The Many Influences of HRM on Corporate Entrepreneurship

James C. Hayton, PhDSDA Bocconi/Bocconi University

Overview

• A brief historical note

• What corporate entrepreneurship is and who is doing it

• The HRM levers for corporate entrepreneurship

• Opportunities for research and practice

John R. Commons

The ‘Labor Problem’

• Employer exploitation of labor

• Labor exploitation of employers

• Unrest, under productive, untrusting

• A social problem - and challenge

Stability

The Management Solution

• HR focus has been bureaucratic solution

• systematic, rational, fair, rigid

• e.g., Job analysis; Job evaluation; Sophisticated staffing

• and it has worked... to a point

Dynamism!

Why we Hate HR

Many potential failures!

For a few great successes

The New ‘Labor Problem’• Promote corporate entrepreneurship:

• innovation, risk, proactivity

• Balance:

• independence and interdependence

• commitment and performance

• competition and cooperation

• risk taking and discipline

Intellectual Capital & CE in High Tech New Ventures

(Hayton, 2002; 2005)

Product Innovation&

New Ventures

• Intellectual Property

•+

•Human capital

•+

•Reputational Capital

N=237 high tech new ventures: 1994-2000

Human Capital & Absorptive Capacity (Hayton & Zahra, 2005)

Acquisitions

TMT Human Capital

Level

N = 340 high tech new ventures (US)

TMT Human Capital

Diversity

Joint Ventures SalesGrowth

New ProductInnovation

The Roles of Corporate Entrepreneurship

(Hayton & Kelley, 2006)

TechInnovator

TechInnovator Boundary

Spanner

BoundarySpanner

InnovationChampion

InnovationChampion Executive

Sponsor

ExecutiveSponsor

Culture & CE• National culture (Hayton et al., 2002)

• influences CE role behaviors (e.g., championing behaviors, Shane, 1994)

• Need research on boundary spanning and sponsoring

• Corporate culture

• balance individualism and collectivism (Morris et al., 1994; Zahra et al., 2004)

• other key dimensions?

Culture

CorporateEntrepreneurship

Individualism VsCollectivism ‘∩’

External Orientation (Vs. Internal)

Decentralized Control Orientation (Vs Centralized).

Long-term Orientation(Vs. Short-term)

Family FirmsVs. Non Family

Firms

N = 536 manufacturing firms (US), 218 of which were family owned

An alternative view on corporate culture

LowCollective

High Collective

HighIndividual

support‘mavericks’ Balance

LowIndividual

nullcase

supportjoint effort

HR SYSTEM

An HRM Architecture for CE(adapted from Hayton, 2005)

High DiscretionJob Design

Socialization &Team Training

PerceivedOrganization

Support

Social CapitalTrust

Citizenship

Internal & External Resource

Exchange

Human Capital Investments

RiskTaking

CorporateEnt.

Perf. Management& Incentives

Entrepreneurial Networks (Kang et al, 2007)

• Entrepreneurial networks

• access to external knowledge and capabilities

• partnering

• Internal networks

• knowledge integration

• knowledge recombination

• Need more research on network characteristics and influence of HRM

HR and Risk

• CE involves uncertainty and/or risk

• career versus financial (von Hippel, 1977)

• Emphasis of research on rewards

• inputs versus outcomes (e.g., Balkin and colleagues)

Opportunities for Research & Practice

• What influences willingness of corporate entrepreneurs (in any role) to contribute?

• Psychological safety and perceived career risk

• Taking a total rewardsperspective

Further Opportunities for Research & Practice

• HR’s role in building networks

• The effects of relationships and social capital on knowledge sharing/learning

• Returning to our ‘roots’: case studies and descriptive work - how do entrepreneurial firms manage?

Thank you!

Gracias!