New ventures: Control of risks through strategies

This paper uses case studies and interview data to explore the relationship between control and new venture success/survival. A model of the new venture control process is distilled and explored in six new venture cases. The control processes were traced through an examination of the everyday language of venture principals to determine a grounded lower order model. Integrating these models into contingency theory locates strategic risk reduction choices as the crucial link between contingent variables and organizational control packages. In this sense the process of organizing is seen as a tiered process of risk reduction: successful firms analyze and control risks. The control package is the organization.