Public or Private by Genetics or Design? A Case Study of Organizational Design Decisions for New Public Ventures

When a new enterprise is born, how can an entrepreneur or intrapreneur decide how public or private the new enterprise should be? Should the publicness or privateness of a new enterprise be based upon genetics, i.e. replicate the publicness of the parent organization, or decided by design? As differences between public and private firms are blurred, entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs need to consider how public or private their new enterprise will be. This case study illustrates the tendency to replicate the publicness of the parent firm, which may not provide the right source of funding, ownership, control or other structures, such as board membership. This article provides propositions and a methodology to guide four major public versus private organizational decisions and establishes a future research agenda

Challenging the female underperformance hypothesis

In their recent review of prior studies examining firm performance, Klapper and Parker (2010, p.7) conclude that “women entrepreneurs tend to underperform relative to their male counterparts.” However, Robb and Watson (2011) argue that much of this prior research is based on inappropriate performance measures and/or does not adequately control (due to data limitations) for important demographic differences. Given the conflicting findings reported in the literature, the aim of this study is to replicate the study by Robb and Watson (2011) to see if their findings can be generalized to another geographical location. Our results, based on an analysis of 209 female-owned and 263 male-owned young Australian firms, confirm those of Robb and Watson (2011). We believe that this outcome should help dispel the female underperformance myth; which if left unchallenged could result in inappropriate policy decisions and, more importantly, could discourage women from establishing new ventures

The Public to Private Continuum Measure and the Role of Stakeholder Boards as a Proxy for Markets in the Governance of Air Navigation Services: A Comparative Analysis

This article studies institutional arrangements for governance of air navigation services employing a comparative analysis of six nations: Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In each of these countries other than the  United States, a board of  directors composed of stakeholder representatives manages  an  independent  air  navigation  services  organization  that  is  not  a  traditional government bureau.In this article we assess how boards of public organizations can act as a proxy for market feedback  in  the  provision  of  public  services. We use this concept to develop a more sensitive measure of the degree of publicness and privateness in organizations. We test our Public-Private Continuum Measure using a  comparative analysis of  air navigation services  in six  countries. Our Public-Private Continuum Measure advances  the measurement of the public to private continuum from the use of an ordinal measure to a continuous measure. Further research is needed to test this measure in studies that place organizations  on  the  continuum  and  determine  how  the  degree  of  public-privateness correlates with organizational performance measures. Armed with this tool, governments can make more accurate decisions about the degree of public-privateness desired for the provision of public goods

Characteristics of Immigrant Entrepreneurs and their Involvement in International New Ventures

We studied 561 young firms in Australia to understand the involvement of immigrant entrepreneurs (IEs) in international new ventures (INVs). We found that IEs are overrepresented in INVs and have many characteristics known to facilitate INV success, including more founders, university degrees, international connections, and technical capability. Our study has implications for immigration policy and economic policy and the efficient use of a nation\u27s human capital. This research challenges a necessity-based stereotype of immigrant entrepreneurs by identifying areas in which immigrant entrepreneurs have natural competitive advantages over native entrepreneurs (NEs). This research makes a contribution to the theory of immigrant entrepreneurship by identifying the significant role of immigrant entrepreneurs in INVs and the suitability of immigrant entrepreneurs for the development of INVs. We inform diverse streams of research in transnational and immigrant entrepreneurship with broader strategic work on the creation of INVs. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. This research was partly funded by an Australian Academy of Social Sciences research grant. A previous version of this paper was presented at Babson College Entrepreneurship Research Conference (BCERC), 2011, Syracuse

Rapid transformation in a dual identity Defense University

We discuss and examine strategies used to achieve rapid transformation when there are specialized identities within an organization. In this case study we use a grounded theory approach, conducting interviews with individuals representing the various subgroups in the organization two years after a reform initiative was undertaken. Transcripts were thematically analyzed. The findings contributed to the development of a model to depict the effects of a specialized management identity that employs a deletion strategy using coercion to effect rapid transformation. Recommendations are presented for specialized identity change management strategies.Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited

Agree or disagree? Level of alignment between project manager and stakeholders on performance indicators

Studies indicate project success should be viewed from the different perspectives of the individual stakeholders. Project managers are owner’s agents. In order to allow early corrective actions to take place in case a project is diverted from plan, to accurately report perceived success of the stakeholders by project managers is essential, though there has been little systematic research in this area. The aim of this paper is to report the findings of an empirical study that compares the level of alignment between project managers and key stakeholders on a list of project performance indicators. A telephone survey involving 18 complex project managers and various key project stakeholder groups was conducted in this study. Krippendorff’s Kappa alpha reliability test was used to assess the alignment levels between project managers and stakeholders. Despite the overall agreement level between project manager and stakeholders is only medium; results have also identified 12 performance indicators that have significant level of agreement between project managers and stakeholders

Be careful what you ask for: how inquiry strategy influences readiness mode

Much has been written about affecting change in the workplace, including how to help employees prepare for the process. However, little is known about how participation influences employees’ emotions and attitudes at the start of an intervention. By qualitatively analyzing conversations that were triggered by an organizational change effort, we explored how different inquiry strategies influence readiness for change. We examined four inquiry strategies by combining strength or deficit frames with individual or organizational focus. Distinctive conversational patterns emerged within each strategy, which we believe influence peoples’ change readiness. In this article we present four readiness modes to describe these patterns and conclude with implications for managers who seek to shape their change efforts more effectively

Female underperformance or goal-oriented behavior?

The purpose of this study is to examine the mediating effect of an owner’s growth goal on the relationship between the gender of new venture owners and the growth outcomes of their ventures. This is a quantitative study using a large, national database and structural equation modelling. Findings indicate that the negative relationship between gender and growth outcomes is fully mediated by the growth goals of new venture owners, their available internal resources, and the amount of time and money they are able (prepared) to invest in their new venture

Female underperformance or goal-oriented behavior?

The purpose of this study is to examine the mediating effect of an owner’s growth goal on the relationship between the gender of new venture owners and the growth outcomes of their ventures. This is a quantitative study using a large, national database and structural equation modelling. Findings indicate that the negative relationship between gender and growth outcomes is fully mediated by the growth goals of new venture owners, their available internal resources, and the amount of time and money they are able (prepared) to invest in their new venture