Jonas Gabrielsson

The venture capitalist and the board of directors in SMEs: Roles and processes

The paper provides an attempt to direct the research in the area of venture capitalists and the board of directors in SMEs. Issues about boards in venture capital-backed technology based industrials are explored, and various research designs are used to meet different research questions. Empirical results indicate that venture capital firms purposefully use boards in the portfolio firm, and boards in venture capital-backed firms are more active than boards in other firms. The venture capitalist and the entrepreneur/owner-manager of the portfolio firm may have diverging expectations to board roles. In this setting the board becomes an interesting meeting place for studying the processes and the dynamics between external and internal stakeholders. Future research in this area should integrate board role theories and board process theories.

Correlates of Board Empowerment in Small Companies

This study seeks to advance the understanding of board empowerment in small companies. Predictions based on agency and resource dependency theories were used to examine how contingency factors correlate with board empowerment, in this study conceptualized as a larger number of board members, a higher representation of outside directors, and separate CEO and board chair positions. Statistical analyses on a sample of 135 small companies gave ample support for the agency–theoretic prediction that board empowerment in small companies is a response to satisfy the demands from owners not directly involved in managing the company. Other factors influencing board empowerment were younger CEOs, high degree of exports, and past poor company performance. The influence of these contingency factors, however, was not as strong and extensive as the presence of outside owners. The article ends with a discussion of the findings and their implications for understanding boards and governance in small companies.

Configurations of Capacity for Change in Entrepreneurial Threshold Firms: Imprinting and Strategic Choice Perspectives

Imprinting theory suggests that founding conditions are ‘stamped’ on organizations, and these imprinted routines often resist change. In contrast, strategic choice theory suggests that the firm can overcome organizational inertia and deliberately choose its future. Both theories offer dramatically different explanations behind an organizations capacity for change. IPO firms provide a unique context for exploring how imprinting forces interact with strategic choice factors to address organizational capacity for change as a firm moves from private to public firm status. Juxtaposing imprinting and strategic choice perspectives, we employ fuzzy set analysis to examine the multi-level determinants of organizational capacity for change. Our cross-national data reveal three effective configurations of organizational capacity for change within IPOs, and two ineffective configurations. Our results suggest that the antecedents of organizational capacity for change in entrepreneurial threshold firms are non-linear, interdependent, and equifinal.

Mind the gap and bridge the gap: research excellence and diffusion of academic knowledge in Sweden

This paper aims to highlight the changing and diversifying nature of academic work related to various forms of knowledge production and diffusion. Focusing on the changing research policy landscape in Sweden, three interrelated questions are investigated: what academics do in terms of commercialisation and public dissemination; how they perform these activities; and why they engage in these activities. Based on data from a recent survey with over 10,000 academics in Sweden, we identify and analyse ‘high-performing’ researchers, in the context of the commercialisation and public dissemination of their academic work. The quantitative analysis is supplemented by qualitative interviews with scientists at strong research environments in Sweden. We argue that there is a virtuous cycle connecting different academic activities in strong research environments — research excellence and excellence in knowledge production on one hand, and knowledge diffusion activities, such as commercialisation and public dissemination, on the other hand. Copyright , Beech Tree Publishing.

Early-stage finance and the role of external entrepreneurs in the commercialization of university-generated knowledge

The past decade has seen a plethora of policy initiatives that seek to bridge the chasm between investments in public R&D and its effective diffusion in society. This article uses a case study approach to explore and contrast the effectiveness of different entrepreneur models in financing and developing university spin-offs (USOs). The distinction between different entrepreneur models is based on whether the USOs are championed by university employees that seek to commercialize their own inventions or by external entrepreneurs who are not the original inventors but with acquired rights to develop and commercialize technology originating from university research. Our analysis show that external entrepreneurs have a different mind-set that makes them better equipped to deal with opportunities and obstacles related to financing and developing USOs. However, the development paths of USOs are embedded in a more complex web of path-dependent interactions, where the championship of the USO becomes interwoven with existing and emerging social relationships and opportunities, and challenges related to the technology that is commercialized.

Business Simulation Exercises in Small Business Management Education: Using Principles and Ideas from Action Learning.

Recent calls to close the rigour-relevance gap in business school education have suggested incorporating principles and ideas from action learning in small business management education. In this paper we discuss how business simulation exercises can be used as a platform to trigger students’ learning by providing them with a platform where they can merge theory with practice. We provide theoretical arguments accompanied by illustrations to show how such initiatives can create a more student-centred teaching structure than what is usually practised in contemporary business school education. This may in turn work as a potential bridge between the safe harbour of traditional classroom teaching and the more chaotic and complex world of managerial practice.

Sustainable high-growth entrepreneurship: A study of rapidly growing firms in the Scania region

The importance of high-growth entrepreneurship is widely acknowledged. Previous studies, however, have shown that only a few rapidly growing firms manage to sustain their growth trajectory over long periods. This paper addresses high-growth entrepreneurship in the Scania region of Sweden. The authors analyse a sample of high-growth firms and find that only a minority exhibit sustained high growth. They also compare sustainable high-growth firms with temporary high-growth firms, using unique data about their innovation and R&D activities. The analysis shows that sustainable high-growth firms are more often involved in activities aimed at developing and improving existing production processes, and are also less committed to international operations in new foreign markets. The results can be used to advise policy makers on how to understand and support high-growth entrepreneurship in regional innovation systems.

Management Development in Small Firms: Understanding the Learning Dilemma for Small Business Managers

In this study, we link discussions about management development in small firms to the work environment of small business managers. In particular, our aim is to examine management development as an experiential process carried out in daily managerial practice. Using structured observations of managerial work, we found that small business managers operate in work environments with rich opportunities for learning. However, we also found that various and unexpected interruptions and problems typically fragment their workdays. In addition, such managers lack peer support and guidance and have few external interactions and little internal communication. As a result, small business managers find themselves in a learning dilemma that, in the long run, may limit their creativity and innovation. Based on these empirical findings, we draw conclusions about support for work-based management development in small firms.

Combining experiential and conceptual learning in accounting education: A review with implications

Within accounting education, both conceptual and experiential learning have been important learning approaches. However, while experiential learning has been extensively studied in accounting education, the critical role of conceptual learning has received considerably less attention. In this article, we review theory and research to develop a framework involving the Throughput Model that relates to both conceptual and experiential learning. Based on our review and combination, we suggest implications for the design and implementation of accounting education.

Entrepreneurial learning and innovation : The critical role of team-level learning for the evolution of innovation capabilities in technology-based ventures

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to develop a conceptual model that explains how learning processes at the team level connect with individual and organizational levels of learning in technology-based ventures, thereby influencing the evolution of innovation capabilities in the entrepreneurial process. Design/methodology/approach The 4I organizational learning framework is used as an overarching theoretical structure to acknowledge entrepreneurial learning as a dynamic process that operate on multiple levels in technology-based ventures. Embedded in this logic, research on team learning is integrated into this theorizing to examine how learning processes at the team level bridge and connect with learning processes operating at individual and organizational levels. Findings The conceptual model identifies different sets of team learning processes critical for the routinization and evolution of innovation capabilities in technology-based ventures. In this respect, the conceptual model advances the scholarly understanding of entrepreneurial learning as a dynamic process operating across multiple levels in technology-based ventures. Originality/value By conceptualizing how individual streams of experiences over time become institutionalized via interaction, conversation and dialogue, the paper provides novel insights into the critical role of team learning for bridging individual and organizational levels of learning in the entrepreneurial learning process.