Organizational resources and survival of startups firms – a qualitative analysis in the Peruvian context
Academia Revista Latinoamericana de Administración
ISSN: 1012-8255
Article publication date: 28 October 2020
Issue publication date: 29 March 2021
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to use a combination of resource-based theory and dynamic capabilities theory to explore the phenomenon of startup survival in an emerging entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Design/methodology/approach
The study has a phenomenological research design, with an exploratory scope and qualitative approach. It uses in-depth interviews to identify the perceptions of ecosystem agents about the phenomenon of survival.
Findings
This paper argues that startup survival should be studied as a construct that is reflected by four conditions: break-even point, accelerated growth, cash stock and continuous operation. Furthermore, it is formed by the interaction of five mainly interacting resources: human capital, social capital, entrepreneurial capital, organizational capital and the incubation process.
Originality/value
The study offers a holistic model of survival that could be applicable to incipient entrepreneurial ecosystems such as the Peruvian one. This model presents survival as a reflexive-formative construct and not as a dichotomic variable (enterprise operating/enterprise closed) as has been commonly considered in the literature.
Propósito
En este documento se utiliza una combinación de la teoría basada en los recursos y la teoría de las capacidades dinámicas para explorar el fenómeno de la sobrevivencia de startups en un ecosistema emprendedor incipiente.
Diseño/metodología/enfoque
El estudio tiene un diseño de investigación fenomenológica, con un alcance exploratorio y un enfoque cualitativo. Utiliza entrevistas en profundidad para identificar las percepciones de los agentes del ecosistema sobre el fenómeno de la sobrevivencia.
Hallazgos
En este documento se argumenta que la sobrevivencia de los startups debe estudiarse como un constructo que se refleja en cuatro condiciones: el punto de equilibrio, el crecimiento acelerado, el stock de efectivo y la operación continua. Además, se forma por la interacción de cinco categorías de recursos organizacionales: el capital humano, el capital social, el capital emprendedor, el capital organizacional y el proceso de incubación.
Originalidad/valor
El documento ofrece un modelo holístico de sobrevivencia que podría ser aplicable en ecosistemas emprendedores incipientes como el peruano. Este modelo presenta a la sobrevivencia como un constructo reflexivo-formativo y no como una variable dicotómica (empresa en actividad / empresa cerrada) como se ha considerado comúnmente en la literatura.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The author grateful to Jean Pierre Seclén for his advice in the research process, to the three anonymous reviewers whose insightful comments contributed to improving my arguments, and to the people who gave me their time to conduct the in-depth interviews. The author also grateful to Cecilia Mindreau for her suggestions to improve the comprehensibility of this document and to Meylin Alvarez for her English language review.Funding: This work was supported by the research support program of the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú [grant numbers DGI-2019-7-0007].
Citation
Alvarez Salazar, J. (2021), "Organizational resources and survival of startups firms – a qualitative analysis in the Peruvian context", Academia Revista Latinoamericana de Administración, Vol. 34 No. 1, pp. 59-87. https://doi.org/10.1108/ARLA-04-2020-0080
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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