dr. R.M. (René) Bakker

I am an Associate Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship at the Rotterdam School of Management at Erasmus University, Field Editor for one of the top journals in entrepreneurship, the Journal of Business Venturing, and a member of the Editorial Board of the Academy of Management Review. I'm also a member of the Young Erasmus Academy and a recent laureate of an NWO VIDI grant supporting my research into the inclusion of people with disabilities. The Financial Times recently covered my ongoing work in this area.
Before joining RSM, I was Assistant Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship at the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University (USA).
My main current research theme is Inclusive Entrepreneurship, i.e., understanding whether and how entrepreneurship could form a pathway toward economic and social inclusion of often marginalized groups, including immigrants, elder entrepreneurs, and entrepreneurs with a cognitive or physical disability. My vision is that entrepreneurship is, or at least has the potential to be, a diverse and inclusive landscape promoting the inclusion of those with a larger distance to the labour market. Realizing this vision is my main drive.
My research has been published in the leading management journals, including the Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Strategic Management Journal, Organization Science, Academy of Management Annals, and Journal of Business Venturing. In addition, I have obtained multiple competitive grants throughout the years, totaling well over €1.2M in external funding.
I have extensive experience teaching at all levels. I currently teach Entrepreneurship in the BA program, and Strategic Management in the Executive MBA program, both at RSM. I have recently won several awards for my teaching, including the Best Teacher Award in the area of Strategy and Entrepreneurship, and I was nominated twice in recent years by my students for the RSM Student Representatives’ Professor of the Year Award.
My teaching recently culminated in writing a textbook (with Greg Fisher and John Wisneski) called Strategy in 3D: Essential Tools to Diagnose, Decide, and Deliver, published by Oxford University Press.
Please connect on LinkedIn to get in touch!
Publications
Article (12)
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Academic (12)
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Bakker, R., & McMullen, J. (2023). Inclusive entrepreneurship: A call for a shared theoretical conversation about unconventional entrepreneurs. Journal of Business Venturing, 38(1), Article 106268. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusvent.2022.106268
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Krause, R., Bakker, R. M., & Knoben, J. (2022). Two heads are safer than one: Changes in CEO duality and venture failure. Long Range Planning, 55(4), Article 102218. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lrp.2022.102218
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Aguinis, H., & Bakker, R. (2021). Time is of the essence: Improving the conceptualization and measurement of time. Human Resource Management Review, 31(2), Article 100763. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hrmr.2020.100763
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Wood, MS., Bakker, R., & Fisher, G. (2021). Unreasoned, non-deliberative, or temporally uncertain? Elaborating time-calibrated entrepreneurial action. Academy of Management Review. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2020.0524
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Wood, MS., Bakker, R., & Fisher, G. (2021). Back to the future: A time-calibrated theory of entrepreneurial action. Academy of Management Review, 46(1), 147-171. https://doi.org/10.5465/AMR.2018.0060
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Knoben, J., & Bakker, R. (2019). The Guppy and the whale: Relational pluralism and start-ups’ expropriation dilemma in partnership formation. Journal of Business Venturing, 34(1), 103-121. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusvent.2018.05.008
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Bakker, R., & Josefy, M. (2018). More than just a number? The conceptualization and measurement of firm age in an era of temporary organizations. The Academy of Management Annals, 12(2), 510-536. https://doi.org/10.5465/annals.2017.0035
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Bakker, R., & Shepherd, DA. (2017). Pull the plug or take the plunge: Multiple opportunities and the speed of venturing decisions in the Australian mining industry. Academy of Management Journal, 60(1), 1-26.
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Bakker, R. M. (2016). Stepping in and stepping out: Strategic alliance partner reconfiguration and the unplanned termination of complex projects. Strategic Management Journal, 37(9), 1919-1941. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.2429
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Bakker, R., DeFillippi, R., Schwab, A., & Sydow, J. (2016). Temporary organizing: Promises, processes, problems. Organization Studies, 37(12), 1703-1719.
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Bakker, R. (2016). Stepping in and stepping out: Strategic alliance partner re-configuration and the unplanned termination of complex projects. Strategic Management Journal, 37(9), 1919-1941.
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Bakker, R., & Knoben, J. (2015). Built to last or meant to end: Intertemporal choice in strategic alliance portfolios. Organization Science, 26(1), 256-276.
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Book (1)
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Academic (1)
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Fisher, G., Wisneski, JW., & Bakker, R. (2020). Strategy in 3D: Essential tools to diagnose, decide, and deliver. Oxford University Press. http://hdl.handle.net/1765/126632
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Additional activities (1)
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Journal of Business Venturing (Journal)
Editorial work (Academic)
PhD Tracks (3)

- Role: Co-promotor
- PhD Candidate: Guanyi Song
- Time frame: 2021 -

- Role: Co-promotor
- PhD Candidate: Ruud Kuijpers
- Time frame: 2020 -

- Role: Member Doctoral Committee
- PhD Candidate: Sai Kalvapalle
- Time frame: 2017 - 2023
PhD Vacancy (1)
To develop world-class academics pursuing high-impact research in Strategic Management and Entrepreneurship, we have developed a doctoral programme that combines deep-level understanding in core topics and thorough grounding in methodological design and analytical skills. Joining the PhD programme means joining a Strategic Management and Entrepreneurship group with a highly collaborative and cutting-edge research culture. The group harbours expertise in a broad range of topics: faculty members and PhD candidates work across nearly all relevant areas of the strategic management and entrepreneurship fields.
Throughout the programme, candidates work closely with faculty on joint and supervised research. Teamwork offers candidates the opportunity to learn diverse research skills and become familiar with a range of debates in the field before selecting the focus of subsequent doctoral work.
Alumni of the PhD programme hold academic positions in renowned academic institutes around the world, including Cambridge, Copenhagen Business School, ETH Zurich, HEC Paris, INSEAD, Kellogg, McGill, University of Georgia, the University of South Carolina, Renmin University, and WHU.
More information is on the “PhD in Strategic Management” website: https://www.rsm.nl/research/departments/strategic-management-and-entrepreneurship/phd-in-strategic-management/.
Events (28)
Address
Office: Mandeville Building T07-23
Burgemeester Oudlaan 50
3062 PA Rotterdam
Postbus 1738
3000 DR Rotterdam
Netherlands