Dr Mirjam Nicole Streeb receives prestigious dissertation award

The doctoral thesis, entitled ‘Understanding the Benefits, Dynamics, and Ambiguities of Passion in Entrepreneurship,’ was written at the Chair of Business Administration XVI – Entrepreneurship and Digital Business Models at the University of Bayreuth under Prof. Dr. Matthias Baum. It deals with key factors that promote entrepreneurial commitment and action and motivate entrepreneurs to boldly drive innovation forward. ‘Mirjam's research exemplifies Bayreuth's commitment to excellent and effective science. We are proud to have her on our team and look forward to continuing to work with her,’ says Prof. Dr. Matthias Baum.

Dr Streeb's dissertation shows that entrepreneurial passion not only supports entrepreneurs by promoting a positive mindset, but also arises dynamically from competence experiences and can thus be developed in a targeted manner. It provides new insights for start-up recruitment by demonstrating that passion signals specifically appeal to or deter certain groups of applicants. In addition, she develops a differentiated typology of obsessive passion and shows how founders can actively control it – with far-reaching implications for practice and training in the field of entrepreneurship.

The award is presented by the NFIB Research Foundation, supported by the journal Entrepreneurship Theory & Practice and the Entrepreneurship Division of the Academy of Management. The award ceremony took place during the 85th Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management. The jury, chaired by Prof. Dr. Vishal K. Gupta (University of Alabama), was composed of internationally renowned scientists who evaluated the submitted works according to scientific excellence, practical relevance and innovative strength.

‘I am honoured to join the ranks of previous NFIB Award winners. This recognition underscores how important it is to understand passion not as a personality trait, but as a resource that entrepreneurs can consciously develop and direct,’ says Streeb.

The NFIB Dissertation Award comes with prize money of US$2,500 and is one of the most prestigious international awards for young researchers in the field of entrepreneurship. Researchers who completed all requirements for their doctoral degree in the previous year are eligible to participate. Selection is based on nominations by members of the Entrepreneurship Division – self-nominations are also possible.

Further information on the award can be found on the NFIB Dissertation Award website, on the Academy of Management website, and on the Entrepreneurship Division website.