The organizational design of entrepreneurial ventures

• Author: M. Diane Burton,Cristina Rossi‐Lamastra,Massimo G. Colombo,Noam Wasserman
• Published date: 01 September 2019
• Date: 01 September 2019
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/sej.1332

SPECIAL ISSUE ARTICLE

The organizational design of entrepreneurial

ventures

M. Diane Burton

1

| Massimo G. Colombo

2

|

Cristina Rossi-Lamastra

2

| Noam Wasserman

3

1

ILR School, Cornell University, Ithaca,

New York

2

Department of Management, Economics and

Industrial Engineering, Politecnico di Milano,

Milan, Italy

3

Sy Syms School of Business, Yeshiva

University, New York, New York

Correspondence

M. Diane Burton, ILR School, Cornell

University, Ithaca, New York.

Email: burton@cornell.edu

Abstract

Research Summary:Studying the organizational design of

entrepreneurial ventures involves investigating how entre-

preneurs design the (formal) structure of their ventures as

well as the roles, rules, and procedures that those who are

active within these ventures must obey. The topic lies at

the intersection of entrepreneurship with multiple fields,

including organization science, organizational economics,

and strategic management. However, to date, it has

attracted limited attention. This special issue includes six

articles that develop novel theory and provide new empiri-

cal evidence on the antecedents and consequences of the

organizational design of entrepreneurial ventures. Collec-

tively they offer fresh perspectives on this neglected topic

and open avenues for future work. In this article, we briefly

describe the state of the field, introduce the articles, and

suggest opportunities for further research.

Managerial Summary:There are countless how-to guides

for entrepreneurs describing start-up legal structures, incu-

bation and acceleration opportunities, and financing

options. Conversely, there is relatively little guidance for

how entrepreneurs should design their organizational struc-

ture, decision systems, and managerial practices. This spe-

cial issue contains six articles addressing the organizational

design of entrepreneurial ventures from multiple perspec-

tives and with diverse methods. This introduction describes

the state of the field prior to the special issue, introduces

Received: 23 July 2019 Accepted: 24 July 2019 Published on: 15 August 2019

DOI: 10.1002/sej.1332

© 2019 Strategic Management Society

Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal. 2019;13:243–255. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/sej 243