25 October 2019
ESCP – Campus République
Moyra MARVAL, PhD candidate in the PhD programme ESCP, publicly defended her PhD thesis in Management Sciences.Corporate Accelerators: Novel Organizations for Entrepreneurial Support – Toward a Process Theory
Jury
Supervisors:
- Mrs Jacqueline FENDT,
Professor, ESCP - Mr René MAUER,
Professor, ESCP
Referees:
- Mrs Stéfanie DAMERON,
Professeur des Universités, Université Paris Dauphine - Mrs Cristina ROSSI LAMASTRA,
Professor, Politecnico di Milano School of Management
Suffragants:
- Mr Didier CHABAUD,
Professor, IAE Paris - Mr Erno TORNIKOSKY,
Professor, University of Exeter Business School
Abstract
Since 2010, large firms have begun to launch accelerators, and thus participated in entrepreneurial support ecosystems. These novel corporate accelerators differ in many ways from independent accelerators. Furthermore, they constitute a rich context to study, namely in how they manage diverse, often contradictory prescriptions from their various audiences over time.
Grounded in 52 interviews and abundant archival data from six case studies of corporate accelerators in Europe aggregated over a period of eight years (2011-2018), this thesis contributes an integrated conceptual model that evidences the distinct interplay of institutional pressures experienced by these corporate-backed organizations. It theorizes on the different strategies they use, discard, and reinvent over time, to address this institutional complexity so as to gain legitimacy, survive, and strive.
It also proposes a new definition of corporate accelerators to stimulate future research, focusing on these organizations’ core purpose, which is to accelerate the formation of collaborative alliances between large firms and startups.
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