'Atomistic' and 'systemic' approaches to research on new, technology-based firms: A literature study

The dominating view of new, technology-based firms is that these firms are driven by a heroic entrepreneur who pursues aggressive growth. New, technology-based firms are expected to sooner or later develop tangible products with which new market niches are created and existing ones penetrated. Often the only perceived economic impact of new, technology-based firms is one delivered through rapid organic growth. The argument put forward in the present article is that the conception of new, technology-based firms as growth dynamos is largely misleading and partly the result of the growth bias in the traditional research on new, technology-based firms. In the present article, ten general misconceptions and more or less explicit assumptions of the traditional body of research on new, technology-based firms are contested. Alternative conceptions to replace the traditional ones are proposed. The policy implications of the new conceptions are discussed.