Conflict Issues in Start-up Co-founders: Typology and Measurement
- Malgorzata W. Kozusznik Malgorzata W. Kozusznik ORCID profile. (opens in new tab) , gosia.kozusznik@ugent.be(compose email, opens in email app.), Department Marketing, Innovation & Organisation, Ghent University (opens in new tab)
- Martin Euwema Martin Euwema ORCID profile. (opens in new tab) , Psychology and Educational Sciences, KU Leuven (opens in new tab)
Abstract
This work develops and validates the Conflicts among Co-founders (COCO) scale, expanding the existing typology of conflicts. In the first study, qualitative results suggest the existence of three types of conflict issues: money, norms, and vision. In the second study, analyses yield four analogical dimensions of the COCO scale. In the third study, Confirmatory Factor Analysis and reliability analyses show psychometric robustness of the COCO scale. This work addresses a gap in the currently available measures of conflict tailored to the specific context of start-ups. Implications for entrepreneurial practice are discussed.
Keywords:
- conflict
- start-ups
- co-founders
- scale development
- scale validation
How to Cite:
Kozusznik, M. W. & Euwema, M., (2025) “Conflict Issues in Start-up Co-founders: Typology and Measurement”, Negotiation and Conflict Management Research 18(3), 237-277. https://doi.org/10.34891/mvb8-sm62 (external link, opens in new tab).
Funding
- Name
- H2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
- FundRef ID
- http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100010665
- Funding ID
- 745947 "Starflict"
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Published on
22 August 2025
Peer Reviewed