Illinois Strategic Organizations Initiative

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Driven by Gies College of Business' commitment to achieving the highest standard in faculty excellence and globally renowned research, the Illinois Strategic Organizations Initiative (ISOI) addresses unmet demand by academic communities and corporations for interdisciplinary research in strategic organizational design and management. ISOI conducts, sponsors, and promotes world-class research and thought leadership in strategic organizations and builds upon Gies College of Business’ distinguished history and reputation in both organizational behavior and strategy. Major theoretical innovations in strategic organizations were developed at Illinois, including resource dependence theory, organizational symbolism, managerial cognition, and institutional pluralism.

 

 

Research Spotlight

Jewels in the crown: Exploring the motivations and team building processes of employee entrepreneurs

Sonali K. Shah, Rajshree Agarwal, Raj Echambadi
Published in Strategic Management Journal

This study examines motivations and team building processes of employee entrepreneurs in the disk-drive industry. Our inductive, grounded theory building approach uncovers that ringleadersfounders who spearhead spinout creationare driven by a nonpecuniary desire to create in a fertile environment, when they encounter frictions within the parent firm. Cofounders share the desire to create, but ensure departure on good terms to retain the option of returning to paid employment as a safeguard against entrepreneurial risk. We uncover an endogenous team building process in which more successful founding teams engage in “workplace instrumentality”—creating workplaces through deliberate selection of cofounders who have complementary functional knowledge, but are similar in that they possess superior problem-solving abilities, best-in-class talent, and common workplace values. [READ FULL PAPER]

 

 

Research and Scholarship that Make a Global Impact

ISOI is committed to engaging with the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus, the broader academic community, and the world of business through research that cuts across disciplines and subdisciplines.

ISOI Leadership