Competence of top management teams and the success of new technology-based firms : a theoretical and empirical analysis concerning competencies of entrepreneurial teams and the development of their ventures

Which competencies do founders need in order to achieve new venture success? In his book, Jan Brinckmann develops a comprehensive competence concept for new technology-based firms. It is grounded in competence-related literature combining insights from entrepreneurship and management research. The competence concept comprises three domains: general entrepreneurial competencies, social competencies, and functional competencies in technology, marketing, and financial management. A measurement model is developed to specify the contents of each sub-domain and to facilitate self-assessment of these competencies. In an empirical study, 212 executives of German NTBFs assessed their team’s competencies. This data is analyzed using structural equation modelling to identify the most relevant competencies for new venture success. Foreword Research on the creation and development of new firms has gained substantial prominence over the past ten years - especially in the German-speaking countries, where many new entrepreneurship chairs have been created in universities. Despite the surge in interest, short-comings in the research domain remain. These shortcomings primarily concern the lack of solid empirical research that reflects the state of the art of management science. Based on psychological theories, expla- tions of the founding of a firm and its subsequent success have been made frequently in terms of character traits and attitudes. Yet these studies explain little about a new firm's success. Their usefulness was especially limited concerning team-based ventures, which represent the majority of technology-based ventures. Other more recent approaches focus on entrepreneurial activities and how they impact new venture development. In this stream of research, the competence perspective has special importance as competencies of founders determine which activities they undertake, and how they perform these activities. A key question has been raised often by entrepreneurs, researchers and educators with respect to competencies of the founders: What are the critical competencies needed to create and grow a new firm? Although this is a fundamental question of entrepreneurship research, this question has hardly been investigated empirically. The dissertation of Dr. Jan Brinckmann analyzes how competencies of founding teams of new technology based firms affect the development of the new firms. In order to identify the critical competencies needed to create and grow a firm, Dr. Front Matter....Pages I-XXIV Introduction....Pages 1-9 Fundamental research terms....Pages 10-25 Theories regarding entrepreneurial and management competencies and the development of new technology-based firms....Pages 26-85 Empirical evidence about competence and the development of new firms....Pages 86-114 Conceptual framework: Entrepreneurial-management-competence and its effects on task complexity and the success of new firms....Pages 115-149 Research process, sample and method....Pages 150-172 Presentation of the measurement model....Pages 173-221 Empirical findings....Pages 222-255 Discussion of central findings and implications....Pages 256-266 Back Matter....Pages 267-304 Jan Brinckmann analyzes how competencies of founders of new technology-based firms affect the development of their ventures. The research is grounded in competence-related literature and combines insights from entrepreneurship and management research.