A Dynamic Theory of Firms’ Embeddedness in Entrepreneurs’ Lives
Journal
Academy of Management Proceedings
Type
conference paper
Date Issued
2023
Author(s)
Abstract
Entrepreneurs experience a variety of events in their lives, such as marriage, the birth of a child, divorce, but also health shocks and deaths of relatives. Such events do not only change the lives of entrepreneurs, but likely also affect their firms. Integrating theories from literatures on the work-life interface, human life-span development, and on power and dependence, a dynamic multi-level theoretical framework is introduced that outlines the processes linking entrepreneurs’ life events and changes in firm goals and firm performance. The proposed theory also explicates the boundary conditions that influence the magnitude of firm-level changes in response to life events and explains why and how temporal patterns of change in firm-level outcomes differ across life events. The introduced theory advances a perspective of firms’ temporal embeddedness in entrepreneurs’ lives, suggesting that changes in firm goals and performance over time can mirror changes in entrepreneurs’ lives emanating from life events that entrepreneurs experience.
Volume
2023
Number
1
Event Title
83rd Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management
Event Location
Boston
Event Date
August 4-8, 2023
Division(s)