Business Economics and Organizational Behavior seminar

We are happy to invite you to a joint  Business Economics and Organizational Behavior seminar at the Coller School of Management. 

The seminar will take place on Monday April 28th between 11:00-12:15 in Recanati 302.

Speaker: Mirjam van Praag (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam)

Title: Entrepreneurial Leadership: Developing a Research Agenda

Abstract: 

Developing Entrepreneurial Leadership and an Entrepreneurial Mindset within organizations seems a challenge. My earlier research in which we conducted experiments comparing the behavior and decisions of entrepreneurs and managers show marked differences in dimensions such as loss aversion, intuitive thinking, open mindedness and optimism.

Research Agenda

The hypothesis I aim to test is that the list of differences between entrepreneurs and managers is in fact very similar to a list of differences between children and adults. Entrepreneurs are more childlike than managers. They possess more childlike human capital which, in part, equals playfulness. Young minds bring perspectives and have characteristics that older minds often seem to lack.

Further elements of my research agenda are the definition, (value) measurement and development opportunities of ‘childlike human capital’ and how team diversity in terms of childlike and adult characteristics adds value, dependent on the context in which the team functions. We are also embarking on experiments in which we measure the effect on (creative or innovative) performance of an intervention that infuses subjects with elements of a more childlike mindset.

The practical relevance of this research agenda

Public and private organizations increasingly realize they are insufficiently entrepreneurial. Consequently, their flexibility and agility lack behind to effectively cope with the increased levels of change, uncertainty and ambiguity in their environment. Similarly, they lack the skills and culture to innovate. There is an increasing disbalance in (top) teams and organizational culture between an entrepreneurial mindset on the one side, and a focus on execution, governance, mitigating risks and compliance on the other side. It might be that childlike human capital is more easily defined, manipulated and developed than “an entrepreneurial mindset” and results in better and more practical tools and instruments to bring back a sound balance between an entrepreneurial and an execution orientation within (leadership) teams and organizations.