Entrepreneurial Management
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- July–August 2025
- Article
Case Study: Do We Reskill or Replace Our Workforce?
By: William KerrTo remain competitive in the internet-of-things era, should the CEO of SolidTech Innovations, a fictional elevator company, invest a lot of money in reskilling its entire staff? The industry is moving from hardware to software in the form of smart, connected elevators. But instead of laying off legacy hardware staff and hiring new talent, the CEO wants to offer the employees a "Grand Bargain": The company will pay for voluntary reskilling and retraining, but the workers will need to take responsibility for their own futures. Those who opt in will gain valuable skills and have a future with the company; those who don't may face demotions and pay cuts. However, there is pushback from the company's shareholders and leaders. Some want to use the program as a fig leaf for laying off staff; others think it costs too much and might put the company at a competitive disadvantage relative to companies that are hiring technologically skilled people right away. Leaders are worried that longtime workers will balk at learning these new skills and end up quitting, causing the company to lose hundreds of years of cumulative experience. The CEO is now unsure of how to proceed.
- July–August 2025
- Article
Case Study: Do We Reskill or Replace Our Workforce?
By: William KerrTo remain competitive in the internet-of-things era, should the CEO of SolidTech Innovations, a fictional elevator company, invest a lot of money in reskilling its entire staff? The industry is moving from hardware to software in the form of smart, connected elevators. But instead of laying off legacy hardware staff and hiring new talent, the CEO...
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- August 2025
- Article
Revenue Collapses and the Consumption of Small Business Owners in the COVID-19 Pandemic
By: Olivia S. Kim, Jonathan A. Parker and Antoinette SchoarUsing financial account data linking small businesses to their owner households, we examine how business owners’ consumption responded to changes in business revenues during the COVID-19 crisis. In the first two months following the National Emergency, business revenues declined by 40 percent, largely driven by national factors rather than local infection rates or policies. However, the pass-through of revenue losses to owner consumption was limited: each dollar of revenue loss resulted in only a 1.6-cent decline in consumption. This muted pass-through persisted through 2021, even after the introduction of COVID-19 vaccines. Our findings suggest that federal subsidies and pandemic-induced reductions in spending opportunities explain the limited impact.
- August 2025
- Article
Revenue Collapses and the Consumption of Small Business Owners in the COVID-19 Pandemic
By: Olivia S. Kim, Jonathan A. Parker and Antoinette SchoarUsing financial account data linking small businesses to their owner households, we examine how business owners’ consumption responded to changes in business revenues during the COVID-19 crisis. In the first two months following the National Emergency, business revenues declined by 40 percent, largely driven by national factors rather than local...
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- June 2025
- Case
Bessemer Venture Partners (2025)
By: Jo Tango and Srimayi MylavarapuBessemer Venture Partners, one of the oldest venture capital firms in the United States, had long been known for its decentralized culture and thesis-driven investing. An internal debate had surfaced around the firm’s approach to seed-stage investing. With competitors moving aggressively, Bessemer was at a crossroads: how much uncomfortable change to adapt today in exchange for more possible future upside?
- June 2025
- Case
Bessemer Venture Partners (2025)
By: Jo Tango and Srimayi MylavarapuBessemer Venture Partners, one of the oldest venture capital firms in the United States, had long been known for its decentralized culture and thesis-driven investing. An internal debate had surfaced around the firm’s approach to seed-stage investing. With competitors moving aggressively, Bessemer was at a crossroads: how much uncomfortable change...
About the Unit
The Entrepreneurial Management Unit strives to raise the level of academic work in the field of entrepreneurship, in methodological rigor, conceptual depth, and managerial applicability. We also strive to improve the odds of entrepreneurial success for our students and for practitioners worldwide.
Because it is such a complex phenomenon, entrepreneurship must be studied through multiple lenses. We use three.
- The process of entrepreneurship - We seek to understand the processes of entrepreneurial activity in start-ups and established firms by examining the antecedents and consequences of various forms of entrepreneurial opportunity identification and opportunity pursuit for individuals, organizations, and industries. We see experimentation and innovation in products, services, processes, and business models as central to entrepreneurial activity.
- The finance of entrepreneurship - We seek to understand the financing of entrepreneurial ventures by studying the antecedents and consequences of entrepreneurial funding decisions both domestically and internationally.
- The context of entrepreneurship - We seek to understand the ways in which entrepreneurs both respond to and shape the context in which they operate, by examining the history of entrepreneurship across time and national borders and by analyzing the legal and cultural contexts for managerial action.
Please also visit the Arthur Rock Center for Entrepreneurship.
Recent Publications
Case Study: Do We Reskill or Replace Our Workforce?
- July–August 2025 |
- Article |
- Harvard Business Review
Revenue Collapses and the Consumption of Small Business Owners in the COVID-19 Pandemic
- August 2025 |
- Article |
- Journal of Financial Economics
Bessemer Venture Partners (2025)
- June 2025 |
- Case |
- Faculty Research
Clay Ridge Capital
- June 2025 |
- Supplement |
- Faculty Research
To Found or to Cofound? That Is the Question
- June 2025 |
- Teaching Note |
- Faculty Research
Pushing the Envelope: The Effects of Salary Negotiations
- 2025 |
- Working Paper |
- Faculty Research
Collusion in Brokered Markets
- June 2025 |
- Article |
- Journal of Finance
Gold Rush Vinyl
- May 2025 |
- Supplement |
- Faculty Research
Harvard Business Publishing
Seminars & Conferences
There are no upcoming events.