Publication in the Journal of Business Research on Entrepreneurial Leadership

01/05/2023

In their study "Entrepreneurial leadership, strategic flexibility, and venture performance: Does founders' span of control matter?", the research team around Professor Simon Hensellek investigates the mechanisms and organizational context through which entrepreneurial leadership behavior of founders affects the flexibility and performance of startups.

Building on upper echelons theory, the study uses data from 507 startups and shows that an entrepreneurial leadership style has a positive effect on strategic flexibility and venture performance in the form of higher revenues. However, this positive effect decreases as the number of employees to lead per founder increases. From the data used, a rule of thumb of up to 10 employees per founder emerges as a threshold for effective entrepreneurial leadership.

The study enriches the scientific discussion by transferring the elements of the Upper-Echelons-Theory into entrepreneurship research and provides new insights into the mechanisms and effectiveness of an entrepreneurial leadership style.

The Journal of Business Research (JBR) is one of the leading international management and entrepreneurship journals: Clarivate Impact Factor 2021: 10.969; Australian Business Deans Council: A; Scimago Journal Ranking: Q1; VHB JOURQUAL3: B.

Citation:

Hensellek, S., Kleine-Stegemann, L., & Kollmann, T. (2023). Entrepreneurial leadership, strategic flexibility, and venture performance: Does founders' span of control matter?. Journal of Business Research, 157(113544). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2022.113544

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Location & approach

By car

The campus of TU Dortmund University is located close to interstate junction Dortmund West, where the Sauerlandlinie A 45 (Frankfurt-Dortmund) crosses the Ruhrschnellweg B 1 / A 40. The best interstate exit to take from A 45 is "Dortmund-Eichlinghofen" (closer to Campus Süd), and from B 1 / A 40 "Dortmund-Dorstfeld" (closer to Campus Nord). Signs for the university are located at both exits. Also, there is a new exit before you pass over the B 1-bridge leading into Dortmund.

To get from Campus Nord to Campus Süd by car, there is the connection via Vogelpothsweg/Baroper Straße. We recommend you leave your car on one of the parking lots at Campus Nord and use the H-Bahn (suspended monorail system), which conveniently connects the two campuses.

By bus, subway and train

TU Dortmund University has its own train station ("Dortmund Universität"). From there, suburban trains (S-Bahn) leave for Dortmund main station ("Dortmund Hauptbahnhof") and Düsseldorf main station via the "Düsseldorf Airport Train Station" (take S-Bahn number 1, which leaves every 20 or 30 minutes). The university is easily reached from Bochum, Essen, Mülheim an der Ruhr and Duisburg.

You can also take the bus or subway train from Dortmund city to the university: From Dortmund main station, you can take any train bound for the Station "Stadtgarten", usually lines U41, U45, U 47 and U49. At "Stadtgarten" you switch trains and get on line U42 towards "Hombruch". Look out for the Station "An der Palmweide". From the bus stop just across the road, busses bound for TU Dortmund University leave every ten minutes (445, 447 and 462). Another option is to take the subway routes U41, U45, U47 and U49 from Dortmund main station to the stop "Dortmund Kampstraße". From there, take U43 or U44 to the stop "Dortmund Wittener Straße". Switch to bus line 447 and get off at "Dortmund Universität S".

The H-Bahn (Suspended Monorail System)

The H-Bahn is one of the hallmarks of TU Dortmund University. There are two stations on Campus Nord. One ("Dortmund Universität S") is directly located at the suburban train stop, which connects the university directly with the city of Dortmund and the rest of the Ruhr Area. Also from this station, there are connections to the "Technologiepark" and (via Campus Süd) Eichlinghofen. The other station is located at the dining hall at Campus Nord and offers a direct connection to Campus Süd every five minutes.

By airplane

The AirportExpress is a fast and convenient means of transport from Dortmund Airport (DTM) to Dortmund Central Station, taking you there in little more than 20 minutes. From Dortmund Central Station, you can continue to the university campus by interurban railway (S-Bahn). A larger range of international flight connections is offered at Düsseldorf Airport (DUS), which is about 60 kilometres away and can be directly reached by S-Bahn from the university station.

At campus

The departments of TU Dortmund University are spread over two campuses, the larger Campus North and the smaller Campus South. Additionally, some areas of the university are located in the adjacent "Technologiepark".