We test a general model of career mobility and entrepreneurship based on the premise that job transitions between organizations are influenced by the unique role of the organizational founder. Three related ideas inform our inquiry. First, individuals in that role are endowed with the right to act as representatives of their organizations which increases commitment and deters external mobility. Second, the founder role, because of its uniqueness, defines how entrepreneurs think of themselves thus aligning person and position. Repeat entrepreneurship occurs because after a founder leaves, this alignment is disrupted and the need to restore it leads to becoming a founder again. Third, we see the founder role as imbued with charismatic authority. This creates an aura of deference and a propensity to emulate the founder that inspires organizational members working alongside the founder to themselves become entrepreneurs. We investigate these ideas empirically in the context of the global high-end fashion industry through a research design that allows us to compare leading designers' career histories as both founders and members and their transitions to and out of entrepreneurship.

我们基于组织之间的工作转换受到组织创始人的独特角色影响的前提来测试职业流动和创业的一般模型。三个相关的想法为我们的探究提供了信息。首先，担任该角色的个人被赋予担任其组织代表的权利，这增加了承诺并阻止了外部流动。其次，创始人角色由于其独特性，定义了企业家如何看待自己，从而使个人和职位保持一致。重复创业之所以会发生，是因为在创始人离开后，这种一致性被破坏，而需要恢复它，从而导致再次成为创始人。第三，我们认为创始人的角色充满了超凡魅力的权威。这创造了一种尊重的氛围和效仿创始人的倾向，从而激励与创始人一起工作的组织成员自己成为企业家。我们通过研究设计在全球高端时尚行业的背景下对这些想法进行实证研究，使我们能够比较领先设计师作为创始人和成员的职业生涯以及他们进入和退出创业的转变。