IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/epolin/v47y2020i2d10.1007_s40812-020-00147-w.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

On the organizational design of entrepreneurial ventures: the configurations of the entrepreneurial team

Author

Listed:
  • Paola Rovelli

    (Free University of Bozen-Bolzano)

  • Vincenzo Butticè

    (Politecnico di Milano School of Management)

Abstract

Several studies claim that entrepreneurial ventures should pay attention to their organizational design in order to improve performance. However, a clear understanding of these ventures’ organizational design is still missing. In this paper, we borrow the key organizational design elements from the literature on established firms and we study them simultaneously to provide a first empirical overview on the organization of the entrepreneurial ventures. Specifically, we investigate whether and how organizational design elements cluster together in different organizational configurations. To do so, we analyze a sample of 255 Italian entrepreneurial ventures, focusing on their entrepreneurial team and on the most important organizational design elements: hierarchical structure, size, functional specialization, and allocation of decision authority. To this end, we first use t tests, ANOVA tests, and Scheffe post hoc tests to explore the associations between the organizational design elements and four contingency factors (i.e., entrepreneurial venture’s size, age, industry, and geographical location). Then, we adopt a two-step cluster analysis to understand whether and how the complementarities and interdependencies among organizational design elements give rise to organizational configurations. Results reveal the presence of three distinct configurations, which we named collaborative ET, centric ET, and professional ET.

Suggested Citation

  • Paola Rovelli & Vincenzo Butticè, 2020. "On the organizational design of entrepreneurial ventures: the configurations of the entrepreneurial team," Economia e Politica Industriale: Journal of Industrial and Business Economics, Springer;Associazione Amici di Economia e Politica Industriale, vol. 47(2), pages 243-269, June.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:epolin:v:47:y:2020:i:2:d:10.1007_s40812-020-00147-w
    DOI: 10.1007/s40812-020-00147-w
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s40812-020-00147-w
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s40812-020-00147-w?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Audretsch, David B., 1995. "Innovation, growth and survival," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 13(4), pages 441-457, December.
    2. Milton Harris & Artur Raviv, 2005. "Allocation of Decision-making Authority," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 9(3), pages 353-383.
    3. Judith B. Kamm & Jeffrey C. Shuman & John A. Seeger & Aaron J. Nurick, 1990. "Entrepreneurial Teams in New Venture Creation: A Research Agenda," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 14(4), pages 7-17, July.
    4. Aghion, Philippe & Tirole, Jean, 1997. "Formal and Real Authority in Organizations," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 105(1), pages 1-29, February.
    5. Christine M. Beckman & M. Diane Burton, 2008. "Founding the Future: Path Dependence in the Evolution of Top Management Teams from Founding to IPO," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 19(1), pages 3-24, February.
    6. Enrico Santarelli, 1998. "Start-up size and post-entry performance: the case of tourism services in Italy," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(2), pages 157-163, February.
    7. Karen A. Bantel & Susan E. Jackson, 1989. "Top management and innovations in banking: Does the composition of the top team make a difference?," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 10(S1), pages 107-124, June.
    8. Narayanan Jayaraman & Ajay Khorana & Edward Nelling & Jeffrey Covin, 2000. "CEO founder status and firm financial performance," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(12), pages 1215-1224, December.
    9. Wouter Dessein, 2002. "Authority and Communication in Organizations," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 69(4), pages 811-838.
    10. Zied Guedri & Jean McGuire, 2011. "Multimarket Competition, Mobility Barriers, and Firm Performance," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(4), pages 857-890, June.
    11. Kathleen M. Eisenhardt & Jeffrey A. Martin, 2000. "Dynamic capabilities: what are they?," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(10‐11), pages 1105-1121, October.
    12. Michael Keren & David Levhari, 1979. "The Optimum Span of Control in a Pure Hierarchy," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 25(11), pages 1162-1172, November.
    13. Ichniowski, Casey & Shaw, Kathryn & Prennushi, Giovanna, 1997. "The Effects of Human Resource Management Practices on Productivity: A Study of Steel Finishing Lines," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 87(3), pages 291-313, June.
    14. Hall, Bronwyn H, 1987. "The Relationship between Firm Size and Firm Growth in the U.S. Manufacturing Sector," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(4), pages 583-606, June.
    15. Sah, Raaj Kumar & Stiglitz, Joseph E, 1986. "The Architecture of Economic Systems: Hierarchies and Polyarchies," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 76(4), pages 716-727, September.
    16. Zied Guedri & Jean Mcguire, 2011. "Multimarket competition, mobility barriers, and firm performance," Post-Print hal-02312578, HAL.
    17. Timothy van Zandt, 1999. "Real-Time Decentralized Information Processing as a Model of Organizations with Boundedly Rational Agents," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 66(3), pages 633-658.
    18. Volker Mahnke & Markus Venzin & Shaker A. Zahra, 2007. "Governing Entrepreneurial Opportunity Recognition in MNEs: Aligning Interests and Cognition Under Uncertainty," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(7), pages 1278-1298, November.
    19. Baron, James N & Burton, M Diane & Hannan, Michael T, 1999. "Engineering Bureaucracy: The Genesis of Formal Policies, Positions, and Structures in High-Technology Firms," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 15(1), pages 1-41, April.
    20. Massimo G. Colombo & Marco Delmastro, 2004. "Delegation of Authority In Business Organizations: An Empirical Test," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(1), pages 53-80, March.
    21. Iris Vanaelst & Bart Clarysse & Mike Wright & Andy Lockett & Nathalie Moray & Rosette S'Jegers, 2006. "Entrepreneurial Team Development in Academic Spinouts: An Examination of Team Heterogeneity," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 30(2), pages 249-271, March.
    22. Milton Harris & Artur Raviv, 2005. "Allocation of Decision-making Authority," Review of Finance, Springer, vol. 9(3), pages 353-383, September.
    23. Cabral, Luis, 1995. "Sunk Costs, Firm Size and Firm Growth," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(2), pages 161-172, June.
    24. Danny Miller & Jean-Marie Toulouse, 1986. "Chief Executive Personality and Corporate Strategy and Structure in Small Firms," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 32(11), pages 1389-1409, November.
    25. Mathias, Blake D. & Williams, David W., 2018. "Giving up the hats? Entrepreneurs' role transitions and venture growth," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 33(3), pages 261-277.
    26. Baron, James N & Burton, M Diane & Hannan, Michael T, 1996. "The Road Taken: Origins and Evolution of Employment Systems in Emerging Companies," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 5(2), pages 239-275.
    27. Monica A. Zimmerman, 2008. "The Influence of Top Management Team Heterogeneity on the Capital Raised through an Initial Public Offering," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 32(3), pages 391-414, May.
    28. Andy Cosh & Xiaolan Fu & Alan Hughes, 2012. "Organisation structure and innovation performance in different environments," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 39(2), pages 301-317, September.
    29. Jay R. Galbraith, 1974. "Organization Design: An Information Processing View," Interfaces, INFORMS, vol. 4(3), pages 28-36, May.
    30. Massimo G. Colombo & Luca Grilli, 2013. "The Creation of A Middle‐Management Level by Entrepreneurial Ventures: Testing Economic Theories of Organizational Design," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(2), pages 390-422, June.
    31. Asma Fattoum‐Guedri & Frédéric Delmar & Mike Wright, 2018. "The best of both worlds: Can founder‐CEOs overcome the rich versus king dilemma after IPO?," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(13), pages 3382-3407, December.
    32. Sue Birley & Paul Westhead, 1990. "Growth and performance contrasts between ‘types’ of small firms," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 11(7), pages 535-557, November.
    33. Julia Schneider & Michael Dowling & Sumita Raghuram, 2007. "Empowerment as a success factor in start-up companies," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 1(2), pages 167-184, August.
    34. Paul S. Adler & Barbara Goldoftas & David I. Levine, 1999. "Flexibility Versus Efficiency? A Case Study of Model Changeovers in the Toyota Production System," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 10(1), pages 43-68, February.
    35. Colombo, Massimo G. & Rossi-Lamastra, Cristina & Matassini, Beatrice, 2016. "The Organizational Design of High-Tech Entrepreneurial Ventures," Foundations and Trends(R) in Entrepreneurship, now publishers, vol. 11(6), pages 427-523, February.
    36. Noam Wasserman, 2003. "Founder-CEO Succession and the Paradox of Entrepreneurial Success," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 14(2), pages 149-172, April.
    37. repec:dau:papers:123456789/4944 is not listed on IDEAS
    38. Massimo G. Colombo & Marco Delmastro, 2008. "The Economics of Organizational Design," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-0-230-58220-0, March.
    39. David Courpasson & Jean-Claude Thoenig, 2010. "When Managers Rebel," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-0-230-28993-2, March.
    40. L. J. Bourgeois, III & Kathleen M. Eisenhardt, 1988. "Strategic Decision Processes in High Velocity Environments: Four Cases in the Microcomputer Industry," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 34(7), pages 816-835, July.
    41. Milgrom, Paul & Roberts, John, 1990. "The Economics of Modern Manufacturing: Technology, Strategy, and Organization," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 80(3), pages 511-528, June.
    42. Fariborz Damanpour, 1996. "Organizational Complexity and Innovation: Developing and Testing Multiple Contingency Models," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 42(5), pages 693-716, May.
    43. Talaulicar, Till & Grundei, Jens & Werder, Axel v., 2005. "Strategic decision making in start-ups: the effect of top management team organization and processes on speed and comprehensiveness," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 20(4), pages 519-541, July.
    44. Audretsch, David B. & Santarelli, Enrico & Vivarelli, Marco, 1999. "Start-up size and industrial dynamics: some evidence from Italian manufacturing," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 17(7), pages 965-983, October.
    45. Xiaohua Lin & Richard Germain, 2003. "Organizational structure, context, customer orientation, and performance: lessons from Chinese state‐owned enterprises," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(11), pages 1131-1151, November.
    46. Jeffrey G. Covin & Dennis P. Slevin, 1988. "The Influence Of Organization Structure On The Utility Of An Entrepreneurial Top Management Style," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(3), pages 217-234, May.
    47. Aldas Kriauciunas & Anne Parmigiani & Miguel Rivera-Santos, 2011. "Leaving our comfort zone : Integrating established practices with unique adaptations to conduct survey-based strategy research in nontraditional contexts," Post-Print hal-02313127, HAL.
    48. David Courpasson & Jean-Claude Thoenig, 2010. "When Managers Rebel," Post-Print hal-02298147, HAL.
    49. Keren, Michael & Levhari, David, 1989. "Decentralization, aggregation, control loss and costs in a hierarchical model of the firm," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 11(2), pages 213-236, March.
    50. Mark A. Youndt & Mohan Subramaniam & Scott A. Snell, 2004. "Intellectual Capital Profiles: An Examination of Investments and Returns," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(2), pages 335-361, March.
    51. Ennen, Edgar & Richter, Ansgar, 2009. "The Whole Is More Than the Sum of Its Parts - Or Is It? A Review of the Empirical Literature on Complementarities in Organizations," MPRA Paper 15666, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    52. Luis Garicano, 2000. "Hierarchies and the Organization of Knowledge in Production," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 108(5), pages 874-904, October.
    53. David Courpasson & Jean-Claude Thoenig, 2010. "Polyarchy as an alternative," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: When Managers Rebel, chapter 0, pages 144-162, Palgrave Macmillan.
    54. Radner, Roy, 1993. "The Organization of Decentralized Information Processing," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 61(5), pages 1109-1146, September.
    55. Marc Gruber & Florian Heinemann & Malte Brettel & Stephan Hungeling, 2010. "Configurations of resources and capabilities and their performance implications: an exploratory study on technology ventures," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(12), pages 1337-1356, December.
    56. Henry R. Feeser & Gary E. Willard, 1990. "Founding strategy and performance: A comparison of high and low growth high tech firms," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 11(2), pages 87-98, February.
    57. Monique Forte & James J. Hoffman & Bruce T. Lamont & Erich N. Brockmann, 2000. "Organizational form and environment: an analysis of between‐form and within‐form responses to environmental change," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(7), pages 753-773, July.
    58. Warren Boeker & Robert Wiltbank, 2005. "New Venture Evolution and Managerial Capabilities," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 16(2), pages 123-133, April.
    59. Donald C. Hambrick & Richard A. D'Aveni, 1992. "Top Team Deterioration as Part of the Downward Spiral of Large Corporate Bankruptcies," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 38(10), pages 1445-1466, October.
    60. Michael Keren & David Levhari, 1983. "The Internal Organization of the Firm and the Shape of Average Costs," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 14(2), pages 474-486, Autumn.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Sonia Di Giannatale & Itza T. Q. Curiel-Cabral & Jacqueline Chacón, 2021. "Monitoring decisions in vertical integration," Economia e Politica Industriale: Journal of Industrial and Business Economics, Springer;Associazione Amici di Economia e Politica Industriale, vol. 48(3), pages 441-462, September.
    2. Rovelli, Paola, 2020. ""I am stuck in meetings": Understanding the relation of CEO time management with TMT size and gender diversity," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 38(5), pages 777-790.
    3. Verma, Pratima & Kumar, Vimal & Yalcin, Haydar & Daim, Tugrul, 2023. "Organizational architecture of strategic entrepreneurial firms for digital transformation: A bibliometric analysis," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    4. Børge Obel & Pernille Kallehave, 2022. "Designing a sustainable organization: the four I’s framework," Journal of Organization Design, Springer;Organizational Design Community, vol. 11(2), pages 65-76, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Massimo G. Colombo & Cristina Rossi-Lamastra, 2013. "The organizational design of high- tech start- ups: state of the art and directions for future research," Chapters, in: Anna Grandori (ed.), Handbook of Economic Organization, chapter 21, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    2. Alfredo De Massis & Kimberly A. Eddleston & Paola Rovelli, 2021. "Entrepreneurial by Design: How Organizational Design Affects Family and Non‐family Firms’ Opportunity Exploitation," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(1), pages 27-62, January.
    3. Pérez, Jessica Helen & Iranzo Sancho, Susana, 2012. "Determinants of Decentralization within the Firm: Some Empirical Evidence from Spanish Small and Medium- Sized Enterprise," Working Papers 2072/211755, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Department of Economics.
    4. Massimo G. Colombo & Luca Grilli, 2013. "The Creation of A Middle‐Management Level by Entrepreneurial Ventures: Testing Economic Theories of Organizational Design," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(2), pages 390-422, June.
    5. Rovelli, Paola, 2020. ""I am stuck in meetings": Understanding the relation of CEO time management with TMT size and gender diversity," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 38(5), pages 777-790.
    6. Colombo, Massimo G. & Foss, Nicolai J. & Lyngsie, Jacob & Rossi Lamastra, Cristina, 2021. "What drives the delegation of innovation decisions? The roles of firm innovation strategy and the nature of external knowledge," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(1).
    7. Maria De Paola & Vincenzo Scoppa, 2010. "Effort Observability, Incentive Systems, and Organizational Forms," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 24(3), pages 221-237, September.
    8. Harsh Ketkar & Maciej Workiewicz, 2022. "Power to the people: The benefits and limits of employee self‐selection in organizations," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(5), pages 935-963, May.
    9. Maria De Paola & Vincenzo Scoppa, 2009. "Task assignment, incentives and technological factors," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(1), pages 43-55.
    10. Alonso, Ricardo, 2009. "Strategic control and strategic communication," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 58682, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    11. Daron Acemoglu & Philippe Aghion & Claire Lelarge & John Van Reenen & Fabrizio Zilibotti, 2007. "Technology, Information, and the Decentralization of the Firm," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 122(4), pages 1759-1799.
    12. Nicholas Bloom & Luis Garicano & Raffaella Sadun & John Van Reenen, 2014. "The Distinct Effects of Information Technology and Communication Technology on Firm Organization," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 60(12), pages 2859-2885, December.
    13. Bloom, Nicholas & Van Reenen, John, 2011. "Human Resource Management and Productivity," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 19, pages 1697-1767, Elsevier.
    14. Graham, John R. & Harvey, Campbell R. & Puri, Manju, 2015. "Capital allocation and delegation of decision-making authority within firms," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(3), pages 449-470.
    15. Grimpe, Christoph & Murmann, Martin & Sofka, Wolfgang, 2017. "The organizational design of high-tech startups and product innovation," ZEW Discussion Papers 17-074, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    16. Paola Rovelli & Cristina Rossi-Lamastra, 2018. "Collecting data on TMTs’ organizational design: good practices from the StiMa project," Economia e Politica Industriale: Journal of Industrial and Business Economics, Springer;Associazione Amici di Economia e Politica Industriale, vol. 45(2), pages 175-213, June.
    17. Katayama, Hajime & Meagher, Kieron J. & Wait, Andrew, 2018. "Authority and communication in firms," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 155(C), pages 315-348.
    18. Kieron Meagher & Andrew Wait, 2008. "Who Decides about Change and Restructuring in Organizations?," CEPR Discussion Papers 587, Centre for Economic Policy Research, Research School of Economics, Australian National University.
    19. Colombo, Massimo G. & Delmastro, Marco, 1999. "Some stylized facts on organization and its evolution," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 40(3), pages 255-274, November.
    20. Zabara, Tatiana, 2019. "Evolution of entrepreneurial teams in technology-based new ventures," Other publications TiSEM cc09d065-3811-47b6-9c93-8, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Entrepreneurial ventures; Entrepreneurial teams; Organizational design; Organizational configurations;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L22 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Organization and Market Structure
    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:epolin:v:47:y:2020:i:2:d:10.1007_s40812-020-00147-w. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.