Abstract
In this paper we contribute to the research literature on the entrepreneurial process byinvestigating the relationship between intangible resources, strategic behaviours and corporatelife cycle dynamics. The corporate life cycle model is based on the experience thatfirms evolve in quite a predictable manner facing common problems in the different phasesof their life. A better understanding of how obstacles can be predicted and managed is instrumentalin overcoming difficulties and enhance their development opportunities. Ourfirst aim in this study is to highlight the strategic role of the figures of entrepreneur, managerand capitalist along the life cycle. Second, our research is supportive of the role of entrepreneurshipas an agent of change during advanced phases of the corporate life cycleReferences
Adizes I. (1979), “Organizational Passages: Diagnosing and Treating Life Cycle Problems in Organizations”, Organizational Dynamics, 8(1), 3-24.
Adizes I. (1989), “Corporate lifecycles: How and why corporations grow and die and what to do about it”, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.
Alvarez S.A. and L.W. Busenitz (2001), “The entrepreneurship of resource-based theory”, Journal of Management, 27, 755-775.
Anderson C.R., F.T. Paine (1975), “Managerial Perceptions and Strategic Behaviours”, The Academy of Management Journal, 18(4), 811-823.
Audretsch D.B., M. Keilback (2004), “Does Entrepreneurship Capital Matter?”, Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 28(5), 419-430.
Belkaoui A. and E. Pavlik (1992), “The Effects of Ownership Structure and Diversification Strategy on Performance”, Managerial and Decision Economics, 13(4), 343-352.
Bothwell J.L. (1980), “Profitability, Risk and the Separation of Ownership from Control”, The Journal of Industrial Economics, 28(3), 303-311.
Bull I. and F. Winter (1993), “Towards a theory of entrepreneurship”, Journal of Business Venturing, 8(3), 183 - 195.
Burns P. (2005), “Corporate Entrepreneurship: Building an Entrepreneurial Organization”, Basingstoke, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.
Busenitz L.W. and J.B. Barney (1997), “Differences between Entrepreneurs and Managers in Large Organization: Biases and Heuristics in Strategic Decision-Making”, Journal of
Business Venturing, 12, 9-30.
Bygrave, W.D., and A. Zacharias (2003) The Portable MBA in Entrepreneurship. New York: John Wiley & Sons. Inc.
Cassia L., M. Fattore, S. Paleari (2006), “Entrepreneurial Strategy: Emerging Businesses in Declining Industries”, Edward Elgar: Cheltenham.
Chandler A.D. (1962), “Strategy and Structure”, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Channon D.F. (1973), “Strategy and the Structure in British Entreprise”, Boston, MA: Graduate School of Business Administration, Harvard University.
Cheffins B.R. (2004), “Are good manager required for a separation of ownership and control?”, Industrial and Corporate Change, 13(4), 591-618.
Chen C.C., P.G. Greene and A. Crick (1998), “Does Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy distinguish Entrepreneurs from Managers?”, Journal of Business Venturing, 13, 295–316.
Churchill N. and V.L. Lewis (1983), “The five stages of small business growth”, Harvard Business Review, 61(3), 30-35.
Cunningham B. and J. Lischeron (1991), “Defining Entrepreneurship”, Journal of Small Business Management, 13(1), 45-61.
Davidsson P., B. Kirchhoff, A. Hatemi-J, H. Gustavsson (2002), “Empirical Analysis of Business Growth Factors Using Swedish Data”, Journal of Small Business Management, 40(4), 332-349.
De Clercq D. Crijns H. Ooghe H. 1998. Human resource practices in family versus non-family owned businesses: Do they differ?. In Reynolds, P.D., Bygrave W.B., Carter, N.M.,
Manigart, S., Mason, C.M., Meyer, G.D., & Shaver K.G. (Eds.). Frontiers of Entrepreneurship Research 1998.
Dess G.G. and G.T. Lupkin (2005), “The role of Entrepreneurial Orientation in Stimulating Effective Corporate Entrepreneurship”, Academy of Management Executive,
19 (1), 147-156.
Downs A. (1967), “Inside Bureaucracy”, Boston, MA: Little, Brown&Co.
Drazin R. and Kazanijan R.K. (1990), “A reanalysis of Miller and Friesen’s Life Cycle Data”, Strategic Management Journal, 11(4), 319-325.
Evans D.S., L.S. Leighton (1989), “Some Empirical Aspects of Entrepreneurship”, The American Economic Review, 79(3), 519-535.
Fama E. F., M.C. Jensen (1983), “Separation of Ownership and Control”, Journal of Law & Economics, 26, 301-325.
Flamholtz E.G. (1986), “Managing the transition from an entrepreneurship to a professionally managed firm”, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco.
Flamholtz E.G. (1990), “Growing pains: How to make the transition from an entrepreneurship to a professionally managed firm”, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco.
Galbraith J. R. (1982), “The stages of growth”, Journal of Business Strategy, 3(4), 70-79.
Ghoshal S., C. Bartlet (1995), “Building the Entrepreneurial Corporation: new organization processes, new management task”, European Management Journal, 13(2).
Goosen C.J., T.J. de Coning and E.M. Smith (2002), “Corporate entrepreneurship and financial performance: The role of management”, South Africa Journal of Business
Management, 33(4), 21-27.
Greiner L.E. (1972), “Evolution and Revolution as Organizations Grow”. Harvard Business Review, 50(4), 37-46.
Hanks S. H., C. J. Watson, E. Jansen and G. Chandler (1993), “Tightening the life-cycle construct: A taxonomic study of growth stage configurations in high-technology
Organisations”, Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 18(2), 5-29.
Hartmann H. (1959), “Manager and Entrepreneurs: A Useful Distinction?”, Administrative Science Quarterly, 3(4), 492-451.
Herron L., H. Sapienza, and D. Smith-Cook (1991), “Entrepreneurship theory from an interdisciplinary perspective: Volume I”, Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 16 (2), 7-12.
Hughes, A. (2001) “Innovation and business performance: small entrepreneurial firms in the UK” in H.M. Treasury, Economic Growth and Government Policy, London.
Kats J.P. and B.P. Nienhoff (1998), “How Owners Influence Strategy – A Comparison of Owner-Controlled and Manager-Controlled Firms”, Long Range Planning, 31, 775-761.
Katz D. and R.L. (1978), “The Social Psychology of Organizations”, New York: Wiley.
Kazanjian R. K. (1988), “Relation of dominant problems to stages of growth in technology based new ventures”, Academy of Management Journal, 31(2), 257-279.
Kimberly, J.R. (1979), “Issues in the Creation of Organizations: Initiation, Innovation, and Institutionalization”, Academy of Management Journal, 22(3), 437-457.
Kiriri P.N. (2002), “Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs): Validating Life Cycle Stage Determinants”, Lecture in Entrepreneurship and Management, Strathmore University.
Koberg C.S., N. Uhlenbruck and Y. Sarason (1996), “Facilitators of Organizational Innovation: the Role of Life-Cycle Stage”, Journal of Business Venturing, 11(2), 133-149.
Lester D.L., J.A. Parnell and S. Carraher (2003), “Organizational Life Cycle: A five-Stage Empirical Scale”, The International Journal of Organizational Analysis, 11(4), 339-354.
Lippitt G.L and W.H. Schmidt, (1967) “Crises in a Developing Organization”, Harvard Business Review, 42(2), 102-112.
Lyden F.J. (1975), “Using Parson’s Functional Analysis in the Study of Public Organizations”, Administrative Science Quarterly, 20(1), 59-79.
Lynskey M.J. and S. Yonekura (2002), “Entrepreneurship and Organization: The Role of Entrepreneur in organizational innovation”, Oxford University Press, 12.
McMullen, J.S. and Shepherd, D.A. (2006). “Entrepreneurial Action and the Role of Uncertainty in the Theory of the Entrepreneur”. Academy of Management Review 31: 132–152.
Meyer G.D. and H.A. Kurt (2000), “Entrepreneurship as Strategy: Competing on the Entrepreneurial Edge”, Thousand Oaks, Calif., Sage Publications.
Miller D., P.H. Friesen (1984), “A Longitudinal Study of Corporate Life Cycle”, Management Science, 29, 33-51.
Quinn, R.E. and K. Cameron (1983), “Organisational life cycles and shifting criteria of effectiveness: Some preliminary evidence”, Management Science, 29(1), 33-51.
Rotemberg J.J. and G. Saloner (2000), “Visionaries, Managers and Strategic Decisions”, Journal of Economics, 31, 693-716.
Rumelt R.P. (1974), “Strategy, Structure and Economic Performance”, Boston, MA: Harvard University Press.
Sadler-Smith E., Y. Hampson, I. Chaston and B. Badger (2003), “Managerial Behaviour, entrepreneurial Style and Small Firm Performance”, Journal of Small Business Management, 41(1), 47-67.
Scott M. and R. Bruce (1971), “Stages of Corporate
Development Part I”, Boston, MA: Intercollegiate Case Clearing House, Harvard Business School, Case No. 9, 371-294.
Scott M. and R. Bruce (1987), “Five Stages of Growth in Small Business”, Long Range Planning, 20(3), 45-52.
Smith K.G., T.R. Mitchell and C.E. Summer (1985), “Top Level Management Priorities in Different Stages of the Organization Life”, Academy of Management Journal, 28(4), 799-820.
Stewart W.H. and P.L. Roth (2001), “Risk Propensity Differences between Entrepreneurs and Managers: A Meta-Analytic Review”, Arthur M. Spiro Centre of Entrepreneurial
Leadership pub., 99-111.
Torbent W.R. (1974), “Pre-Bureaucratic and Post-Bureaucratic Stages of Organization Development”, Interpersonal Development, 5(1), 1-25.
Ucbasaran D., M. Wright and P. Westhead (2003), “A Longitudinal Study of habitual entrepreneurs: starters and acquirers”, Entrepreneurship & Regional Development,15, 207-228.
Adizes I. (1989), “Corporate lifecycles: How and why corporations grow and die and what to do about it”, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.
Alvarez S.A. and L.W. Busenitz (2001), “The entrepreneurship of resource-based theory”, Journal of Management, 27, 755-775.
Anderson C.R., F.T. Paine (1975), “Managerial Perceptions and Strategic Behaviours”, The Academy of Management Journal, 18(4), 811-823.
Audretsch D.B., M. Keilback (2004), “Does Entrepreneurship Capital Matter?”, Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 28(5), 419-430.
Belkaoui A. and E. Pavlik (1992), “The Effects of Ownership Structure and Diversification Strategy on Performance”, Managerial and Decision Economics, 13(4), 343-352.
Bothwell J.L. (1980), “Profitability, Risk and the Separation of Ownership from Control”, The Journal of Industrial Economics, 28(3), 303-311.
Bull I. and F. Winter (1993), “Towards a theory of entrepreneurship”, Journal of Business Venturing, 8(3), 183 - 195.
Burns P. (2005), “Corporate Entrepreneurship: Building an Entrepreneurial Organization”, Basingstoke, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.
Busenitz L.W. and J.B. Barney (1997), “Differences between Entrepreneurs and Managers in Large Organization: Biases and Heuristics in Strategic Decision-Making”, Journal of
Business Venturing, 12, 9-30.
Bygrave, W.D., and A. Zacharias (2003) The Portable MBA in Entrepreneurship. New York: John Wiley & Sons. Inc.
Cassia L., M. Fattore, S. Paleari (2006), “Entrepreneurial Strategy: Emerging Businesses in Declining Industries”, Edward Elgar: Cheltenham.
Chandler A.D. (1962), “Strategy and Structure”, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Channon D.F. (1973), “Strategy and the Structure in British Entreprise”, Boston, MA: Graduate School of Business Administration, Harvard University.
Cheffins B.R. (2004), “Are good manager required for a separation of ownership and control?”, Industrial and Corporate Change, 13(4), 591-618.
Chen C.C., P.G. Greene and A. Crick (1998), “Does Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy distinguish Entrepreneurs from Managers?”, Journal of Business Venturing, 13, 295–316.
Churchill N. and V.L. Lewis (1983), “The five stages of small business growth”, Harvard Business Review, 61(3), 30-35.
Cunningham B. and J. Lischeron (1991), “Defining Entrepreneurship”, Journal of Small Business Management, 13(1), 45-61.
Davidsson P., B. Kirchhoff, A. Hatemi-J, H. Gustavsson (2002), “Empirical Analysis of Business Growth Factors Using Swedish Data”, Journal of Small Business Management, 40(4), 332-349.
De Clercq D. Crijns H. Ooghe H. 1998. Human resource practices in family versus non-family owned businesses: Do they differ?. In Reynolds, P.D., Bygrave W.B., Carter, N.M.,
Manigart, S., Mason, C.M., Meyer, G.D., & Shaver K.G. (Eds.). Frontiers of Entrepreneurship Research 1998.
Dess G.G. and G.T. Lupkin (2005), “The role of Entrepreneurial Orientation in Stimulating Effective Corporate Entrepreneurship”, Academy of Management Executive,
19 (1), 147-156.
Downs A. (1967), “Inside Bureaucracy”, Boston, MA: Little, Brown&Co.
Drazin R. and Kazanijan R.K. (1990), “A reanalysis of Miller and Friesen’s Life Cycle Data”, Strategic Management Journal, 11(4), 319-325.
Evans D.S., L.S. Leighton (1989), “Some Empirical Aspects of Entrepreneurship”, The American Economic Review, 79(3), 519-535.
Fama E. F., M.C. Jensen (1983), “Separation of Ownership and Control”, Journal of Law & Economics, 26, 301-325.
Flamholtz E.G. (1986), “Managing the transition from an entrepreneurship to a professionally managed firm”, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco.
Flamholtz E.G. (1990), “Growing pains: How to make the transition from an entrepreneurship to a professionally managed firm”, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco.
Galbraith J. R. (1982), “The stages of growth”, Journal of Business Strategy, 3(4), 70-79.
Ghoshal S., C. Bartlet (1995), “Building the Entrepreneurial Corporation: new organization processes, new management task”, European Management Journal, 13(2).
Goosen C.J., T.J. de Coning and E.M. Smith (2002), “Corporate entrepreneurship and financial performance: The role of management”, South Africa Journal of Business
Management, 33(4), 21-27.
Greiner L.E. (1972), “Evolution and Revolution as Organizations Grow”. Harvard Business Review, 50(4), 37-46.
Hanks S. H., C. J. Watson, E. Jansen and G. Chandler (1993), “Tightening the life-cycle construct: A taxonomic study of growth stage configurations in high-technology
Organisations”, Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 18(2), 5-29.
Hartmann H. (1959), “Manager and Entrepreneurs: A Useful Distinction?”, Administrative Science Quarterly, 3(4), 492-451.
Herron L., H. Sapienza, and D. Smith-Cook (1991), “Entrepreneurship theory from an interdisciplinary perspective: Volume I”, Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 16 (2), 7-12.
Hughes, A. (2001) “Innovation and business performance: small entrepreneurial firms in the UK” in H.M. Treasury, Economic Growth and Government Policy, London.
Kats J.P. and B.P. Nienhoff (1998), “How Owners Influence Strategy – A Comparison of Owner-Controlled and Manager-Controlled Firms”, Long Range Planning, 31, 775-761.
Katz D. and R.L. (1978), “The Social Psychology of Organizations”, New York: Wiley.
Kazanjian R. K. (1988), “Relation of dominant problems to stages of growth in technology based new ventures”, Academy of Management Journal, 31(2), 257-279.
Kimberly, J.R. (1979), “Issues in the Creation of Organizations: Initiation, Innovation, and Institutionalization”, Academy of Management Journal, 22(3), 437-457.
Kiriri P.N. (2002), “Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs): Validating Life Cycle Stage Determinants”, Lecture in Entrepreneurship and Management, Strathmore University.
Koberg C.S., N. Uhlenbruck and Y. Sarason (1996), “Facilitators of Organizational Innovation: the Role of Life-Cycle Stage”, Journal of Business Venturing, 11(2), 133-149.
Lester D.L., J.A. Parnell and S. Carraher (2003), “Organizational Life Cycle: A five-Stage Empirical Scale”, The International Journal of Organizational Analysis, 11(4), 339-354.
Lippitt G.L and W.H. Schmidt, (1967) “Crises in a Developing Organization”, Harvard Business Review, 42(2), 102-112.
Lyden F.J. (1975), “Using Parson’s Functional Analysis in the Study of Public Organizations”, Administrative Science Quarterly, 20(1), 59-79.
Lynskey M.J. and S. Yonekura (2002), “Entrepreneurship and Organization: The Role of Entrepreneur in organizational innovation”, Oxford University Press, 12.
McMullen, J.S. and Shepherd, D.A. (2006). “Entrepreneurial Action and the Role of Uncertainty in the Theory of the Entrepreneur”. Academy of Management Review 31: 132–152.
Meyer G.D. and H.A. Kurt (2000), “Entrepreneurship as Strategy: Competing on the Entrepreneurial Edge”, Thousand Oaks, Calif., Sage Publications.
Miller D., P.H. Friesen (1984), “A Longitudinal Study of Corporate Life Cycle”, Management Science, 29, 33-51.
Quinn, R.E. and K. Cameron (1983), “Organisational life cycles and shifting criteria of effectiveness: Some preliminary evidence”, Management Science, 29(1), 33-51.
Rotemberg J.J. and G. Saloner (2000), “Visionaries, Managers and Strategic Decisions”, Journal of Economics, 31, 693-716.
Rumelt R.P. (1974), “Strategy, Structure and Economic Performance”, Boston, MA: Harvard University Press.
Sadler-Smith E., Y. Hampson, I. Chaston and B. Badger (2003), “Managerial Behaviour, entrepreneurial Style and Small Firm Performance”, Journal of Small Business Management, 41(1), 47-67.
Scott M. and R. Bruce (1971), “Stages of Corporate
Development Part I”, Boston, MA: Intercollegiate Case Clearing House, Harvard Business School, Case No. 9, 371-294.
Scott M. and R. Bruce (1987), “Five Stages of Growth in Small Business”, Long Range Planning, 20(3), 45-52.
Smith K.G., T.R. Mitchell and C.E. Summer (1985), “Top Level Management Priorities in Different Stages of the Organization Life”, Academy of Management Journal, 28(4), 799-820.
Stewart W.H. and P.L. Roth (2001), “Risk Propensity Differences between Entrepreneurs and Managers: A Meta-Analytic Review”, Arthur M. Spiro Centre of Entrepreneurial
Leadership pub., 99-111.
Torbent W.R. (1974), “Pre-Bureaucratic and Post-Bureaucratic Stages of Organization Development”, Interpersonal Development, 5(1), 1-25.
Ucbasaran D., M. Wright and P. Westhead (2003), “A Longitudinal Study of habitual entrepreneurs: starters and acquirers”, Entrepreneurship & Regional Development,15, 207-228.
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