Abstract

This chapter examines the problem of structuring entrepreneurial team development in small enterprises taken from the perspectives offered by a group of young entrepreneurs who have each faced such a challenge. In particular, the chapter will report on a shared representation (or collective) conceptual framework. For the purposes of this study, action-oriented clusters were identified using group concept mapping (GCM), a bottom-up mixed-method-based approach using primary data. The methodological approach taken and results obtained contribute to a deeper understanding of the scope and interrelationship of actions related to entrepreneurial team development. The results indicate that actions rated as the most important and feasible are related to the entrepreneur’s role. The results also report differences between relatively higher than average importance and relatively lower than average feasibility for clusters of actions related to the organizational and resource pool environments: team cohesion and spirit, organizational structuring, HR management, team leadership and evolution, and team competences development. Interestingly, team-oriented financial capital development included a set of actions rated as the lowest for both importance and feasibility. The findings startlingly highlight the balancing act entrepreneurs face at the structuring phase of the team development, which consists of taking actions to develop it from the resource pool environment versus the organizational environment.