Copyright (c) 2009 Babson College All rights reserved. http://digitalknowledge.babson.edu/fer Recent documents in Frontiers of Entrepreneurship Research en-us Thu, 19 Nov 2009 10:37:57 PST 3600 http://digitalknowledge.babson.edu/fer/vol28/iss22/3 http://digitalknowledge.babson.edu/fer/vol28/iss22/3 Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:55:59 PST A central development in entrepreneurship is the growth of nascent entrepreneur research through which statistically representative samples of venture start-up efforts and/or firms in gestation are evaluated over time (Davidsson 2006). While highly valuable, large research projects investigating entrepreneurship like the Panel Study of Entrepreneurial Dynamics (PSED) and its counterparts reveal random samples of start-ups being dominated by low potential, imitative ventures. This is in contrast with theoretical and policy interest which focus on high growth/innovative ventures. Therefore, it is important to supplement PSED-type samples with theoretically representative samples of the 'higher end' emerging ventures. This is what we attempt in this research. Our first contribution is to develop a way to capture a judgment sample of high potential startups based on novel, multiple screening criteria. Our second contribution is to compare process of development between high potential and 'regular' start-ups. Julienne Senyard Entrepreneurship research methods http://digitalknowledge.babson.edu/fer/vol28/iss22/2 http://digitalknowledge.babson.edu/fer/vol28/iss22/2 Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:53:45 PST We seek to explain why some entrepreneurship articles get more cites. We replicate the Judge et al (2007) research model to investigate whether the same key factors drive the development of citations within the entrepreneurship field. In the process, we also test out a new metric for readability. As is perhaps widely assumed, it may be that the "subfield" of entrepreneurship studies will follow the same patterns revealed in the broader field of management. Certainly scholars within the field of entrepreneurship have observed distinctions between entrepreneurship and general management studies. This fact suggests that there may be differences, but it remains to be empirically tested. In this study we test this assumption. Tomas Karlsson Entrepreneurship research methods http://digitalknowledge.babson.edu/fer/vol28/iss22/1 http://digitalknowledge.babson.edu/fer/vol28/iss22/1 Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:53:44 PST This study explores the development of central entrepreneurship concepts in research articles over time (1989-2007) in four major entrepreneurship journals: Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice (ETP), Journal of Business Venturing (JBV), Small Business Economics (SBE), Entrepreneurship and Regional Development (ERD).We use a semantic approach (Cruse, 1986; Pustejovski, 1995) for the analysis of the research text. Tomas Karlsson Entrepreneurship research methods http://digitalknowledge.babson.edu/fer/vol28/iss21/10 http://digitalknowledge.babson.edu/fer/vol28/iss21/10 Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:53:43 PST This paper reports on a longitudinal study of the start-up process of two music festivals in Norway to explore how initial resources emerge and develop in the case of new community ventures within rural communities. A community venture is defined as new activities likely to create economic, social, and/or environmental values for the local community. The resources necessary for launching a community venture are embedded at different levels within the rural community and the emerging activities may cut across the voluntary, business, and governmental sectors. Thus, the process of creating a resource-base is influenced by many different goals within the community. A resource dependency perspective is used to capture the embedded nature of the resources necessary to build a resource-base. This approach views the environment as a pool of resources where organizations enter into transactional relationships with environmental factors as they cannot generate all resources internally. Thus, community entrepreneurs are highly dependent on the local community to gain access to resources and develop the community venture. The research question is: How does the entrepreneurial process of creating a resource-base for a community venture evolve? Ingebjørg Vestrum Social Entrepreneurship http://digitalknowledge.babson.edu/fer/vol28/iss21/9 http://digitalknowledge.babson.edu/fer/vol28/iss21/9 Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:53:42 PST While the narrow focus on profit maximisation is questioned, many scholars, politicians, non governmental organisations, entrepreneurs and managers ask firms to act in a more social responsible way (Porter and Kramer, 2006) and thereby to create social value. The creation of social value by firms has been studied from two broad perspectives. First, there is the business and society literature who looks at "the actions that appear to further some social good, beyond the interests of the firm, required by law" (McWilliams and Siegel, 2001). Next to this research stream, social entrepreneurship or "entrepreneurial activity that primarily serves a social objective" has been on the rise in recent decades (Austin et al., 2006). In this literature most empirical work is limited to explorative cases or qualitative field studies (e.g. Anderson et al., 2006). Given the scarcity of research very little is known about how social entrepreneurial firms actually go about creating value. Using the resource-based view of the firm, this paper addresses this question by qualitatively investigating the social mission and the business model of 4 social entrepreneurial firms (SEF). Building on these emerging insights and our conceptualisation of what a SEF entails, we further develop a sample frame to be used for administration of a structured survey in which the aforementioned constructs are operationalised and questioned. Robin Stevens Social Entrepreneurship http://digitalknowledge.babson.edu/fer/vol28/iss21/8 http://digitalknowledge.babson.edu/fer/vol28/iss21/8 Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:53:41 PST In recent years, philanthropic venture capital (PhVC), a new way of financing social entrepreneurs, has captured a great interest within the philanthropic and venture capital (VC) communities. Triggered by the work of Letts, Ryan, and Grossmann (1997), PhVC started to emerge as an attempt to apply the strategies and techniques developed within the VC industry to social purpose enterprises. In this context, philanthropic venture capitalists (PhVCs) act as intermediaries who raise funds from wealthy individuals, enterprises, and/or foundations, to be invested in operating activities with a potentially high social impact. Although debate on this topic may be found in the VC and philanthropic communities, academics have yet paid little attention to it. As such, no common definition of PhVC exists and no clear boundaries of PhVC financing have been drawn. The key aims of the paper are a) to define PhVC and philanthropic venture capitalists (PhVCs); b) to formulate four hypotheses aiming to test whether, how, and to what extent the typical for-profit venture capital (VC) model, as described by Gompers and Lerner (2001), can be applied to PhVC as well. Mariarosa Scarlata Social Entrepreneurship http://digitalknowledge.babson.edu/fer/vol28/iss21/6 http://digitalknowledge.babson.edu/fer/vol28/iss21/6 Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:53:40 PST As the amount of research on social entrepreneurship increases, most of the extant literature still utilizes case studies to analyze the phenomenon (Mair & Martí, 2006) while systemized data collection is lacking. These trends arise from difficulties in measuring the value created by social ventures (Dees, 1998). Applying a resource-based view to evaluate social ventures is an alternative means to assess competitive advantage (Wernerfelt, 1984). This is appropriate given social entrepreneurs efficiently mobilize resources often through cross-sector partnerships to achieve their objectives (Austin, 2000; Dees, 1998; Waddock & Post, 1991). Nevertheless, the literature has not empirically evaluated social ventures by assessing their resources. This study focuses on: 1) What are the partnership and general strategies employed by social ventures? And 2) How do partnerships assist social ventures in achieving their goals? Understanding what role partnerships play in the effectiveness of distinct types of social ventures is important in creating economic and social value. Moriah Meyskens Social Entrepreneurship http://digitalknowledge.babson.edu/fer/vol28/iss21/7 http://digitalknowledge.babson.edu/fer/vol28/iss21/7 Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:53:40 PST Venture creation resulting from the exploitation of opportunities to help relieve social ills, halt the depletion of natural resources, and build sustainable futures is creating a new generation of mission-based, social entrepreneurs. Given this momentum academic interest in social entrepreneurship is gaining popularity (Mair & Marti, 2004; Austin & Stevenson, 2006). Yet, empirical research to date is limited with a primary focus on the non-profit context and individual actions of social entrepreneurs with less work examining the extent to which for-profit ventures engage in entrepreneurial processes to solve social problems (Dees, 1998). This research explores social entrepreneurship activity in the United States and assesses to what degree social entrepreneurs pursue social goals over, or in conjunction with, economic goals. Though noble in their attempt, the challenge of achieving social and economic performance is a significant problem facing both nascent and established entrepreneurs. Heidi Neck Social Entrepreneurship http://digitalknowledge.babson.edu/fer/vol28/iss21/5 http://digitalknowledge.babson.edu/fer/vol28/iss21/5 Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:53:39 PST The sociological perspective on entrepreneurship emphasizes the social context in which individuals and their nascent firms exist. In this research, I focus more closely on two characteristics--state-sponsored social protection and individual investments in specific skills--to examine how prior experience shapes the entrepreneurial opportunities individuals pursue. To address the question of how experiences influence the entrepreneurial opportunities pursued, I test empirically if founders are more likely to start certain types of businesses based on the level of social protection available to them. Thus, I bridge two research streams - the organizational basis of entrepreneurship and the political role of social protection - to examine the types of businesses founders establish. Phillip H. Kim Social Entrepreneurship http://digitalknowledge.babson.edu/fer/vol28/iss21/4 http://digitalknowledge.babson.edu/fer/vol28/iss21/4 Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:53:38 PST Two decades ago, entrepreneurship scholarship began to shift from a focus on the supply of entrepreneurs and what makes entrepreneurs special to the social and economic opportunity, incentive, network and institutional structures that support or hinder the founding of new enterprises (Gartner, 1988; Thornton, 1999). This shift has led to tremendous increase in the volume, rigor, and legitimacy of entrepreneurship research and notable theoretical strides in areas such as opportunity structure (Shane & Venkatraman, 2000). Somewhat neglected in this flowering has been the institutional context that frames the process (Aldrich & Fiol, 1994; Baumol, 1996) and the social, contextual, path-dependent dynamics that guide its evolution (Hoang & Antoncic, 2003; Low & Abrahamson, 1997). The study of social entrepreneurship seems poised to make a similar shift in emphasis from actor and enterprise to process and context and from exploration of a phenomenon to contribution to theory (Mair et. al., 2006; Austin et. al., 2006). Our research shows both that the shift to theory has begun and how the study of social entrepreneurship promises new insight into the under-appreciated social and institutional contexts of entrepreneurship. T. L. Hill Social Entrepreneurship http://digitalknowledge.babson.edu/fer/vol28/iss21/2 http://digitalknowledge.babson.edu/fer/vol28/iss21/2 Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:53:37 PST There is increasing interest in the social entrepreneur and the process of social entrepreneurship. This has led to criticisms of fuzziness surrounding these concepts. This paper explores the concept of the social entrepreneur, considering whether social entrepreneurs can really be termed "entrepreneurs" or if they are something else - individuals motivated by meeting social objectives to achieve social change. Drawing on structuration theory, we place the agent (a social entrepreneur) in the structure (a social system/the context), arguing that they are engaged in a process of co-constructing the current momentum in social entrepreneurship development. THE LEWIS INSTITUTE AWARD AT BABSON COLLEGE FOR THE BEST PAPER EXPLORING THE SIGNIFICANCE OF SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP Artur Steinerowski Social Entrepreneurship http://digitalknowledge.babson.edu/fer/vol28/iss21/3 http://digitalknowledge.babson.edu/fer/vol28/iss21/3 Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:53:37 PST Social entrepreneurship (SE) is defined as a process of social value creation in which resources are combined in new ways to meet social needs, stimulate social change, or create new organizations. This paper shows that 1) diversity in SE construct measurement is presently lacking, 2) the SE literature is characterized by social value creation as a distinguishing dependent variable, and 3) SE research relies on descriptions of individuals and ventures. Using a sample of 87 SE articles, we use content analysis to compare and contrast outcomes and sample categories in SE and commercial entrepreneurship. Few overlaps exist between SE and commercial entrepreneurship in dependent variables and sample categories, providing an abundance of opportunities for future research. Todd W. Moss Social Entrepreneurship http://digitalknowledge.babson.edu/fer/vol28/iss21/1 http://digitalknowledge.babson.edu/fer/vol28/iss21/1 Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:53:36 PST What motivates entrepreneurs' philanthropic acts? Philanthropy has been key to American social and cultural development, and it is also a major driver, along with entrepreneurship, of the American economy. To help researchers better understand the antecedents of entrepreneurs' philanthropic giving, we develop a theoretical model of individual-level philanthropic actions. As antecedents of philanthropic actions in our model, we include three theoretical constructs (immortality striving, legacy creation, and generativity) from the psychology and social psychology literatures. We also propose several variables that we expect to moderate these relationships including entrepreneur age, gender, religious orientation, and wealth. Lastly, we offer directions for future research. NATIONAL FEDERATION OF INDEPENDENT BUSINESS (NFIB) AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN RESEARCH ON THE GENERAL TOPIC OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP Joseph E. Coombs Social Entrepreneurship http://digitalknowledge.babson.edu/fer/vol28/iss20/7 http://digitalknowledge.babson.edu/fer/vol28/iss20/7 Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:43:33 PST Entrepreneurship literature offers that entrepreneurship is associated with a country's economic development (Schumpeter, 1942); yet, there has been little direct evidence on under what conditions countries actually achieve their economic development via entrepreneurship. On the other hand, the institutional framework posits that at the most fundamental level, the supply and demand of entrepreneurship is at least shaped by a country's institutional environment, and the degree to which it encourages or discourages entrepreneurship development at the societal level determines the long-term economic performance of any society (North, 1990); however, there has also been little direct evidence on how institutions really matter. In this paper, we attempt to fill in the gap by investigating the three pillars of the institutional environment (Scott, 1995) associated with entrepreneurship and economic development within a country. Specifically, we define entrepreneurship as new entry (Lumpkin & Dess, 1996), examine the effect of institutional factors (i.e., market incentives, availability of capital, acceptability of entrepreneurship, educational programs), and focus on emerging economies as a learning laboratory (Hitt et al., 2005; Peng & Heath, 1996). We take advantage of Kilby's (1983) argument that an economic modeling of entrepreneurship is particularly difficult in the context of developed economies; however, the context of emerging economies may enable us to relax the assumptions and help provide a more realistic view of the economic markets. This will allow entrepreneurship to stand out as one of the leading sources of market transformation and economic growth and development. Yasuhiro Yamakawa Public policy for entrepreneurship http://digitalknowledge.babson.edu/fer/vol28/iss20/5 http://digitalknowledge.babson.edu/fer/vol28/iss20/5 Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:43:32 PST The present stage of the economic theory linking entrepreneurship and economic growth needs additional empirical studies to test two key hypotheses: the positive impact of entrepreneurship on economic growth and the existence of a set of factors that are positively correlated with entrepreneurship. Most of the existing empirical studies use cross-section data with countries as unity of analysis (Van Stel, Carree and Thurik, 2005; Thurik and Grillo, 2005). There are few studies using individual country data, or using time series data, and fewer studies for developing countries. Therefore, our objective in this paper is to bring a contribution to fill this gap, by developing and empirically testing an econometric model that links entrepreneurship to economic growth and identifying the determinant factors of entrepreneurship in Brazil. José C. Castanhar Public policy for entrepreneurship http://digitalknowledge.babson.edu/fer/vol28/iss20/6 http://digitalknowledge.babson.edu/fer/vol28/iss20/6 Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:43:32 PST Regions home to universities, federal laboratories, and nonprofits feature higher rates of new firm formation in high-technology sectors. This raises several questions: first, is it the presence of an institution or the amount of funding that determines local entrepreneurial activity? Second, does it matter if the R&D activities are funded by defense-related sources? This paper explores these questions using county-level data of new firm formation and the federal funding of R&D at public institutions. Among our results is the finding that R&D funds from non-defense sources - relative to defense sources - are associated with higher rates of new firm formation. Lawrence A. Plummer Public policy for entrepreneurship http://digitalknowledge.babson.edu/fer/vol28/iss20/4 http://digitalknowledge.babson.edu/fer/vol28/iss20/4 Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:43:31 PST Little is known about the factors that drive a founder's ability to generate employment for others. In this paper, we develop and test a theoretical framework to investigate the multi-level causal factors promoting job creation (that is, generating employment for individuals in addition to the founder) in start-up firms. In developing our framework, we consider the individual (human capital), organizational, and environmental factors that contribute to job creation in newly founded firms. We also examine how these factors differentially impact the creation of jobs that carry different benefits and promises of continued employment (and thus have a higher quality) relative to those that do not. John C. Dencker Public policy for entrepreneurship http://digitalknowledge.babson.edu/fer/vol28/iss20/3 http://digitalknowledge.babson.edu/fer/vol28/iss20/3 Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:43:30 PST This study deals with the relationships between entrepreneurs' perception of whether the economic reward system produces fair and equitable merit-related outcomes and the likelihood of their firms engaging in opportunity-seeking entrepreneurship vs. rent-seeking entrepreneurship vs. destructive entrepreneurship. We develop theoretical arguments dealing with the influence that distributive justice perceptions held by these key decision makers have on these firm-level entrepreneurial behaviors. The extent to which they perceive the rule of law as inadequate in motivating ethical firm behavior is expected to influence their distributive justice perceptions. These perceptions are subsequently hypothesized to be antecedents to a variety of behaviors undertaken by the entrepreneurs' firms. Our study delineates between three types of behaviors entrepreneurial firms can undertake -- opportunity-seeking, rent-seeking, and destructive. Opportunity-seeking behaviors of interest include offering new products or services, entering new geographic markets, and improving processes or technologies. Rent-seeking behaviors include legal and political activities. We also investigate the likelihood for firms to engage in destructive entrepreneurship (i.e., illegal corrupt transactions). Jamie D. Collins Public policy for entrepreneurship http://digitalknowledge.babson.edu/fer/vol28/iss20/2 http://digitalknowledge.babson.edu/fer/vol28/iss20/2 Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:35:38 PST Venkataraman (2004) discussed the possibilities of technical entrepreneurship as a lever to achieve regional transformation and suggested that public policies and entrepreneurial strategies should focus on "intangible factors" such as focal points capable of producing novel ideas, gateways for large markets, executive leadership, among others, instead of (or in addition to) the "tangible factors" such as the provision of capital or tax incentives. In a similar vein, Molina-Morales et al. (2002) analyze the role of local institutions as intermediary Agents capable of promoting the strengthening and consolidation of industrial districts. With the present study we tried to answer to the following questions: a) were the "intangible factors" present in the district formation and trajectory? If so, what was their importance in the district trajectory and performance?; b) does the non-technological entrepreneurship (entrepreneurship in mature industries) have the potential to promote regional transformation, as well as technological entrepreneurship? These are crucial questions for developing countries where technology is a scarce resource. José C. Castanhar Public policy for entrepreneurship http://digitalknowledge.babson.edu/fer/vol28/iss20/1 http://digitalknowledge.babson.edu/fer/vol28/iss20/1 Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:35:37 PST Different sources of data on "entrepreneurship" have led to contradictory or inconclusive empirical findings on its dynamics (Hoffman and Oxholim, 2006). Country-specific differences may contribute to this problem, as well as varied sources of data used for research. For this reason, we compare datasets from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) and World Bank Group Entrepreneurship Survey (WBGES). The GEM data measures early-stage entrepreneurial activity and the WBGES dataset measures formal business registration. Studies using both datasets have produced contradictory results: No relationship is found between GEM data and administrative barriers to starting a business (van Stel et al, 2007) but a significantly negative effect is found with WBGES data (Klapper et al, 2007). Zoltan J. Acs Public policy for entrepreneurship http://digitalknowledge.babson.edu/fer/vol28/iss19/23 http://digitalknowledge.babson.edu/fer/vol28/iss19/23 Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:35:36 PST Though the popularity of research on technology transfer offices (TTOs) has vastly increased, there is little empirical evidence of how the potential value for a technology is estimated and negotiated in a license. Limited qualitative work and empirical work (e.g., Owen-Smith, 2005) tap into the underlying decisions before a technology can be licensed. Consequently, we know very little on how a particular technology is valued and its impact on contract design. In this study, we analyze the content, design, and performance of 847 licensing contracts between university technology transfer offices and firms. Reddi Kotha Corporate entrepreneurship http://digitalknowledge.babson.edu/fer/vol28/iss19/22 http://digitalknowledge.babson.edu/fer/vol28/iss19/22 Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:35:35 PST Alliances between firms are an increasingly important aspect of strategic management and play a major role in knowledge management activities. Whereas most of the literature on knowledge management has focused on the creation, acquisition, and transfer associated with knowledge within firms, comparatively little work has been done to understand management of knowledge across firms. The rapid pace of technological change, the high uncertainty associated with emerging technologies, and increasing level of competition, forces firms, especially small and medium enterprises (SMEs) with their limited technological, human, and financial resources, to leverage their strategic alliances to face the challenge of creating and managing new knowledge. Though firms can form strategic alliances with a wide variety of organizations, including suppliers, customers, complementors, competitors, or others, downstream alliances with customers are especially useful for firms in enhancing market performance and creating new value. In this study we examine new knowledge creation associated with a downstream customer alliance of SMEs in high-technology industries. Specifically, we present a model of how organizational learning influences entrepreneurial orientation under different conditions of environmental munificence and how entrepreneurial orientation interacts with alliance orientation to affect new knowledge creation. Vishal K. Gupta Corporate entrepreneurship http://digitalknowledge.babson.edu/fer/vol28/iss19/21 http://digitalknowledge.babson.edu/fer/vol28/iss19/21 Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:35:34 PST In 2004, universities and not-for-profits filed over 10,517 U.S. patents and generated licensing income of $1.385 billion dollars (AUTM, 2004). Researchers have examined the impact that the amount of revenue allocated to faculty inventors has on various performance metrics of the technology transfer process, although the results have been mixed (Friedman & Silberman, 2003; Lach & Schankerman, 2003, Markman, Gianiodis, Phan, & Balkin, 2004). However, the impact that allocations to the technology transfer office (TTO) have on the performance of TTOs as well as the technology transfer process have not been adequately examined. Receiving a larger share of revenue might lead to TTO directors being more motivated, and would give them more resources for patenting and marketing activities. However, if the university gives TTOs a large share of licensing revenue at the expense of inventors, than inventors may not be motivated to develop high-quality ideas. Therefore, we ask the questions: (1) How do payouts affect the performance of inventors as well as TTOs? (2) What factors determine the payout to faculty inventors? Steve F. Gohmann Corporate entrepreneurship http://digitalknowledge.babson.edu/fer/vol28/iss19/20 http://digitalknowledge.babson.edu/fer/vol28/iss19/20 Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:35:33 PST It is generally accepted that leadership and particularly top-level leadership is related to organizational performance outcomes (e.g., see Yukl, 2004; Smith, Carson & Alexander, 1984). Sashkin and Tarabishy (2007) found that that for a selective sample of relatively young, relatively small, entrepreneurial organizations all in the same high-technology industry, leadership scores assessed by leaders' direct reports using The Leadership Profile (Sashkin & Rosenbach, 1998) predicted organizational performance a year later, with 85% of the correlations significant and above .50. These organizations' entrepreneurial orientation or EO (Miller & Frisen, 1983; Covin & Slevin, 1989) was also strongly and significantly predictive of the same performance measures. Because a specific measure of the CEO leader's culture-building activity was available in the Sashkin and Tarabishy data set, we were able to conduct a mediating analysis (Baron & Kenny, 1986) to test the hypothesis that the effects of the leader's culture-building behavior on performance are mediated by organizations' EO. Exploration of this issue is the central focus of the present paper. Ayman El Tarabishy Corporate entrepreneurship http://digitalknowledge.babson.edu/fer/vol28/iss19/19 http://digitalknowledge.babson.edu/fer/vol28/iss19/19 Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:35:32 PST EO is a firm-level strategic orientation, representing the extent to which an organization is committed to innovation by introducing new products and services, is proactive in initiating competitive actions, is willing to take risks and compete aggressively (Covin & Slevin, 1989; Miller, 1983, Lumpkin & Dess, 1996). While scholars have examined the direct effects of EO on performance, we propose that EO is an antecedent, requiring key organizational activities-more specifically, exploration vs. exploitation-which in turn influences performance. Both exploration, the experimentation with new alternatives and exploitation, the refinement and extension of existing competencies, technologies and paradigms, are important entrepreneurial processes. This paper poses these related questions: How does EO (values) lead to exploration and exploitation (actions)? How exploration and exploitation (actions) work as a means by which EO (values) leads to performance effectiveness (outcome)? Xin Zheng Corporate entrepreneurship http://digitalknowledge.babson.edu/fer/vol28/iss19/17 http://digitalknowledge.babson.edu/fer/vol28/iss19/17 Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:35:31 PST Uncertainty and complexity are hallmarks of many technological landscapes today. In such dynamic environments, corporate venture capital (CVC) investment has been embraced by leading corporations as a strategic tool to learn about external new technologies, markets and business models. CVC investments have been characterized as the "creation of a real option" by established firms. Taking a real options view of venture capital investments made by established corporations in entrepreneurial ventures, we argue that established corporations exercise the options created via the initial CVC investment by forming strategic alliances with ventures they invest in. In this paper we highlight the impact of uncertainty and investor capabilities on corporate investors' decision to exercise the options inherent in their CVC investments in new ventures. Anu Wadhwa Corporate entrepreneurship Corporate entrepreneurship alliances http://digitalknowledge.babson.edu/fer/vol28/iss19/18 http://digitalknowledge.babson.edu/fer/vol28/iss19/18 Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:35:31 PST Prior research has examined the antecedents of innovation in order to understand how organizations may better foster innovation. Much of this research has focused on the relationship between organizational culture and innovativeness (Detert, 2000; Gerlach, 2003), and has generally argued that supportive cultures are positively related to innovation (Chandler, Keller, & Lyon, 2000). However, while the intuitive direct implications of culture on innovation have long been a subject of interest in prior research (Chandler, Keller, & Lyon, 2000), some major questions regarding the implications of this relationship remain unexplored. Specifically, does an innovation-supportive organizational culture always lead to the desired innovation? Or, conversely is it possible that an innovative-supportive culture may perhaps even depress innovation? To examine these questions, this study sets out to test the nature of the relationship between innovation-supportive culture and innovation to determine if the best representation is linear or curvilinear. In this case, we test the possibility of a curvilinear relationship between innovation-supportive culture and innovation. Michael C. Withers Corporate entrepreneurship Innovation http://digitalknowledge.babson.edu/fer/vol28/iss19/16 http://digitalknowledge.babson.edu/fer/vol28/iss19/16 Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:35:29 PST This paper discusses how a corporate venture capital investment might be the first step towards a more intense form of collaboration with the portfolio firm. CVC investments are small equity investments, made by incumbent firms, in young, entrepreneurial firms. Pursuing these types of investments allows the innovating firm to create a portfolio of different options while waiting until the technological and commercial opportunities about the technology have become clear. If the technology turns out to be promising, a follow-on investment is likely to take the form of a more intense type of collaboration, for instance through a strategic alliance or acquisition of the venture. In this paper we investigate when CVC investments evolve into a more intense form of collaboration between the two firms. We develop our arguments around a number of possible determinants. Our hypotheses predict that the likelihood of a follow-on investment in the form of a more intense type of collaboration depends on dyad-level characteristics such as the stage of investment, the number of investment rounds the firm participates in, the size of the investment, the share in the portfolio firm vis-à-vis co-investors, and the technological distance and geographical / cultural differences (same economic block) between the investor and the portfolio firm. Vareska Van De Vrande Corporate entrepreneurship Corporate venture capital