The organizational design of high-tech startups and product innovation

Christoph Grimpe (Copenhagen Business School and ZEW Mannheim), Martin Murmann (ZEW Mannheim, IAB Nuremberg, and University of Zurich), Wolfgang Sofka (Copenhagen Business School and University of Liverpool Management School)

We investigate whether appointing a middle management level affects startups' innovation performance. Additional hierarchical levels are often suspected to restrict innovative activities. However, founders' capacities for information processing and resource allocation are usually strongly limited while, at the same time, R&D decisions are among the most consequential choices of startups. We argue that middle management is positively related to introducing product innovations because it improves the success rates from recombining existing knowledge as well as managing R&D personnel. In addition, we suggest that the effectiveness of these mechanisms depends on the riskiness of a startup's business opportunity. Based on a sample of German high-tech startups, we find support for our conjectures.

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Year of publication:	4 January 2018
Authors:	Grimpe, Christoph ; Murmann, Martin ; Sofka, Wolfgang
Publisher:	Nuremberg : Institute for Employment Research of the Federal Employment Agency
Subject:	Middle management \| innovation performance \| R&D \| startups \| organizational design \| R&D management \| Unternehmensgründung \| Business start-up \| Innovation \| Organisationsstruktur \| Organizational structure \| Hochtechnologie \| High technology \| Innovationsmanagement \| Innovation management \| Mittleres Management \| Produktentwicklung \| New product development

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Extent:	1 Online-Ressource (circa 37 Seiten)
Series:	IAB discussion paper : Beiträge zum wissenschaftlichen Dialog aus dem Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung. - Nürnberg : IAB, ISSN 2195-2663, ZDB-ID 2195135-4. - Vol. 2018, 1
Type of publication:	Book / Working Paper
Type of publication (narrower categories):	Graue Literatur ; Non-commercial literature ; Arbeitspapier ; Working Paper
Language:	English
Notes:	Zusammenfassung in deutscher Sprache
Other identifiers:	hdl:10419/182141 [Handle]
Classification:	L26 - Entrepreneurship ; M13 - Entrepreneurship ; M12 - Personnel Management ; M51 - Firm Employment Decisions; Promotions (hiring, firing, turnover, part-time, temporary workers, seniority issues) ; L22 - Firm Organization and Market Structure: Markets vs. Hierarchies; Vertical Integration ; L23 - Organization of Production ; J21 - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure
Source:	ECONIS - Online Catalogue of the ZBW

Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10011774892