Department of Management Assistant Professor Tim Michaelis‘ co-conducted research on benefit corporations (B corporations), prosocial motivation, and entrepreneurial orientation (EO) has been published in the top-level academic journal Academy of Management Discoveries. The title of the study is “Pursuing B Corp Certification: Exploring Firms’ Entrepreneurial Orientation and Prosocial Motivation.”
The study explores how and why some firms slow down when trying to make a difference (i.e., social impact). To help establish context, we asked Professor Michaelis for a couple of definitions, which he shares in the following Q&A:
Q: Why are B corporations significant?
TM: B corporations are significant because they are a new legal form of a business where they not only focus on shareholder value, but legally are able to prioritize social impact and the environment.
Q: How would you describe “entrepreneurial orientation”?
TM: Entrepreneurial orientation (EO) is a measure of a firm’s proactiveness, innovativeness and willingness to take risks in developing new products and services, or by entering new markets. It is sometimes referred to as a firm’s strategic posture that is related to a firm’s focus on being innovative and being oriented like an entrepreneurial firm.
Q: Why is EO important?
TM: Firms with higher EO tend to perform better (relative to their competitors) than firms with lower EO. In other words, firms with a stronger EO tend to respond to the competitive pressures of their environment more effectively by focusing on the development of new products and services to maintain competitiveness in their market categories.
For more on Professor Michaelis’ research study, please view the following video from the Academy of Management:
Academy of Management is considered the preeminent professional association for management and organization scholars, with a global community of 20,000 members from over 120 countries.
~ M. De Jean, Director of Marketing, NIU College of Business
