What is the difference? Star and Non-Star performers who Pursue External Research Funding at a Private Research 1 Institution

This dissertation analyzes performance distribution, the financial impact of star performers, and how the researcher's discipline moderates the relationship between individual performance and the value of external funding at a private R1 institution. While publications have traditionally served as a metric for faculty success at research institutions, there needs to be more knowledge regarding the role of star performers in securing external funding. Data drawn from the institution's internal application system encompassed a sample size of 7,213 proposals submitted by faculty members over five years. Utilizing the Dpit package from the Comprehensive R Archive Network (CRAN), results indicate that a power law distribution offers a better fit than a normal distribution for modeling star performance, with a significant portion of generated value concentrated among a select group of star performers. Furthermore, the research demonstrates that an organization's strategic core competence moderates the individual performance of researchers and the overall value derived from research initiatives.