Papers presented by Louis Galambos since 2019
2020 Charlotte, North Carolina
"Entrepreneurs, Teams, and Bureaucracy in Postwar American Business"
Louis Galambos, The Johns Hopkins University
Abstract:
Much of the literature on entrepreneurship stresses the role of the individual who sees and seizes an opportunity for a novel form of combining capital, labor, and natural resources in a profitable way. To some considerable extent, the emphasis is upon startups rather than existing organizations. This paper uses the framework provided by behavioral economics to distinguish between Daniel Kahneman’s System 1 (fast) and System 2 (slow) patterns of thought and action to rethink the entrepreneurial process in the post-WWII U.S. business system. Team-building and the social skills essential to that activity are described as essential aspects of the System 2 capabilities needed to achieve success through innovation in startups and existing firms. The paper discusses specific examples in a social-science oriented startup and in a large, high-tech, science-based, extensively regulated company.