Thanks to a sponsorship from the Kauffman Foundation, the Human Resources Division of the Academy of Management is pleased to announce an annual conference paper award for promising research at the intersection of entrepreneurship and human resources (HR). The award is chosen from those papers selected for the HR Division program at the annual Academy of Management conference meeting. No nominations are solicited for these awards, but you are encouraged to self-identify in your Academy submission if you are eligible for this award.
The purpose of the award is to identify and stimulate innovative and impactful empirical research that considers entrepreneurial activity and entrepreneurs themselves from an HR perspective, as well as HR systems and practices through an entrepreneurship lens, at the individual or organizational level (see below for example areas of research inquiry). The recipient of this award will receive a plaque, a $1500 check, and recognition at the Academy of Management’s Annual Meeting during the Human Resource Division’s Welcome Breakfast and Awards Ceremony. When possible, award recipients will be encouraged to share winning papers with the Kauffman Foundation.
For this award, “HR” includes both specific practices and the overall HR system, as well as human capital issues; “entrepreneurship” includes new venture creation, entrepreneurial organizations and performance, and entrepreneurs themselves. As such, general areas of research inquiry may include, but are not limited to: (a) the relationship between specific HR practices (e.g., recruitment, selection, performance management, training, compensation) and/or HR system features, and entrepreneurial performance/growth; (b) the role of HR in the creation of new ventures; (c) HR in entrepreneurial firms and its role in maximizing entrepreneurial performance (including innovation) in any organization; (d) HR processes/systems in start-ups and younger organizations (emergent and developing firms), in smaller firms, and in family-owned businesses; (e) technological innovation and HR; (f) turnover/mobility into and out of entrepreneurial ventures; (g) acquihiring; and (h) human capital issues (e.g., required knowledge, skills, abilities and other characteristics, or KSAOs) within entrepreneurs themselves.
Criteria and Selection:
For this award, the awards committee will evaluate and select the recipient from among a set of papers that received the highest average ratings by conference reviewers. The recipient will be selected based on importance of the topic to the study of human resources and entrepreneurship, contribution to the existing literature, and relevance to practice.