Managerial Theories

Contingency theory looks at the entrepreneur, venture and environment as a problem of fit.

Disruptive innovation theory puts the manager at the forefront of entrepreneurial development via their decisions about which ventures to fund or fail.

Strategic disagreements theory explains spinouts as the interplay between the preferences of employees and their parent organizations.

First mover advantage theory posits that entrepreneurs should be early movers to gain competitive advantage through nimble risk taking.

X-efficiency theory posits that entrepreneurial opportunities come from incumbents’ inefficient use of resources that entrepreneurs discover and exploit.

The upper echelon theory posits that the individual and group attributes of top management teams drive entrepreneurial performance.

Stewardship theory views the entrepreneur as a steward guiding his or her flock and thus assumes good intentions when making predictions.

Resource based theory views entrepreneurship as a process of recombining resources in ways that are unique combinations that are difficult for incumbents to replicate or profit sufficiently from.

Resource scarcity theory posits that entrepreneurs’ decisions are affected by the costs of accessing scarce resources in a market and institutional environment.

The resource dependency perspective examines entrepreneurship as a power struggle between agents representing various categories of resources.

Machiavellian theory was developed for a different time, but it may help us to understand the potential dark-sides of entrepreneurship.

The stakeholder approach views the entrepreneur as needing the support of stakeholders and suggests that entrepreneurial opportunities may arise from poor incumbent management practices.
 

 


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