The trinity of entrepreneurial team dynamics: cognition, conflicts and cohesion

Abstract

Purpose Cognition, conflict and cohesion constitute an inseparable body of group dynamics in entrepreneurial teams. There have been few studies of how entrepreneurial team members interact with each other to enhance venture performance. The purpose of this paper is to develop and test a model that explains the trinity of cognition, conflict and cohesion in terms of social interaction between entrepreneurial team members. Design/methodology/approach Drawing upon the existing literature concerning entrepreneurial teams, the hypothesized model posits that shared cognition influences team cohesion through the mediating effects of intra-team conflicts. The model also postulates that team cohesion is positively associated with new venture performance and entrepreneurial satisfaction. Structural equation modeling is used to test the hypothesized model, using data that were collected from 203 entrepreneurial teams from technology-based companies in Taiwan. Findings The results show that shared cognition in entrepreneurial team members maintains team cohesion by restraining conflict and that team cohesion has a positive influence on entrepreneurial members’ satisfaction and new venture profitability. Practical implications The leader of a new venture team must endeavor to improve shared cognition between entrepreneurial members. To strengthen shared cognition, the leader can hold formal workshops to build consensus, informal meetings to share views, or use social media to enhance common understanding. Originality/value This paper verifies the connections between shared cognition, conflicts and cohesion in entrepreneurial teams in predicting new venture success and highlights the importance of cultivating a shared cognition in an entrepreneurial team to manage conflicts.

Relationship between Entrepreneurial Team Characteristics and Venture Performance in China: From the Aspects of Cognition and Behaviors

“…Venture performance is the goal behind the establishment and development of entrepreneurial companies, and is also a focal point of discussion in the entrepreneurial research field [7,19]. Scholars believe that the impact on the behavior of the entrepreneur mainly manifests itself in the form of venture performance [16]. Furthermore, venture performance is not just the enumeration of various related indicators, but rather a more systematic whole that should yield related indicators through the analysis of the environment of the company, the entrepreneurial team, and the individuals composing that team [20].…”

“…Meanwhile, current research on the relationship between entrepreneurial teams and venture performance has focused on the internal mechanism of the structure and characteristics of entrepreneurial teams (e.g., heterogeneity, knowledge sharing, conflict resolution, and innovation ability) affecting venture performance, while the theoretical regulation behind the effect of entrepreneurial team characteristics on venture performance is yet to be interpreted [15]. In this case, team cognition theory is introduced to this study, wherein entrepreneurial team characteristics are divided into cognition characteristics and behavior characteristics, and the chain of "cognition-behavioroutcome" is followed to analyze the relationship between entrepreneurial team characteristics and venture performance [7,16].…”

Introductory article for NCMR's Special Issue: Negotiation and Conflict Management in Entrepreneurial Ventures and Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs)

“…However, despite the fit of such topics with the call for papers, unfortunately the studies came short in terms of adequate grounding into the existing body of work. For example, conflict in entrepreneurial teams (Breugst, Patzelt, & Rathgeber, 2015;Chen, Chang, & Chang, 2017) or their methodology was not rigorous enough in terms of research design, data collection, or data analysis.…”

“…Even though scholars have given growing attention to topics of conflict management and negotiation in family firms (Caputo & Zarone, 2019;Caputo et al, 2018b;Kellermanns & Eddleston, 2007) and in entrepreneurial teams (Breugst et al, 2015;Chen et al, 2017), the analysis of how entrepreneurs negotiate and how conflict impacts entrepreneurial ventures and SMEs as opposed to larger businesses still has many topics to investigate.…”

The attitudes, behaviors and cognition of entrepreneurs: rebels with a cause

“…For example, scholars have demonstrated that factors such as cognitive style (Adomako et al, 2016), values (Kirkley, 2016) and team interactions (Chen et al, 2017) significantly influence entrepreneurial efforts. In spite of this, extant entrepreneurship research on the cognitions, attitudes and behaviors of entrepreneurs can be characterized as holding significant untapped potential to provide transformative insights regarding these important economic actors.…”