The study, in collaboration with Penn State professor Raghu Garud, addresses the important topic of entrepreneurial pivoting. When entrepreneurs deal with unforeseen setbacks or delays, or encounter new opportunities, they have to decide whether they continue on a given path or rather make a pivot. The study highlights the role temporal commitments play in entrepreneurs’ decision-making and the choices they have when they encounter unexpected events. To deal with unexpected events, entrepreneurs need to reconsider the venture’s past and the timing of actions and milestones. The researchers propose that temporal commitments must be approached in tandem with relational commitments. Only by combining the two can entrepreneurs decide whether to persevere with their original strategies or pivot towards unforeseen potential.
The best paper award is sponsored the Lazaridis School at Wilfrid Laurier University.
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