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Towards an Instrument for Measuring Strategic Motives for Corporate Ventures
Abstract
This article proposes that corporate entrepreneurship and strategy can be linked in a means–ends relationship if it is possible to determine the motives behind individual corporate ventures. To facilitate future empirical investigations, it develops an instrument for measuring
such motives, and tests this instrument on a sample of 274 ventures in small and medium-sized enterprises. The findings confirm that most of the ventures examined are linked to strategic concerns. Moreover, the instrument design provides dimensions for motives rather than categories, because
dimensions can be more freely evaluated and combined in future research, for instance in the form of venture motive profiles. The dimensions, obtained through factor analysis, are orientation in regard to sought effects (improving business or gaining competence), posture (offensive versus
defensive) and adaptive style (proactive versus reactive). Researchers can benefit from the instrument in empirical work, and their findings can in turn be of value for both practitioners and policy makers.
... Internal corporate venturing is a way for firms to implement strategies for survival and growth (Thorén, 2014). With corporate ventures, firms can constructively influence their path-dependent strategic development process (Thorén and Brown, 2010) to deal with the threats and opportunities of dynamic environments (Bierwerth et al., 2015;Kraus and Rigtering, 2017). ...
... Direction refers to where the venture is moving in relation to the parent company's current product-market position (Morris et al., 2008). It thereby captures the function of the venture selection process as a rudder for top managers with which they can attempt to influence their business's strategic development (Thorén, 2014). A popular model of relatedness is the business development matrix originally created by Ansoff (1965). ...
... Internal corporate venturing is a way for firms to implement strategies for survival and growth (Thorén, 2014). With corporate ventures, firms can constructively influence their path-dependent strategic development process (Thorén and Brown, 2010) to deal with the threats and opportunities of dynamic environments (Bierwerth et al., 2015;Kraus and Rigtering, 2017). ...
... Direction refers to where the venture is moving in relation to the parent company's current product-market position (Morris et al., 2008). It thereby captures the function of the venture selection process as a rudder for top managers with which they can attempt to influence their business's strategic development (Thorén, 2014). A popular model of relatedness is the business development matrix originally created by Ansoff (1965). ...
... Organizational ambidexterity was introduced by Tushman and O'Reilly (1996) to emphasize the fact that firms need to master both evolutionary and revolutionary change to ensure long-term success and survival. Drawing on March's (1991) (Gibson & Birkinshaw, 2004); and finally, ambidexterity might also be achieved through externalization, such as promoting exploration through venturing schemes (Michl, Gold, & Picot, 2013;Raisch, Birkinshaw, Probst, & Tushman, 2009;Rohrbeck, Döhler, & Arnold, 2009;Thorén, 2014). ...
We leverage the business model innovation and ambidexterity literature to investigate a contradictory case, the Swedish-Finnish Telecom operator TeliaSonera. Despite being challenged by three major disruptions, the company not only still exists but also enjoys remarkably good financial performance. Building on extant archival data and interviews, we carefully identify and map 26 organizational responses during 1992–2016. We find that the firm has overcome three critical phases by experimenting and pioneering with portfolios of business models and/or technological innovations. We describe this behaviour as double ambidexterity. We use an in-depth case study to conceptualize double ambidexterity and discuss its impact on the business's survival and enduring success.
Cultural professionals in the art and cultural sector in Hanoi, Vietnam, are carrying out digitization projects and utilizing digital platforms, tools and applications in order to curate their own narrative on Vietnamese art and culture. This can help to counter digital orientalism by redressing the imbalance in the amount of accessible content online as well as control over the production and circulation of cultural content. An increase in the amount of digitized cultural content can help to engage local audiences and introduce a contemporary image of Vietnamese culture to an international audience. Today, Vietnamese cultural professionals are able to decide what to digitize, what to make publicly accessible and how to curate it online. This paper presents findings from a case study on Manzi Art Space, including a digital ethnography of an augmented reality public art project entitled ‘Into Thin Air’ and 20 interviews with art and cultural professionals working in Hanoi. The findings show how digitization allows cultural professionals to shape the narrative on contemporary Vietnamese art and culture. However, the findings also show there are particular challenges faced by cultural professionals in Hanoi, including lack of human resources, technical resources and funding as well as concerns around copyright law and government permissions. These challenges are hindering the ability to utilize new digital technologies.
The nature of work in the art and cultural sector in Hanoi, Vietnam, is changing. The new generation of cultural professionals is harnessing digital technology to display art and cultural collections in innovative and creative ways. Digitization today is not only about creating ‘hidden’ digital archives but, instead, about curating digital art and culture experiences that are publicly accessible. This allows a way to preserve culture, which can be digitally displayed in a contemporary format. The paper presents findings from a case study on Matca Space for Photography (Matca), including semi-structured interviews, secondary data analysis, and a digital ethnography of Matca’s digital platforms. The current study highlights the challenges and opportunities associated with digitization in Vietnam. While there are challenges with digitization due to a lack of technical resources and human resources, using digital platforms can allow cultural professionals an agency to present Vietnamese art and culture to local and international audiences. This has the potential to redress the imbalance in representation and redefine digital orientalism.
The institutional entrepreneurship implicit in a firm's sponsorship of its technology as a common standard is beset by several challenges. These challenges arise from a standard's property to enable and constrain even as potential competitors agree to cooperate on its creation. Our exploration of Sun Microsystems's sponsorship of its Java technology suggests that standards in the making generate seeds of self-destruction. Our study also identifies the social and political skills that a sponsor deploys to address these challenges.
The strategy an industrial firm elects for its product development program is increasingly viewed as a critical element of the firm's total corporate strategy. New product development and technology bear an integral relationship to an industrial company's strategic direction by helping to define the range of its possibilities [13]. This article reports the results of an empirical study whose purpose was to identify the major types of innovation strategies that firms pursue—strategy scenarios. A second purpose was to assess which strategies yield the best results.
Stevenson (1983) holds that entrepreneurial management, defined as a set of opportunity-based management practices, can help firms remain vital and contribute to firm and societal level value creation. While his conceptualization has received much attention, little progress has been made because of a lack of empirical tools to examine his propositions. This article seeks to resolve this by describing a new instrument that was developed specifically for operationalizing Stevenson's conceptualization. After two pre-tests, the instrument was tested full scale on a very large (1200+ cases) stratified random sample of firms with different size, governance structure, and industry affiliation. The results show that both in the full sample and in various sub-samples it was possible to identify six sub-dimensions with high discriminant validity and moderate to high reliability, which represent dimensions of Stevenson's theoretical reasoning. We label these Strategic Orientation, Resource Orientation, Management Structure, Reward Philosophy, Growth Orientation and Entrepreneurial Culture. We were further able to show that these dimensions only partly overlap with ‘Entrepreneurial Orientation’, the hitherto best established empirical instrument for assessing a firm's degree of entrepreneurship. Our instrument should open up opportunities for researchers to further evaluate entrepreneurship in existing firms. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
This article illustrates how corporate entrepreneurship links the firm's long term development process with the external environment. Based on the relaxation of several of the unrealistic assumptions in classic economic theory, it also illustrates how corporate entrepreneurship can be an important driver of change in the firm's environment. More specifically, the article demonstrates that: 1) one important consequence of entrepreneurship is the creation of more business opportunities, leading to an ever-abundant availability of new business potential; 2) these opportunities can be classified into three categories based on how they come into existence, and by whom they are exploited; 3) this leads to implications regarding strategic approaches to venture selection and pursuit. Each opportunity type is illustrated with examples from the online computer gaming industry. A number of preliminary managerial implications are presented, based on differences in the creation and nature of opportunities in each category.
Entrepreneurship is the creation of organizations. What dlfterentiates entrepreneurs trom non-entrepreneurs ls that entrepreneuns create organizations, whil-e.non-entre- preneurs dc not. In behavioral approaches to the study of entrepreneurship an entre preneur is seen as a set of activlties involved in organization creation, while in tralt approaches an entrepreneur ls a set of personality traits and characteristics. This gager argues that tralt approaches have been unfrultful and that behavioral ap proaches will be a more productive perspective for future'research in entrepreneur- ship. r
This paper demonstrates how the various types of corporate entrepreneurship–individual managers, business renewal and Schumpeterian, or industry, leadership–share five ‘bundles’ of attributes. Each type can exist in one firm, though at different times as the common attributes change their role and relative importance. External and internal triggers for change are examined for a sample of 10 firms in 4 European industries. The data suggest a provocative conclusion: troubled firms in hostile environments can shed past behaviors, adopt policies fostering entrepreneurship and accumulate innovative resource bundles that provide a platform on which industry leadership can be built.
In his book "Invention," Professor Norbert Wiener (1993), commenting on the relative importance accorded to individuals and institutions in historical narratives of science and inventions, asks us to imagine Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" without either Romeo or the balcony.1 The story is just not the same. He likens much of the study of the economic history of science and accounts of inventions as "all balcony and no Romeo." The balcony for Norbert Wiener captures the context in which the story unfolds - the culture, the institutions, the constraints and the catalysts that move the plot forward and thicken it. Romeos, for Wiener, play the leading parts in the story, because there is a strong fortuitous element to inventions and there is no inevitability that a possible discovery will be made at a given time and space. Take away either one, Romeo or the balcony, and the whole story falls apart. In a similar vein, we would liken studies of strategic management to "all balcony and no Romeo." But if we accuse strategic management of being "all balcony and no Romeo," strategic management scholars could legitimately accuse entrepreneurship of being "all Romeo and no balcony."
Entrepreneurial intentions, entrepreneurs' states of mind that direct attention, experience, and action toward a business concept, set the form and direction of organizations at their inception. Subsequent organizational outcomes such as survival, development (including written plans), growth, and change are based on these intentions. The study of entrepreneurial intentions provides a way of advancing entrepreneurship research beyond descriptive studies and helps to distinguish entrepreneurial activity from strategic management.
The primary purpose of this article is to clarify the nature of the entrepreneurial orientation (EO) construct and to propose a contingency framework for investigating the relationship between EO and firm performance. We first explore and refine the dimensions of EO and discuss the usefulness of viewing a firm's EO as a multidimensional construct. Then, drawing on examples from the EO-related contingencies literature, we suggest alternative models (moderating effects, mediating effects, independent effects, interaction effects) for testing the EO-performance relationship.
In today's context of increasing market globalization, firms wishing to maintain their competitiveness must innovate constantly. Many authors have suggested Intrapreneurship as a method of stimulating innovation and using the creative energy of employees by giving them the resources and independence they need to innovate within the firm. It is somewhat surprising, however, that research into Intrapreneurship has so far concentrated exclusively on large organizations, even though small businesses face the same need for innovation if they are to remain competitive. This exploratory research, which examines the phenomenon of intrapreneurship in the small business context, is aimed at filling the gap. This paper concentrates on some specific aspects of the research, including the different types of intrapreneurship observed, the factors governing their emergence, motivating factors for the intrapreneurs and the owner-managers of the firms, and the strategic processes involved.
How do large corporations encourage their senior managers to become more entrepreneurial? This is a key question which is seldom addressed in mainstream entrepreneurship studies. Professor Sathe has written this study based on hundreds of hours of interviews with senior managers to help understand why some organizations and some top managers are better than others in fostering entrepreneurship leading to successful new business growth. Corporate Entrepreneurship explores the real world of top managers in a systematic and comprehensive way, examining business realities, the management culture, the corporate philosophy, the organizational politics, the personalities and the personal agendas of the people at the top. The book offers both a theory of corporate entrepreneurship and practical advice on how to manage it better. An interesting and valuable contribution to the literature on strategic management, this is a book that will appeal to graduate students, researchers and reflective practitioners.
As the 21(st) century unfolds, entrepreneurial actions are viewed as critical pathways to competitive advantage and improved performance. One company in the healthcare management field, Acordia, Inc.. developed and prospered through its strategic entrepreneurial vision. In the words of Acordia's CEO, Frank C. Witthun: "2000 was another landmark year for Acordia, with important acquisitions, innovative new products, and the foresight of sound, strategic planning fueling our impressive growth. It is our expert vision that has brought us to this point: a vision of what a brokerage firm can and should be in the new millennium. and our expertise in delivering innovative products and services to our clients in a way that not only exceeds their expectations, but fundamentally changes them." Starting in 1986. entrepreneurial actions were instrumental to how Acordia has conducted business over the last 15 or so years. We use insights from the academic literature and business press as the framework for the story of how one company was able to use entrepreneurial actions as the foundation for its successful corporate entrepreneurship strategy.
Action and cognition are intrinsically intertwined in the emergent state of strategy-making. Strategic learning results from interpreting strategic activities, and provides the basis for continuing a venture's development. Process generates content, but content disciplines process in strategy-making.
This paper identifies the leadership style, entrepreneurship, as a strategy employed by large organizations to cope with turbulent market environments. First, evidence from the popular music recording industry shows the several means by which the potentially disruptive consequences of entrepreneurship are reduced. Changes in the level of market turbulence since World War II are then explored to show that the scope of entrepreneurship is directly associated with the degree of turbulence. Finally, other organizational settings in which entrepreneurship and turbulence seem to be linked are identified, in order to suggest the generality of the relationship.
The strategy-making process exists in three basic modes: the entrepreneurial mode, where bold decisions are taken by a powerful decision-maker; the adaptive mode, where a coalition of decision-makers reacts to environmental pressures with small, disjointed steps; and the planning mode, where analysts integrate strategic decisions into systematic plans.
When adaptation requires innovation, or the creation of variety, exploration is crucial. High levels of exploration thus imply variance-seeking rather than mean-seeking learning processes. In a study of 56 new business development projects, given high exploration, organizational learning was more effective when the projects operated with autonomy with respect to goals and supervision. As degree of exploration de creased, better results were associated with less autonomy on both counts. This contingent effect persisted even when I controlled for the emergence of deftness and comprehension.
Mature small firms often struggle to grow profits as more competitors enter the market. These firms are also less likely to exhibit those entrepreneurial behaviours which underpin sustained performance. The use of differentiation strategies is one such approach which mature firms may be able to sustain – providing them with means to deal with uncertain environments. This article examines this supposition in a sample of firms employing fewer than 100 workers. Four hypotheses relating the business strategies of small firms to performance and age, organisational structure and environmental uncertainty are tested in an empirical study of 320 small firms. Structural equation analyses of the data indicate that innovative differentiation is significantly associated with performance, especially for firms operating in dynamic environments. However, it is found that mature firms are less likely to use differentiation strategies to nurture performance in such environments. These findings and their implications are elaborated in this article.
Major product innovations that create new industries are considered from the perspective of established firms for whom the innovation poses a substitution threat. Based upon a study of eight young industries and twenty-seven leading "threatened firms," common patterns of industry development are considered, as are the participation strategies of those companies that decided to enter the new field. The challenges and pitfalls that were often encountered are examined and implications are developed for firms that choose to enter threatening young industries. While there are no assured success formulas, the discussion highlights some of the problems that can be encountered and suggests possibilities for avoiding them.
This study investigates the types of championing processes that explain the innovativeness of 136 internal corporate ventures. Current theory suggests that bottom-up champions create the most innovative ventures. In contrast, this paper argues that both bottom-up and top-down champions are suitable for developing innovative ventures. Using a broadly based sample of Fortune 1000 firms, the study supports both bottom-up and top-down processes including a special dual-role principal champion, who acts both as product champion and organizational sponsor. The functions or roles of these top management and dual-role champions are quite different from bottom-up champions and represent relatively unexplored top-down championing processes. Preliminary results show support for an emerging theory that top management champions arise when ventures are expensive and visible and when they represent new strategic directions or resource reconfigurations for the firm. In contrast, dual-role champions emerge from the firm's upper ranks when an innovative idea is highly uncertain but not technology-driven. The paper proposes an integrative view of championing in which any one of three types of championing processes may be the most relevant for a particular venture, depending on what it needs to achieve innovative outcomes.
Market pioneering—where a firm is first to offer a distinctively new product to the market—is a commonly recognized form of corporate entrepreneurship. As with other forms of corporate entrepreneurship, the linkage between market pioneering and firm performance has received limited empirical attention, much of which has yielded inconsistent results. Nonetheless, two conclusions regarding when and how pioneering relates to firm performance are revealed in the literature. First, theory and past research suggest that pioneering is an environment-specific phenomenon. That is, certain types of environments may be most likely to encourage or reward the actions of pioneers, while these same actions may meet with limited success in other environments. Second, theory and past research suggest that firm performance is affected by the fit between a firm's pioneer/follower status and its competitive tactics. In other words, market entry order moderates the effectiveness of a firm's competitive tactics such that certain tactics will be most effective when employed by market pioneers, while other tactics will be most effective when employed by market followers.
This study investigates the relationship between product innovation strategies and new product success for N = 108 Australian firms. Five different types of strategies were identified. Interestingly, the different strategies had quite similar levels of reported success, suggesting that firms adapt their product innovation strategies to allow for industry and market conditions. Overall, however, the best-performing strategy appeared to consist of technical fit, attention to customer needs, and aggressive marketing.
This principally conceptual paper explores how, in conjunction with its market orientation, a firm's internal and external strategic relationships may be used in implementing corporate venturing to achieve its strategic intent. Conceptually, the paper begins by exploring work on strategic corporate venturing. Building on this analysis, a dichotomy between internally sustained and externally partnered strategic relationships is discussed, as is the role of market orientation. From this discussion, a conceptual framework is developed and applied to an examination of three longitudinal case studies of multinational organizations. In light of these cases, the paper explores how strategic relationships may be used in corporate ventures to counter adverse market forces or to exploit market opportunities. The paper concludes by showing how organizational strategic intent, realized through market orientation and strategic relationships, may develop dynamically in response to external and internal influences.
This study reanalyses data collected over a 10-year period concerning the attitudes towards growth of managers of small businesses, and the beliefs underlying these attitudes. Previous studies have assumed that financial and non-financial dimensions were of primary importance. Using data from earlier research, this paper develops a structural model to demonstrate that growth attitudes are better conceptualized as being driven by beliefs about the nature of the costs, rewards and risks of growth. Of these, the impact of growth on rewards and risks to the firm was found to be most important.
In this paper we examine the corporate venturing process in fifteen UK-based firms, representing the experience of some sixty internal corporate ventures. We focus on the motivation, identification, assessment, structure, and impact on the core business, and identify two sets of motives for corporate venturing. The first, ‘leveraging’, in which firms seek to exploit existing competencies in new technologies or markets. Second, ‘learning’, in which firms seek to develop new competencies, often related to existing technologies or markets. Different organizational structures and management processes are appropriate to each case, and we illustrate a range of successful and less successful design choices from our sample of corporate ventures.
Whereas much is known about the relationships between strategy and structure, and between environment and structure, too little is known about a third link—the relationship between strategy-making and environment. An empirical study was conducted upon two distinct samples of firms. We hypothesized that increases in environmental dynamism, hostility and heterogeneity should be related to specific changes in the amount of analysis and innovation which characterizes strategy-making activity. Most of these relationships tended to be much stronger in successful than in unsuccessful samples of firms.
Innovation is conceptualized in different ways from firm to firm. While some firms tend to accept a more conservative approach towards innovation, other firms approach innovation from a more entrepreneurial perspective. A conservative model of innovation and an entrepreneurial model of innovation are presented, considering such firm characteristics as environmental variables, information processing variables, structural variables, and decision making variables. The methodology for the study includes data collected via questionnaire from 52 diverse firms in the Montreal region; these firms represent a variety of industries, including broadcasting, food, electronics, chemicals, and publishing, to name a few. The data were analyzed using both a correlational analysis and curvilinear regression analysis to better understand the influence of the respective variables for each model. The findings indicate that innovation within conservative firms correlates positively to the aforementioned variables. Within conservative firms, innovation occurs when 1) environmental challenges and instabilities are present; 2) these instabilities are made explicit to and analyzed by the management team; and 3) financial and structural resources are available for innovation to occur. Entrepreneurial firms also exhibit positive correlations with environmental and structural variables; however, negative correlations are also observed regarding information processing, decision making, and structural integration. Innovation occurs on an extreme level within entrepreneurial firms except in cases when information processing systems, as well as analytical and strategic planning processes and structural integration devices, warn the management team of the risks associated with extreme innovation. The results indicate that a balance between the extremes of conservativism and entrepreneurship must be considered. (AKP)
Examines how major firms utilize R&D activities to create new businesses through internal corporate venturing (ICV). Using a qualitative method, this analysis was done for one large, U.S.-based high-technology firm. This firm has a new venture division, which was formed in the early 1970s. Data were obtained from the study of six major projects that were ongoing at the time of the research. This data collection included interviews with 61 firm employees involved in the projects. The key and peripheral managerial activities of the grounded process model of ICV and the flow of these activities through four venture stages are presented. The four major processes in the model are definition, impetus, strategic context determination, and structural context determination. Among the findings: It is usually the autonomous strategic initiatives of individuals at the operational level that provide the ideas for much of corporate entrepreneurship. As a result of the very autonomous nature of these initiatives, management has difficulty deciding how to deal with the new initiatives and often ignores administrative issues through the entrepreneurial process. Middle-level managers are found to play a key role in linking these autonomous initiatives to the corporate strategy of these diversified major firms. (SRD)
Examines the process of internal corporate venturing (ICV) and the issues and difficulties that arise. The model developed considers the strategic activities associated with these ventures both simultaneously and sequentially. Using the results of a study of the development of six ICV projects, a model comprised of both core processes and overlaying processes is presented across three levels of management. Four critical problem areas arise in this analysis. Each is explored and the reasons are presented for why these problems occur. These areas are vicious circles in the definition process, managerial dilemmas in the impetus process, indeterminatenesss of the strategic context of ICV development, and perverse selective pressures exerted by the structural context on ICV development. Based on the insights gained from the problem areas of ICV, four recommendations for improving the strategic management of these ventures are highlighted. Included are facilitating the definition process (e.g., facilitating the integration of business and R&D perspectives), moderating the impetus process (e.g., clarifying and expanding management roles as champions and strategists), elaborating the strategic context of ICV (e.g., creating a long term strategy to support new business opportunities), and refining the structural context of ICV (e.g., through appropriate measurement and reward systems). Managers involved in ICV must consider the strategic situation faced by other managers at different levels in order to anticipate and address the problems which will face the internal new venture. (SRD)
The entrepreneurial literature traditionally considers risk taking an important distinguishing element in entrepreneurship. This study examines the risk taking propensity of the founders or managers of new ventures. Upon examination of competing definitions of the entrepreneur, this analysis defines an entrepreneur as "a major owner and manager of a business venture who is not employed elsewhere." Risk taking is considered "the perceived probability of receiving the rewards associated with success of a proposed situation" required before embarking on a venture. Three levels of risk taking (low, intermediate or moderate, and high) could affect the decision to start a business venture. Risk taking was measured using the Wallach and Kogan choice dilemmas questionnaire (CDQ). Studied were entrepreneurs, promoted managers, and new (or transferred) managers of firms located in St. Louis in 1975; 31 questionnaires were used for each group. The results are not statistically different. Entrepreneurs and managers are found to have the same risk taking propensity. Because previous studies of risk preferences examined limited samples, CDQ scores were also compared against a sample representing the general population. Found that risk taking propensity of entrepreneurs is same as that for the general population. Results also show that entrepreneurs, managers, and the general population all have a propensity for moderate risk. Overall, general risk taking does not distinguish entrepreneurs from non-entrepreneurs. (TNM)
Examines the internal corporate venturing process by comparing trial-and-error learning with action persistence. The model developed focuses on two key concepts – uncertainty and ambiguity. To examine numerous hypotheses that result from this model, data were gathered from a venture within a large diversified corporation that was to develop cochlear implants, beginning in 1978 and ending in 1989 when the venture was terminated. The chronology of events that occurred were tracked and classified in terms of the following dichotomous variables: outcomes, actions, plans, corporate sponsor involvement, and external environmental events. Three distinct periods emerge from the data: agenda setting (1978-80), expansion (1980-85), and contraction (1985-89). Results indicate that there was strong action persistence during the expansion period. This period was characterized by ambiguity (uncertainty about the goals or appropriate technical strategies) and slack resources within the firm. This combination allowed the entrepreneurs to continue with a particular course of action despite negative outcomes. Environmental changes were shown to explain the level of corporate sponsors' involvement during this period. Conversely, the contraction period was marked by trial-and-error learning. Opposite to the expansion period, negative outcomes were shown to predict corporate sponsors' involvement during this period. The findings of this analysis can be applied to similar ventures marked by uncertainty and ambiguity. (SRD)
Corporate venturing (CV) is said to be most productive as a path to superior corporate performance when practiced in a strategic manner. Unfortunately, considerable ambiguity exists concerning what it means in an organizational practice sense to strategically pursue CV. The result is a failure of many companies to fully leverage CV for strategic purposes. Based on a review of the CV literature and findings from a field study of 15 Swedish, U.K., and U.S. corporations, this article describes several models that depict the ways in which CV and business strategy coexist as organizational phenomena. Empirically derived propositions are offered to suggest how some companies are strategically engaged in their CV efforts.
In his book "Invention," Professor Norbert Wiener (1993), commenting on the relative importance accorded to individuals and institutions in historical narratives of science and inventions, asks us to imagine Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" without either Romeo or the balcony. The story is just not the same. He likens much of the study of the economic history of science and accounts of inventions as "all balcony and no Romeo." The balcony for Norbert Wiener captures the context in which the story unfolds?the culture, the institutions, the constraints, and the catalysts that move the plot forward and thicken it. Romeos, for Wiener, play the leading parts in the story, because there is a strong fortuitous element to inventions and there is no inevitability that a possible discovery will be made at a given time and space. Take away either one, Romeo or the balcony, and the whole story falls apart. In a similar vein, we would liken studies of strategic management to "all balcony and no Romeo." But if we accuse strategic management of being "all balcony and no Romeo," strategic management scholars could legitimately accuse entrepreneurship of being "all Romeo and no balcony."
Research related to the various hypotheses of managerial role-motivation theory is reviewed. In general this research supports the theory, although there are numerous areas that require further investigation. A total of 21 studies have been conducted to test the theory's validity and all have yielded significant results; 5 of these studies are predictive. Similar studies conducted outside the theoretical domain have uniformly failed to produce significant findings. Research carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of managerial role motivation training has indicated positive effects in 16 of 17 instances, and the construct validity of the primary measure used to operationalize the theory's variables, the Miner Sentence Completion Scale, has been established in relation to a number of other instruments. Relationships to other theories of motivation and leadership are considered, suggestions for future research are presented, and certain proposals for theoretical extensions are set forth.
Strategic management studies frequently involve obtaining retrospective data from strategic-level managers. The use of this data acquisition methodology has received relatively little codification and little critical review or comment. This seems unfortunate, as discussion and codification of the methodology could be useful for those academic researchers and corporate staff who study strategic decisions and organizational processes and for those managers who may be asked to provide the retrospective data. This paper is an attempt to remedy the current state of affairs. In particular, the paper reviews several sources of the data inaccuracies that commonly affect retrospective data and offers guidelines for reducing the occurrence or magnitude of these inaccuracies.
This paper develops a model of the internal corporate venturing process. The model explores conditions under which entrepreneurs are likely to continue with a course of action despite experiencing negative outcomes. Persisting with a course of action despite associated negative outcomes runs counter to trial-and-error learning behavior. We suggest that entrepreneurs are likely to continue with a course of action despite experiencing negative outcomes when the level of ambiguity is high and slack resources are available. In contrast, trial-and-error learning is likely to occur when either the level of ambiguity is low or when slack resources are not available. We examine these and other aspects of the venturing process with longitudinal data on the development of one venture. The data were collected over a 12-year period during the commercial development of cochlear implants within a large diversified corporation. The results support our core hypotheses on trial-and-error learning and action persistence while extending our understanding of associated processes.
This study focuses on small business managers’ motivation to expand their firms. More specifically, we examine the relationships between expected consequences of growth on the one hand, and overall attitude toward growth on the other. Data were collected in three separate studies over a ten-year period using the same measuring instrument. The results suggest that noneconomic concerns may be more important than expected financial outcomes in determining overall attitude toward growth. In particular, the concern for employee well-being comes out strongly. We interpret this as reflecting a concern that the positive atmosphere of the small organization may be lost in growth. We conclude that this concern may be a cause for recurrent conflict for small business managers when deciding about the future route for their firms.
Over the past several years corporate entrepreneurship has been widely touted by executives and researchers alike as an effective means for revitalizing companies and improving their financial performance. For the most part, the call for greater entrepreneurial behavior on the part of established companies has been accepted on faith as an inherently desirable objective. The implicit logic behind the pervasive belief in the value of corporate entrepreneurship seems to be that risk taking, innovation, and aggressive competitive action—the key elements of entrepreneurial corporations—will help in identifying and pursuing lucrative product/market opportunities and in providing new bases for achieving superior competitive positions.