Strategy & Entrepreneurship (S&E)
Research area
The research area addressed by the programme focuses on the antecedents and outcomes of strategic renewal of firms and of their external networks and industries.
Keywords
Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Strategic Renewal; Managerial roles, Top Management Teams and Leadership; Corporate Entrepreneurship, Strategic Innovation; Exploitation, Exploration and Ambidexterity; International Business
Mission of the programme
The mission of this research programme is:
- to contribute to knowledge production by publishing articles in internationally leading scientific journals and books;
- to be considered as belonging to the top 5 European academic research centres in strategy and entrepreneurship;
- to disseminate knowledge to the international business community and to focus on relevance with respect to the implementation of knowledge; and,
- on the basis of these activities to disseminate knowledge and play a leading and innovative role in the Schools’ teaching programmes, including executive teaching.
Current programme coordinators
 | Pursey Heugens Professor of Organization Theory, Development, and Change |  | Harry Barkema Professor of Innovation Management |
 | Enrico Pennings Professor Applied Industrial Organization |  | Roy Thurik Professor of Economics and Entrepreneurship |
 | Hans van Oosterhout Professor of Corporate Governance and Responsibility |  | Henk Volberda Professor of Strategic Management & Business Policy |
Problem formulation and research themes
Theme 1: Strategic renewal
Strategic renewal relates to the process of combining both the exploitation of existing competencies and the exploration of new competencies resulting in a change of the strategic direction of the organisation and the external networks and industries involved. Using both qualitative and quantitative research methods, the research programme seeks to understand and investigate in particular the managerial capabilities, intra- and interorganisational antecedents, environmental conditions and industry context that are likely to enable a firm to renew, augment and adapt its core competence over time.
The research programme endeavours to answer important scientific and societal questions such as:
- How and why do organisational and environmental antecedents and external factors such as those associated with the industry structure and international environment matter in strategic renewal?
- How and why do exploration, exploitation, non-technological determinants of innovation, ambidexterity, corporate entrepreneurship and leadership styles influence strategic renewal?
- How do internationalisation processes (e.g. foreign direct investments and offshoring) influence innovation, productivity and strategic renewal?
- How and why does strategic renewal take place as a multi-level coevolutionary process?
- What roles do (top) managers at the corporate and unit level play in strategic renewal?
Assessing a managerial perspective implies that we take into account that strategic renewal in multi-unit firms involves both top-down as well as bottom-up initiatives like corporate entrepreneurship, new business development, various levels of analysis (corporate, business unit, project, individual), various inter- and intra-organisational forms of renewal, and renewal of management (management innovation and leadership styles).
The research programme aims to provide new knowledge regarding strategic renewal which all result in new theoretical insights, conceptual frameworks, and metrics and measures that capture various attributes of strategic renewal.
THEME 2: Entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurship includes not just the micro level of analysis (persons, groups and firms) level of analysis but also higher levels of analysis, as evidenced by its interest in the competitiveness of regions and nation states. The EU member states, including the Netherlands, are performing worse than the US and below capacity in terms of productivity growth and competitiveness. This is sometimes called the ‘European paradox’: despite huge research efforts few viable innovative products are generated. Improving the competitiveness of countries like the Netherlands demands a transition to a more entrepreneurial and innovative society. Institutional barriers, social attitudes, organisational practices and regulatory norms created in the old society inhibit such a transition. To ensure that the new innovation-driven entrepreneurial society can flourish, substantial steps are needed. Targeted academic research is required to identify the sources of friction, to encourage entrepreneurial energy, to adopt smarter regulatory measures, and to spread innovative behaviour and practices.
