| dc.description.abstract | In the latter years, the focus on entrepreneurial firms has increased, and as a result, our
understanding of these firms has improved significantly. However, in the evolution of modern
business, there are still many things to reveal and investigate, for instance the management of
these firms. This study focuses on the relationship between top management team s (TMT)
effectiveness, their network capabilities and behavioural integration, as well as the board of
directors service role. We wanted to investigate how the latter three affect the top management
team s effectiveness. Through a quantitative method, we examined 54 new technology-based
firms, most of which were academic spin-offs (ASOs), and the rest were non-academic firms
who raised venture capital investment. Companies of this type often lack resources and
networks, and in order to solve these problems they often acquire new members to the top
management team or the board of directors. The board members can contribute by providing
resources, sharing networks and contacts, increasing legitimacy, and participate in strategic
decision-makings. On the other hand, as the members of the top management team are
responsible for the daily operations and strategic development, their human impact and
collaboration culture has an essential impact on the firm s success.
Five hypotheses about the connection between network capabilities, top management team
behavioural integration, the board s service role, and top management team s effectiveness
were developed. Following conclusions were drawn from the study: (1) increased network
capabilities in the top management team increase its effectiveness, (2) increased board s service
role increase the top management team s effectiveness, (3) the board s service role strengthens
the positive relation between top management team s network capabilities and effectiveness.
The study did not support our assumption that increased TMT behavioural integration positively
correlates with TMT effectiveness, which was contradictory to our hypothesis. One hypothesis
was inconclusive: we could not claim whether increased TMT behavioural integration would
positively affect the relationship between network capabilities and the TMT s effectiveness. | |
