Call for Papers – Thematic Issue: "Startup excellence - Strategy, Innovation and Entrepreneurship"

Startups have emerged as a unique form of organization operating under extreme uncertainty, rapid experimentation, and limited resources. Instead of viewing startups solely as entrepreneurial ventures, this thematic issue considers them as evolving entities whose structures, processes, capabilities, and performance are continually influenced by strategic decisions, technological developments, and ecosystem dynamics.

Although the study of startups has expanded significantly across entrepreneurship, strategic management, innovation studies, and organizational research, the field remains fragmented. Existing literature often examines entrepreneurial processes, innovation dynamics, or ecosystem structures in isolation, while the interdependencies between strategy formation. In particular, there is still limited integration of work connecting entrepreneurial action with broader questions of organizational design, leadership, capability development, and performance in startup settings. One particularly persistent tension concerns the experimentation–scaling paradox: while startups rely on iterative learning, rapid experimentation, and strategic flexibility in their early stages, long-term growth requires the development of stable organizational capabilities,scalable business models, and coherent strategic positioning. Understanding how startups manage this transition – while navigating technological disruption, institutional complexity, and resource constraints – remains a central challenge for contemporary management and strategy research.

Against this background, this thematic issue aims to enhance theoretical and empirical understanding of startups from a strategic management and organizational perspective. It invites contributions that explain how startups develop and adjust strategies, build capabilities, professionalize organizational processes, leverage digital technologies, and create sustainable value within changing entrepreneurial ecosystems. Contributions examining entrepreneurial ecosystems and startup development in Central and Eastern Europe or other emerging innovation contexts are particularly welcome, given the increasing importance of these regions in the global innovation landscape.

The English language thematic issue focuses on original research papers, conceptual contributions, and interdisciplinary studies that extend existing theoretical frameworks, develop new conceptual perspectives, or provide rigorous empirical evidence on the management of startups. Submissions employing qualitative, quantitative, or mixed-method approaches are encouraged, as are comparative and cross-country studies. All submissions should clearly state their original contribution to the international literature, demonstrate methodological transparency and rigor, and show their relevance for management research and practice.

Possible topics include, but are not limited to, the following areas:
• designing and reconfiguring startup strategies
• digital technologies as enablers of entrepreneurial advantage
• people, leadership, culture, and entrepreneurial capabilities
• sustainable and responsible innovation via entrepreneurship
• entrepreneurial ecosystems and institutional contexts
• resilience, risk, and strategic renewal in startups

This thematic issue is organised in connection with the InnovaCyBridge, a Horizon Europe EIT Higher Education Institutions (HEI) Project, which focuses on strengthening innovation capacity and entrepreneurial collaboration in emerging innovation ecosystems, whilst inviting submissions openly.

Guest editors:
• Anitha Chinnaswamy, Aston University, a.chinnaswamy@aston.ac.uk
• Vivien Surman, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, surman.vivien@gtk.bme.hu

Important dates:
Full paper submission deadline: 31.08.2026
Expected publication: early 2027

Submission Information:
Manuscripts should be submitted through the journal’s online manuscript management system under the thematic issue section “Startup Excellence”.
All submissions will undergo a double-blind peer review process in accordance with the journal’s editorial standards. Author guidelines are available on the journal’s website: https://journals.lib.uni-corvinus.hu/index.php/vezetestudomany/about/submissions
For professional inquiries regarding the thematic issue, please contact the Guest Editors. For technical questions related
to submission, please contact the editorial office of Vezetéstudomány / Budapest Management Review: titkarsag.veztud@uni-corvinus.hu.