Team trust and control in new venture emergence

Abstract

PurposeEffective internal dynamics of new venture teams is seen as a key contributor to venture success. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the ways in which new venture teams consisting of nascent entrepreneurs initiate trust and control during venture emergence.Design/methodology/approachDimensions of trust and control are developed into an analytical framework applied to documented team norms. Coding detects frequency of trust and control dimensions. Supplementary data triangulate findings and explore follow-on effects in team dynamics and venture emergence.FindingsFrequency of coded dimensions generates a venture team profile. Teams prime their dynamics through use of trust and/or control language in documented norms. Priming is seen to influence entrepreneurial perseverance during venture emergence, stemming either directly from team dynamics, or indirectly from key shareholder relationships or environmental conditions.Research limitations/implicationsData are bounded to a specific contextual setting representing incubation and education, where the nascent entrepreneurs are simultaneously students. The complexity of venture emergence means that multiple factors influencing new venture teams may influence trust and control in ways currently unaccounted for.Practical implicationsExploration of trust and control during venture emergence emphasizes soft-skills critical to entrepreneurial perseverance and venture success. Team norms can be designed to prime toward trust or control, and can be indicative of teams’ sensitivity to external factors, enabling evidence for intervention.Originality/valueThe paper illustrates ways in which trust and control influence team dynamics during venture emergence.