The Life Cycle of Entrepreneurial Ventures

Simon Parker

Dec 2006 · International Handbook Series on Entrepreneurship Book 3 · Springer Science & Business Media

About this ebook

about nascent entrepreneurship distilled from recent research. Wagner ?rst summarises evidence about the incidence of nascent entrepreneurship before surveying the start-up activities of nascent entrepreneurs. He then goes on to provide a “birds-eye view” of the characteristics of nascent entrepreneurs; the factors associated with becoming a nascent entrepreneur; and the outcomes of nascent entrepreneurs, in terms of whether they start, quit or continue preparing for eventual business entry. Wagner’s chapter provides a wealth of information about nascent entrepreneurship, summarising key ?ndings from a large, fa- growing and diverse literature which looks set to continue growing rapidly in the years ahead. In Chapter 3, Shaker Zahra reviews the literature on new venture strategy and its implications for organizational survival, ?nancial performance and growth. Zahra discusses competitive, cooperative and political strategies, and highlights the importance of synchronizing these strategies. A particular strength of this chapter is its ability to uncover similarities and unifying themes in apparently divergent views. In this way, the chapter succeeds in resolvingsomeapparentcontradictions byputtingthedifferentperspectivesinto a complementary context and identifying areas where convergence appears to be within reach. Zahra goes on to highlight the contributions of the different strategic approaches, as well as their shortcomings. He concludes by identifying several implications for future research.

About the author

Professor Parker is Head of the Department of Economics & Finance at Durham University and Director of the Centre for Entrepreneurship at Durham Business School. He is also a Research Professor of the Max Planck Institute of Economics, Jena Germany, and a Research Fellow at the IZA Institute for the Study of Labor, Bonn Germany. He has published over 40 articles in peer-reviewed journals in economics and entrepreneurship, and is the author of The Economics of Self-employment and Entrepreneurship (Cambridge University Press, 2004)