Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice

Effective competitive analysis (CA) is important for success in today's marketplace. CA may be particularly important to new ventures that may lack experience in their industries and knowledge of their rivals. Using survey data from 228 new ventures, this study concludes that the formality, comprehensiveness, and user orientation of CA activities are positively associated with new venture performance. Strategic uncertainty and venture origin also significantly moderate the relationship between CA and new venture performance.

The premise of this article is that the management team of a small firm plays a key role in internationalization outcomes. Specifically, it is hypothesized that a greater degree of behavioral integration within a small firm's management team enables it to manage the complexity of foreign sales growth more effectively, leading to greater overall firm growth. Findings, based on data collected from two different industries (software products, food processing), support the hypothesis and indicate that the behavioral integration of the management team moderates the relationship between foreign sales growth and overall firm growth.

Scholars (e.g., Burgel & Murray, 2000; Jones, 1999; Zacharakis, 1997) have suggested that small and medium–sized enterprise (SME) international entry mode selection is an important new research area. In this study we attempt to determine if a model of large firm entry mode selection can be applied to SME entry mode choice. Using Dunning's eclectic framework, we examined SME entry into Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). We found that Dunning's eclectic framework did a good job of predicting SME entry mode selection in CEE markets. Managerial implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.

This research note tests whether extraordinary high growth (e.g., sales growth rates of 500 percent to 31,000 percent over five years) is correlated to firm profitability. Using longitudinal data from three separate cohorts of Inc. 500 firms (from 1992 to 1996; 1993 to 1997; and 1994 to 1998), firm growth was operationalized in terms of sales and number of employees. Controlling for industry sector and ranking on the Inc. 500 lists, analyses found that extraordinary high growth—in terms of sales and number of employees—was not related to firm profitability. Firm age, however, was significantly, and inversely, related to profitability; younger firms experience slightly higher profitability rates. Implications for management and future study of extraordinary high–growth firms are discussed.