Riassunto analitico
Today the start- up phenomenon is becoming more and more relevant not only for academics, but for the society at all. Films, entrepreneurial case studies and business books caught the general curiosity by divulging the stories of some start-ups that, in a few years, have reached an extraordinary success. Nevertheless, the heterogeneity of characteristics from one start-up to another does not allow to have a single and universally accepted definition of such organizations. What can be consider a pillar of these entities is their dynamicity: start-ups continuously evolve in order to find a repeatable and scalable business model, and, once they succeed, they strive to expand, scale and consolidate themselves. Another milestone that shapes the definition of these entities is the presence of a high-skilled work force. Hence, the human resource function can be considered crucial in order to exploit the capabilities of the employees that impact on the implementation and improvement of the business model. Since the past literature has especially focused on the analysis of best human resource practice to generally booster organization’s creativity and overcome common problems , this study will bring an element of novelty by seeking in a dynamic way the most relevant and effective human resource practices for each specific start-up phase. In order to achieve this aim, this work will start from clarifying what are the main characteristics of start-ups and deducing a definition that embrace the past literature. Once given such description, the theoretical framework will expand the analysis by breaking down the start-up life into several phases. For each of these, the main activities, resources, entrepreneurial traits and actors will be displayed and this will be essential in order to understand how HRM can be relevant in different manners during a start-up’s life. In chapter 2 the focus will switch from the entrepreneurial world to the managerial field. The main functions of HRM will be presented and together with a definition and its field of action. Given that an important piece of literature has been dedicated to HRM and creativity, some insights will be shown since they might be relevant for such creative workplaces like start-ups. Chapter 3 is the element of novelty of this work since it highlights, for each stage of a start-up’s life, what are its key activities, resources, entrepreneurial traits and key actors, and suggests what HRM practices may be beneficial for each of these aspects across time.
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Abstract
Today the start- up phenomenon is becoming more and more relevant not only for academics, but for the society at all. Films, entrepreneurial case studies and business books caught the general curiosity by divulging the stories of some start-ups that, in a few years, have reached an extraordinary success. Nevertheless, the heterogeneity of characteristics from one start-up to another does not allow to have a single and universally accepted definition of such organizations. What can be consider a pillar of these entities is their dynamicity: start-ups continuously evolve in order to find a repeatable and scalable business model, and, once they succeed, they strive to expand, scale and consolidate themselves. Another milestone that shapes the definition of these entities is the presence of a high-skilled work force. Hence, the human resource function can be considered crucial in order to exploit the capabilities of the employees that impact on the implementation and improvement of the business model. Since the past literature has especially focused on the analysis of best human resource practice to generally booster organization’s creativity and overcome common problems , this study will bring an element of novelty by seeking in a dynamic way the most relevant and effective human resource practices for each specific start-up phase. In order to achieve this aim, this work will start from clarifying what are the main characteristics of start-ups and deducing a definition that embrace the past literature. Once given such description, the theoretical framework will expand the analysis by breaking down the start-up life into several phases. For each of these, the main activities, resources, entrepreneurial traits and actors will be displayed and this will be essential in order to understand how HRM can be relevant in different manners during a start-up’s life. In chapter 2 the focus will switch from the entrepreneurial world to the managerial field. The main functions of HRM will be presented and together with a definition and its field of action. Given that an important piece of literature has been dedicated to HRM and creativity, some insights will be shown since they might be relevant for such creative workplaces like start-ups. Chapter 3 is the element of novelty of this work since it highlights, for each stage of a start-up’s life, what are its key activities, resources, entrepreneurial traits and key actors, and suggests what HRM practices may be beneficial for each of these aspects across time.
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