Configurations of Durability Capabilities and Their Performance Implications During an Economic Shock: An Exploratory Study on New Ventures

Abstract

Organizational resilience (OR) has long been understood as an organizing framework of firm functioning during economic adversity. OR is central to strategic entrepreneurship research because new ventures emerge and exist in an increasingly complex economic environment, where there are unexpected events that threaten firm survival and performance. Recently, entrepreneurship researchers have developed an integrative framework that is focused around key themes of OR, including capabilities for durability-i.e., the capacity of a firm to combine resources that facilitate organizing and managing in the face of major disturbances.

However, no work to date has addressed durability capabilities in an empirical manner. This dissertation addresses this gap in three ways. First, this study empirically derives configurations of durability capabilities. Second, this study analyzes the ontological nature of such configurations of durability capabilities. Third, this study explores the performance implications of the resulting configurations during an economic recession.

By addressing these gaps, this study improves upon the existing literature in three ways. First, by using a longitudinal and larger sample size than previously used. Second, by using the configuration approach. Third, by studying the context of the great economic recession (2008-2010). Using a rigorous exploratory technique (configuration approach), this study examined the configurations of durability capabilities on 2,500 new ventures in the medium and high-tech sectors.

To this end, this study shows the importance of the configuration approach when studying durability capabilities in new ventures. The results of this study support the notion that specific configurations are associated with greater probability of firm survival and higher levels of firm performance during the economic recession. The causal inference of this important organizational phenomenon remains to be studied. Research implications and a future research agenda are also discussed.