Resource orchestration in start‐ups: Synchronizing human capital investment, leveraging strategy, and founder start‐up experience
研究初创企业如何通过协调人力资本投资、杠杆策略和创始人经验来提升绩效，发现偏离行业平均的人力资本投资会损害绩效，但若与创新策略结合则损害较小，且受创始人经验调节。
Research Summary: We examine the performance effects of resource orchestration in start‐ups by investigating three key contingencies of resource orchestration: human capital (HC) investment relative to rivals, leveraging strategy, and founder start‐up experience. We find that deviating from rivals' resource investments (either above or below the industry mean) negatively affects performance, while conforming to the norms set by rivals positively affects performance. However, we also find that a higher investment in HC relative to rivals is less detrimental when aligned with a leveraging strategy focused on innovation. In addition, we find evidence that this relationship is conditioned by the entrepreneurial experience of the founders themselves. Managerial Summary: To create value, entrepreneurs need to assemble and manage various resources and capabilities. We explain how entrepreneurs can manage their resources to achieve higher performance. Using a sample of U.S. start‐ups, we find that deviations in human capital (HC) investments relative to rivals (either below or above) harm the performance of start‐ups. However, we also find that a higher investment in HC relative to rivals is less detrimental when the start‐up is focused on innovation. In addition, we find that experienced founders benefit from actively orchestrating HC investments relative to rivals with a strategy focused on innovation.