Faculty & Research

Entrepreneurial Management

Entrepreneurial Management

Overview Faculty Curriculum Seminars & Conferences Awards & Honors

About the Unit

The Entrepreneurial Management Unit strives to raise the level of academic work in the field of entrepreneurship, in methodological rigor, conceptual depth, and managerial applicability. We also strive to improve the odds of entrepreneurial success for our students and for practitioners worldwide.

Because it is such a complex phenomenon, entrepreneurship must be studied through multiple lenses. We use three.

  • The process of entrepreneurship - We seek to understand the processes of entrepreneurial activity in start-ups and established firms by examining the antecedents and consequences of various forms of entrepreneurial opportunity identification and opportunity pursuit for individuals, organizations, and industries. We see experimentation and innovation in products, services, processes, and business models as central to entrepreneurial activity.
  • The finance of entrepreneurship - We seek to understand the financing of entrepreneurial ventures by studying the antecedents and consequences of entrepreneurial funding decisions both domestically and internationally.
  • The context of entrepreneurship - We seek to understand the ways in which entrepreneurs both respond to and shape the context in which they operate, by examining the history of entrepreneurship across time and national borders and by analyzing the legal and cultural contexts for managerial action.

Please also visit the Arthur Rock Center for Entrepreneurship.

Recent Publications

Braintrust: The Blockchain-Powered Talent Network

By: Christopher Stanton, Joseph B. Fuller and George Gonzalez
  • February 2021 |
  • Case |
  • Faculty Research
A San Francisco startup seeks to disrupt the freelancing industry through its user-owned talent network powered by the cryptocurrency, BTRUST.
Keywords: Consulting Industry; United States
Related

Barbarians at the Gate or Turnaround Gurus? Private Equity and the Rise of the LBO

By: Tom Nicholas and John Masko
  • February 2021 |
  • Case |
  • Faculty Research
During the 1980s, leveraged buyouts (LBOs) and the private equity (PE) firms responsible for carrying them out revolutionized both investment and management in the U.S. Between 1980 and 1989, buyout activity in the U.S. surged from $1 billion per year to $60 billion. There was widespread agreement that the PE industry created enormous value, but who exactly was it creating that value for? PE firms claimed that LBOs not only benefitted investors, but also the target companies, which became leaner and more focused as PE firms turned them around. But critics argued that on balance, the PE industry left target companies foundering under mountains of debt as investors realized huge returns. In this case study, students will grapple with PE’s complex legacy while learning its history. The case will trace PE’s two main ingredients (the limited partnership and the LBO), examine the auspicious conditions of the 1980s that brought them together, and discuss the experiences of two very different early players in the PE field—KKR and Bain Capital.
Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Mergers And Acquisitions; Business Conglomerates; Restructuring; Borrowing And Debt; Private Equity; Bonds; Investment Return; Institutional Investing; Profit Sharing; Business History; Management Style; Private Ownership; Performance Effectiveness; Value Creation; Financial Services Industry; United States
Related

America’s Pharmacies Can Do a Lot More Vaccinations

By: Scott Duke Kominers
  • Article |
  • Bloomberg Opinion
Related

How Real Sales Learning Happens: In the Flow of Work

By: Frank V. Cespedes, Yuchun Lee and Mark Magnacca
  • February 15, 2021 |
  • Article |
  • Learning Solutions
Related

World of Dreams Entertainment Group: Building a Resilient Business

By: Lynda M. Applegate, Sarah Endline and Michael Norris
  • February 2021 (Revised February 2021) |
  • Case |
  • Faculty Research
In 2021, Ron DeShay, former American Idol producer, is launching his new business venture: World of Dreams Entertainment Group. World of Dreams rethought the existing TV production model, giving audiences more power to directly influence the creation of shows through a digital platform, and building an immersive experience around the TV production business.
Keywords: Television Entertainment; Media; Social Issues; Sports; Entertainment And Recreation Industry; United States; California; Los Angeles
Related

Yellow Digital Retailers, Ltd.: Providing Solar Electricity to Transform Rural Africa

By: Lynda M. Applegate, Frank V. Cespedes and Michael Norris
  • February 2021 |
  • Case |
  • Faculty Research
In 2020, Mike Heyink and Maya Stewart, co-founders of the Pay-as-you-Go Solar company Yellow were considering how to grow their startup. They had achieved some success in their first market, Malawi, and had recently entered Uganda, where business was slower. What did they need to do to succeed in new markets? How could they continue to grow the business in Malawi?
Keywords: Business Model; Business Startups; Developing Countries And Economies; Alternative Energy; Renewable Energy; Social Entrepreneurship; Green Technology; Salesforce Management; Diversification; Expansion; Energy Industry; Africa; South Africa; Malawi; Uganda
Related

Do Household Wealth Shocks Affect Productivity? Evidence from Innovative Workers During the Great Recession

By: S. Bernstein, T. McQuade and R. Townsend
  • February 2021 |
  • Article |
  • Journal of Finance
We investigate how the deterioration of household balance sheets affects worker productivity, and, in turn, economic downturns. Specifically, we compare the output of innovative workers who experienced differential declines in housing wealth during the financial crisis but were employed at the same firm and lived in the same metropolitan area. We find that, following a negative wealth shock, innovative workers become less productive and generate lower economic value for their firms. The reduction in innovative output is not driven by workers switching to less innovative firms or positions. These effects are more pronounced among workers at greater risk of financial distress.
Keywords: Great Recession; Household; Financial Condition; System Shocks; Employees; Performance Productivity
Related

Prisoners, Rooms, and Lightswitches

By: Daniel M. Kane and Scott Duke Kominers
  • 2021 |
  • Article |
  • Electronic Journal of Combinatorics
We examine a new variant of the classic prisoners and lightswitches puzzle: A warden leads his n prisoners in and out of r rooms, one at a time, in some order, with each prisoner eventually visiting every room an arbitrarily large number of times. The rooms are indistinguishable, except that each one has s lightswitches; the prisoners win their freedom if at some point a prisoner can correctly declare that each prisoner has been in every room at least once. What is the minimum number of switches per room, s, such that the prisoners can manage this? We show that if the prisoners do not know the switches’ starting configuration, then they have no chance of escape—but if the prisoners do know the starting configuration, then the minimum sufficient s is surprisingly small. The analysis gives rise to a number of puzzling open questions, as well.
Keywords: Mathematical Methods
Related
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Contact Information

Entrepreneurial Management Unit
Harvard Business School
Rock Center
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
EM@hbs.edu