Dawn R. DeTienne

Prior Knowledge, Potential Financial Reward, and Opportunity Identification

This article simultaneously explores the constructs of potential financial reward and prior knowledge of customer problems to provide a deeper understanding of the identification of opportunities. Results suggest that while prior knowledge of customer problems leads to the identification of more opportunities and opportunities that are more innovative, it also moderates the relationship between potential financial reward and opportunity identification. We found that the less knowledgeable an individual was about customer problems, the more positive the effect that potential financial reward had on the number of opportunities identified and the innovativeness of those opportunities.

An empirical test of environmental, organizational, and process factors affecting incremental and radical innovation

Abstract This study examines the influence of environmental, organizational, process, and managerial characteristics on incremental and radical innovation across three industries (aerospace, electronic components, and telecommunications). Results show that different mixes of environmental and organizational variables were significant predictors of incremental and radical innovation. Factors that favor incremental innovation include environmental dynamism, age and size of the firm (although not in the expected direction), intrafirm structural linkages, and the age of the CEO. Factors that favor radical innovation include environmental dynamism, intrafirm linkages, experimentation, and transitioning or sequencing from one project or product to another.

The Role of Gender in Opportunity Identification

Opportunity identification is rapidly becoming a key focal point of research in the entrepreneurship domain. This study is the first to explore gender differences in opportunity identification. Utilizing two distinct samples (95 senior undergraduate students, 189 entrepreneurs in two high–technology industries), we found that women and men utilize their unique stocks of human capital to identify opportunities and that they use fundamentally different processes of opportunity identification. However, we did not find any difference in the innovativeness of the opportunities identified. This research contributes both to the opportunity identification literature and to theories of social feminism by showing empirically that although women and men utilize different processes to identify opportunities, neither process is inherently superior.

The fallacy of "only the strong survive": The effects of extrinsic motivation on the persistence decisions for under-performing firms

(WP 07/04 Clave pdf) According to economic theory, under-performing firms should be selected out of the market. However, research shows that these firms persist, often for long periods of time. In this article we explore the non-firm-performance factors that contribute to the decision to persist with an under-performing firm. Using the escalation of commitment literature we identify seven variables that are associated with the persistence decision. We reconcile the economic and psychological views by finding that the extent to which some of these non-firm-performance factors influence the persistence decision is, in part, dependent upon the owner-managers’ level of extrinsic motivation.

How Corporate Entrepreneurs Learn from Fledgling Innovation Initiatives: Cognition and the Development of a Termination Script

Through a parallel examination of literatures on new product development termination and entrepreneurial cognition, this study explores a specific form of human capital development: learning from failure. Specifically we advance the literature on entrepreneurial human capital by linking cognitive scripts used by corporate entrepreneurs in project termination decisions to corresponding levels of learning. Our longitudinal investigation of technology–based firms suggests that corporate entrepreneurs use three types of termination scripts: (1) undisciplined termination, (2) strategic termination, and (3) innovation drift. We illustrate the presence of each script and analyze learning implications during innovation projects (action learning) and after termination (post–performance learning). Based on our analysis we suggest that organizational learning is dependent upon the type of termination script individuals employ.

What do we really mean when we talk about ‘exit’? A critical review of research on entrepreneurial exit

Much of the research on entrepreneurial exit has focused on exit as a dichotomous outcome whereby exit is viewed negatively and survival positively. This perspective is quite different from that of practising entrepreneurs, who are more likely to be concerned with various types of exit, viewing some options as the ultimate fulfilment of the new venture process. Further, research on exit frequently fails to account for performance (for example, earnings from self-employment or firm-level profitability) in empirical models, even though performance is arguably the critical component of determining whether an exit is successful or unsuccessful. This review article delves into these issues – founder exit intentions, strategies for executing the exit, the process of exit and the importance of controlling for, or including, performance measures in academic research – thereby outlining an agenda for future research regarding entrepreneurial exit.

Exit Strategies in Family Firms: How Socioemotional Wealth Drives the Threshold of Performance

Although research has shown the ability to exit from both successful and unsuccessful ventures is important to founders, families, firms, industries, and overall economic health, exiting from a family firm can be especially challenging. In this paper, we examine exit strategies in the context of the family firm and the family firm portfolio. Drawing upon threshold theory and the socioemotional wealth perspective, we develop a model that provides guiding theoretical explanations for exit strategies. We address two questions: (1) why do family owners develop specific exit strategies, and (2) how do these strategies differ within family firms and family firm portfolios? In doing so, we contribute to family business, portfolio entrepreneurship, and exit literatures.

Entrepreneurial opportunity identification and new firm development processes: a comparison of family and non-family new ventures

This research examines differences between family and non-family firms with respect to new venture creation processes. We invoke a social embeddedness explanation of differences between family and non-family firms with respect to opportunity identification processes and outcomes and new venture development processes. In a sample of 183 family and non-family firms, we find that family firms are less likely to report an opportunity identification process that is sudden, spontaneous and creative. The new opportunities thus identified are less innovative than those identified by non-family firms. Finally, family firms are somewhat more likely to follow effectuation processes and significantly less likely to follow causation processes during new venture creation. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Entrepreneurial Exit Strategies: The Impact of Human Capital

Although researchers in such diverse fields as economics and organizational sociology have explored firm exit, little research has explored entrepreneurial exit - the decision by the majority - owner founders of privately-held firms to harvest their profits and remove themselves from the primary ownership and decision-making structure of the firm. Yet, all entrepreneurs in one way or another will leave the firm they created. Using theories of goal-setting and human capital we explore two specific questions: (1) why do some entrepreneurs consider an exit strategy while others do not, and (2) under what conditions are entrepreneurs most likely to utilize a specific strategy.

Studying exit from entrepreneurship: New directions and insights

Research on entrepreneurial exit has established itself as a more recognized component of the entrepreneurial process and a distinctive domain of entrepreneurship research. Despite the progress made, there still exists important topics within entrepreneurial exit where scholarly understanding is scant. This special issue discusses new and open topics of research on entrepreneurial exit. Three papers examine three such topics including pricing intentions of exiting entrepreneurs, exit considerations among angel investors, and the relationship between exit and failure in new ventures.