Amphibious entrepreneurs and the emergence of organizational forms
研究了1972至1981年间首批26家生物技术公司的创立模式，发现四种组织形式变体，其中一种由“两栖”科学家从学术界移植组织理念而来，这种移植虽脆弱但富有生成潜力。
Abstract We study the emergence of organizational forms, focusing on two mechanisms—reconfiguration and transposition—that distinguish the founding models of the first 26 biotechnology companies, all created in the industry's first decade, from 1972 to 1981. We analyze rich archival data using hierarchical cluster analysis, revealing four organizational variants of the dedicated biotech firm (DBF). Three were products of reconfiguration, as executives from Big Pharma used past practices to incorporate new science. One DBF variant resulted from ‘amphibious’ scientists who imported organizing ideas from the academy into their VC‐funded start‐ups. We argue that such transpositions are fragile, yet charged with generative possibilities. Copyright © 2012 Strategic Management Society.