Organizational behavior and human resource management perspectives on entrepreneurship: Lessons learned and new directions

Abstract

This special issue of Personnel Psychology is devoted to micro-based research on entrepreneurship, an emerging field that heretofore has been highly influenced by scholars in economics, strategy, and sociology. A theme of this special issue is that to further advance research on entrepreneurship, we need to develop a greater understanding of the role of individuals and teams in entrepreneurial activity from an OB/HR perspective. Accordingly, the goals of our overview article are twofold. First, we summarize the articles in the special issue, which address a number of important micro topics, including HRM practices in the entrepreneurial firm, leadership, identity, teams, well-being, diversity/equity/inclusion, and careers and hiring. These articles are based on a variety of research methods and data sources from multiple nations. Second, we identify additional important topics for OB/HR scholars who are interested in conducting research on entrepreneurship. They include a global perspective, the bright versus dark side of entrepreneurship, entrepreneurship and STEM workers, and genetic and biological determinants. We conclude with a consideration of methodological and research design issues.