BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
Surprising Electronic Human Resource Management (e-HRM) Research Results
Tanya Bondarouk (OOHR) and Rainer Harms did very well at the Sixth International Dutch HRM Network Conference. Their paper won the Best Paper Award of 2009. E-HRM specialist Bondarouk remarked that "the jury was surprised by our conclusions. Our qualitative empirical research at a Belgian government ministry showed that the quality of HRM does not go hand in hand with the level of digitalisation. We used to think that technology would improve efficiency and tempo. But that occurs only when e-HRM becomes routine, and that takes about five years. There are immediate advantages to be had from improved data oversight, but only if your organisation has HR specialists on board who can analyse and forecast." Bondarouk believes that new insights can lead to another focus. "Showing efficiency is outmoded. It is more interesting to research E-HRM's potential strategic advantages, as well as the role of the line manager and HR manager."
Assistant Professor
E-HRM in 2009 (04:11 minutes, double-click to enlarge video)
Dries Faems Receives the Veni Subsidy
In 2009, Dries Faems was awarded a Veni Subsidy in the amount of 250,000 Euros from the Dutch Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO); enough for three years' worth of research into technological acquisitions. "Large companies buy smaller ones; generally high-tech firms, with the objective of generating new ideas. But the fusion which follows is fraught and often fails to deliver the hoped-for added value. In this new research, Faems hopes to "look at how the collaborative working relationship before the acquisition is influenced, in either a positive or negative sense, by the integration that occurs after acquisition." The subsidy, which is awarded to only ten per cent of submitted proposals, was granted to Faems on the basis of his innovative process methodology. "We collect no numerical data for statistical analysis. Well-known case studies, such as ABN-AMRO and Ahold, are closer to what we do. Until the end of 2012, we will be reconstructing and conceptually analysing such cases."
The First High-tech Entrepreneurs go to VentureLab Twente
In 2009 the first group of high-tech entrepreneurs received training at the VentureLab. Newcomers and re-starters learn strategy, financing, intellectual property protection, and more; in combination with personal and team skills development. But for the VentureLab itself this first year has also been a learning process. NIKOS' Scientific Director Aard Groen: "We teach participants that entrepreneurship is different than just following a business plan. Real life is more unpredictable than that. We are not immune either. During the pilot project we identified the need to make the programme more flexible, so that every entrepreneur could chose their own package. We are also considering extending the course with a post-initial academic programme. Last year, VentureLab received a subsidy of 2.5 million Euros from the European Fund for Regional Development, and we are expecting a contribution from the Region of Twente. "We stimulate regional activity. Thanks to VentureLab more companies will have a successful start; and spin-offs are given the tools to grow larger."
Better Chances of Securing Venture Capital
Just send your business plan off by e-mail and then wait for the financial injection to come. Joris Heuven rates this approach as having little chance of success. He graduated in February, 2009 with a dissertation on venture capital outlining investigations into how high-tech entrepreneurs could increase their success rates with venture capitalists. "You have to see it as a marriage; you have to work at it. That means: going to network meetings at a very early stage, finding a good match, going for a casual lunch... . And if the question at some point months later becomes verbalised, then the first large obstacle has been overcome. In the best case, the investor comes away with the feeling that he or she took the initiative." It sounds very straightforward, but nevertheless the majority of high-tech entrepreneurs lose their way at this point. "That's why I screen business plans and give advice and training through NIKOS/Venture Lab. It's not just a research thesis anymore!"
Russians Lack a Feeling for the Market
Just ten per cent of all the papers submitted to the Best Paper Proceedings of the prestigious Academy of Management are accepted. In 2009 Mariska Roersen's (NIKOS) thesis paper was among them. For her research the then-Business Administration student took a market orientation scale from 1990 and set off for Moscow Technical University. "I investigated technological spin-offs that wanted to go international. They scored very highly. But there was nothing much left of that desire after I thoroughly interviewed them. Four nearly-identical water purification companies were under the impression that they were unique, and that clients would come to them. I call that unconsciously incompetent, and it stems from the fact that Russia has no market history." Even so, Roersen thinks that high tech start-ups in Twente may have the same blind spot. "Many high tech companies think that there expertise is enough. Fortunately, we have VentureLab here to alleviate the lack of market experience."