Abstract:

While scholars have investigated reconfiguration as a means for established companies to adapt to changing competitive environments, little is known about resource reconfiguration in newly established firms. Is reconfiguration good for new firm survival, and how early should firms reconfigure in their lifecycle? We explore this question drawing on entrepreneurship and strategy research and using Business Register data for the cohort of 19,523 private service firms created in the Netherlands in 2011, observed over the 8 years after entry. To study how the occurrence of a reconfiguration event and the time to reconfiguration influence new firm survival, we apply a novel event history analysis modelling the life course of new firms as a Markov process with transition states between entry and exit. We find that reconfiguration increases the likelihood of survival overall. However, new firms reconfiguring soon after entry benefit less than those doing so later. Our findings suggest that while reconfiguration is good for new firm survival, there are significant risks in reconfiguring too rapidly after firm creation.

Authors:

Alessandro Lucini-Paioni (University of Bath), Orietta Marsili (University of Bath), Elena Cefis (University of Bergamo), Panos Desyllas (University of Bath).

Speaker Bio:

Orietta Marsili is Professor in Innovation and Entrepreneurship and Director of CREI - Centre for Research on Entrepreneurship and Innovation, at the School of Management of the University of Bath. Her research covers two areas of interest: the survival and exit of entrepreneurial firms, and corporate reconfiguration such as M&As. Her work has been published in one book and in peer reviewed articles in academic journals such as Research Policy, Journal of Management Studies, Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, Regional Studies, Industrial and Corporate Change, and Small Business Economics.

The Manchester Institute of Innovation Research runs a series of regular seminars given by visiting speakers to Manchester. These seminars are open to anybody who is interested in science, technology and innovation policy and management.