Abstract: Research has examined the factors influencing team turnover in new venture teams. To extend this literature, we develop our arguments based on event system theory and team trust, specifically beneficial in understanding how new ventures develop. We examine the dynamic relationship between significant events, member’s trust in their teams, and how they impact team turnover. We argue that the strength of significant events influences trust, and that trust affects how significant events are perceived. We consider team turnover as an outcome affecting the individual, the team, and the performance of the new venture. We test our arguments using a unique longitudinal data set that follows 108 teams and their 218 members over a year. We use a Bayesian and joint modeling approach to model team turnover. We also account for non-ignorable non-responses under population heterogeneity. We find that team members' level of trust affects how they perceive the strength of significant events (novel and disruptive). Trust does not affect team members’ exit. Disruptive events are strongly associated with team members’ exit. This suggests that disruptive events mediate the effect of trust on team members’ exit. We discuss the implications of our results for theory.

 

About Frédéric Delmar

Professor Frédéric Delmar is the Associate Dean for Research at Emlyon Business School and a leading scholar in entrepreneurship research. His academic interests focus on the early development and growth of new ventures, with a current emphasis on new venture team dynamics. Frédéric has also worked as an expert for the OECD and the EU and has been actively involved in several startups. (Source: https://em-lyon.com/en/frederic-delmar/briefly).