Matthew S. Wood

Does One Size Fit All? The Multiple Organizational Forms Leading to Successful Academic Entrepreneurship

This paper offers an integrative theory, through the use of transaction cost theory principles, that attempts to match the attributes of university–held innovations with the specific organizational form that best supports the identified attributes in innovation commercialization efforts. Two commonly utilized organizational forms are considered: the spin–off and the technology license agreement. Additionally, innovation transfer is conceptualized as a transaction and each of the organizational forms is considered an alternate governance mechanism for the management of the commercialization transaction. It is further conceptualized that by minimizing transaction costs, through the proper selection of the organizational form, universities may increase the odds of successful revenue generation from their entrepreneurial efforts. The overall goal of the paper is to enhance our understanding of proper organizational form–innovation attribute alignment as a key driver of innovation commercialization success, so that universities and their industry partners can increase their effectiveness in commercialization activities.

Learning From Levi-Strauss' Legacy: Art, Craft, Engineering, Bricolage, and Brokerage in Entrepreneurship

Given the increasing attention to traditionally less “rational” entrepreneurial behaviors, such as bricolage, we used grounded theory techniques to study 23 diverse entrepreneurs. From this, we developed a five–category typology of entrepreneurial behavior that includes art, craft, engineering, bricolage, and brokerage. Themes such as self–perceived identity, organization of space, integration of materials, sense of personal limits, and responsiveness to changing market conditions were observed along categorical lines. We discuss the significance of the typology and each categorys associations with venture longevity and financial performance for practitioners and for the study of entrepreneurship.

Taken on Faith? The Impact of Uncertainty, Knowledge Relatedness, and Richness of Information on Entrepreneurial Opportunity Exploitation

This article develops a theoretical model that suggests that differential levels of uncertainty, knowledge relatedness, and richness of information will have a substantial impact on the decision to engage in entrepreneurship. Effects of the individual differences fear of failure and general self-efficacy are also considered. Using a metric conjoint methodology, respondents are asked to evaluate a series of profiles with different levels of each attribute and then indicate their willingness to invest in an entrepreneurial opportunity. This approach allows for the calculation of main and interaction effects as well as the importance of each factor in the investment decision. Results indicated that all three factors and their interactions play a significant role in the decision to engage in entrepreneurial action. The degree of opportunity-related uncertainty was found to be the most important factor in the decision-making process.

The Effects of Perceived Control on Venture Capitalist Investment Decisions: A Configurational Perspective

Drawing on agency and configurations theories, this study examines how perceived level of control over the entrepreneur influences venture capitalist (VC) decision making. We model the direct effects of perceived control and the interactive effects of control with entrepreneurial prestige and opportunity attractiveness to determine how various combinations of factors influence VCs’ willingness to invest. We test our conceptualizations using conjoint analyses of 552 VC investment decisions. The results show that perceived control is directly related to investment likelihood, but different configurations of control, entrepreneur prestige, and opportunity attractiveness result in different outcomes. Our findings support a configurational perspective of VC decision making.

Attributes of Angel and Crowdfunded Investments as Determinants of VC Screening Decisions

This research explores whether relationships between young firms and certain early–stage seed funders portray certification effects that influence venture capitalist (VC) screening decisions. Specifically, we analyze how varying attributes of angel and crowdfunded investments certify venture quality in the minds of VCs as they make due diligence screening decisions. Results from two experiments utilizing 104 VCs making 1,036 screening decisions demonstrate that the heterogeneous nature of the attributes of angels and the crowd can produce highly influential certification effects.

Endings and Visions of New Beginnings: The Effects of Source of Unemployment and Duration of Unemployment on Entrepreneurial Intent

Abstract This study adopts the push-entrepreneurship perspective and develops a conceptual framework grounded in prospect theory, in order to investigate whether source of sunemployment, layoff in particular, and duration of unemployment stimulate entrepreneurial intent. We also propose that fear of failure and risk propensity moderate the source/duration–entrepreneurial intent relationships. We test our hypotheses using survey data from a sample of unemployed individuals. Results show that both layoff and duration of unemployment are stimuli for higher entrepreneurial intent, and the source of unemployment-intent relationship is moderated by fear of failure and risk propensity. We discuss the implications of these results.

The Impact of Failure Severity, Prior Failure, and Company Control on Service Recovery Outcomes

This study investigates the effects of differential levels of failure severity, prior service failures, and perceived company control on postrecovery satisfaction and negative word-of-mouth. The authors develop a theoretical model and hypotheses drawing on the prevention aspect of regulatory focus theory. The authors test the model via a scenario-based experimental design using the context of academic advising within a university setting. They find that that failure severity and company control are influential factors in the service recovery process, although prior failures did not affect satisfaction or negative word-of-mouth in a meaningful way. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

The Road to Riches? A Model of the Cognitive Processes and Inflection Points Underpinning Entrepreneurial Action

Studies of entrepreneurial action often distinguish between different phases such as opportunity identification, evaluation, and exploitation. Yet, the richness of past contributions masks the absence of an integral framework to organize, in a theoretically consistent ensemble, the different kinds of cognitive processes that underpin entrepreneurial action. In this chapter, we draw from research on human action and cognition to offer an integrative model of the cognitive processes that foster entrepreneurial action. By presenting a more specific articulation of when, how, and why different cognitive processes operate, we provide theorists and empiricists with a more complete picture of how entrepreneurs’ thinking evolves from the emergence of an opportunity idea to the initiation of concrete entrepreneurial acts. In addition, our framework draws attention to cognitive inflection points that entrepreneurs must navigate in their journey toward entrepreneurship. By explicitly locating these inflection points and specifying the changes in mental processing that occurs at each point, we highlight that for entrepreneurial action to ensue, entrepreneurs must shift from one type of cognitive processing to another. Along this line, our model draws attention to the entire set of cognitive “skills” entrepreneurs must master for successful completion of each phase and successful transitions between phases.

Entrepreneurial Drive in the Top Management Team: Effects on Strategic Choice and Firm Performance

Based on upper echelons theory and the logic embodied in the entrepreneurship, strategic choice, and resource-based view literatures, a theoretical model was developed showing the relationships between top management teams’ (TMT) entrepreneurial drive, TMT strategic choices, and superior industry performance, from which testable hypotheses were formed. The authors used a strategic management simulation model to gather the requisite data to perform their empirical testing. The results strongly support the hypotheses that TMT entrepreneurial drive is positively associated with superior industry performance and that the entrepreneurial orientation of the TMT’s strategic choices is positively associated with superior industry performance.This study also found evidence that the relationship between TMT entrepreneurial drive and superior industry performance is moderated by TMT’s strategic choices. These results have important implications in terms of how TMT’s entrepreneurial drive and their strategy choices can affect firm performance in today’s hypercompetitive environment.

Nowhere to Run and Nowhere to Hide: The Relationship between Entrepreneurial Success and Feelings of Entrapment

One unintended consequence of entrepreneurial action may be that the entrepreneur becomes intertwined with the business. This phenomenon is called entrapment and we draw on Becker’s Side-Bet Theory to explore the relationship between entrepreneurial success, individual differences, and feelings of entrapment. The general logic is that as venture success increases entrepreneurs are better able to satisfy commitments and have a greater sense of alternatives that reduce feelings of entrapment. We surveyed 122 active entrepreneurs and found support for the venture success — feelings of entrapment relationship. We also found significant direct relationships between feelings of entrapment and attitude towards risk and fear of failure, however, these variables did not moderate the venture success — entrapment relationship. One implication of our findings is that entrepreneurs running marginally performing businesses are likely to experience greater feelings of entrapment.