Browsing by Author "Terjesen, Siri"
Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
Results Per Page
Sort Options
Item Open Access Entrepreneurs' transitions from corporate life to own ventures - leveraging human capital and social capital to establish new businesses(Cranfield University, 2005-08) Terjesen, Siri; Vinnicombe, Susan; Svejenova, SilviyaThis thesis explores the phenomenon of individuals leaving management careers in large corporations and establishing their own new ventures. Although the "corporate leaver" entrepreneur story enjoys frequent coverage in the popular press, there is little extant academic research on these individuals and their entrepreneurial process. Particularly lacking is an understanding of how the entrepreneurs make use of their past experiences. This study explores how entrepreneurs leverage human capital and social capital from previous work experiences when starting their own ventures. This dissertation is based on the results of an exploratory study and a main study, both of which were classified using Nvivo software. The exploratory study consists of interviews with six male/female entrepreneur pairs matched by management level and industry sector of previous employment. The exploratory study identifies the entrepreneurs' human capital and bridging and bonding social capital as well as feelings about previous work experience, motivations to start a new venture and family commitments. The main study is based on interviews with 24 entrepreneurs (twelve male, twelve female) who recently left management positions in financial services firms to establish their own businesses. The main study extends the exploratory study by unpacking the transfer of human capital in the form of knowledge creation and the transfer of bonding and bridging social capital. The research offers a number of theoretical, empirical, methodological and practical contributions to the field. At a theoretical level, this research confirms the usefulness of human capital and social capital for examining entrepreneurs' transfer from corporate. An analysis of the main study interviews reveals that the transfer of tacit and explicit knowledge from past work experience to the new venture can be mapped to Nonaka's knowledge creation framework. Third, the research highlights the application of structural, relational and cognitive dimensions of social capital to the former corporate entrepreneurs' social networks. A typology of the degree of transferability of human capital and social capital from previous work experiences is suggested, and eight case studies illustrate the four types: applicators, exploiters, networkers and re-inventors. The thesis offers empirical evidence in the form of entrepreneurs' self-reported human capital and social capital. Entrepreneurs' human capital is classified in terms of education, family background, and industry, management, business development and start-up experience. Entrepreneurs' social capital is organised by bonding (e. g. partners, mentors) and bridging relationships. The results indicate some differences between male and female entrepreneurs in terms of gender homophily of social networks. A framework for analysing the transfer of human capital and social capital from past experience is developed. There is empirical evidence both of knowledge and networks which the entrepreneurs report as transferring to the new venture, and those which do not. Entrepreneurs' creation of new knowledge from past work experience and transfer to the new venture can be classified by Nonaka's socialisation, externalisation, combination and internalisation types. In terms of social capital, entrepreneurs report transferring relationships from past work experiences which have structural, relational and cognitive embeddedness. At the methodological level, the rich, qualitative nature of this research enables new insights into the transition from corporate to own ventures. Entrepreneurs' language is used to measure relational, structural and cognitive embeddedness. The thesis offers knowledge of practice. The phenomenon of individuals leaving corporate management careers to start own ventures, particularly in the financial services industry, is examined and explored. Implications for managers interested in leaving corporate to start their own ventures are offered, as are suggestions for corporations interested in retaining these employees. A typology of former corporate entrepreneurs by human capital and social capital transfer is developed. Authenticity- seeking motives are uncovered in the rhetoric of individuals who start new ventures in new industries.Item Open Access Female Presence on Corporate Boards: A Multi-Country Study of Environmental Context(Springer Netherlands, 2008-11) Terjesen, Siri; Singh, ValA growing body of ethics research investigates gender diversity and governance on corporate boards, at individual and firm levels, in single country studies. In this study, we explore the environmental context of female representation on corporate boards of directors, using data from forty-three countries. We suggest that women's representation on corporate boards may be shaped by the larger environment, including the social, political and economic structures of individual countries. We use logit regression to conduct our analysis. Our results indicate that countries with higher representation of women on boards are more likely to have women in senior management and more equal ratios of male to female pay. However, we find that countries with a longer tradition of women's political representation are less likely to have high levels of female board representation.Item Open Access Newly appointed directors in the boardroom: How do women and men differ?(Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam., 2008-02-01T00:00:00Z) Singh, Val; Terjesen, Siri; Vinnicombe, SusanThis paper investigates the human capital profile of new appointees to corporate boards, exploring gender differences in education, profile and career experiences. Findings from a study of UK boards reveal that women are significantly more likely to bring international diversity to their boards and to possess an MBA degree. New male directors are significantly more likely to have corporate board experience, including CEO/COO roles, while new female appointees are significantly more likely to have experience as directors on boards of smaller firms. Our evidence contradicts the view reported by some chairmen that women lack adequate human capital for boardroom positions.Item Open Access Women directors on corporate boards: A review and research agenda(Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 2009-01-01T00:00:00Z) Terjesen, Siri; Sealy, Ruth; Singh, ValReview This review examines how gender diversity on corporate boards influences corporate governance outcomes that in turn impact performance. We describe extant research on theoretical perspectives, characteristics, and impact of women on corporate boards (WOCB) at micro, meso, and macro levels: individual, board, firm, and industry/environment. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first comprehensive review of WOCBs, incorporating and integrating research from over 400 publications in psychology, sociology, leadership, gender, finance, management, law, corporate governance, and entrepreneurship domains. In addition, we organized our findings to provide a new lens enabling the field to be readily examined by level and by theoretical perspective. The review indicates that WOCB research is about improving corporate governance through better use of the whole talent pool's capital, as well as about building more inclusive and fairer business institutions that better reflect their present generation of stakeholders. With only one in 10 papers addressing theoretical development, the predominant perspectives are human and social capital theories and gender schema at the individual level; social identity, token, and social networks theories at board level; resource dependency, institution, and agency theories at the firm level; and institutional, critical, and political theories at the environmental level. We provide a short synopsis of findings at each level, and conclude with an outline of fruitful directions for future research. There are increasing pressures for WOCBs from diverse stakeholders, such as the European Commission, national governments, politicians, employer lobby groups, shareholders, Fortune and FTSE rankings, best places for women to work lists, as well as expectations from highly qualified women who are likely to leave if they see no women board members. Rationales generally draw on the business case; however, the moral justice case is also used by those who seek a fairer gender balance in all aspects of society. From our review, the "Impact" section charts the effect of WOCB at all four levels of analysis.