Measures of entrepreneurial value creation: An investigation of the impact of strategy and industry structure on the economic performance of independent new venture

This research examines: (1) the relative effectiveness of various measures of new venture performance in accurately assessing long-term economic value creation for independent new ventures; (2) the relationships among these measures; (3) the validity and usefulness of various nonparametric and parametric statistical data analysis techniques for exploring relationships in new venture research; and (4) the influence of new venture strategy and industry structure on ten different measures of new venture economic performance.;This research found that shareholder value created was the most effective measure in accurately assessing long-term economic value creation for new ventures. The shareholder value created of economic performance demonstrated the strongest ability of the ten measures of economic performance examined in this study to: (1) effectively differentiate among various new venture strategies and industry structures; and (2) corroborate previously substantiated results regarding the influence of new venture strategy and industry structure on new venture performance.;This research also demonstrated that the extent of the relationships among various measures of new venture performance vary significantly. Thus, alternative measures of new venture performance may not be reasonable proxies for one another.;This research also demonstrated that the nonparametric statistical techniques utilized in this study were far superior to parametric techniques in their ability to produce significant findings and corroborate previously substantiated findings. In particular, this study found that the assumptions underlying the theoretical development of the parametric statistical analysis techniques employed in this study were substantially violated with the data utilized in this research. In addition, it was demonstrated that the parametric procedures utilized in this study were not robust with respect to the reliability of the results produced when the underlying assumptions were violated.;Finally, this research provides support for the model of new venture performance developed by Sandberg (1984, 1986), i.e., NVP = f(S*IS,IS,S). However, this research found that the primary determinants of new venture performance were: (1) the interaction between strategy and industry structure; and (2) new venture strategy. Thus, this research supports the findings of Kunkel (1991) that new venture strategy is a stronger determinant of new venture performance than industry structure.