Venture Teams Research Articles

How gender configurations and team processes characterize successful entrepreneurial teams

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to investigate the combined effect of gender, trust, leadership style and team integration on entrepreneurial team performance. Through an integrated analysis of gender composition and team processes, we enhance the understanding of the drivers of new venture teams’ performance.Design/methodology/approachWe use data collected from multi-player startup simulations involving 52 teams of masters-level students across two countries. We used the fsQCA methodology to perform a configurational analysis of different team composition and processes. This innovative application of the methodology allows us to identify new combinations of gender diversity and team processes that improve team performance.FindingsTeams with higher proportions of women who shared leadership were more profitable in several configurations, demonstrating the importance of the relationship between gender and leadership models on performance. Shared leadership resulted in high levels of trust and sense of control, which increased team effectiveness and performance. We found that combining trust with shared leadership consistently resulted in successful positive outcomes, although not all successful teams included these attributes.Originality/valueOur findings contribute to renewing the frame of research on new venture team performance that has long revolved around the leadership-cohesion-alignment (LCA) triangle. Although the LCA paradigm certainly improved our understanding of new venture success, it provided only a partial understanding of the organizational and relational context. It offered a restricted view of the sources of cohesion and alignment. We believe that our approach to data analysis based on the fsQCA method allowed us to extend our understanding of the determinants of entrepreneurial team performance.

New venture team faultlines and corporate innovation from the perspective of structuration theory

New venture team faultlines and corporate innovation from the perspective of structuration theory

Team internal social capital and entrepreneurial learning: a dual-path exploration in new venture teams

The mechanisms of team internal social capital and entrepreneurial learning relationships in new venture teams (NVT) are relatively under-studied. This study investigates the association between internal social capital and entrepreneurial learning and the mediating roles of shared mental models and organisation-based self-esteem. Study 1 collected data from 284 participants from 111 NVTs in Eastern China. The hypotheses were tested using a multilevel structural equation modelling technique. The findings showed that (1) team internal social capital positively influenced entrepreneurial learning, and (2) shared mental models and organisation-based self-esteem both mediated this relationship, unveiling a dual-process mechanism. In Study 2, we conducted semi-structured interviews with a convenience sample of 14 participants from 6 NVTs in Eastern China. The results showed that internal social capital shared mental models, and organisation-based self-esteem influenced entrepreneurial learning in NVTs. This study is one of the first to use qualitative and quantitative analyses to investigate the mechanisms underlying the relationship between team internal social capital and entrepreneurial learning. The results suggest that team internal social capital promotes positive entrepreneurial behaviour, highlighting the importance of team internal social capital and entrepreneurial learning in organisational development. It can also provide indicators for those wanting to support new ventures.

When shared leadership backfires in new venture teams: the roles of power struggles and functional background diversity

When shared leadership backfires in new venture teams: the roles of power struggles and functional background diversity

Founder personality and harmful social exchanges within new venture teams

Though scholars have explored how the personality composition of a new venture team relates to critical firm-level outcomes, research has not yet accounted for the impact of the lead founder, whose personality likely exerts a unique influence on team processes due to their elevated role. This is particularly critical in light of recent research highlighting the prevalence of the Dark Triad in entrepreneurship. We draw on social exchange theory to theorize and test how lead founder Dark Triad personality traits influence three intra-team processes: autonomy, innovation, and relationship conflict. In a time-lagged field study of nascent founders and their new venture teams (N = 102 intact teams), we found that lead founders who score high on Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy differentially effect these socially motivated team processes. By focusing on the influence that a single individual – the lead founder – can have within a new venture team, our findings offer balance to the literature, which predominantly focuses on team composition.

Movers or thinkers: the effect of new venture teams’ regulatory mode on innovation

Movers or thinkers: the effect of new venture teams’ regulatory mode on innovation

Pathways to survive in abrupt adversities: a configurational approach to understanding the resilience of new venture teams

AbstractNew venture teams (NVTs) face challenges caused by adversity, making team resilience crucial for venture survival. While team resilience factors have been identified, we do not yet understand how they combine. We examine their combinations from a configurational approach. Based on a fsQCA analysis of team resilience factors in thirty-eight NVTs and five follow-up in-depth case interviews, we explore how team resilience factors combine to form particular team resilience pathways for survival in adversity. Our analysis reveals three pathways: relaxed team improvisers, validated team visionaries, and relational team connectors. The theoretical implications include enhancing the framework regarding the resilience of NVTs and introducing a new causal mechanism based on the causal complexity of team resilience factors.

Unraveling the dark side of resilience: entrepreneurial resilience diversity in new venture teams and entrepreneurial performance

PurposePrevious studies may have overstated the benefits of entrepreneurial resilience while neglecting its potential adverse effects, especially in the context of team entrepreneurship. This study focuses on the structural characteristics of resilience, entrepreneurial team resilience diversity, to delve into the potential dark side effects of entrepreneurial resilience. Drawn upon the similarity-attraction theory, this study investigates the detrimental impact of entrepreneurial team resilience diversity on entrepreneurial performance from the team-member exchange (TMX) perspective, which describes the reciprocal relationships within a team and the moderating effect of environmental hostility.Design/methodology/approachThe study collected data by conducting a two-wave survey. With the assistance of officials from entrepreneurship service agencies, entrepreneurship parks and entrepreneurship training institutions in southeast China, this study collected survey data from 361 participants of 91 entrepreneurial teams. The current research conducted empirical tests with SPSS and PROCESS macro to test the hypotheses.FindingsEmpirical results from a two-wave survey of 91 entrepreneurial teams in China reveal the detrimental effects of entrepreneurial resilience. In the context of team entrepreneurship, the diversity of a team’s entrepreneurial resilience negatively impacts entrepreneurial performance by impairing the quality of TMX. Moreover, the indirect effect of TMX is strengthened in more hostile environments.Originality/valueExisting studies have mainly focused on the positive side of resilience. However, based on the similarity-attraction theory, this study explores the potential adverse effects of the structural characteristics of entrepreneurial team resilience from the perspective of team-member exchange (TMX). This study enriches the literature on resilience by demonstrating how resilience functions in new venture teams and challenges the assumption that resilience is universally beneficial to entrepreneurs. Introducing team members with high resilience in a hostile environment may not always benefit the team, deepening the understanding of entrepreneurial resilience when confronting adversities.

Collective Psychological Ownership Leverages Feedback-Seeking for New Venture Performance

Despite the undisputed importance of feedback-seeking for new venture advancement, little is known about the circumstances that make it effective. In this study, it is proposed that the collective psychological ownership of new venture teams over the new venture (i.e. this is ‘OUR’ venture) can help leverage the value and bear the costs of self-improvement feedback-seeking behaviour (SI-FSB), amplifying the expected positive relationship between new venture teams’ SI-FSB and new venture performance. Insights from a survey-based study involving 166 new ventures support the hypotheses. Contributing to the nascent feedback-seeking research in the new venture context, this study shows that SI-FSB matters and suggests that new venture teams should keep their collective psychological ownership over their new venture strong.

Equity Splits, Temptations to Quit, and Battles of Wit: Faultline Evolution During New Venture Team

Equity Splits, Temptations to Quit, and Battles of Wit: Faultline Evolution During New Venture Team

Don’t Judge a Book by Its Cover: The Effects of Personality Faultlines in New Venture Teams

Don’t Judge a Book by Its Cover: The Effects of Personality Faultlines in New Venture Teams

New Venture Team Initiation of Lead Founders: An Exchange Theory Perspective

New Venture Team Initiation of Lead Founders: An Exchange Theory Perspective

The Cascading Effects of Lead Founder Personality on New Venture Team Processes

The Cascading Effects of Lead Founder Personality on New Venture Team Processes

Beyond Ego: The Impact of Intellectual Humility on New Venture Team Processes and Performance

Beyond Ego: The Impact of Intellectual Humility on New Venture Team Processes and Performance

Entrepreneurial collective efficacy and team effectiveness in new venture teams: an investigation of moderated mediation mechanisms

PurposeBased on the collective agentic perspective of social cognitive theory and supplemented by social support theory, this study aims to investigate how the entrepreneurial collective efficacy of entrepreneurial teams impacts team effectiveness. Specifically, this study hypothesizes that entrepreneurial collective efficacy is a critical factor affecting effectiveness through the mechanism of instrumental support to varying extents, depending on team size.Design/methodology/approachThe hypotheses were tested on a Chinese sample of new venture teams (N teams = 81; N individuals = 335). A multisource questionnaire that included questions for team leaders and other team decision makers was designed. The data on entrepreneurial collective efficacy (six items) and instrumental support (four items) comprised the aggregate responses from all team members; the data on team effectiveness (seven items) was reported by team leaders.FindingsThe findings indicate that entrepreneurial collective efficacy is positively associated with team effectiveness through instrumental support, especially in small teams.Originality/valueThis study makes important contributions to the research related to exploring in uncertain environments (entrepreneurship) how (instrumental support) entrepreneurial collective efficacy impacts team effectiveness, as well as more particularly under what conditions (team size), all within the specific context of collectivistic cultures (China).

Healthcare entrepreneurship: An integrative framework for future research

Healthcare entrepreneurship: An integrative framework for future research

BIBLIOMETRIC ANALYSIS OF VENTURE TEAMS OF TECHNOLOGY-BASED FIRMS

Purpose: Due to its growing impact on the economic development of countries, research on venture teams in new technology-based firms - TBFs has been increasing in recent years, seeking to identify the success and failure factors of this type of firms, given their high mortality rates. This paper ana-lyzes the changes that have occurred in the intellectual structure of this discipline. Methodology: The bibliometric method was used to analyze the theme of venture teams in the new TBFs. The information collected was extracted from the main collection of the Web of Science (WoS) and SCOPUS databases from 1987 to 2020. The Nvivo and VOSviewer softwares are used to perform the initial analyzesas well as the analysis of citations, co-citations, co-authorship, etc. Findings and Conclusion: The advances associated with the main authors, sources and countries, the general citation structure and the development of this field are presented. The results show a growing publication trend as of 2009, seeing a higher production of articles between 2014 and 2019. USA is the most influential country, followed by China and Italy. The"Research Policy" and " Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal"are the most influential sources. Originality/Value: The main contribution of this work is to show the evolution of this theme, so that researchers can use it in the future in their theoretical and research frameworks.

Development of transactive memory systems in new venture teams

This article examines how new venture teams (NVTs) develop transactive memory systems (TMSs) to integrate and coordinate their member’s collective expertise. Applying a longitudinal case study of five Norwegian NVTs in their first year, we find that the development of TMSs in NVTs unfolds in three stages. At the pre-formation stage, NVTs undergo a TMS enabling process that includes member motivation, self-declaration and member expectations, which lead to initial specialisation in NVTs. Subsequently, at the formation and collaboration stages, NVTs proceed with TMS processes of encoding, storage and retrieval that encompass self-assessment, assessment of co-members, shared understanding, role formalisation, decision-making and task performance, which enhance specialisation and result in the gradual development of credibility and coordination in NVTs. Furthermore – through member motivation, trust and shared ownership – NVTs engage in a TMS-reinforcing process that helps NVTs to strengthen their TMSs over time, enabling them to increase their ability to integrate and coordinate NVT collective expertise.

Entrepreneurial team personality-faultline strength and performance: the non-linear relationship and boundary conditions

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the effect of a team’s personality faultlines on entrepreneurial performance. Additionally, this paper verifies the moderating effect of shared leadership on the connection between the two varies. The authors focus on the upper echelons theory and social identity theory as well as personality faultlines in entrepreneurial teams.Design/methodology/approachAn online survey was conducted using data collected in China. Data from 618 members from 144 new venture teams were collected to examine the authors’ hypothesis.FindingsThe authors find a U-shaped relationship between the strength of entrepreneurial teams' personality-faultline and entrepreneurial performance. Additionally, shared leadership negatively moderates this U-shaped relationship. Specifically, when the entrepreneurial team has a high level of shared leadership, both the positive and negative relationships between the strength of the personality faultlines and entrepreneurial performance are weaker.Originality/valueThe research offers important theoretical and practical implications for the formation of entrepreneurial teams.

Polychronicity in New Technological Venture Teams: The Influence of Founder-CEOs’ Tertius Iungens Orientation and the Implications for Venture Growth

Team polychronicity, or a team's preference to engage in multiple events simultaneously, in new ventures has attracted increasing research attention. However, research on the antecedents that cultivate the polychronicity of new venture teams (NVTs) and the boundary conditions under which NVT polychronicity influences new ventures’ outcomes has remained underdeveloped both theoretically and empirically. Delving into new technological ventures, we address these issues by developing and testing a model in which founder-CEOs’ tertius iungens orientation (TIO) is suggested as an antecedent and new technological venture growth as an outcome of NVT polychronicity, particularly in industries with abundant growth opportunities. The findings based on founder-CEOs and NVT members from 79 new technological ventures lend support to our arguments and offer theoretical insights to the research of NVT management.