A new solution suggesting the need for a new equation

When Victoria Hale first came up with the notion of starting the Institute for OneWorld Health (iOWH), some cautioned that the idea of a non-profit pharmaceutical company developing drugs to treat neglected diseases was a proven loser. The more direct among them might also have inquired why a successful scientist, trained in being analytic, consistent and logical, would undertake such an evidently hopeless project. Yet a few years later, iOWH has not only achieved its first drug approval (i.e. Paramomycin for the treatment of leishmaniasis or ‘black fever’, approved for use in India), it has also seen that same drug included in WHO’s Essential Medicines list, and has research results in the New England Journal of Medicine. This turnaround raises a question: Did skeptics fail to grasp Hale’s clever insights, misjudge the depth of her commitment, or underestimate the extent of her potential good fortune? Put more simply, is Hale’s a story of smarts, guts, and luck

Prediction and control under uncertainty: Outcomes in angel investing

The article of record as published may be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusvent.2007.11.004Venture investing plays an important role in entrepreneurship not only because financial resources are important to new ventures, but also because early investors help shape the ventures' managerial and strategic destiny. In this study of 121 angel investors who had made 1038 new venture investments, we empirically investigate angel investors' differential use of predictive versus non-predictive control strategies. We show how the use of these strategies affects the outcomes of angel investors. Results show that angels who emphasize prediction make significantly larger venture investments, while those who emphasize nonpredictive control experience a reduction in investment failures without a reduction in their number of successes

Effectual versus predictive logics in entrepreneurial decision-making: Differences between experts and novices

The article of record as published may be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusvent.2008.02.002In support of theory, this study demonstrates that entrepreneurial experts frame decisions using an “effectual” logic (identify more potential markets, focus more on building the venture as a whole, pay less attention to predictive information, worry more about making do with resources on hand to invest only what they could afford to lose, and emphasize stitching together networks of partnerships); while novices use a “predictive frame” and tend to “go by the textbook.”We asked 27 expert entrepreneurs and 37MBAstudents to think aloud continuously as they solved typical decision-making problems in creating a new venture. Transcriptions were analyzed using methods from cognitive science. Results showed that expert entrepreneurs framed problems in a dramatically different way than MBA students

Toward a Theory of Marginalized Stakeholder-centric Entrepreneurship

The neglect of marginalized stakeholders is a colossal problem in both stakeholder and entrepreneurship streams of literature. To address this problem, we offer a theory of marginalized stakeholder-centric entrepreneurship. We conceptualize how firms can utilize marginalized stakeholder input actualization through which firms should process a variety of ideas, resources, and interactions with marginalized stakeholders and then filter, internalize and finally realize important elements that improve a variety of related socio-economic, ethical, racial, contextual, political and identity issues. This input actualization process enables firms to innovate with marginalized stakeholders and develop marginalized stakeholder capabilities. To this end, firms fulfil both of their moral and entrepreneurial claims to marginalized stakeholders

Antecedents and consequences of effectuation and causation in the international new venture creation process

The selection of the entry mode in an international market is of key importance for the venture. A process-based perspective on entry mode selection can add to the International Business and International Entrepreneurship literature. Framing the international market entry as an entrepreneurial process, this paper analyzes the antecedents and consequences of causation and effectuation in the entry mode selection. For the analysis, regression-based techniques were used on a sample of 65 gazelles. The results indicate that experienced entrepreneurs tend to apply effectuation rather than causation, while uncertainty does not have a systematic influence. Entrepreneurs using causation-based international new venture creation processes tend to engage in export-type entry modes, while effectuation-based international new venture creation processes do not predetermine the entry mod

The role of behavioural competences in predicting entrepreneurial funding resource orchestration

This study examines how a psychometric testing tool can be used to explain, predict and measure behavioural competences and how entrepreneurs fund the firm. Reference is made to studies of personality traits (McClelland, 1961; Sandberg & Hoffer, 1987; Brockhaus, 1980; Baum & Locke, 2004; Ciaveralla, 2004; Rauch & Frese, 2007). More recent studies have called for research into behaviour and competences (Zhao, 2010; Bird at al, 2012; Mueller, 2012) and specifically in the finance context of orchestration of resources (Wright and Sigliani 2013). The authors take a pragmatic realism perspective using a mixed method study to explore the “reality” of the entrepreneur (Watson, 2013). Cluster analysis is used to identify the relationship between behavioural competences and funding outcomes. Applying Big 5 Theory of Personality and the Great 8 Competences indicates how behaviour impacts outcomes as entrepreneurs seek to access finance. The identification of three distinct groups in this longitudinal study means belonging to one of these groups predicts likely behaviour when searching for finance. A strong behavioural characteristic which emerged, validated through interviews and psychometric testing, was an orientation towards engagement and working with other organisations. In a funding context, this manifested itself in using networks, seeking advice and sharing equity. These co-operative, collaborative characteristics are different to the classic image of the entrepreneur as a risk-taker or extrovert. The study identifies entrepreneurs who are both successful and unsuccessful in finance applications and compares behavioural competency profiles, thus overcoming the limitations of many studies (Rauch 2007) that are biased towards successful enterprises

Liminal entrepreneuring : the creative practices of nascent necessity entrepreneurs

This paper contributes to creative entrepreneurship studies through exploring ‘liminal entrepreneuring’, i.e., the organization-creation entrepreneurial practices and narratives of individuals living in precarious conditions. Drawing on a processual approach to entrepreneurship and Turner’s liminality concept, we study the transition from un(der)employment to entrepreneurship of 50 nascent necessity entrepreneurs (NNEs) in Spain, the United Kingdom, and Ireland. The paper asks how these agents develop creative entrepreneuring practices in their efforts to overcome their condition of ‘necessity’. The analysis shows how, in their everyday liminal entrepreneuring, NNEs disassemble their identities and social positions, experiment with new relationships and alternative visions of themselves, and (re)connect with entrepreneuring ideas and practices in a new way, using imagination and organization-creation practices to reconstruct both self and context in the process. The results question and expand the notion of entrepreneuring in times of socioeconomic stress

Sustaining entrepreneurial business: a complexity perspective on processes that produce emergent practice

This article examines the management practices in an entrepreneurial small firm which sustain the business. Using a longitudinal qualitative case study, four general processes are identified (experimentation, reflexivity, organising and sensing), that together provide a mechanism to sustain the enterprise. The analysis draws on concepts from entrepreneurship and complexity science. We suggest that an entrepreneur’s awareness of the role of these parallel processes will facilitate their approaches to sustaining and developing enterprises. We also suggest that these processes operate in parallel at multiple levels, including the self, the business and inter-firm networks. This finding contributes to a general theory of entrepreneurship. A number of areas for further research are discussed arising from this result

Workplace flexibility across the lifespan

As demographic changes impact the workplace, governments, organizations and workers are looking for ways to sustain optimal working lives at higher ages. Workplace flexibility has been introduced as a potential way workers can have more satisfying working lives until their retirement ages. This paper presents a critical review of the literature on workplace flexibility across the lifespan. It discusses how flexibility has been conceptualized across different disciplines, and postulates a definition that captures the joint roles of employer and employee in negotiating workplace flexibility that contributes to both employee and organization benefits. Moreover, it reviews how flexibility has been theorized and investigated in relation to older workers. The paper ends with a future research agenda for advancing understanding of how workplace flexibility may enhance working experiences of older workers, and in particular focuses on the critical investigation of uses of flexibility in relation to older workers

Entrepreneurial Orientation and the Family Firm: Mapping the Field and Tracing a Path for Future Research

ABSTRACT: Despite several calls for the further study of entrepreneurial orientation in family firms, we still have a fragmented understanding of this topic, whose full potential has yet to be reached. To shed new light on this issue, this article first maps the family business field by carrying out a systematic review and content analysis of the 78 articles identified at the confluence of entrepreneurial orientation and family firms. Our study describes and critically assesses previous research as well as the conclusions reached. Second, this article identifies the main research gaps and provides a path for future investigations