Research challenging a startup orthodoxy wins multiple Academy of Management awards

Rapid scaling funded through venture capital is the holy grail of Silicon Valley startups—and has been hailed as a way to encourage economic growth in impoverished places. Yet, slower growth could yield greater benefits for local economies, according to Anna Kim, Associate Professor of Strategy and Organization at McGill Desautels. In a paper published in Academy of Management Journal (AMJ), Kim challenges the orthodoxy of the exclusive pursuit of high-growth entrepreneurship for poverty alleviation and suggests that multiple ventures growing at varying scales can better drive local development.

Co-authored with Suntae Kim from Johns Hopkins Carey Business School, the publication “Going Viral or Growing Like an Oak Tree?” has been featured in Harvard Business Review, Stanford Social Innovation Review, Forbes, Delve, The Globe and Mail, and Nonprofit Quarterly. At AMJ’s annual proceedings, the research won the 2023 ONE-SIM Outreach Award and the 2023 ONE Best Paper in Entrepreneurship and Natural Environment Award. It was also a finalist for the 2023 AMJ Best Article Award.