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Growing pains in scale-ups: How scaling affects new venture employee burnout and job satisfaction

Author

Listed:
  • Genedy, Mohamed
  • Hellerstedt, Karin
  • Naldi, Lucia
  • Wiklund, Johan

Abstract

Although academic interest in organizational scaling is growing, extant research has focused primarily on the antecedents and processes, neglecting how employees experience scaling. Drawing on the scale-up, firm growth, and well-being literature, we take an employee perspective to examine the impact of scaling on employee burnout and job satisfaction. Using a sample of 10,908 new venture employees in Sweden, we show that scaling is positively associated with employee burnout, and negatively with job satisfaction. We also show that the link between scaling, burnout, and job satisfaction depends on whether the employee is in a managerial position or has prior new venture experience.

Suggested Citation

  • Genedy, Mohamed & Hellerstedt, Karin & Naldi, Lucia & Wiklund, Johan, 2024. "Growing pains in scale-ups: How scaling affects new venture employee burnout and job satisfaction," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 39(2).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jbvent:v:39:y:2024:i:2:s0883902623000812
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusvent.2023.106367
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Branzei, Oana & McMullen, Jeffery S. & Newbert, Scott L. & Schwens, Christian, 2025. "Journal of Business Venturing 2024 year in review: The year of exercising entrepreneurial agency in response to crises," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 40(4).
    2. Sanasi, Silvia, 2025. "Structuring experimentation: Implementing Growth Hacking in new ventures," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    3. Coviello, Nicole & Autio, Erkko & Nambisan, Satish & Patzelt, Holger & Thomas, Llewellyn D.W., 2024. "Organizational scaling, scalability, and scale-up: Definitional harmonization and a research agenda," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 39(5).
    4. Lang, Ulrich & Berg, Victoria & von Nitzsch, Jannis & Engelen, Andreas, 2026. "The dynamics of narcissism in founding teams: Implications for co-founder turnover and venture growth," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 41(2).
    5. Waldron, Theodore L. & McMullen, Jeffery S. & Newbert, Scott L. & Payne, G. Tyge & York, Jeffrey G., 2025. "Bold, broad, rigorous, and…relevant? Designing entrepreneurship research for translation," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 40(4).
    6. Antonio Martins-Neto & Alex Coad, 2026. "Planning ahead or dragging one’s feet? Organizational structure and high-growth events," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 66(1), pages 127-148, January.
    7. Bendig, David & Schulz, Colin & Möhwald, Maximilian & Pollok, Patrick, 2025. "Fear the loss or welcome the gains? How stock options influence CEO risk-taking in corporate cleantech investments," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 40(2).
    8. Bretas, Vanessa P.G. & Tippmann, Esther & Levie, Jonathan, 2025. "Networks for scaling businesses: Accessing international support webs for critical support resources," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 60(4).
    9. Sarapio Serunjogi & Leonsio Matagi & Loyce Kiiza Kobusingye, 2025. "The Moderating Role of Job Satisfaction in the Relationship between Job Involvement and Psychological Well-being," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 9(8), pages 302-312, August.

    More about this item

    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship
    • M13 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - New Firms; Startups

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