ABSTRACT
This study seeks to identify the relationship between founder motivation, vision statements, and venture growth at small internet firms. Based on a review of small firm growth, motivation, and vision theory, five hypotheses are developed. To empirically test these hypotheses, data was collected with a self-administrated online survey from 75 founders of small internet firms and 56 unique vision statements.
The main findings from hierarchical multiple regression analysis reveal that Venture growth, measured by employment, is positively related to founder Growth aspiration and Vision attributes. Merely having a vision statement or including growth-related content is not associated with higher growth. However, the quality of a vision statement, as measured by several effectiveness attributes is positively related to venture growth. The perception of vision statements is very firm-specific, and perception gaps caused by founder and objective key-word evaluation are not significantly related to venture growth. The challenge for future research lies in developing more over-arching conceptualizations for the phenomenon of firm growth, but also in capturing the frequency and extent to which vision communication takes place at small firms.
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Table of Contents
1.1 Growth
1.1.1 Entrepreneurship and growth
1.1.2 The definition of firm growth
1.1.3 Conceptualization of growth at firms and the unit of analysis
1.1.4 The use of historical growth and current founder’s motivation
1.1.5 Measures of growth
1.1.6 Growth models
1.1.7 Growth patterns
1.1.8 Determinants of growth
1.2 Motivation
1.2.1 Motivation theories
1.2.2 Content theories of motivation
1.2.3 Process theories of motivation
1.2.4 Theory of reasoned action
1.2.5 Theory of planned behavior
1.2.6 Motivation as main determinant of entrepreneurship process and growth
1.3 Vision
1.3.1 Vision definition
1.3.2 The implementation of a vision statement strategy, mediators and moderators
1.3.3 Vision attributes
1.3.4 VisionPlex®’s Seven Key Dimensions as extension of traditional vision attributes
1.3.5 Vision content
1.3.6 Building effective vision statements
1.3.7 Vision communication
2.1 Research model
2.2 Questionnaire and measurement instruments
2.3 Questionnaire design and means to reduce non-response error
2.4 Translation and Pilot study
2.5 Population and Respondents
2.6 Calculating firm growth
2.7 Calculating growth aspiration, vision attributes, vision content, and vision attribute gap
2.8 Internal consistency of Constructs
3.1 Descriptive statistics and correlations
3.2 Multiple Linear Regression Analysis
3.3 Hierarchical multiple linear regression model building
Research Objectives and Themes
This study aims to examine the relationship between founder motivation, vision statements, and venture growth in small internet firms, focusing on identifying whether specific founder characteristics and vision statement qualities correlate with firm success.
- Analysis of founder motivation as a determinant of firm growth.
- Evaluation of the impact of vision statements and their attributes on venture growth.
- Methodological development of measuring vision attribute gaps and growth-related vision content.
- Empirical testing of hypotheses using regression analysis on a dataset of internet start-up founders.
Excerpt from the Book
1.1.2 The definition of firm growth
Growth at a firm is the “increase in the level, amount or type of work and outputs in the firm” (Coulter, 2001) which involves expanding, enlarging or extending what the firm does. In the case of small firms a distinction has to be made between growth, expansion and gazelles. Growth implies a significant increase in sales or the number of employees after the start-up whereas expansion is rather related to a more controlled increase in market share after the first growth phase (Bjerke, 2007). According to Birch (1979), gazelles are companies which experience a disproportionately large growth of jobs or sales. They are considered exceptions because of their rare occurrences and exceptional conditions which made them grow extreme rapidly.
Examples of those exceptionally fast-growing firms can be found in the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 ratings. For example, the winners of the German Technology Fast 50 awards were the three German firms: My-Hammer AG, AOE media GmbH, and zetVision AG with a 5-year growth rate of 4,786.9%; 2,672.63%; and 1,518.63%, respectively (Deloitte, 2010). In the present study, gazelles and expanding firms are omitted from the data set to reduce heterogeneity and increase the usefulness of the results. Thus the term growth will be used to refer to a firm’s initial growth stage with an increasing number of employees.
Summary of Chapters
1.1 Growth: This chapter reviews the definition and conceptualization of firm growth, differentiating between various growth models and patterns relevant to small business development.
1.2 Motivation: This section explores various psychological theories regarding motivation, focusing on content and process theories that explain why entrepreneurs behave in specific ways regarding their business.
1.3 Vision: This chapter defines vision statements, discusses their implementation principles, and explores attributes that contribute to their effectiveness in an organizational context.
2. Methodology: This part details the research model, questionnaire design, data collection processes, and the statistical methods used to test the study's five hypotheses.
3. Results: This chapter presents the descriptive statistics, correlation matrices, and the outcomes of the hierarchical multiple linear regression analyses.
4. Discussion and Conclusion: This section interprets the statistical findings in relation to the original hypotheses and discusses the broader implications for entrepreneurial research.
5. Limitations and Recommendations for Future Research: This chapter addresses methodological constraints and proposes future research directions, such as incorporating founder ability and team-shared motivation.
Keywords
Venture growth, founder motivation, vision statements, entrepreneurship, growth aspiration, VisionPlex, internet start-ups, hierarchical regression analysis, vision attributes, firm growth determinants, vision communication, quantitative evaluation, business strategy, organizational culture, start-up performance.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core focus of this research?
The study investigates the relationship between three key pillars in small internet firms: founder motivation, the quality and characteristics of their vision statements, and the resulting venture growth.
Which thematic areas does this study explore?
The research covers growth theory, the psychological construct of founder motivation, and the strategic importance of vision statements, synthesized through an empirical lens using statistical modeling.
What is the primary goal of the study?
The aim is to identify specific firm and founder characteristics that can estimate the likelihood of a firm exhibiting higher growth, particularly based on how vision statements are structured and perceived.
What scientific methodology is utilized?
The research employs a quantitative approach, using a self-administered online survey of 75 internet firm founders and applying hierarchical multiple linear regression analysis to test five specific research hypotheses.
What topics are discussed in the main body?
The main body reviews existing literature on firm growth models, motivation theories (such as the theory of planned behavior), and vision attributes, followed by a rigorous methodology and an empirical analysis of collected survey data.
What keywords characterize the work?
Core terms include venture growth, founder motivation, vision statements, entrepreneurship, growth aspiration, and vision attribute gaps.
How does this study measure firm growth?
The study uses employment growth—specifically the increase in the number of employees—as the primary indicator of venture growth, as it is considered the most reliable and measurable metric for this survey-based study.
Why are vision statements considered important in this study?
Vision statements are analyzed as leadership tools that, when effective, can provide direction and align organizational goals, theoretically positively impacting firm growth performance.
What are the findings regarding vision statements?
The study found that simply having a vision statement is not significantly related to growth, but the quality of the statement—measured by specific effectiveness attributes—shows a positive relationship with venture growth.
What are the implications for future research?
The author suggests that future research should incorporate founder ability, distinguish between individual and team motivation, and better address the communication gap between leaders and followers.
- Arbeit zitieren
- Daniel Zaleski (Autor:in), 2011, Bad Vision, No Growth - An Empirical Study of the Relationship between Founders’ Growth Motivation, Vision Statements and Venture Growth at Internet Start-ups, München, GRIN Verlag, https://www.hausarbeiten.de/document/183875
