Helping Learners Recognize, Diagnose, and Unravel Incompetence Traps to Achieve Synergistic Exploration–Exploitation in Classroom

Sensemaking theory suggests that sensemaking may collapse when perception fails to detect weak signals of changes in the environment, cognition fails to appropriately categorize the new data coming from perception, and action fails to test the applicability of new concepts and schemas. Mindfulness–mindlessness theory warns us that routine practices based on low levels of exploration and exploitation may hinder performance. Finally, the theory of learning failure distinguishes between the traps of failure or overexploration and the traps of success or overexploitation. Combining and advancing these insights, we offer a typology of incompetence traps: (a) underexploration–underexploitation or mindlessness, (b) overexploration–underexploitation, and (c) overexploitation–underexploration. We examine their manifestations in perception, cognition, and action. Based on our analysis of how incompetence traps may hamper learning in management education, we give examples of how instructors may help students achieve synergistic exploration– exploitation via informed vision (combining depth and multiple perspectives); perceptive thinking (combining theoretical, constraint-savvy knowledge and practical, context-savvy knowledge); and mindful action (developing and refining new and existing capabilities)

Conflicts Between Venture Capitalists and CEO's of their Portfolio Companies

Prior research has established that venture capitalists (VCs) and CEOs of their portfolio companies often disagree on venture policies. Such disagreements can escalate into cognitive conflicts. Relationship-based, or affective, conflict may also arise between VCs and CEOs. This paper examines the antecedents and dynamics of such VC-CEO conflicts and their effects on CEOs' expectations as to what financial intermediaries they would like to choose for their new ventures. Based on a survey of 104 CEOs of VC-backed ventures, we establish that, following conflict with VCs, CEOs may elect to avoid using any financial intermediaries, or to choose business angels or corporations as financial intermediaries. Alternatively, CEOs may decide that they still want to work with VCs in the future and strive to ameliorate their collaboration with VCs

CEOs’ appraisals of venture capitalists’ external and internal support: a transaction cost economics perspective

Previous research has established that, in addition to provision of financing, venture capitalists (VCs) may add value to new ventures via different types of management support. In this paper, we propose that transaction cost economics (TCE) may complement other theoretical frameworks (e.g., agency theory, the resource-based view, knowledge-based theory, and resource dependence perspective) in explaining CEOs’ polar and ambivalent appraisals of the benefits and costs of different types of VC support and the overall value of VC assistance. Following TCE, we approach VC-funded new ventures as hybrids of markets and hierarchies. Hence, we assume that VCs help their portfolio companies both to externalize, or learn to better operate under the market mode of governance, and internalize, or learn to better operate under the hierarchy mode of governance. We propose that VCs use external support to facilitate venture externalization and use internal support to facilitate venture internalization. Based on structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis of data from an online survey that generated 104 valid responses from CEOs of VC-funded new ventures, we establish that CEOs associate VCs’ external support positively with the perceived benefits of VC assistance and negatively with the perceived costs of VC assistance. In contrast, CEOs associate VCs’ internal support positively both with the perceived benefits and costs of VC assistance. We also demonstrate that CEOs’ assessments of the perceived benefits and costs of VC assistance are, respectively, associated positively and negatively with their appraisals of the overall value of VC assistance. Finally, we ascertain that CEO experience is related negatively to CEOs’ appraisals of the overall value of VC assistance. Implications of these findings for research and practice are discussed

Venture Capitalists' Investment and Reinvestment Decisions

Prior research (Wells, 1974; MacMillan, 1985, 1987; Shepherd, 1999) has focused on examining VCs' decision making at the pre-investment stage. Few studies have investigated VCs' financing decisions at the post-investment stage, and the differences between investment and reinvestment. Some scholars claimed that VCs are more likely to provide a venture with initial funding than subsequent financing (Dean & Guglierano, 1990). Others argued the opposite (Ryan, 1994; Guler, 2003). My dissertation seeks to answer this question empirically. I surveyed 40 VCs either in person or over the phone, and asked them to assess how some new incremental information will affect the likelihood that they will invest in a venture at the pre-investment vs. post-investment stage. The results have demonstrated that VCs assess the same positive information more positively at the post-investment stage compared to the pre-investment stage and hence, are more likely to provide a venture with additional than with initial funding

Financial performance enhancing strategies: Small family firms vs. small non-family firms

Advancing prior research on the key determinants of firm financial performance, we identify the internal performance-enhancing strategies (i.e., raising employee commitment and investment in employee training) and external performance-enhancing strategies (i.e., boosting the learning orientation and adopting an emphasis on marketing). We argue that these performance-enhancing strategies will be positively associated with sales and profits, for both small family firms and small non-family firms, yet the effect will be stronger for family firms that often lag behind in these management domains. We test our hypotheses on a sample including 36 family firms and 28 non-family firms. While some hypotheses received support (e.g., investment in employee training was positively associated with sales in family firms), other hypotheses did not receive support (e.g., employee commitment was not associated with sales in family firms, and emphasis on marketing was negatively associated with sales in family firms). We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of our study and outline directions for future research on firm financial performance

Analyzing the relationship between green innovation and environmental performance in large manufacturing firms

Abstract Extant literature suggests that green intellectual capital (GIC), green human resource management (GHRM), and green innovation (GI) impacts the environmental performance of firms. In this paper, we argue that the relationship between GIC, GHRM, GI and environmental performance is more complex than previously suggested. We propose that neither GIC nor GHRM are directly related to environmental performance. We argue instead that GI mediates the relationships between GIC, GHRM, and environmental performance. Further, we suggest that environmental strategies are directly related to environmental performance, while also moderating the relationship between GI and environmental performance. We tested our proposed model on a sample of 244 large manufacturing firms. The results of a structural equation modeling analysis provide support for most of our hypotheses