Options
Entrepreneurs’ actions and venture success: a structured literature review and suggestions for future research
Journal
Small Business Economics
ISSN
0921-898X
Type
journal article
Date Issued
2023-01-30
Author(s)
Abstract (De)
It is the actions of entrepreneurs that give rise to new organizations. However, a comprehensive understanding of what entrepreneurs do and what actually leads to venture success is currently lacking. To summarize existing research, we conduct a structured literature review including 59 empirical articles linking entrepreneurs’ behavior to venture success. We define “actions” as discrete units of “doing” that can—potentially—be observed by others and “success” as firm-level success measured by firm status (e.g., firm survival) or performance (e.g., sales). More than half of the included articles are based on data from the Panel Study of Entrepreneurial Dynamics (PSED), but there are also important “stand-alone” studies. We analyze the “what,” the “how,” the “how much,” and the “when” of entrepreneurs’ actions that lead to venture success. In addition, we integrate the view of entrepreneurship as an evolutionary process. The analysis reveals that studies typically analyze “what” entrepreneurs but less often “when” and “how much” and rarely “why,” “how,” and “what else” they do. Based on our findings, we develop a six-point research agenda. Specifically, we argue that future research should strive to understand the motives behind entrepreneurs’ actions, consider how entrepreneurs conduct activities, and what kind of business ideas they are working on. Also, applying alternative measurements and capturing a more complete picture of what entrepreneurs do when starting a business but also aside from their venturing efforts might contribute to a better understanding of the relationship to venture success.
Language
English
HSG Classification
contribution to scientific community
HSG Profile Area
Global Center for Entrepreneurship + Innovation
Refereed
Yes
Publisher
Springer
Volume
60
Number
1
Start page
199
End page
226
Pages
28
Subject(s)
Division(s)
Eprints ID
267509
File(s)
Loading...
open access
Name
Müller et al 2022_Entrepreneurs' actions and venture success_SBE_s11187-022-00644-3.pdf
Size
1.54 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
4182d06d2bff214f2bae11fdebee214e