Founding Phase Research Articles

Family business origin and investment preference: An empirical study of imprinting theory

Family businesses in China differ acutely with respect to their historical origins. The initial institutional differences based on their origins affect investment behavior, which then impacts on the real economy. This paper investigates how the origins of family businesses affect their investment preferences. Using data on Chinese family firms for the period 2009–2021, we find that family businesses restructured by state-owned enterprises (SOEs) make more financial investments than those established through entrepreneurial activities. The period during which the business is under the control of the founding family and intergenerational succession moderates the differences in investment preferences between restructured and entrepreneurial family businesses, while the time of being as an SOE can strengthen the differences. Mechanism tests demonstrate that restructured family firms (RFFs) participate in less risky activities than entrepreneurial family firms (EFFs), suggesting that preference imprinting contributes to divergent investments. Such a divergence is unlikely to be driven by differences in entrepreneurship, agency costs, or resource endowments. Following robustness tests and after overcoming endogeneity problems, our results remain conclusive. Overall, this study demonstrates that a business’s risk propensity during its founding phase has a long-term impact on future preferences.

Managing historical conditions in information systems strategizing: An imprinting perspective

Information systems (IS) strategizing is particularly challenging for established organizations because of their historical conditions. The question of how established organizations can effectively manage their historical conditions in IS strategizing remains under-explored. To address this question, we conducted a case study tracing the history (1960–2020) of an established organization in the building and construction industry. Through the analysis, we found four systems: accounting management system, business communication system, knowledge management system, and community collaboration system, as the historical conditions that formed an IS imprint, which was later managed and reproduced during IS strategizing. Using the imprinting lens, we developed an understanding of: (1) the formation of the IS imprint at the organizational foundation; and (2) the reproduction of the IS imprint, considering imprint-as-resource and imprint-as-constraint during IS strategizing. We contribute to the literature by providing an understanding of how historical conditions inform IS strategizing in the long term and by applying the imprinting lens to uncover the process through which an IS imprint is strategically managed and reproduced beyond the founding phase. The insights developed from this study are transferable to similar organizational contexts for managing historical conditions in IS strategizing.

The Framing of Diversity Statements in European Universities: The Role of Imprinting and Institutional Legacy

We analyze the role of institutional founding conditions and institutional legacy for universities’ self-representation in terms of diversity. Based on 374 universities located in the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, and Poland, we can differentiate between a more idealistic understanding (logic of inclusion and equality) and a more market-oriented understanding (market logic) of diversity. Our findings show that the founding phase has no significant effect on the likelihood of a university focusing on a market-oriented understanding of diversity—however, we observe an imprinting effect with respect to the adoption of a diversity statement in general and an equity-oriented statement. Moreover, our findings show that there is a socialistic heritage for universities in Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries that is at work and still influences universities’ understandings of diversity today.

Postural analysis reveals persistent changes in paper wasp foundress behavioral state after conspecific challenge.

Vigilant animals detect and respond to threats in the environment, often changing posture and movement patterns. Vigilance is modulated not only by predators but also by conspecific threats. In social animals, precisely how conspecific threats alter vigilance behavior over time is relevant to long-standing hypotheses about social plasticity. We report persistent effects of a simulated conspecific challenge on behavior of wild northern paper wasp foundresses, Polistes fuscatus. During the founding phase of the colony cycle, conspecific wasps can usurp nests from the resident foundress, representing a severe threat. We used automated tracking to monitor the movement and posture of P. fuscatus foundresses in response to simulated intrusions. Wasps displayed increased movement, greater bilateral wing extension, and reduced antennal separation after the threat was removed. These changes were not observed after presentation with a wooden dowel. By rapidly adjusting individual behavior after fending off an intruder, paper wasp foundresses might invest in surveillance of potential threats, even when such threats are no longer immediately present. The prolonged vigilance-like behavioral state observed here is relevant to plasticity of social recognition processes in paper wasps.

Treating disability as an asset (not a limitation): A critical examination of disability inclusion through social entrepreneurship

Social enterprises play an increasing role in providing employment opportunities for disabled people. This paper examines the implications of social enterprises’ market-based approach to disability inclusion, which is characterized by viewing disability as an asset rather than a limitation. Taking our inspiration from critical disability scholars who have pointed out that inclusion agendas produce disability as a distinct social reality, we use a performative lens to examine how social enterprises variously “do disability,” for instance, by defining where the potentials of disabled people lie and how best to promote them. Drawing on an ethnographic study of Magic Fingers, a Nepal-based enterprise that employs blind people as massage therapists, we identify entrepreneurial “doings” of disability that were guided by ideals of empowerment but that ultimately produced new and subtle forms of exclusion. By closely examining the case organization’s founding phase, as well as its practices of advertising, recruitment, and day-to-day management, we show how Magic Fingers commodified disability in novel ways, reinforced the notion of disability as a negative condition that must be “overcome” through work, and introduced new market-oriented evaluative distinctions between “more able” and “less able” disabled individuals. By exploring and evaluating these effects, this paper draws attention to the ways in which social enterprises, while challenging deficit-oriented representations of disability, can paradoxically solidify disability as something profoundly “other.”

Origin matters: The institution imprint effect and green innovation in family businesses

We investigate how institutional environments in the founding phase influence the pro-environment activities of family businesses, and how origins shape present-day norms, routines and procedures through an imprint effect. By exploiting the unique heterogeneity of family business origin in China, we find that restructured family businesses have a higher degree of green innovation than their entrepreneurial counterparts. The mechanism analyses suggest that the initial institutions varied across family business origins, resulting in divergent institutional environments and distinguishing green innovation performances. Our results highlight the lasting effects of the early governance system on modern-day family businesses.

Knowledge recontextualization by returnee entrepreneurs: The dynamic learning perspective

Effective knowledge recontextualization is key to successful knowledge transfer in cross-cultural context. This paper explores how returnee entrepreneurs in Vietnam learn to recontextualize their overseas knowledge while establishing new ventures back in their home country. Our dynamic learning process model suggests that (1) in the pre-founding phase, an interactive vicarious learning and intuitive learning mechanism enables returnees to make sense of overseas knowledge; (2) during the founding phase, blended learning mechanism – the balancing act between market response versus market imposing - helps returnees manage the paradoxical cross cultural tension, importantly (3) in the growth phase, the cycling between unlearning and relearning helps them discard, select and recreate new knowledge in the pursuit of sustainable entrepreneurial growth. The study advances the literature on knowledge recontextualization by clarifying key underpinning learning mechanisms essential for ensuring “effectiveness” outcomes. It also contributes to the work on returnee entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial learning by demonstrating how international entrepreneurs learn overtime to thrive in a conflicting cultural context.

Origin matters: How does institution imprint affect family business TFP?

Initial imprint rooted in family business origin renders us great support to identify how current institution conditions and then governance characteristics influence productivity. This study investigates an underexplored institutional imprint effect moulded amid the central planning-to-market orienting transition—the lasting influence of family business origin. Focusing on China, we find that restructured family firms have higher TFPs compared with their entrepreneurial counterparts, thanks to institutional imprint differences. The effect is causal and barely varied with CEO's professional capacity and economic policy uncertainty. The imprints of institutional environment in founding phase and incurred current behavior preferences contribute to divergent productivities, isolating the effect of intervention from the alternative explanation about resource endowment discrepancy across restructured and entrepreneurial family firms.

Analysis of the entrepreneurial process from effectuation and causation logic: a case study in two companies from Minas Gerais

Objective: The article aimed to analyze how the effectuation and causation logics were used in the entrepreneurial process of two companies from Minas Gerais. The effectuation logic is based on issues related to the entrepreneur's decision making and contrasts with the causation logic - which refers to traditional methods of the entrepreneurial process based on planning and determined sequences. Methodology: A qualitative comparative study was carried out in two companies from Minas Gerais. The evidence was obtained from interviews with the founding partners, in addition to observation and documents, and the data analysis was performed using content analysis. Results: The results showed that in the two cases analyzed, the entrepreneurs relied on effectuation logic for setting up the businesses, with little use of causation logic but as the businesses consolidated and moved beyond the initial founding phase, the entrepreneurs took different attitudes, basing their decisions and actions on greater planning and systematic analysis of the context. Limitations: Some studies show that cultural differences can have an influence on the entrepreneurial process and how entrepreneurs make decisions. This variable was not contemplated in this study, which represents a limitation. Additionally, the study analyzed the entrepreneurial process of two companies from Minas Gerais, which does not allow for generalization. Originality/contributions: the work contributes to the national studies on the entrepreneurial process, mainly from the principles that compose the effectuation logic, seeking to identify and classify the decisions and actions of entrepreneurs in the causation and effectuation logics.

A READING OF THE FEATURES OF THE ALMOHAD POLITICAL PROJECT AND THE EXPERIENCE OF ‎MOVING FROM THE CONCEPT OF THE GROUP TO THE CONCEPT OF THE STATE

Although the Arab region and the Islamic world witnessed a number of Islamic political experiences that played ‎a prominent role in the historical paths of this vast geography, the Almohad political experience remains the ‎most important distinguished political projects that emerged in the Islamic Maghreb region, as it played an ‎active role in the map of balances at the regional and international levels. This experiment was launched as a ‎religious reform movement led by Muhammad bin Tumart, who believed that a serious political project could ‎not be established in the region without launching a process of broad religious reform due to a reality that was ‎overshadowed by ignorance of religion, and in which myths and deviations spread. Indeed, Ibn Tumart was ‎able to lay the foundations for this reform movement, to later develop and turn into a political movement, ‎which was then able, thanks to Abdel-Moumen bin Ali, to overthrow the Almoravid state and to transfer the ‎Almohad political project from the narrow concept of the group to the broad concept of the state. Therefore, ‎regardless of the accusations that Ibn Tumart was accused of regarding his claim of Mahdism and the ‎fabrication of false prophetic hadiths, the experience of his movement remains a different one, worthy of study ‎and standing on its most important intellectual and political characteristics and advantages. The Almohad ‎political project was a strategic choice that affected the nature of balances and the geopolitical and strategic ‎map of the Islamic West region, which was characterized by intertwining and overlapping during the medieval ‎period. From this logic, we will, in this research, study the political project from the foundation stage in the era of ‎Ibn Tumart to the date of the death of his successor, Abd al-Mumin ibn Ali in the year 558 AH.‎‏ ‏‎ We will discuss ‎this research in three main topics: First, the formation of the Almohad political project and the features of the ‎first founding phase / secondly the death of Ibn Tumart and the features of the second founding phase with ‎Abdul Mumin bin Ali / Thirdly, the end of the Almoravids and the third founding phase of the Almohad project ‎in the era of the believer‎.

Von Pfahlbürgern und Zugvögeln: Kontroversen um das deutsche Heimatrecht im 19. Jahrhundert

Modern nation-state building involved the rise of state citizenship and the decline of local membership that had characterized the pre-industrial world. In German-speaking Central Europe, however, this transition was neither quick nor smooth. Rather, the Heimatrecht (home law or home right), which tied people to their community of origin, remained significant throughout the nineteenth century. Recent scholarship on the concept of Heimat has largely ignored its legal history, assuming a rupture between “old” pragmatic-juridical and “new” sentimental-ideological understandings of the term. This article argues that no such clear separation is feasible. Centering on the founding phase of the German Empire, it discusses how the Heimatrecht was defined in the German states before 1871, why it became a bone of political contention between particularism and Prussia-orientated nationalism, and how it affected the lives of migrants. Finally, the article highlights a paradoxical continuity: modern state citizenship enlarged the legal Heimat, but perpetuated its core dilemma.

Methodological Signatures in Early Ethology: The Problem of Animal Subjectivity

What is the adequate terminology to talk about animal behaviour? Is terminology referring to mental or emotional states anthropomorphic and should therefore be prohibited or is it a necessary means to provide for an adequate description and should be encouraged? This question was vehemently discussed in the founding phase of Ethology as a scientific discipline and still is. This multi-layered problem can be grasped by using the concept of methodological signatures, developed by Köchy et al. (2016c). It is designed to analyse and systematically compare animal research approaches by examining their common parameters. By examining the works of Konrad Lorenz (1903–1989) and Nikolaas Tinbergen (1907–1988), this paper offers new insights both on a methodological and theoretical level. Methodologically, the application of the concept of methodological signatures is illustrated; theoretically, the principles of Classic Ethology are analysed. My aim is to illustrate how the problem of scientific access to animal subjectivity was addressed in the history of Ethology by analysing statements about animal sentience. For this purpose, I will first outline the general discussion about animal subjectivity and the tension between anthropomorphism and empirical adequacy. I introduce my own theoretical and methodological framework before presenting an analysis of Lorenz’ and Tinbergen’s methodological signatures. Thereby, I show how the question of terminology is deeply embedded in a network of epistemological, methodological and ontological concepts and establish key characteristics in regard to ethological approaches to animal subjectivity. Finally, I shed light on the possibility of using this typology to examine current frameworks of animal welfare research.

Imprinting Beyond the Founding Phase: How Sedimented Imprints Develop over Time

In this study, we build on the foundational observations of Selznick and Stinchcombe that organizations bear the lasting imprint of their founding context and explore how characteristics shaped during founding are coherently carried forward through time. To do so, we draw on an ethnography of a social venture where the entrepreneurs left soon after founding. In examining how an initial organizational imprint evolves beyond a venture’s founding phase, we focus on the actions and interactions of organizational members, the founders’ imprint, the venture’s new leadership, and the external environment. The process model we develop shows how the organizational imprint evolves as a consequence of the interplay between top-down and bottom-up forces. We first find that the initial imprint is transmitted through a bottom-up mechanism of imprint reinforcement, and second, that the venture is reimprinted after the founding period through two processes which we call imprint reforming and imprint coupling. The result of this is the formation of a sedimented imprint. Our findings further illuminate that, although the initial imprint sticks, its function and manifestation changes over time.

The Art of Swinging: How Boundary-Spanning Units Change Boundary Positions

In this study, we explore how boundary-spanning units positioned at the interface of different social domains change boundary positions over time in response to changing stakeholder demands. To do so, we draw on a longitudinal, inductive single case study of AppCampus, a boundary organization mediating collaboration between the corporate, university, and startup worlds. In examining how an initial boundary position evolves beyond the founding phase, we focus particularly on the actions and interactions of the organizational members of the boundary-spanning unit and its stakeholders. Our findings show how the boundary position evolves as a consequence of translation and acculturation. By illuminating how a boundary-spanning unit changes over time, we contribute to the literatures on boundary spanning and institutional theory.

The model medical degree programme "human medicine" in Oldenburg - the European Medical School Oldenburg-Groningen.

In the summer of 2012 the School of Medicine and Health Sciences at the Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg became the first new medical faculty to be founded in Germany in more than 20 years. The faculty was established within the framework of the European Medical School Oldenburg Groningen, a cooperation project between the University of Oldenburg and the University of Groningen. In addition to the University of Groningen and its faculty of medical sciences (Universitair Medisch Centrum Groningen – UMCG), four hospitals in Oldenburg are involved in the programme as cooperation partners, as well as a network of general practitioner practices that provide training and academic teaching hospitals across northwest Germany. The programme itself is a model medical degree programme with a modular structure, a highly integrative approach and an early and consistent focus on practical skills and patient-centredness. In addition to the early introduction to outpatient care in the first years of study, longitudinal pathways and a strong focus on research with early integration of scientific activities into medical studies are the defining characteristics of this programme. The two faculties in Oldenburg and Groningen coordinated their respective curriculums during the founding phase and recognise each other's study modules as equivalent to their own. This has created the preconditions for students from Oldenburg to obtain Dutch qualifications (Bachelor of Human Life Sciences and/or Master of Science in Medicine) in addition to the German "Staatsexamen" (the state examination in medicine) under certain circumstances. Irrespective of whether they intend to obtain these qualifications, all students from Oldenburg must spend at least a year studying at the partner university in Groningen. In exchange, up to 40 students from Groningen have the option to complete part of their studies in Oldenburg.

Learning from Europe and for Europe with David Raffe - insights into early years of European cooperation in vocational education and training research

This article provides a picture on the contribution of David Raffe to European cooperation in the field of vocational education and training (VET). It is based on the experiences of the author and his colleagues on European events and projects in which David participated from the early 1990s until 2009. The Section 2 gives impressions of David’s contribution to the theme ‘Modularisation’ during the early years of European educational cooperation. The Section 3 gives insights into David’s role in the founding phase of the VETNET network (the European Vocational Education and Training Research Network) of the European Educational Research Association (EERA). The Section 4 takes a closer look at David’s contribution to the European cooperation project ‘Finding new strategies for post-16 education’ and to the theme ‘parity of esteem between general and vocational education’. The Section 5 discusses David’s role as a policy advisor and policy analyst at the level of European VET policies. The final section presents some concluding remarks on the way that David worked as a colleague and as policy analyst at the national and European level.

When Passion Fades: Disentangling the Temporal Dynamics of Entrepreneurial Passion for Founding

AbstractThis study examines how and why entrepreneurial passion for founding changes over time. In particular, we propose that in the founding phase of a venture's lifecycle entrepreneurs’ founding identity centrality will remain stable over time. We also propose, however, that in our sample and time period studied, entrepreneurs’ intense positive feelings for founding will decrease over time. On the basis of theories of positive illusion, self‐regulation and role theory, we further hypothesize that venture idea change, change in role ambiguity and entrepreneurs’ feedback‐seeking behaviour are factors that help explain the rate of change in entrepreneurs’ intense positive feelings for founding. Using a three‐wave longitudinal research design, we find that among a sample of 112 entrepreneurs’ identity centrality does not change over time, whereas intense positive feelings for founding decrease over time. Moreover, the more entrepreneurs change their venture ideas, the weaker their decrease in intense positive feelings. Further, we show that entrepreneurs who frequently seek feedback suffer less from reduced positive feelings in response to higher increases in role ambiguity as compared to entrepreneurs who seek less feedback.

Ambient Temperature Influences Geographic Changes in Nest and Colony Size of Polistes chinensis antennalis Pérez (Hymenoptera, Vespidae)

In some Polistes wasps, the foundresses build huge nests during the founding phase to improve the thermal condition of nests. This implies that Polistes wasps change their nesting manner in relation to ambient temperature. To test the hypothesis that nest size increases with latitude, colonies of Polistes chinensis were collected from 11 locations. Three nest parameters, the number of cells cell length and index of functional envelope, increased with latitude. The number of cells at the northernmost station was 60, which was 1.5 times more than in lower latitudes. Cell length increased by approximately 4 mm from low to high latitudes, indicating that extra-building in P. chinensis is remarkable in adding new cells. The number of first broods was not correlated with latitude, whereas the number of second brood increased with latitude because of the numerous cells built at high latitudes.

IRRECONCILABLE DIFFERENCES: THE TROUBLED FOUNDING OF THE LEIPZIG INSTITUTE FOR LITERATURE

This essay presents the first detailed examination of the troubled founding phase of the Leipzig Literature Institute in the early 1950s. While existing accounts ascribe a decisive role to the direct intervention of such high-profile figures as Walther Ulbricht, Johannes R. Becher and Alfred Kurella, the archival evidence emphasises instead the essential contribution made by low-ranking cultural functionaries in what was a contradictory and highly conflicted process, from the earliest proposals for the Institute in 1950 to its opening in 1955 and beyond. Ultimately three factors explain the failure of the Institute to establish itself successfully as a literary institution: the immensely unstable cultural and political climate of the early GDR; the absence of a single, charismatic individual able to define and advocate the core ethos of the institute; and, most importantly, the inherent and irreconcilable contradictions underlying an institution that sought to reconcile literary creativity with educational and ideological instruction.

The Potential of Social Entrepreneurship

The first proposed presentation is a paper co-authored by Julie Battilana, focusing on how imprinting at founding influences paradoxical performance tensions between social and economic goals faced by mature social enterprises. Investigating the nature and development of these paradoxical tensions in a growing social enterprise, Marya Besharov offers to paint a rich and dynamic picture of how the social enterprise and its leaders managed issues around hiring, growth, and leadership. Rolf Hoefer, delving into Battilana et al.'s argument about the criticality of the founding phase, plans to zoom into how nascent entrepreneurial actors build and maintain productive social networks over time to advance their social business ventures. Finally, Peter Roberts aims to provide a broader perspective by discussing the promise that his ongoing, large-scale data-collection effort for a new database holds for scholars interested in conducting research within the context of social entrepreneurship. Building Productive Networks: A Longitudinal Study of Nascent Entrepreneurial Actors Presenter: Rolf Lorenz Hoefer; INSEAD Harnessing Productive Tensions in Hybrid Organizations Presenter: Julie Battilana; Harvard U. Testing Ideas About Social Entrepreneurship: The Case for a Comprehensive Program Presenter: Peter W Roberts; Emory U. Sustaining Paradoxical Tensions over Time: A Longitudinal Study of a Global Social Enterprise Presenter: Marya L. Besharov; Cornell U. Presenter: Wendy K. Smith; U. of Delaware