What is the role of Human Resource Management in growing start-ups?

Abstract

Start-ups are considered the ‘big thing’ of the last 30 years. Previous research on start-ups focused mainly on the influence of entry timing, idea and funding on performance. In parallel, in the Human Resource Management field, different authors proved that human resource practices can create value for organisations. Nonetheless, until now no one tried to specifically understand what role Human Resource Management plays in growing start-ups. Departing from five start-ups and based on interviews and surveys conducted to employees and founders, this dissertation reveals that Human Resource Management can have several roles in growing start-ups – from strategic to non-strategic at all. This dissertation comes up with findings that are appealing for future literature on the subject and that can be integrated by entrepreneurs in their strategic plans, leading to business success.

Date of Award	26 Jul 2017
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Géraldine Galindo (Supervisor)