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Book part
Publication date: 24 August 2022

Matthias Tomenendal, Florian Becker-Ritterspach and Christoph Dörrenbächer

The chapter provides an integrated analytical account of the contributions of the volume. Next to the results from a comprehensive literature review on gazelle growth factors, two…

Abstract

The chapter provides an integrated analytical account of the contributions of the volume. Next to the results from a comprehensive literature review on gazelle growth factors, two further content blocks of the volume are summarized, one on gazelles in Germany and one on specific under-researched topics, that is, gazelles’ internationalization and gazelles’ corporate citizenship. The chapter highlights main findings and avenues for further research, including a short discussion on the use of the term “gazelle”.

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The Promises and Properties of Rapidly Growing Companies: Gazelles
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80117-819-8

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Book part
Publication date: 24 August 2022

Florian Becker-Ritterspach, Christoph Dörrenbächer and Matthias Tomenendal

This chapter introduces the readers to the theme of the book. The chapter starts by outlining the socio-economic importance of gazelles and by discussing definitional challenges…

Abstract

This chapter introduces the readers to the theme of the book. The chapter starts by outlining the socio-economic importance of gazelles and by discussing definitional challenges of what gazelles or high-growth firms are. The chapter then points to the academic relevance and to unresolved issues in international gazelle research. The chapter closes with an outline of the three blocks and eight chapters of the book.

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The Promises and Properties of Rapidly Growing Companies: Gazelles
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80117-819-8

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Book part
Publication date: 24 August 2022

Christian Raffer and Matthias Tomenendal

This chapter summarizes existing empirical literature on German gazelles and draws on a large new sample of high-growth firms for a description of the regional and sectoral…

Abstract

This chapter summarizes existing empirical literature on German gazelles and draws on a large new sample of high-growth firms for a description of the regional and sectoral distribution of gazelles in Germany. In addition, the regional distribution of gazelles is juxtaposed with the occurrence of regional cluster initiatives. In sum, our results are in line with major former findings. We find gazelles in all sectors and many regions with some specificities for young and urban gazelles. We do not find significantly more gazelles in regions, though, which pursue a targeted cluster policy. Finally and consequently, we call for more granular studies on types and characteristics of gazelles in the future.

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The Promises and Properties of Rapidly Growing Companies: Gazelles
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80117-819-8

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Book part
Publication date: 24 August 2022

Preetam Gaikwad and Christoph Dörrenbächer

Despite the mounting evidence of gazelles’ higher economic contribution, there is no consensus on whether and how to support gazelles. In this chapter, we therefore discuss varied…

Abstract

Despite the mounting evidence of gazelles’ higher economic contribution, there is no consensus on whether and how to support gazelles. In this chapter, we therefore discuss varied gazelle policy views as well as the inherent challenges of supporting gazelles. Here, we draw on relevant academic literature as well as on international policy examples. Additionally, we analyze Germany’s gazelle policy stance by triangulating information collected from the literature, practical policy examples and interviews, we carried out with German support agencies and policymakers. Though Germany’s general policies and framework conditions create necessary conditions for gazelles to emerge, they are insufficient to guarantee their prevalence. Moreover, Germany’s policy approach of encouraging new firm formation and self-employment and its focus on the financial support for small as well as technology or innovation-oriented firms is not consistent with the state-of-the-art knowledge about gazelles. Using the case of Germany, we argue that general entrepreneurship policies and high-growth entrepreneurship (gazelle) policies are distinct approaches having divergent and sometimes conflicting objectives and support mechanisms, which need to be synchronized to be effective.

Details

The Promises and Properties of Rapidly Growing Companies: Gazelles
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80117-819-8

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 24 August 2022

Christoph Dörrenbächer, Matthias Tomenendal, Anna-Luisa Grebe and Julia Thielemann

This chapter critically discusses the many positive aspects that are ascribed to gazelle firms by exploring the external effects and dark sides of high firm growth. On the…

Abstract

This chapter critically discusses the many positive aspects that are ascribed to gazelle firms by exploring the external effects and dark sides of high firm growth. On the background of the more general debate on purpose versus profit as a firm’s mission, the chapter theoretically elaborates on the dichotomy between quantitative and qualitative growth of gazelles. This is followed by a case-based illustration and exploration as to how quantitative and qualitative growth interrelates in gazelles and what are impediments for high growth that is purpose driven. The chapter closes with a discussion of the Janus-faced nature of gazelles and how their corporate citizenship can be enhanced.

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The Promises and Properties of Rapidly Growing Companies: Gazelles
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80117-819-8

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Book part
Publication date: 4 August 2015

Anders Bornhäll, Sven-Olov Daunfeldt and Niklas Rudholm

High-growth firms have recently received considerable attention in the firm growth literature. These firms might have grown despite the existence of growth barriers, and evidence…

Abstract

High-growth firms have recently received considerable attention in the firm growth literature. These firms might have grown despite the existence of growth barriers, and evidence also suggests that, having already grown exponentially, they may not be in the best position to grow further. Policies targeting high-growth firms may therefore be misdirected. We argue that entrepreneurship researchers should concentrate more on firms that are not hiring, despite having high profits. We call these firms “sleeping gazelles,” and demonstrate that they represented almost 10% of all limited liability firms in Sweden from 1997 to 2010. Nearly half of these firms continued to earn high or moderate profits in subsequent three-year periods, while still displaying no growth. Regression analyses indicate that these firms were significantly smaller, older, more likely to be active in industries with high profit uncertainty, and more likely to be located in less densely populated municipalities than were corresponding growing firms.

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Entrepreneurial Growth: Individual, Firm, and Region
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78560-047-0

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Book part
Publication date: 24 August 2022

Preetam Gaikwad

Research on high-growth firms (HGFs) or gazelles is expanding due to their significant contribution to job growth and economic development. However, the knowledge about the…

Abstract

Research on high-growth firms (HGFs) or gazelles is expanding due to their significant contribution to job growth and economic development. However, the knowledge about the conditions and factors that set these firms on their rapid growth trajectory remains fragmented. Therefore, this chapter provides an abreast inventory of the surging gazelle studies by systematically reviewing the international gazelle growth literature and consolidating firm-level, industry-level, and macroeconomic-level growth factors and their interactions as elaborated in the studies. Based on the review of 62 international empirical studies, this chapter finds that the gazelle growth is complex and multidimensional in its scope and nature. The firm’s growth intention and entrepreneurial nature emerge as necessary but not sufficient conditions to guarantee rapid growth as it results from the impact of and interaction between various firm-level and external factors. The different growth-influencing factors are summarized using a theoretical gazelle growth model, which supports the rare and temporal nature of the gazelle growth.

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The Promises and Properties of Rapidly Growing Companies: Gazelles
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80117-819-8

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Book part
Publication date: 14 December 2018

Serge Svizzero and Clement A. Tisdell

Possible reasons for using kites to kill gazelles are comprehensively reviewed in this article. Even though they are now well inventoried and documented, desert kites are still…

Abstract

Possible reasons for using kites to kill gazelles are comprehensively reviewed in this article. Even though they are now well inventoried and documented, desert kites are still not well understood, as exemplified by the recurrent controversies about their function and dating. According to the dominant view, kites were hunting structures used to drive and to mass kill large herds of wild ungulates, particularly gazelles. Although kites were intensively used during the Early Bronze Age, some of them could have been built and used before that. Beyond these issues, the cultural and socioeconomic aspects of the kites phenomenon are even less understood, and therefore, we focus on changing reasons for the long-lasting use of kites as hunting devices. We contend that the reasons why they were used during the period of utilization for hunting gazelles changed, in most cases, in response to socioeconomic development. It is hypothesized, for example, that, as a result of urban development, kites may have been increasingly (but not exclusively) used to kill gazelles to trade their products with urban communities and farmers, even though they had other uses as well which are also considered. The main hypothesis presented in this article enables diverse opinions about the types of uses and reasons for utilizing desert kites to be reconciled, including in particular varied reasons given in the literature about why they were used for killing gazelles.

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Individual and Social Adaptations to Human Vulnerability
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78769-175-9

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Content available
Book part
Publication date: 24 August 2022

Abstract

Details

The Promises and Properties of Rapidly Growing Companies: Gazelles
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80117-819-8

Article
Publication date: 23 August 2013

Veneta Andonova, Alexandina Stoyanova, Carlos Valencia and Jorge Juliao‐Rossi

The purpose of this paper is to systematize the strategic capabilities of seven surviving industrial Catalan companies which were going through explosive growth in 1999.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to systematize the strategic capabilities of seven surviving industrial Catalan companies which were going through explosive growth in 1999.

Design/methodology

We use the comparative case studies method to draw on the common features among the seven in‐debt cases we built. We are well aware that the method of comparative case studies does not provide a sufficient base for bold generalizations. However, the qualitative approach adopted here allows for the first in‐depth look at the strategies that bring surviving entrepreneurs from explosive growth to a more balanced growth path.

Findings

We identify four organizational capabilities as key to the survival of these businesses ten years later: first, ability to prioritize product and market development, including internationalization, over operations; second, ability to reorganize internally and delegate in a timely manner; third, ability to manage innovation and support creativity linked to productivity; and finally, ability to manage economic and financial resources.

Social implications

Implications for the culturally proximate and less‐studied Latin‐American gazelles are presented.

Propósito

El propósito de este artículo es sistematizar las capacidades estratégicas de siete empresas catalanas sobrevivientes y consideradas gacelas en 1999.

Metodología

Se usa el método de estudio de casos comparativos para identificar las características de interés investigativo. Se es consciente de que el método de estudio de casos empleado, no proporciona una base suficiente para hacer generalizaciones de los hallazgos. No obstante, el enfoque cualitativo adoptado proporciona una primera mirada en profundidad de las estrategias que permitieron a los empresarios que sobrevivieron al crecimiento explosivo, seguir una senda de crecimiento más equilibrada.

Resultados

Se identificaron cuatro capacidades organizacionales consideradas clave para la supervivencia de la empresa diez años después del crecimiento explosivo: 1) capacidad para priorizar dentro de sus operaciones el desarrollo de productos y mercados, incluyendo la internacionalización, 2) capacidad de reorganizar internamente y delegar de manera oportuna, 3) capacidad de gestión de la innovación y apoyar la creatividad ligada a la productividad y 4) capacidad de gestionar los recursos económicos y financieros.

Consecuencias (Implicaciones) sociales

Se presentan implicaciones para las gacelas localizadas en países latinoamericanos, las cuales son culturalmente próximas y escasamente estudiadas.

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