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Facilitating Business Startup Launch: An Interpretative Framework Based on Project Management

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Innovative Entrepreneurship in Action

Part of the book series: International Studies in Entrepreneurship ((ISEN,volume 45))

Abstract

This chapter aims to explore the contribution of project management (PM) to business startups, presenting a PM-based interpretative framework predicated on the assumption that business startups can be interpreted as entrepreneurial projects. The framework combines the evolutionary path of the business startup life cycle with PM approaches and methodologies to support startuppers in addressing the uncertainty of the entrepreneurial process. Focusing on the business startup project life cycle, the framework examines the critical issues in managing each stage, the most suitable PM approaches, and lastly the tools, techniques, and interpersonal skills that startuppers need to organize their activities. The findings demonstrate that managing flourishing business startup projects can be supported by balancing traditional and agile project management methodologies according to the level of uncertainty and complexity of the different stages of their launch and development. Implications for theory relate to the unconventional connection between the literature on PM and entrepreneurship; implications for practices include the adoption of the proposed framework as a roadmap to support nascent entrepreneurs in managing entrepreneurial projects.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Innovation Engineering, University of Salento, Lecce, Italy

    Giustina Secundo

  2. Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy

    Guido Capaldo

Authors
  1. Giustina Secundo
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  2. Guido Capaldo
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Correspondence to Giustina Secundo .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Salento, Lecce, Italy

    Giuseppina Passiante

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Secundo, G., Capaldo, G. (2020). Facilitating Business Startup Launch: An Interpretative Framework Based on Project Management. In: Passiante, G. (eds) Innovative Entrepreneurship in Action. International Studies in Entrepreneurship, vol 45. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42538-8_5

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