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The Sol C. Snider Entrepreneurial Research Center Faculty Research Areas & Interest An entrepreneurial focus and spirit permeates Wharton's diverse research programs. Among the areas in which Wharton faculty and researchers are leading in entrepreneurial research: Accelerating Competitive Effectiveness Entrepreneurs who cannot develop competitive competence quickly will simply run out of funds or be destroyed by competition. Managing Rapid Growth Some firms seem to be able to maintain rapid growth for long periods of time, while most rapidly growing firms blow themselves apart. This program seeks to understand what is special about those firms that can sustain rapid growth over long periods of time. Long-run Technology Investments The origins of the major enterprises of the future lie in the investment to develop new technologies. The issue is how to assess technology development proposals where it might be years before the technology can be commercialized. Technology Strategy Entrepreneurial firms are strapped for resources and therefore have to be enormously selective in what technology to develop. This program seeks to identify the most appropriate places for firms to develop technologies. Corporate Venturing It is essential that large hierarchical firms become successful at using their platform of experience in products, markets and technology to elevate and create new wealth via innovations and product markets scope. This research program is focused on how to undertake the difficult task of continuously developing new business ventures within larger firms. Research Engines In any R&D oriented industry (those which lead to the bulk of wealth creation), the bulk of the technology that is created, is developed by a small proportion of the people involved in the creative activity — this is the research engine. If we are to understand more about activities that create social wealth we need to begin to understand how these research engines generate new knowledge. Valuation One of the major problems facing young companies, especially those undergoing rapid growth, is the lack of adequate methods for valuing the firm when it seeks equity to support its growth. Huge amounts of time are consumed in arguing about the valuation and dilution associated with the equity position taken by new providers of funds, with much resulting ill-will on the part of both parties. There is a significant need to develop more accurate and mutually acceptable methods of valuation. Simulation of Knowledge Development in Information Space This project combines a genetic algorithm/genetic programming simulation that is designed to crack the evolution of adaptive artificial agents located in a knowledge space that conforms to Boisot's information space comprising three dimensions — degree of diffusion, degree of abstraction, and degree of codification. A Kinetic Theory of Growth to Measure Organizational Quality and Predict a Company's Value Creation Potential The intellectual capital (entrepreneurial activity) of an organization has become increasingly important for sustainable business growth and for achieving desired capital returns. However, the ability to measure and therefore assess the intellectual capital of an organization from normally accepted accounting data has remained elusive and anecdotal. What is needed is a more effective relationship that models organizational quality to sustainable growth and measures the intangible quality of an organization as a number directly derived from accounting data. Business Models of E-Commerce Firms We have initiated an international research project with INSEAD to study business models of public e-commerce firms both in the US and Europe. |
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