Alexander McKelvie

Alex McKelvie is Associate Dean for Undergraduate and Master’s Education, and Professor of Entrepreneurship. He was the long-time Department Chair in the Department of Entrepreneurship & Emerging Enterprises at the Whitman School of Management at Syracuse University. Alex has taught a broad array of courses dealing with different aspects of entrepreneurship, including strategic planning, growth, family business, and corporate entrepreneurship. At Syracuse, Alex has taken a leading role in developing and teaching world-class programs, including designing new courses and training programs for Syracuse University’s Institute for Veteran and Military Families. Alex has received teaching awards from Syracuse University, the Whitman School of Management, the EEE Department, and from his former university in Sweden. In 2020, he was named a Justin Longenecker Fellow from USASBE, the highest honor they provide for contributions to support SME's. He has worked with many entrepreneurial startups across the US, in Sweden, and other places around the world. His scholarly work deals with questions regarding two main areas: how and why do firms grow, and how do entrepreneurs make decisions about opportunities. Alex’s research has received a number of major international awards, including best doctoral dissertation in Entrepreneurship from the National Federation of Independent Businesses and multiple awards at the leading Entrepreneurship conferences. Alex has published his work in many of the most important Entrepreneurship journals and is on the editorial boards of multiple journals. His work has also been profiled in Forbes, BloombergBusinessWeek, and Inc. magazine, among other outlets. He is a Fortune Insider and on the CNBC Disruptor Advisory Council.

Research Topics

• New firm growth
• Innovation
• Corporate entrepreneurship
• Entrepreneurial decision making
• Strategic management of new firms
• Family business

Alex's scholarly work deals with questions regarding two main areas: how and why do firms grow, and how do entrepreneurs make decisions about opportunities. Alex’s research has received a number of major international awards, including best doctoral dissertation in Entrepreneurship from the National Federation of Independent Businesses and multiple awards at the leading Entrepreneurship conferences. Alex has published his work in many of the most important Entrepreneurship journals and is on the editorial boards of multiple journals. His work has also been profiled in Forbes, BloombergBusinessWeek, Fortune, and Inc. magazine, among other outlets.

Working Papers

• "They Are the Sum of Their Options: How Networks Direct Attention in Young & New Firms", (with Haynie, M., Kato, S., Godesiabois, J.)
• "Neither Open Nor Closed: Organizational Boundary Permeability And New Venture Growth. ", (with Nason, R., Wiklund, J.)
• "Organizational Size Redux: How and Why Size Matters in Management Studies. ", (with Nason, R., Lumpkin, G.)
• "Family firms and entrepreneurial activity: The moderating effect of performance attributions", Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice (with Moss, T., Jayamohan, P., Hyman, M.)

Selected Publications

• "The measurement of effectuation: Highlighting research tensions and opportunities for the future", Small Business Economics, 54, 689-720, 2020 (with Chandler, G., DeTienne, D., Johansson, A.)
• "Orchestrating boundaries: The effect of R&D boundary permeability on new venture growth", Journal of Business Venturing, 34(1), 63-79, 2019 (with Nason, R., Wiklund, J., Hitt, M., Yu, W.)
• "Signaling for more money: The roles of founders’ human capital and investor prominence in resource acquisition across different stages of firm development", Journal of Business Venturing, 33(4), 438-454, 2018 (with Ko, E.)
• "Whom do growing firms hire? A longitudinal examination of new ventures across growth rates and phases", Frontiers of Entrepreneurship Research, 2018 (with Daunfeldt, S., Westerberg, H.)
• "Orchestrating boundaries: The effect of R&D boundary permeability on new venture growth", Journal of Business Venturing, 34(1), 63-79, 2018 (with Nason, R., Wiklund, J., Hitt, M., Yu, W.)
• "Externally acquired or internally generated? Knowledge development and perceived environmental dynamism in new venture innovation", Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 42(1), 24-46, 2018 (with Wiklund, J., Brattstrom, A.)
• "Young firm growth: Reconciling growth orientation and innovative activities", Small Business Economics, 49(2), 273-293, 2017 (with Brattstrom, A., Wennberg, K.)
• "Financial literacy, role models and micro-enterprise performance in the informal economy", International Small Business Journal, 35(7), 855-875, 2017 (with Engstrom, P.)
• "Blame you, blame me: Understanding attribution differences and impact in family and non-family firms", Family Business Review, 30(3), 284-308, 2017 (with Jayamohan, P., Moss, T.)
• "The strategic management of high-growth firms: A review and theoretical conceptualization", Long Range Planning, 50(4), 431-456, 2017 (with Demir, R., Wennberg, K.)
• "Is this the end? Investigating firm and individual level outcomes post-failure", Journal of Business Venturing Insights, 8, 138-143, 2017 (with Jenkins, A.)
• "Exits and the role of entrepreneurial recycling", Frontiers of Entrepreneurship Research, 2017 (with DeTienne, D., Robb, A.)
• "Variable risk preferences in new venture growth and survival", Journal of Business Venturing, 31(4), 408-427, 2016 (with Wennberg, K., Delmar, F.)
• "Explaining the co-existence of effectuation and causation", Frontiers of Entrepreneurship Research, 2016 (with Johansson, A., Ellonen, H.)
• "What is entrepreneurial failure? Implications for future research", International Small Business Journal, 34(2), 176-188, 2016 (with Jenkins, A.)
• "Centralization and delegation practices in family versus non-family SMEs: A Rasch analysis", Small Business Economics, 47(3), 755-769, 2016 (with Martin, W., Lumpkin, G.)
• "The influence of different types of legitimacy across resource acquisition stages in entrepreneurial firms", Frontiers of Entrepreneurship Research, 2016 (with Ko, E.)
• "Explaining the co-existence of effectuation and causation", Frontiers of Entrepreneurship Research, 2016 (with Johansson, A., Ellonen, H., Tarkianen, A.)
• "Making sense of entrepreneurial exit strategies: A typology and test", Journal of Business Venturing, 30(2), 255-272, 2015 (with DeTienne, D., Chandler, G.)
• "Opportunity evaluation as future-focused cognition: Identifying conceptual themes and empirical trend", International Journal of Management Reviews, 2015 (with Wood, M.)
• "The role of organizational size in the heterogeneous nature of corporate entrepreneurship", Small Business Economics, 2015 (with Nason, R., Lumpkin, G.)
• "The effect of managerial attribution of corporate entrepreneurship", Frontiers of Entrepreneurship Research, 2015 (with Jayamohan, P., Moss, T.)
• "Habitual entrepreneurs: Possible cases of entrepreneurship addiction?", Journal of Business Venturing, 2015 (with Spivack, A., Haynie, M.)
• "What about new entry? Examining the theorized role of new entry in entrepreneurial orientation research. ", International Small Business Journal, 2015 (with Wiklund, J., Wales, W.)
• "What matters, matters differently: a conjoint analysis of the decision policies of angel and venture capital investors", Venture Capital, 16(1), 1-25, 2014 (with Hsu, D., Haynie, J., Simmons, S.)
• "Making it personal: Opportunity individuation and the shaping of opportunity beliefs", Journal of Business Venturing, 2014 (with Wood, M., Haynie, J.)
• "Political institutional structure influences on innovative activity", Journal of Business Research, 66(12), 2574-2580, 2013 (with Broberg, J., Short, J., Ketchen, D., Wan, W.)
• "What is the appropriate dependent variable in effectuation research?", Frontiers of Entrepreneurship Research, 2013
• "What Matters, Matters Differently: A Con joint Analysis of the Decision Policies of Angel Investors and Venture Capitalists", Venture Capital, 2013 (with Haynie, M., Hsu, D., Simmons, S.)
• "Untangling the relationships among growth, profitability and survival in new firms", Technovation, 33(8-9), 276-291, 2013 (with Delmar, F., Wennberg, K.)
• "Unpacking the antecedents of effectuation and causation in a corporate context", Frontiers of Entrepreneurship Research, 2012
• "Entrepreneurial Action: Exploitation Decisions Under Conditions of Uncertainty", Journal of Business Venturing, 2011
• "Causation and effectuation processes: A validation study", Journal of Business Venturing, 26(3), 375-390, 2011 (with Chandler, G., DeTienne, D., Mumford, T.)
• "Is Strategy Different for Very Small and New Firms?", Journal of Small Business Strategy, 21(2), 1-26, 2011 (with Nason, R., Lumpkin, G., Gras, D.)
• "The organizational pervasiveness of entrepreneurial orientation", Entrepreneurship: Theory and Practice, 35(5), 895-923, 2011 (with Wales, W., Monsen, E.)
• "Unpacking the uncertainty construct: Implications for entrepreneurial action", Journal of Business Venturing, 26(3), 273-292, 2011 (with Haynie, J., Gustavsson, V.)
• "Advancing Firm Growth Research: A Focus on Growth Mode Instead of GrowthRate", Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 34(2), 261-288, 2010 (with Wiklund, J.)
• "FIRM AND INDUSTRY EFFECTS ON FIRM PERFORMANCE: A GENERALIZATION AND EXTENSION FOR NEW VENTURES", Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, 3(1), 47-65, 2009 (with Short, J., Ketchen, Jr., D., Chandler, G.)
• "From resource base to dynamic capabilities: An investigation of new firms", British Journal of Management, 20(SUPP. 1), S63-S80, 2009 (with Davidsson, P.)
• "Asset specificity and behavioral uncertainty as moderators of the sales growth - Employment growth relationship in emerging ventures", Journal of Business Venturing, 24(4), 373-387, 2009 (with Chandler, G., Davidsson, P.)
• "The New Venture Innovation Process: Examining the Role of Absorptive Capacity", Advances in Entrepreneurship, Firm Emergence and Growth, 10, 159-185, 2007 (with Wiklund, J., Short, J.)
• "A Resource-Based View on Organic and Acquired Growth", Advances in Entrepreneurship, Firm Emergence and Growth, 9, 175-194, 2006 (with Wiklund, J., Davidsson, P.)
• "Path dependence in new ventures’ capital structures", Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice (with Söderblom, A., Samuelsson, M.)
• "Entrepreneurship addiction: Shedding light on the manifestation of the 'dark side' in work behavior patterns", ACADEMY OF MANAGEMENT PERSPECTIVES (with Spivack, A.)