ENTREPRENEURIAL TEAM DIVERSITY AND NEW VENTURE PERFORMANCE IN CAMEROON: THE MODERATING EFFECT OF CONFLICTS

Abstract

Researches on entrepreneurship reach a conclusion that more and more companies are created by teams rather than by sole entrepreneurs (Klotz et al., 2014). According to the Cameroonian National Institute of Statistics (NIS, 2009), more than 66% of new ventures in Cameroon are Limited Liability Companies, representing the major jobs provider. However, in spite of their numerical and economical importance, creations in teams have not been subject to scientific interest despite their consistency. The purpose of this article is to analyse the effect of the entrepreneurial team diversity and conflicts among its members on the performance of new ventures. The results of our econometric analysis based on a sample of 184 new ventures show that gender, skills and experience diversity have a positive impact on the performance of these enterprises. The cognitive conflict positively moderates the effect of the team diversity, while the emotional conflict negatively affects this relationship. Ethnic or racial diversity has no significant impact on the performance of the new ventures.