theoretical tools do we have to understand unicorns? Specifically, we explore agency theory. We argue that if principals and agents agree on the goal of disruption, then perhaps the agency problem that does occur in unicorns is beneficial, not a cost. Further, we argue that the principals of unicorns do want agents to take higher than normal risks with their investment to disrupt a given market. From this phenomenon, we introduce the concept of agreeable moral hazard and its use in the unicorn setting. Not only does the concept of agreeable moral hazard provide theoretical implications for future research, but it also highlights the need for more research to test existing theory on the unicorn population

High Performance Work Systems: A Necessity for Startups

New businesses are an important part of any economy, yet the key elements to achieve startup success are often unclear or up for debate. Attracting, selecting, and training employees are often critical activities for most startups. Research suggests that high performance work systems (i.e., a bundle of human resource practices) enhance organizational performance. However, we posit that most startups lack these systems at the onset, yet with minimal effort can establish a system to improve their likelihood of meeting their goals, enhancing capabilities, and ensuring long-term survival.

Graduate Students Mentoring Undergraduate Students\u27 Business Innovation Pitches

© 2020 Elsevier Ltd Pitch competitions are commonplace throughout undergraduate and graduate entrepreneurship curricula. Although they are valuable exercises, advancements are available to further their usefulness and reach a wider audience. Accordingly, we developed an experiential learning exercise rooted in the tenets of corporate entrepreneurship that allows for greater collaboration, learning, and critical thinking. In the exercise, undergraduate student groups develop and present an innovative initiative, then are scored and mentored by MBA student groups prior to the final pitches. The benefits include improved student learning by undergraduate students from graduate student mentors as well as improved mentoring and leadership skills for graduate students through the practical and experiential process of helping undergraduate students improve their pitches

Sport business models: a stakeholder optimization approach

© 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited. Purpose: Owners of the US-based sport teams are seeing consistent gains on their financial investments, no matter the success of their teams on the playing field or their impact on the surrounding community. Sports teams are a part of an ecosystem comprised of primary and secondary stakeholders. The authors explore this phenomenon using a stakeholder perspective to understand how different business models and ownership structures optimize stakeholder value. Design/methodology/approach: The authors employ an evaluative conceptual approach to examine the dominant model in the US, European ownership structures and public-private partnerships (PPPs). T finalize these comparisons by exploring a fourth business model and ownership structure – a relatively unique option in the US deployed by the Green Bay Packers – which we refer to as the maximized value partnership (MVP). These comparisons are followed by practical advice for owners in regard to these governance mechanisms. Findings: The MVP ownership model has the potential to level the playing field between public and private actors. This potential is realized by fusing some of the best practices from European football clubs, in particular aspects of the stock market and supporter trust models. Originality/value: By evaluating the most common ownership structures for sports teams, t provide an alternative model as well as practical advice for owners

Making Sense of Entrepreneurial Intent: A Look At Gender and Entrepreneurial Personal Theory

© 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited. Purpose: Individuals adopt differing perceptions of entrepreneurial types, including small businesses, scalable businesses and social businesses. This study aims to suggest that individuals\u27 entrepreneurial personal theory (EPT: learning from experiences that informs how an individual conceptualizes entrepreneurship) influences entrepreneurial intent, and that sensemaking facilitates this process such that those with a clearer understanding of different entrepreneurship paths are more likely to pursue opportunities. Design/Methodology/Approach: This study theorizes and empirically tests whether EPT affects an individual\u27s intent to start a small business, a scalable business or a social enterprise and how gender moderates the relationship between EPT and entrepreneurial intent. Primary survey data were collected from undergraduate business students and working adults. Findings: The results indicate that EPTs characterized by small business, scalable business and social entrepreneurship have a positive association with entrepreneurial intentions. However, gender interaction effects showed that for women, an EPT characterized as small business has a weaker relationship with entrepreneurial intent, whereas an EPT characterized as social entrepreneurship has a stronger relationship with entrepreneurial intent. The notions that gender directly affects personal conceptions of entrepreneurship and that women may have not been exposed to all facets of entrepreneurship are addressed. Research Limitations/Implications: Other variables not included in this study could also influence the relationship between how the type of entrepreneurship may shape entrepreneurial intent and how such relationship may be influenced by gender. Implications for entrepreneurship education and curriculum development are presented. Originality/Value: Integrating the EPT and sensemaking to uncover gender differences in the development of entrepreneurial intentions is a novel theoretical discussion

Straight OUTTA Detroit: Embracing Stigma as Part of the Entrepreneurial Narrative

Through an inductive field study, we set out to better understand how and why ventures would embrace a non-core stigma; this is perplexing given that a majority of stigma literature suggests that organizations tend to avoid/disidentify from stigmatized entities. To do so, we study organizational locational stigma, which we define as a label arising from an organization\u27s geographic location that evokes a collective stakeholder group-specific perception that an organization possesses a fundamental, deep-seated flaw that deindividuates and discredits the organization. Our findings from Detroit, Michigan reveal that entrepreneurs embrace the locational stigma by taking part in Detroit\u27s underdog narrative and comeback story. Entrepreneurs use the underdog narrative in hope of differentiating their ventures from those in other locations, while they leverage the comeback story to gain access to the resources and in-group advantages. We thus advance the concept of locational stigma and show how it can benefit organizations