Essays on individuals and organizations

This dissertation focuses on the dynamics of innovative industries; specifically how individual choices and actions impact the performance, founding, and death of firms. While most research examining these outcomes focuses on the role of organizational factors - such as strategy, capabilities, or resources - firms ultimately consist of individuals with different preferences, abilities, and approaches to entrepreneurship and organizing. This work attempts to expand our understanding of firm and industry dynamics by looking to the role of the individuals who make up firms. As the performance of a growing number of firms and entrepreneurial ventures comes to depend on human capital, knowledge and creative work, there is increasing need to understand how these differences between individuals influences firms and industries. This dissertation consists of three essays exploring these relationships. The first essay, "People and Process, Suits and Innovators: Individuals and Firm Performance," empirically untangles the contributions of organizations and individuals to firm performance. The results indicate that variation among individuals matters far more in organizational performance than is generally assumed. Surprisingly, the analysis also demonstrates that middle managers, rather than innovators, have a particularly large impact on firm performance.