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How do Scientists Contribute to the Performance of Innovative Start‐ups? An Imprinting Perspective on Open Innovation

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  • Davide Hahn
  • Tommaso Minola
  • Kimberly A. Eddleston

Abstract

Our study illustrates how scientists contribute to the performance of innovative start‐ups through an analysis of 211 Italian start‐ups with and without scientist founders. Building upon imprinting theory, we hypothesize and find that scientists provide an advantage to innovative start‐ups to the extent that they stimulate open innovation (i.e., search breadth and depth). However, for this to effectively occur, the involvement of multiple scientist founders is needed, so that their career imprints internalized in the lab are successfully transferred to the start‐up. Moreover, if the start‐up embraces business practices (i.e., strategic planning) or departs from scientific logics (i.e., pursuing non‐commercial goals), scientists’ contribution is further increased. Therefore, our study illustrates how the scientist career imprint can provide an advantage to innovative start‐ups with multiple scientists, but also how it can act as a rigidity if the start‐up does not pursue strategic planning or emphasizes non‐commercial goals.

Suggested Citation

  • Davide Hahn & Tommaso Minola & Kimberly A. Eddleston, 2019. "How do Scientists Contribute to the Performance of Innovative Start‐ups? An Imprinting Perspective on Open Innovation," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(5), pages 895-928, July.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:jomstd:v:56:y:2019:i:5:p:895-928
    DOI: 10.1111/joms.12418
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    Cited by:

    1. Colombelli, Alessandra & Grilli, Luca & Minola, Tommaso & Mrkajic, Boris, 2020. "To what extent do young innovative companies take advantage of policy support to enact innovation appropriation mechanisms?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(10).
    2. Tagliazucchi, Giulia & Marchi, Gianluca & Balboni, Bernardo, 2021. "A nonlinear relationship between the team composition and performance in university spin-offs," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).
    3. Wyrwich, Michael & Steinberg, Philip J. & Noseleit, Florian & de Faria, Pedro, 2022. "Is open innovation imprinted on new ventures? The cooperation-inhibiting legacy of authoritarian regimes," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(1).
    4. Hinrichs, Nicole & Stierand, Marc & Glăveanu, Vlad, 2023. "Food for thought: How curiosity externalization is fostered through organizational identity," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).
    5. Audretsch, David & Colombelli, Alessandra & Grilli, Luca & Minola, Tommaso & Rasmussen, Einar, 2020. "Innovative start-ups and policy initiatives," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(10).
    6. Christopher S. Hayter & Bruno Fischer & Einar Rasmussen, 2022. "Becoming an academic entrepreneur: how scientists develop an entrepreneurial identity," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 59(4), pages 1469-1487, December.
    7. Mengli Zhao & Shibin Sheng & Xiangyu Yang, 2024. "Does public employment foster or inhibit entrepreneurial intentions?," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 41(1), pages 317-349, March.
    8. Davide Hahn & Tommaso Minola & Silvio Vismara & Daniel Agyare, 2024. "Do exploration and exploitation in university research drive early-stage equity financing of university spin-offs?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 63(2), pages 627-653, August.
    9. Tommaso Minola & Davide Hahn & Lucio Cassia, 2021. "The relationship between origin and performance of innovative start-ups: the role of technological knowledge at founding," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 56(2), pages 553-569, February.
    10. Masatoshi Kato & Yuji Honjo, 2020. "CEO Succession and New-Firm Performance: Does Successor Origin Matter?," Discussion Paper Series 213, School of Economics, Kwansei Gakuin University.
    11. Clarysse, Bart & Andries, Petra & Boone, Sarah & Roelandt, Jolien, 2023. "Institutional logics and founders' identity orientation: Why academic entrepreneurs aspire lower venture growth," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(3).
    12. Huang, Shuangfa & Battisti, Martina & Pickernell, David, 2023. "The roles of innovation strategy and founding team diversity in new venture growth," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    13. Sansone, Giuliano & Andreotti, Pietro & Colombelli, Alessandra & Landoni, Paolo, 2020. "Are social incubators different from other incubators? Evidence from Italy," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    14. Cemil Ozan Soydemir & Mehmet Erçek, 2023. "The resurrection of earlier imprints post mortem: Explaining the Turkish agricultural cooperative movement with an imprinting theory lens, 1888–1937," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 94(4), pages 1199-1232, December.
    15. Petra Moog & Christian Soost, 2022. "Does team diversity really matter? The connection between networks, access to financial resources, and performance in the context of university spin-offs," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 58(1), pages 323-351, January.
    16. Achim Walter & Nicole Coviello & Monika Sienknecht & Thomas Ritter, 2024. "Leveraging the Lab: How Pre-Founding R&D Collaboration Influences the Internationalization Timing of Academic Spin-Offs," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 48(1), pages 71-103, January.
    17. Messina, Lisa & Miller, Kristel & Galbraith, Brendan & Hewitt-Dundas, Nola, 2022. "A recipe for USO success? Unravelling the micro-foundations of dynamic capability building to overcome critical junctures," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    18. Tommaso Minola & Nadine Kammerlander & Franz W. Kellermanns & Frank Hoy, 2021. "Corporate Entrepreneurship and Family Business: Learning Across Domains," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(1), pages 1-26, January.
    19. Xiaohua Li & Daozhou Yang & Wu Zhao, 2021. "Scholars’ Identity Transition and Its Impact on Spin-Offs’ R&D Input," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-14, February.
    20. Sergio Salles-Filho & Bruno Fischer & Yohanna Juk & Paulo Feitosa & Fernando A. B. Colugnati, 2023. "Acknowledging diversity in knowledge-intensive entrepreneurship: assessing the Brazilian small business innovation research," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 48(4), pages 1446-1465, August.

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