Off to a great start! “start-offs”, knowledge and performance

Thesis

This dissertation focuses on “start-offs,” new organizations that “start off” their entrepreneurial journey well by virtue of their pre-entry conditions that may retain an imprint of the incumbent’s competitive advantage. I explore how pre-histories, initiation processes, and initial conditions shape new firm behavior and outcomes far into the future. In particular, this dissertation pays attention to the pre-entry knowledge-related resources and relations embedded in and across individual founding members. Based on the analysis of a comprehensive longitudinal data set that spans 30 years, I argue the underlying mechanisms through which higher-level constructs emerge from micro-level entities, such as individuals embedded in organizations or their opportunities, provide important implications for linking new firm growth and strategy. This dissertation seeks to make contributions to systematically understanding how a competitive advantage is gained when path-dependent pre-entry factors are successfully transferred, reintegrated, and leveraged to implement a strategy.

Authors: Lee, E

• Type of award: DPhil
• Level of award: Doctoral
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Keywords: organizational knowledge; social embeddedness; employee (co-)mobility; emergent effect; self-selection; start-up formation; strategic resources; organizational strategy