Unveiling the founder effect: a conceptual framework of entrepreneurial imprinting

Literature in strategy and entrepreneurship resorted to the concept of imprinting to explain the resilience of firms' traits. Nonetheless, it assumed such a process is at work rather than indulging in its explanation. This article advances a conceptual framework based on an original definition of the imprints and on a dynamic view of the mechanisms pinpointing the replication, substitution, and re-negotiation of imprints in time. In particular, we identify entrepreneursÕ cognitive frames as what gets stamped on organizations. Moreover, we build a conceptual model based on resource mobilization, emphasizing the role of agency and politics in entrepreneurial imprinting.