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Unraveling the resource puzzle: exploring entrepreneurial resource management and the quest for new venture success

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Abstract

Existing research highlights resource management as a complicated and multifaceted system comprising interdependent components, rather than a collection of independent factors. Nonetheless, the precise influence of resource management approaches on value generation and overall prosperity in new business endeavors, especially within diverse contextual environments, remains unclear. To address this gap, our study adopts a neo-configurational approach to explore how entrepreneurial resource management components (e.g., structuring, bundling, and leveraging) relate to achieving success in start-ups. We also examine the contextual influence of environmental dynamism and munificence on the effectiveness of these resource management strategies. By analyzing a comprehensive sample of over 500 US-based ventures, we develop a theoretical framework that encompasses four distinct resource management strategies. This framework provides insights into the attainment of success across diverse environments, characterized by varying levels of dynamism and munificence. Our study contributes to extant literature by emphasizing that the achievement of a competitive advantage in entrepreneurial firms is contingent upon the alignment of internal resource management strategies with external factors, specifically dynamism and munificence.

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Notes

  1. As explained, resource management consists of three processes (i.e., structuring, bundling, and leveraging) which we refer to as components of resources management process. Each of these components themselves function in multiple ways. For instance, structuring can be done via acquiring and/or accumulating. We refer to those as subcomponents of resource management.

  2. Based on PSED II data, founders initiate various activities when starting their ventures. To determine the venture start date, we examined the month and year when these activities were initiated, specifically ensuring that it was in 2006. Additionally, following Delmar and Shane (2004), we assessed respondents' differentiation between working on the venture and thinking about it by considering their response to the question, “Which came first for you, the business idea or your decision to start a business, or did they occur together?”.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Management, Bill Munday School of Business, St. Edward’s University, Austin, TX, 78704, USA

    Amirmahmood Amini Sedeh

  2. Parthenope University of Naples, Naples, Italy

    Rosa Caiazza

  3. Department of Management and International Business, Merrick School of Business, University of Baltimore, Baltimore, MD, 21201, USA

    Amir Pezeshkan

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  1. Amirmahmood Amini Sedeh
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Amini Sedeh, A., Caiazza, R. & Pezeshkan, A. Unraveling the resource puzzle: exploring entrepreneurial resource management and the quest for new venture success. J Technol Transf 48, 1552–1573 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10961-023-10024-y

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