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Us And Them: The Impact Of Differing Founder Mindsets On Firm Strategic Orientation, Manisha M. Vaswani

Management Dissertations

Historically, small business founders were assumed to be motivated by profit-maximization. Today, we understand that founders also have non-economic goals for starting a business, including furthering their family legacy. This dissertation contrasts two types of founder mind-sets: an entrepreneurial mindset and a small business mind-set. I propose theoretical arguments which predict that founders who identify more with the small business mindset would pursue long-term, trust-based strategies that foster relationships with stakeholders such as suppliers and customers. On the other hand, founders who identify with the entrepreneurial mindset are more likely to pursue strategies that are ambitious, contractual, and profit-enhancing. Using …