Abstract:

Research has paid considerable attention to the endowments of solo entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial teams in order to capture the impact of human resources on the performance of new ventures. My PhD project is an effort to go beyond the entrepreneur and entrepreneurial teams as strategic human resources of new ventures and to look more closely at the role of corporate governance in the performance of new ventures. Corporate governance bodies – shareholders and board directors – step in to shape the strategic direction of new ventures and monitor the management. Due to their social and human capital, they enable access to additional resources and foster legitimacy of the firm. Thus, they embody bundles of resources and are authoritative enough to influence the performance outcomes of new ventures. While many new ventures attract various investors and are required to have boards, we lack clear understanding of the extent to which new ventures utilize boards as a resource. Accordingly, the proposed three papers contribute complementarily to answer the overarching question of my PhD project – How and why corporate governance impacts the performance of new ventures.