Reinhard Prügl

An explorative model of business model scalability

There is broad consensus that a scalable business model plays a key role in new venture success. However, the factors that influence business model scalability have received little attention thus far. This paper aims to shed more light on this topic by introducing an explorative model of business model scalability. The proposed model is based on an analysis of (a) a wide body of literature, in particular including a broad range of studies from entrepreneurship, strategy and business model research and (b) data from qualitative research based on in-depth expert interviews with experienced entrepreneurs and investors. The model provides a basis for understanding the role of a scalable business model in new venture growth and identifies mechanisms for successful web-based business model innovations. This study serves as a starting point for further research on business model scalability and provides guidance for executives in assessing the potential of new business models.

A User Community-Based Approach to Leveraging Technological Competences: An Exploratory Case Study of a Technology Start-Up from MIT

Many studies highlight the impact of technology commercialization on innovation and wealth creation. However, this impact could be far greater, especially as many technologies developed with high costs and effort remain vastly underutilized. One important reason for this problem can be found at the front end of the technological competence leveraging process: searching for market opportunities for a technology is a formidable challenge. In many cases, alternative fields of application (or even a single viable market opportunity) for a given technology are simply unknown to the entity in charge of commercialization. Based on an extensive literature review, we identify two major shortcomings at the front end of the technological competence leveraging process which contribute to the underutilization problem: (1) the local search behaviour of the commercializing entity and (2) the use of solution-based instead of problem-based search specifications. On the basis of these insights, we discuss the potential role of user communities in the search for (additional) market opportunities for a given technology, a process usually referred to as technological competence leveraging. We then empirically explore a user community-based approach in an illustrative case study with a start-up from MIT. Our findings show that when users were included in the search process, the number of potential markets in which the technology could be applied was five times higher, and more far-distant application areas as well as application areas previously unknown to the technology holder were reached. In addition, we discover design principles for a user community-based search process, providing practitioners with a hands-on guideline for employing a user community-based approach to technological competence leveraging.

Revealing the family: Effects of being perceived as a family firm in the recruiting market in Germany

Purpose Attracting and retaining a skilled labor force represents an important source for competitive advantage for organizations. In the European context, one of the greatest challenges that small- and medium-sized family firms face is attracting high quality non-family applicants. Researchers argue that one of the reasons for this difficulty is tied to the perception that non-family applicants have about family firms as a place to work. The purpose of this paper is to explore the perceptions that applicants have about family firms and their willingness to work in family firms in the German context. Design/methodology/approach Using principles from signaling theory, an experiment was conducted to explore the effects that information about family ownership and organizational age had on the perceptions about a firm (i.e. job security, advancement opportunities, prestige, task diversity, and compensation), and applicant’s attractiveness to it. Findings Based on the responses from 125 individuals in Germany, the authors found that explicitly communicating information about family ownership did not influence applicant perceptions about the firm or attractiveness to it. Although, information about organizational age affected perceptions of compensation, it did not affect attractiveness to the firm. Originality/value This study presents one of the first papers that focuses on the perceptions that non-family applicants have about family firms as a place to work in the European context. Thus, it provides a baseline for comparison to applicant perceptions in other European countries.

Identifying Future Strategic Options for the Automotive Industry

The automotive industry will be facing major changes in the medium to long term. According to the EU Climate Protection Act for 2020, the carbon dioxide emissions for newly released models in 2015 will have to be reduced by 28 % to 120 grams per kilometer (g/km) compared to 2008 [15]. Most of today’s Original Equiment Manufacturers (OEMs) in Europe have already released new models with more fuel-efficient and emission reducing technology and will be able to meet regulations of policy makers in the short to medium term [28]. However, with the conventional combustion engine as the only propulsion system it seems impossible to achieve the envisioned goals in ten years from now already. Exceeding these emission limits will result in high penalty fees [6]. This is why it is important for all stakeholders in the automotive industry to advance the development of sustainable alternative propulsion technologies in order to remain competitive in the future.

Capturing the Heterogeneity of Family Firms: Reviewing Scales to Directly Measure Socioemotional Wealth

Socioemotional wealth (SEW) is a key concept in family business research. In this chapter, I follow recent work et al. (2012) by emphasizing the theoretical relevance of SEW; at the same time, I share concerns about conceptual and empirical issues that still need to be examined. For example, the concept still needs to be tested more directly. My first aim is to provide an overview of previously published alternatives to directly measuring SEW. This is in line with criticism of the mismatch between the theoretical construct and its empirical correlate. This debate has only recently led to the development and validation of new measures to directly grasp SEW. In this chapter, I review the recent discussion, lay out emerging possibilities of directly measuring SEW, and discuss challenges associated with using direct measures of SEW.

Exploring the Role of Family Firm Identity and Market Focus on the Heterogeneity of Family Business Branding Strategies

Family firms vary in their decision of whether or not to communicate the involvement of the family in the firm as part of their branding attempts. Currently, we do not have a clear understanding of why these differences in branding practices occur. In an attempt to address this gap, the current chapter develops a model to explain why there is heterogeneity in the branding practices of family firms. Taking a sender approach, we develop a conceptual model to understand why and how two predictors (i.e., family firm identity and market orientation) drive the decision of family business representatives regarding the choice to explicitly and actively communicate the “Family Business Brand” (i.e., the involvement of the family in the business). This chapter develops the rationale for this model and presents ideas for future research.

Family Firm Reputation and Humanization: Consumers and the Trust Advantage of Family Firms Under Different Conditions of Brand Familiarity:

Pioneering conceptual and empirical work ascribe a trust advantage to family firms compared with their nonfamily analogies. But it remains unknown if this trust advantage persists with varying degrees of consumers’ brand familiarity. Furthermore, the underlying cognitive mechanisms in the minds of consumers that trigger the trust advantage remain unexplored. Using mixed methods, four studies indicate that family firms’ trust advantage does prevail in the context of real and familiar brands, and the strength of consumers’ perception of an organization as a human being (i.e., humanization) explains higher levels of benevolence and trust attributed to family firms.

Risky Decisions and the Family Firm Bias: An Experimental Study Based on Prospect Theory

In this article, we look at how a family firm signal affects decision making of nonprofessional investors. Grounded in prospect theory and supported by empirical evidence from a choice-based experimental study (N = 418) backed by a qualitative study, we demonstrate a behavioral bias induced by the family firm signal. This family firm bias shifts nonprofessional investors’ preferences toward the high-risk alternative in a choice situation. Accordingly, processing the family firm information seems to moderate risk aversion as risk avoidance is decreased in the gain domain, while risk seeking is reinforced in the loss domain due to trust and longevity associations tied to the family firm signal.

Welche Innovationen passen zu Familienunternehmen

Unterschiedliche Innovationstypen erfordern eine unterschiedliche Herangehensweise. In Kap. 3 werden die Erkenntnisse bisheriger Forschung zu Produkt-, Prozess-, Geschaftsmodell- und organisationalen Innovationen in Familienunternehmen diskutiert und es wird auf Unterschiede bezuglich der Radikalitat der Innovationen sowie der angesprochenen Kundengruppen eingegangen.

Liegt der Grundstein der Innovationskraft in der Familie

Im vierten Kapitel wird die spezielle Rolle der Familie im Familienunternehmen diskutiert. Spezifisch wird auf die Mitarbeit von Familienmitgliedern im Unternehmen sowie auf die „Mythenbildung“ in Unternehmerfamilien eingegangen und deren Wirkung auf die Innovationskraft beschrieben.