ABSTRACT This articles explores how factors present at the startup of online news enterprises inf... more ABSTRACT This articles explores how factors present at the startup of online news enterprises influence their development and sustainability. Using entrepreneurship and management literature as a base, it presents and analyzes three case studies in which different arrays of organizational factors were present and how they affected the first three years of the organizations’ activities. It reveals that “formational myopia”—pre-existing expectations and organizational objectives based on the entrepreneurs’ past experiences—played important roles in their development and that the abilities of the firms to adapt their strategies and practices after establishment were crucial to their sustainability.
International Studies of Management and Organization, 2014
ABSTRACT This study tests Teece's conceptualization of dynamic capabilities in the contex... more ABSTRACT This study tests Teece's conceptualization of dynamic capabilities in the context of small and medium-size firms competing in creative industries, in particular the European audiovisual production industry. This industry is characterized by immature and evolving markets where firms' dynamic capabilities are expected to lead to superior innovative performance. Using survey data from audiovisual producers in ten European countries we find that both sensing and seizing capabilities have a positive effect on firms' innovative performance. The effect, however, is curvilinear, and positive effects appear after when capabilities overcome a threshold level.
ABSTRACT Previous research suggests that small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) can acquire ne... more ABSTRACT Previous research suggests that small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) can acquire new knowledge when operating and in international markets and, thereby, enrich their limited resource base. In this study, we examine the growth implications of this new knowledge. Building on the internationalization literature, the knowledge based view (KBV) and Penrose’s theory of the growth of the firm we propose that the new knowledge is a malleable resource enhancing different growth outcomes. Our results indicate that the accumulated experiential knowledge in international markets contributes to a firm’s growth advantage in international markets and to further internationalization. In addition, the study shows that it provides the basis for entrepreneurial actions such as venturing into new markets and research new international customers. However, our results also suggest that this new knowledge has no, or very little, effect on SME growth in the domestic market.
ABSTRACT This exploratory study investigates the relationship between family members serving in a... more ABSTRACT This exploratory study investigates the relationship between family members serving in an advising capacity and family firm performance. Integrating the stewardship and agency perspectives, we predict an inverted U-shaped relationship between the number of family advisors and family firm performance. We argue that the generation in control moderates this relationship such that family member advisors have a positive relationship with performance in first-generation family firms and an inverted U-shaped relationship with performance in later-generation family firms. Our empirical analysis on a sample of 128 Swedish family firms confirms our hypotheses. In the concluding section, we discuss results, contributions, and future research directions.
ABSTRACT Little is known about international small and medium sized firms (SMEs) venturing into f... more ABSTRACT Little is known about international small and medium sized firms (SMEs) venturing into foreign markets. This paper contributes to the body of knowledge at the entrepreneurship-internationalization interface by applying the opportunity-based conceptualization of entrepreneurship initially developed by Howard Stevenson to corporate venturing activities of SMEs in foreign markets. Using data from a representative sample of 468 international SMEs, we found that international corporate venturing activities are enhanced by an entrepreneurial management structure, an entrepreneurial growth orientation, as well as an entrepreneurial culture.
ABSTRACT Much progress has been made recently in developing the business model concept. However, ... more ABSTRACT Much progress has been made recently in developing the business model concept. However, one issue remains poorly understood, despite its importance for managers, policy makers, and academics alike, namely, how companies change and develop their business models to achieve sustained value creation. Companies which manage to create value over extended periods of time successfully shape, adapt and renew their business models to fuel such value creation. Drawing on findings from a research program on continuously growing firms, this paper identifies three critical capabilities, namely an orientation towards experimenting with and exploiting new business opportunities; a balanced use of resources; as well as achieving coherence between leadership, culture, and employee commitment, together shaping key strategizing actions. Moreover, we illustrate how each of these capabilities is supported by different sets of specific activities. Jointly, these three capabilities, their activities and the strategizing actions act as complementarities for value creation. We conclude the paper by suggesting implications for research and practitioners, providing a tool for managers which allows them to reflect on and identify critical issues relevant for changing and developing their business model to sustain value creation.
ABSTRACT Despite increasing attention devoted to international entrepreneurship, little is known ... more ABSTRACT Despite increasing attention devoted to international entrepreneurship, little is known about firm-level entrepreneurship carried out by established small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in international markets. We apply the opportunity-based conceptualization of “Entrepreneurial Management” by Howard Stevenson to international corporate entrepreneurship activities of SMEs. We hypothesize that the different dimensions of Stevenson's theory have a positive impact on SMEs' international corporate entrepreneurship. We test the hypotheses on a longitudinal sample of international SMEs. Our results show the expected positive effects of some, but not all, aspects of Stevenson's theory. Thereby, the paper suggests more precise boundary conditions of the theory and contributes to the literature on international corporate entrepreneurship by SMEs.
ABSTRACT In line with repeated recent calls for research on specific forms of growth rather than ... more ABSTRACT In line with repeated recent calls for research on specific forms of growth rather than on an undifferentiated notion of “total growth,” our study contributes to the understanding of entrepreneurial growth. By this we mean growth through expansion into new geographic markets and/or via the introduction of new products or services. Building on Penrose's theory of the growth of the firm and on the research streams she has in part inspired, we investigate the impact of knowledge acquisition from international markets on entrepreneurial growth both at home and abroad. We further suggest that the effects of international knowledge acquisition on entrepreneurial growth will vary with firm age. Utilizing longitudinal data on 138 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), we find that the acquisition of knowledge from international markets fuels growth through market development, and that this effect is stronger for international expansion than domestic expansion. Our results also show that firm age negatively moderates the relationship between international knowledge acquisition and entrepreneurial growth via the introduction of new products or services. Specifically, international knowledge acquisition has a positive effect on growth via new products/services development in young firms, but a negative effect in mature firms. We assume this reflects changes over time in how international knowledge is managed.
Foundations and Trends R in Entrepreneurship Vol. 6, No. 2 (2010) 69166 c 2010 P. Davidsson, L. ... more Foundations and Trends R in Entrepreneurship Vol. 6, No. 2 (2010) 69166 c 2010 P. Davidsson, L. Achtenhagen and L. Naldi DOI: 10.1561/0300000029 ... 2.1 Growth as Process and Change in Amount ... 4.4 Integrated Models Combining Internal and External ...
ABSTRACT We extend prior work on proactiveness in family firms by examining the relationship betw... more ABSTRACT We extend prior work on proactiveness in family firms by examining the relationship between firm age and proactiveness. Specifically, we propose an S-shaped effect of aging of family firms on proactiveness. Additionally, we provide a contingency perspective by considering the moderating role of the dispersion of managerial control among family members. Using a sample of Swiss family firms, we find that proactiveness first declines, then increases, and finally decreases again as the family firm ages, and that this relationship is steeper when the managerial control is dispersed among multiple family members.
ABSTRACT We ask whether choices aimed at preserving socioemotional wealth (SEW) represent an asse... more ABSTRACT We ask whether choices aimed at preserving socioemotional wealth (SEW) represent an asset or a liability in family-controlled firms. Specifically, we consider one major SEW-preserving mechanism—having as chief executive officer (CEO) a member of the controlling family—and hypothesize that this choice is (1) an asset in business contexts, such as industrial districts, in which tacit rules and social norms are relatively more important, but (2) a potential liability in contexts like stock exchange markets, where formal regulations and transparency principles take center stage. The results from our empirical analysis confirm these hypotheses.
ABSTRACT This research focuses on family‐controlled firms as an important type of family firms, a... more ABSTRACT This research focuses on family‐controlled firms as an important type of family firms, and demonstrates how external parties in the governance (ownership and board of directors) can serve as a catalyst for their internationalization. Our framework also embraces the moderating effects of the competitive environmental heterogeneity and past performance on the relationship between external, nonfamily involvement in governance, and internationalization (scale and scope). The hypotheses are tested on a sample of 351 Swedish family‐controlled firms. Our findings extend previous research on family firms and their internationalization, especially addressing some of the prior mixed findings, and offers implications for both theory and practice.
Yet, there is limited research on how the knowledge base of an industry affects the performance a... more Yet, there is limited research on how the knowledge base of an industry affects the performance and survival of NVs. Inspired by the latest trends in strategic management and entrepreneurship, most studies have taken an inside-out perspective and focused on the ...
Drawing on resource dependence theory, we expect the degree of openness/closeness in the governan... more Drawing on resource dependence theory, we expect the degree of openness/closeness in the governance of family businesses to influence their internationalization. We find that external ownership increases the scale and the scope of the firm's international operations. An ...
For family firms, the resource-based view (RBV) stresses the relevance of intangible resources em... more For family firms, the resource-based view (RBV) stresses the relevance of intangible resources emerging in the unique interaction between the family and the firm, and captured through the notion of familiness. In addition to the possession of intangible resources eg ...
ABSTRACT This articles explores how factors present at the startup of online news enterprises inf... more ABSTRACT This articles explores how factors present at the startup of online news enterprises influence their development and sustainability. Using entrepreneurship and management literature as a base, it presents and analyzes three case studies in which different arrays of organizational factors were present and how they affected the first three years of the organizations’ activities. It reveals that “formational myopia”—pre-existing expectations and organizational objectives based on the entrepreneurs’ past experiences—played important roles in their development and that the abilities of the firms to adapt their strategies and practices after establishment were crucial to their sustainability.
International Studies of Management and Organization, 2014
ABSTRACT This study tests Teece's conceptualization of dynamic capabilities in the contex... more ABSTRACT This study tests Teece's conceptualization of dynamic capabilities in the context of small and medium-size firms competing in creative industries, in particular the European audiovisual production industry. This industry is characterized by immature and evolving markets where firms' dynamic capabilities are expected to lead to superior innovative performance. Using survey data from audiovisual producers in ten European countries we find that both sensing and seizing capabilities have a positive effect on firms' innovative performance. The effect, however, is curvilinear, and positive effects appear after when capabilities overcome a threshold level.
ABSTRACT Previous research suggests that small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) can acquire ne... more ABSTRACT Previous research suggests that small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) can acquire new knowledge when operating and in international markets and, thereby, enrich their limited resource base. In this study, we examine the growth implications of this new knowledge. Building on the internationalization literature, the knowledge based view (KBV) and Penrose’s theory of the growth of the firm we propose that the new knowledge is a malleable resource enhancing different growth outcomes. Our results indicate that the accumulated experiential knowledge in international markets contributes to a firm’s growth advantage in international markets and to further internationalization. In addition, the study shows that it provides the basis for entrepreneurial actions such as venturing into new markets and research new international customers. However, our results also suggest that this new knowledge has no, or very little, effect on SME growth in the domestic market.
ABSTRACT This exploratory study investigates the relationship between family members serving in a... more ABSTRACT This exploratory study investigates the relationship between family members serving in an advising capacity and family firm performance. Integrating the stewardship and agency perspectives, we predict an inverted U-shaped relationship between the number of family advisors and family firm performance. We argue that the generation in control moderates this relationship such that family member advisors have a positive relationship with performance in first-generation family firms and an inverted U-shaped relationship with performance in later-generation family firms. Our empirical analysis on a sample of 128 Swedish family firms confirms our hypotheses. In the concluding section, we discuss results, contributions, and future research directions.
ABSTRACT Little is known about international small and medium sized firms (SMEs) venturing into f... more ABSTRACT Little is known about international small and medium sized firms (SMEs) venturing into foreign markets. This paper contributes to the body of knowledge at the entrepreneurship-internationalization interface by applying the opportunity-based conceptualization of entrepreneurship initially developed by Howard Stevenson to corporate venturing activities of SMEs in foreign markets. Using data from a representative sample of 468 international SMEs, we found that international corporate venturing activities are enhanced by an entrepreneurial management structure, an entrepreneurial growth orientation, as well as an entrepreneurial culture.
ABSTRACT Much progress has been made recently in developing the business model concept. However, ... more ABSTRACT Much progress has been made recently in developing the business model concept. However, one issue remains poorly understood, despite its importance for managers, policy makers, and academics alike, namely, how companies change and develop their business models to achieve sustained value creation. Companies which manage to create value over extended periods of time successfully shape, adapt and renew their business models to fuel such value creation. Drawing on findings from a research program on continuously growing firms, this paper identifies three critical capabilities, namely an orientation towards experimenting with and exploiting new business opportunities; a balanced use of resources; as well as achieving coherence between leadership, culture, and employee commitment, together shaping key strategizing actions. Moreover, we illustrate how each of these capabilities is supported by different sets of specific activities. Jointly, these three capabilities, their activities and the strategizing actions act as complementarities for value creation. We conclude the paper by suggesting implications for research and practitioners, providing a tool for managers which allows them to reflect on and identify critical issues relevant for changing and developing their business model to sustain value creation.
ABSTRACT Despite increasing attention devoted to international entrepreneurship, little is known ... more ABSTRACT Despite increasing attention devoted to international entrepreneurship, little is known about firm-level entrepreneurship carried out by established small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in international markets. We apply the opportunity-based conceptualization of “Entrepreneurial Management” by Howard Stevenson to international corporate entrepreneurship activities of SMEs. We hypothesize that the different dimensions of Stevenson's theory have a positive impact on SMEs' international corporate entrepreneurship. We test the hypotheses on a longitudinal sample of international SMEs. Our results show the expected positive effects of some, but not all, aspects of Stevenson's theory. Thereby, the paper suggests more precise boundary conditions of the theory and contributes to the literature on international corporate entrepreneurship by SMEs.
ABSTRACT In line with repeated recent calls for research on specific forms of growth rather than ... more ABSTRACT In line with repeated recent calls for research on specific forms of growth rather than on an undifferentiated notion of “total growth,” our study contributes to the understanding of entrepreneurial growth. By this we mean growth through expansion into new geographic markets and/or via the introduction of new products or services. Building on Penrose's theory of the growth of the firm and on the research streams she has in part inspired, we investigate the impact of knowledge acquisition from international markets on entrepreneurial growth both at home and abroad. We further suggest that the effects of international knowledge acquisition on entrepreneurial growth will vary with firm age. Utilizing longitudinal data on 138 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), we find that the acquisition of knowledge from international markets fuels growth through market development, and that this effect is stronger for international expansion than domestic expansion. Our results also show that firm age negatively moderates the relationship between international knowledge acquisition and entrepreneurial growth via the introduction of new products or services. Specifically, international knowledge acquisition has a positive effect on growth via new products/services development in young firms, but a negative effect in mature firms. We assume this reflects changes over time in how international knowledge is managed.
Foundations and Trends R in Entrepreneurship Vol. 6, No. 2 (2010) 69166 c 2010 P. Davidsson, L. ... more Foundations and Trends R in Entrepreneurship Vol. 6, No. 2 (2010) 69166 c 2010 P. Davidsson, L. Achtenhagen and L. Naldi DOI: 10.1561/0300000029 ... 2.1 Growth as Process and Change in Amount ... 4.4 Integrated Models Combining Internal and External ...
ABSTRACT We extend prior work on proactiveness in family firms by examining the relationship betw... more ABSTRACT We extend prior work on proactiveness in family firms by examining the relationship between firm age and proactiveness. Specifically, we propose an S-shaped effect of aging of family firms on proactiveness. Additionally, we provide a contingency perspective by considering the moderating role of the dispersion of managerial control among family members. Using a sample of Swiss family firms, we find that proactiveness first declines, then increases, and finally decreases again as the family firm ages, and that this relationship is steeper when the managerial control is dispersed among multiple family members.
ABSTRACT We ask whether choices aimed at preserving socioemotional wealth (SEW) represent an asse... more ABSTRACT We ask whether choices aimed at preserving socioemotional wealth (SEW) represent an asset or a liability in family-controlled firms. Specifically, we consider one major SEW-preserving mechanism—having as chief executive officer (CEO) a member of the controlling family—and hypothesize that this choice is (1) an asset in business contexts, such as industrial districts, in which tacit rules and social norms are relatively more important, but (2) a potential liability in contexts like stock exchange markets, where formal regulations and transparency principles take center stage. The results from our empirical analysis confirm these hypotheses.
ABSTRACT This research focuses on family‐controlled firms as an important type of family firms, a... more ABSTRACT This research focuses on family‐controlled firms as an important type of family firms, and demonstrates how external parties in the governance (ownership and board of directors) can serve as a catalyst for their internationalization. Our framework also embraces the moderating effects of the competitive environmental heterogeneity and past performance on the relationship between external, nonfamily involvement in governance, and internationalization (scale and scope). The hypotheses are tested on a sample of 351 Swedish family‐controlled firms. Our findings extend previous research on family firms and their internationalization, especially addressing some of the prior mixed findings, and offers implications for both theory and practice.
Yet, there is limited research on how the knowledge base of an industry affects the performance a... more Yet, there is limited research on how the knowledge base of an industry affects the performance and survival of NVs. Inspired by the latest trends in strategic management and entrepreneurship, most studies have taken an inside-out perspective and focused on the ...
Drawing on resource dependence theory, we expect the degree of openness/closeness in the governan... more Drawing on resource dependence theory, we expect the degree of openness/closeness in the governance of family businesses to influence their internationalization. We find that external ownership increases the scale and the scope of the firm's international operations. An ...
For family firms, the resource-based view (RBV) stresses the relevance of intangible resources em... more For family firms, the resource-based view (RBV) stresses the relevance of intangible resources emerging in the unique interaction between the family and the firm, and captured through the notion of familiness. In addition to the possession of intangible resources eg ...
Uploads
Papers by Lucia Naldi