The genesis of strategy in new ventures: escaping the constraints of founder and team knowledge

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Fern, Michael J.; Cardinal, Laura B.; O'Neill, Hugh M.
• 署名单位: University of Houston System; University of Houston; University of North Carolina; University of North Carolina Chapel Hill
• 刊物名称: STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT JOURNAL
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0143-2095
• DOI: 10.1002/smj.1944
• 发表日期: 2012
• 页码: 427-447
• 关键词: competitive heterogeneity; Strategy choice; entrepreneurship; decision making; founder experience

摘要

Although an entrepreneur's initial strategy choices have a critical effect on a new venture's survival, growth, and long-term performance, few studies have explored how pre-founding experience influences these choices. Founders who over rely on their historical industry experiences may simply replicate the strategies of legacy firms. In turn, little is known about how founders can break these experience-based constraints, if they exist. In an empirical analysis of 120 prospective entrants in air transportation from 1995-2005 we find that a founder's past experience strongly constrains choices, and the effect depends on the form of experience and type of strategy choice. Diversity of experience, at the level of the founder and founding team, lessens these constraints. Our results have valuable implications for research in strategy and entrepreneurship. Copyright (c) 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.