Human Resource Redeployability and Entrepreneurial Hiring Strategy

61 Pages Posted: 18 Feb 2021 Last revised: 10 Aug 2023

See all articles by Liinus Hietaniemi

Liinus Hietaniemi

IESE Business School

Simone Santamaria

National University of Singapore

Aleksandra Kacperczyk

London Business School

Juhana Peltonen

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Date Written: August 4, 2023

Abstract

The timing of talent acquisition is a central decision for new ventures. On one hand, hiring after demand is proven minimizes losses. On the other hand, hiring before demand is proven allows new ventures to start developing unique capabilities. We resolve this tension by proposing that the timing depends on human resource redeployability. We test our theory with the population of Finnish ventures showing that portfolio entrepreneurs hire more employees early on because they have the option to redeploy them and that they hire employees with more transferable skills in order to benefit from the redeployment option. To probe our mechanisms, we examine how talent acquisition strategies in portfolio and standalone ventures vary with external conditions that reduce or amplify the benefits of redeployment.

Keywords: entrepreneurship, human capital, hiring strategy, resource redeployment, new ventures

JEL Classification: M13

Suggested Citation

Hietaniemi, Liinus and Santamaria, Simone and Kacperczyk, Aleksandra and Peltonen, Juhana, Human Resource Redeployability and Entrepreneurial Hiring Strategy (August 4, 2023). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3764531 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3764531

Liinus Hietaniemi (Contact Author)

IESE Business School ( email )

Barcelona
Spain

Simone Santamaria

National University of Singapore ( email )

1E Kent Ridge Road
NUHS Tower Block Level 7
Singapore, 119228
Singapore

Aleksandra Kacperczyk

London Business School ( email )

Sussex Place
Regent's Park
London, London NW1 4SA
United Kingdom

Juhana Peltonen

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
166
Abstract Views
787
Rank
324,242
PlumX Metrics