Please see the following Call for Papers. As noted, manuscripts should be submitted to GOM (http://gom.sagepub.com) and designated as being for the "Special Issue."
Please contact Hans Landström (hans.landstrom@fek.lu.se) or me (ftlohrke@samford.edu) if you have any questions about this Special Issue.
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Call for Papers for a Special Issue of Group & Organization Management
NEW ADVANTAGE AND LIABILITY SOURCES IN ENTREPRENEURIAL FIRMS:
ASSESSING PROGRESS AND EXPLORING POSSIBILITIES
Submission Period: June 30, 2015-August 31, 2015
Guest Editors: Hans Landström (Lund University) and Franz Lohrke (Samford University)
Do new ventures (NVs) still face the same daunting survival odds scholars first asserted a half century ago or are they innovative, flexible organizations that attract customers, suppliers, and investors? Are small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) unable to compete effectively with or can they respond to changing competitive environments better than their larger counterparts? Extant research provides ample evidence that both these contrasting views may be valid.
On the one hand, scholars have found a positive relationship between firm newness and failure, often referred to as 'liabilities of newness.' Similarly, scholars have noted that SMEs face size disadvantages (i.e., 'liabilities of smallness'), including inabilities to capture economies of scale, develop a strong brand name, or gain bargaining power with key stakeholders. On the other hand, other theoretical and empirical studies have suggested that NVs and SMEs may actually enjoy important strategic advantages.
These latter perspectives may be enhanced by recent innovations and other trends that could boost NV and SME advantages and/or partially mitigate their disadvantages. For example, NVs and SMEs can now build a brand name and find critical human resources talent via social media, access essential software via cloud computing, prototype products with 3D printing, outsource production to overcome capacity constraints, run geographically dispersed operations with virtual teams, and raise capital for new business ideas through crowdfunding. In addition, national and local governments have often tried to support entrepreneurship by passing favorable legislation and establishing incubation facilities. These innovations and policies have lowered industry entry barriers as well as enhanced the ability of NVs and SMEs to compete on a more equal footing with their more established and larger counterparts.
Accordingly, this special issue seeks to examine if and how critical issues related to liabilities of newness and smallness have changed, given recent technological innovations and other trends. We believe that a special issue devoted to these topics is especially timely, not only because this research can inform current management theory, policy, and practice but also because it has now been five and three decades, respectively, since the publication of Stinchcombe's (1965) seminal work on liabilities of newness and Auster and Aldrich's (1986) groundbreaking study on liabilities of smallness. These anniversaries provide an ideal time to reflect on findings, to date, and examine future research avenues.
Submissions should be prepared in accordance with Group & Organization Management guidelines. The submission window will be open between June 30 and August 31, 2015.
See http://bit.ly/GOMcallLoN for the full Call for Papers.
Franz T. Lohrke
Brock Family Endowed Chair in Entrepreneurship
Department Chair
Entrepreneurship, Management & Marketing Department
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ftlohrke@samford.edu
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Call for Papers – Special Issue at Group & Organization Management on Liabilities of Newness and Smallness examining how/whether these liabilities have changed, given technological advances such as crowd funding, social media, self-publishing, 3D printing, and others.