Department of Management

This study tests a model that draws on human capital theory to explain how individual characteristics of founding entrepreneurs influence performance of their new businesses. Using data from Project GATE (Growing America Through Entrepreneurship), this research study assesses the direct effect of gender on new venture performance and the moderating role of gender on the relationship between general and specific human capital and new venture performance.

This research focuses on cross-border acquisitions of emerging market multinationals (EM MNEs). Opposing theoretical perspectives of colonial ties (i.e., country ties between the acquiring and target firm countries, with the former being a colonized country and the latter being a colonizer country) are argued as predictors of EM MNE equity participation. Colonial tie is discussed as a source of legitimacy that can lower legitimacy threats (i.e., the likelihood of being deemed as illegitimate) via promoting similarities in informal institutions of the home and host countries. On the other hand, colonial tie is argued to be a historical event that can increase legitimacy threats due to perceived superiority of the colonizer. Chapter 1 contains an overview of and rationale for the study. Chapters 2-4 cover the literature review, theoretical development, contributions, and avenues for future research. This research fills the gap in literature by introducing colonization as a historical perspective with which to understand equity participation decisions.

The two essays in this dissertation investigate how entrepreneurial capabilities are developed in intra- and inter-organizational relationships. Entrepreneurial capabilities are central to firms’ survival and performance. However, the role of various forms of relationships in the development and deployment of entrepreneurial capabilities remains understudied. The constellation of the two essays in this dissertation aims to offer insights about the impact of these relationships and the potential areas for future research. I investigate various aspects of entrepreneurial capabilities, such as value creation, value capture, and innovativeness. The first essay is an empirical investigation of the impact of alliances, as a form of inter-organizational relationship, on firms’ capabilities to create and capture value and improve performance. The second essay empirically examines the interplay between social capital, as a byproduct of intra-organizational relationships, and causal entrepreneurial process on innovativeness in new ventures.

Over the last forty years, there has been ample research examining general leadership development and the characteristics of followers and leaders (Day, 2001). However, although recognized as important for leader development and leadership effectiveness, there is still much to understand about leader identity (Epitropaki et al., 2017). The focus on identity literature has been disproportionately focused on follower identity rather than leader identity (Epitropaki et al., 2017; Johnson et al., 2012). This shortage is unfortunate due to leader identity’s capabilities in developing leaders and effective leader behaviors (Miscenko et al., 2017; Johnson et al., 2012). Due to this deficiency, I focus my dissertation on leader identity and attempt to better grasp the development of one’s leader identity. In line with recent conceptual literature, I examine the four dimensions of leader identity and patterns of development to better understand the development of leader identity. Through the two papers in this dissertation, I aim to enhance our current understanding of leader identity.

The purpose of this dissertation is to explore the contingencies that alter the link between entrepreneurial orientation (“EO”; a strategic posture characterized by behaviors and attitudes that display innovativeness, proactiveness, and risk-taking) and firm outcomes. While conceptual claims unite on the belief that firms largely benefit from emphasizing innovation through proactive and risky initiatives, the empirical findings on a positive link between EO and performance are inconclusive. As such, several scholars have explored the contingencies that illuminate the boundary conditions to EO, however, most of this research has focused on external contingencies, i.e. those connected to the environment, while internal contingencies, i.e. those connected to the firm, have been fairly disregarded. Not only will the industry and market play a significant role in a firm’s ability to effectively carry out their desired strategic initiatives, so too will firm characteristics, such as communication and culture, as these internal factors are directly related to the level of value created from strategic actions. Therefore, this dissertation is an attempt to further clarify the boundary conditions of EO by focusing on these firm specific attributes. Chapter two, titled “Family communication patterns and entrepreneurial orientation in family firms” exposes the impact of specific family communication patterns on the performance outcomes from an entrepreneurial orientation. This chapter contributes to the corporate entrepreneurship literature, by confining the positive effects of EO to certain firm specific characteristic, as well as to the family business literature by further demonstrating the heterogeneity between family firms. Thereafter, chapter three, titled “Entrepreneurial orientation, organizational culture, and firm performance: The importance of a balanced approach”, argues and tests the importance of organizational culture, as defined by the competing values framework, as a contingency variable of the EO-performance relationship. This empirical chapter exploits a configurational approach, using fuzzy set Qualitative Comparative Analysis
(“fs/QCA”) to analyze the arrangements of different entrepreneurial orientation and organizational cultures that yield superior performance. Through this exploration, I advance research on the EO-performance relationship by integrating the firm’s corporate culture as a means of alleviating concerns with resistance by certain stakeholders to the ambiguity associated with entrepreneurial ventures.

Mergers and acquisitions (M&As) of private target firms is a common
phenomenon and being acquired is the desired outcome for some private firms, as it is the
path to wealth creation for these firm’s owners and investors. However, this M&A type
has received limited attention in the literature, especially from the perspective of the
target firm. Furthermore, neither a theoretical model to explain the phenomenon where
the goal of the target firm is to be acquired in M&A, nor an indicator to gauge wealth
creation for such firms were identified in the review of the literature.
This paper established that, because being acquired in a M&A may be the goal,
the wealth generated from the M&A is the outcome or performance indicator for such
firms. The outcomes of M&As depend, among other factors, on the acquiring firm’s
perception of the target firm’s value. Thus, this paper coined the term ‘private firm’s
attractiveness as an acquisition target’, and built on the resource based view of the firm and signaling theory to identify factors that influence a private firm’s
attractiveness to acquirers. Furthermore, private firm’s attractiveness as an acquisition
target was used as the bridge between the acquiring firm perspective and target firm
perspective in a M&A.
The resource-based view of the firm and the signaling theory were used jointly in
building the theoretical framework for hypotheses development. Hypotheses were tested
using a sample of 222 acquisitions of US private target firms by US public acquiring
firms. Hierarchical regression with inverse mills ratio, as well as two-step Heckman
model were used to address the potential selection hazard.
Results provided strong support for most hypotheses, and showed that investor
involvement, target firm’s industry innovativeness, and target firm’s emphasis on growth
in human capital were positively related to the private firm’s attractiveness as an
acquisition target. Furthermore, the effects of emphasis on growth in human capital were
stronger when the target firm’s growth in revenue was lower and when the target firm
operated in a more innovative industry. The effects of emphasis on growth in revenue
were stronger when the target firm operated in a less innovative industry.

The present research investigates entitlement in the workplace through three
related papers—a review and two empirical studies. In the first paper, I conduct a review
of entitlement and offer an agenda for future research. I examine entitlement’s various
historical roots, definitions and conceptualizations, measures, theoretical frameworks,
antecedents, consequences, and role as a moderator. I also outline avenues for future
entitlement research and advocate for research that considers the effects of perceived
coworker entitlement from a state perspective. Following the research agenda of paper
one, I empirically delve into the negative effects of perceived coworker entitlement in the
second two papers. Specifically, in the second paper I explore how the individual can
mitigate the negative effects associated with perceived coworker entitlement and in the
third paper I explore how the organization can mitigate the negative effects associated
with perceived coworker entitlement. In the second paper, I utilize equity theory and
referent cognitions theory to examine the relationships between perceived coworker
entitlement and individual outcomes including in-role behavior, organizational citizenship behavior, pay satisfaction, and counterproductive work behavior via
psychological distress. I further explore the moderating role of individual difference
variables including core-self evaluations, positive and negative affect, and equity
sensitivity in the relationship between perceived coworker entitlement and psychological
distress. Using a sample of 200 working adults, I found that core self-evaluations and
equity sensitivity significantly moderate the relationship between perceived coworker
entitlement and psychological distress. However, I did not find any significant mediation
or moderated mediation relationships. In the third paper, I utilize fairness theory as a
theoretical framework to study the relationships among perceived coworker entitlement,
job satisfaction, organizational citizenship behavior, and emotional exhaustion. I further
explore the moderating role of Colquitt’s (2001) four dimensions of organizational
justice: distributive justice, procedural justice, interpersonal justice, and informational
justice. Using the same sample of 200 working adults, I found that perceived coworker
entitlement is negatively related to organizational citizenship behavior; distributive
justice moderates the relationship between perceived coworker entitlement and emotional
exhaustion; interpersonal justice moderates the relationship between perceived coworker
entitlement and job satisfaction and emotional exhaustion; and informational justice
moderates the relationship between perceived coworker entitlement and emotional
exhaustion. Contributions to research, practical implications, strengths and limitations,
and directions for future research are discussed.

Alliance portfolios, or a firm collection of simultaneous alliances, have become
common phenomena particularly in technology industries. These portfolios have been
found to have a significant impact on firms’ financial performance. At the same time,
there is little consensus regarding the direction of this effect. Findings have shown
positive, negative, curvilinear, and non-significant relationships. In this dissertation, I
employed an organizational learning perspective to investigate the effect of alliance
portfolio size on firm financial performance. Using a sample of 343 firm-year
observations in the U.S. software industry, I explored portfolio- and firm-level
characteristics as moderators of this relationship. Findings provide evidence for a
curvilinear, inverted U-shaped relationship between portfolio size and firm performance
that is moderated by the timing of the alliances within the portfolio and by the firms’ Top
Management Team (TMT) turnover.

For decades now, musicians have been using crossover to expand their career and earn more knowledge about the music industry. Soprano Sarah Brightman and duo 2 Cellos are classically trained musicians who implemented crossover into their career and used their classical training as guidance of become successful.
Musicians who restrict themselves only to classical music may approach danger regarding a career and livelihood, which includes audience interest, employability and financial instability. In this study the term “crossover” refers to classical artists’ who use their skills to perform other genres. Crossover gives artists the chance to appeal to larger audiences and extend their repertoire of music while using techniques used in classical works.
Classical musicians such as Sarah Brightman and 2 Cellos are being forced to cross musical genres because of employability, declining audience interest in classical music and financial instability. Within this research I am going to compare and analyze the crossover of one classical vocalist, Sarah Brightman, and a classical instrumentalist group named 2 Cellos. My research will focus on the following three questions:
Research Question #1
What are the critical factors for successful crossover for classical musicians to pop?
Research Question #2
What crossover processes did Sarah Brightman and 2 Cello’s employ to transition from classical to pop music?
Research Question #3
Was Sarah Brightman’s and 2 Cellos crossover to pop music successful according to the definition and parameters of success?
This paper ends with a conclusion highlighting my findings, which summarizes the major points of this research and provide ideas for further research on the concept of crossover.

This dissertation presents an analytical framework based on the processes of social identification
and self-categorization as mechanisms through which team-focused leadership and group affective tone
separately and jointly contribute to team outcomes at both the team and team member levels A review of
relevant literature supported the development of the research hypotheses The hypotheses were tested using
multilevel structural equation modeling and single level path analysis to tease out significant effects of
team leadership and affective processes in teams
The results of single level path analyses demonstrated that leaders and team members contribute to
the affective tone of a team through the sharing of emotions and processes of emotional contagion and
norms of emotional expression via identification and self-categorization processes Both individual leaders
(vertical team-focused leadership) and team members sharing in leadership processes (shared team-focused
leadership) were found to distinctly contribute to group affective tone and the important team outcomes of
team performance, creativity, trust, team member engagement, team member identification, and team
member citizenship behaviors The results further demonstrated that the affective tone of a team (group
affective tone) has direct effects on team member outcomes, and mediates direct effects on outcomes of
team-focused leadership Group affective tone was found to mediate the effects of both vertical and shared
team-focused leadership on team member engagement, identification, citizenship behaviors, and team trust The results are relevant to both researchers interested in studying leadership and affective
processes in teams and to management practitioners interested in understanding contributions to team
effectiveness The consideration of both team-focused leadership and the affective tone of a team matter in
team effectiveness The emotional climate of a team appears to be important to team member outcomes
more so than team-level outcomes Therefore, what managers consider to be important indicators of team
effectiveness (either team-level or team member-level) determine the actions of a manager to monitor and
strengthen the positive affective tone of a team Limitations are discussed and future research directions are
provided to extend the observations of this study