Showing papers by "Etienne St-Jean published in 2011"

Mentor Functions for Novice Entrepreneurs

Abstract: In the past few years, we have witnessed the birth of new mentoring programs, which consist in twining a novice entrepreneur with an experienced entrepreneur (also known as business mentoring). The literature on mentoring in large organization (where the protege is an employee in the hierarchy) highlights that the mentor exerts three main categories of functions: psychological, career-related, and role model. This research aims to explore and to validate mentor functions for novice entrepreneurs. At first, a qualitative analysis based on focus groups including 51 mentees and 8 mentors was carried out. The theoretical proposal was then validated by a group of three experts in business mentoring. Finally, confirmatory factor analyses using LISREL were carried out on a sample of 360 mentees taking part in the mentoring program of the Fondation de l'entrepreneurship network, an organization which has twined more than 3500 novice entrepreneurs since the year 2000. The analyses confirm four psychological functions (reflector, reassurance, motivation, and confidant), four entrepreneurial career-related functions (integration, information support, confrontation, and guide) and a role model function. These results are useful to raise the awareness of volunteer mentors about functions they may likely exert when they are twined with novice entrepreneurs. INTRODUCTION For the past few years, we have implemented programs to support novice entrepreneurs in the years following the starting of their business. One of the processes proposed involves pairing up a novice entrepreneur with an experienced entrepreneur, who provides advice and ways of thinking to help the novice avoid costly and even fatal mistakes (St- Jean et Audet, Under press; Sullivan, 2000). For example, the American SCORE1 program, founded in the seventies and funded by Small Business Administration (SBA), supported more than eight million small business managers through its network of over 12,000 volunteer mentors. In Europe, other similar initiatives exist such as that supported by the Business Link in England, the Mentor Eget Foretag program in Sweden or France Initiative (in France), with nearly 5,000 volunteer mentors, to name just a few of these programs. Some studies suggest that novice entrepreneurs may benefit from many types of different outcomes, including cognitive learning (new knowledge and skills, improved business vision and opportunity recognition), affective learning (reduced solitude, improved self-efficacy and self-image), new contacts, and even changes in the SME (increased sales or improved profitability) (Bisk, 2002; Nandram, 2003; StJean, 2008; Wikholm et al, 2005). Although outcomes for the novice entrepreneur are better known, mentor roles helping their development are practically unknown to this day. Yet, scientific literature on mentoring in other contexts has explored mentor roles on numerous occasions, particularly in large organizations where an employee identified as having potential (protege ) is matched with another in a hierarchical position (mentor). These mentor functions even constitute a measure of the mentoring received by the protege. The present study will attempt to bridge this gap by documenting mentor functions in entrepreneurs within the context of the business mentoring network of the Fondation de I 'entrepreneurship. To do so, a review of the scientific literature used to define the concept will first be presented. Since this literature has not offered enough details on the study's subject, an exploratory analysis was necessary and will then be exposed. Subsequently, the entire confirmatory study, which proves the empirical validity of mentor functions, will be presented. Finally, results will be discussed as well as avenues for future research. LITERATURE REVIEW Mentor functions in large organizations Kram (1985) suggests that mentors plays two main functions towards the protege: a career-related function and a psychological function. …

Opportunity recognition for novice entrepreneurs: the benefits of learning with a mentor

Abstract: INTRODUCTION Public organisms have implemented programs to support novice entrepreneurs in the years following the starting of their business. One of the processes proposed involves pairing up a novice entrepreneur with an experienced entrepreneur, who provides advice and ways of thinking to help the novice avoid costly and even fatal mistakes (St-Jean & Audet, Under press; Sullivan, 2000). For example, the American SCORE program, founded in the seventies and funded by Small Business Administration (SBA), supported more than eight million small business managers through its network of over 12,000 volunteer mentors. In Europe, other similar initiatives exist such as that supported by the Business Link in England, the Mentor Eget Foretag program in Sweden or France Initiative (in France), with nearly 5,000 volunteer mentors, to name just a few of these programs. Research has demonstrated that mentors can help novice entrepreneurs in the identification of business opportunities (Ozgen & Baron, 2007). However, the process by which mentoring enable a mentee in identifying new opportunities is not well understood. Literature on mentoring highlights the fact that the main outcome of a mentoring relationship is what the mentee learns as a result of that relationship (Barrett, 2006; Hezlett, 2005; Wanberg, Welsh, & Hezlett, 2003). It has also been demonstrated that a mentee's learning goal orientation, a psychological disposition proposed by Dweck (1986), influences mentoring relationships by increasing mentee outcomes (Egan, 2005; Godshalk & Sosik, 2003). The main goal of this research was to verify whether a novice entrepreneur's learning, achieved as the result of a mentoring relationship, can help him develop his ability to identify business opportunities. At the theoretical level, this question is of great interest, since it allows for a better understanding of the development of cognitive styles through learning with a mentor, and to confirm its effect as it relates to opportunity recognition. From a practical standpoint, this could validate the effect of mentoring programs to improve opportunity recognition among entrepreneurs, in particular. To achieve this, we will present the literature pertaining to entrepreneurial opportunity recognition, learning that results from a mentoring relationship as well as learning goal orientation. A presentation of the methodology, as well as the mentoring program where this study was conducted, will follow. Lastly, results will be presented as well as a discussion of these results. LITERATURE REVIEW The mentoring phenomenon is not new. The word "mentor" comes from Homer's Odyssey, where the hero Odysseus entrusts his son Telemachus to his friend Mentor while he is away at war. Mentor is put in charge of Telemachus' education as well as the development of his identity as he enters the adult world. When Mentor addresses Telemachus, the goddess Athena speaks through him. Mentor thus has access to divine qualities and becomes the incarnation of wisdom. In contemporary times, inspired by Greek mythology, a mentor is generally a person which possesses certain qualities or is in a position of authority, and who kindly watches over a younger individual so that he may benefit from the mentor's support and advice. In an entrepreneurial context, although other definitions are possible, mentoring is a support relationship between a novice entrepreneur (named mentee) and an experienced entrepreneur (named mentor), where the latter helps the former develop as a person. One of the major benefits of a mentoring relationship is the learning which ensues from discussions with the mentor (Wanberg et al., 2003). This is also true of mentoring relationships with novice entrepreneurs (Sullivan, 2000), where cognitive and affective learning prevail (St-Jean & Audet, Under press). Although learning is clearly illustrated in some studies, such as with Deakins et al. …

The effect of mentor intervention style in novice entrepreneur mentoring relationships

Abstract: This study aims to determine whether mentor intervention styles influence benefits gained by novice entrepreneurs through their mentoring relationship. An empirical study was conducted with 360 mentees who had received mentoring services shows that an intervention style which combines a maieutic approach with mentor involvement produced the best results. This style made it possible for the mentor to play a more decisive role with the mentee and also fostered the development of certain mentee outcomes. Mentoring program directors can make their mentors aware of the importance of their mentoring style to maximize outcomes for novice entrepreneurs.

Les déterminants du développement de l'auto-efficacité entrepreneuriale dans un contexte de mentorat

Abstract: Par le passe, des recherches qualitatives ont fait ressortir l’importance du mentorat dans le developpement de l’auto-efficacite entrepreneuriale des novices. Egalement, l’orientation dans un but d’apprentissage est reconnue comme une disposition individuelle exercant une influence positive dans le developpement du sentiment d’auto-efficacite. Cette recherche propose de verifier si le sentiment d’auto-efficacite peut etre developpe chez l’entrepreneur novice lorsqu’il est jumele avec un mentor en tenant compte de l’orientation dans un but d’apprentissage. Pour y parvenir, 360 entrepreneurs mentores du reseau de mentorat d’affaires de la Fondation de l’entrepreneurship ont ete interroges. En utilisant un modele d’equations structurelles, il est apparu que trois des six sous-echelles d’auto-efficacite entrepreneuriale sont developpees en fonction du mentorat recu. L’orientation dans un but d’apprentissage du mentore influence a la fois le developpement de l’auto-efficacite ainsi que le niveau de mentorat recu. Ces resultats confirment que le mentor influence cette dimension affective chez l’entrepreneur novice, et laissent presager le role important que pourrait jouer l’orientation dans un but d’apprentissage des entrepreneurs dans leur cheminement de carriere.

The influence of mentoring on mentee's satisfaction and career: the role of entrepreneurial self-efficacy 1

Abstract: Mentoring is reputed to support the career choices of individuals in various contexts, but its effect has never been validated with novice entrepreneurs. Using structural equation modelling, our results with 362 mentees allowed to show the direct effect of mentoring on entrepreneurial self-efficacy (ESE) and the indirect effect on the satisfaction of being an entrepreneur and the intention to stay in the profession. Moreover, mentoring does not directly affect satisfaction and even has a negative direct effect on intention, undoubtedly because of the novice’s awareness of any limitations to his plans. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY For the past few years, we have seen a growing number of mentoring programs for novice entrepreneurs supported by public organizations. Knowing that mentoring is relevant in career choices and development and that the novice entrepreneur could be led to question his choice, the objective of this paper is to check the effect of mentoring on the career of the novice entrepreneur. In particular, knowing that the mentor is likely to develop the novice’s entrepreneurial self-efficacy, we want to understand how this situation will help him increase the satisfaction for the entrepreneur’s career and his intention to remain in the profession. To do this, we interviewed 362 entrepreneurs who had been paired with a mentor as part of the Business Mentoring Network and the Entrepreneurship Foundation. The results of structural equation modelling indicate that the more novice entrepreneurs receive quality and varied mentoring, the more they develop their entrepreneurial self-efficacy (ESE) with a mentor. As well, increased ESE helps novices to have more job satisfaction, on the one hand, which contributes to a reduced intention of remaining in the profession, on the other hand. However, the mentoring received does not directly influence satisfaction regarding entrepreneurship and even reduces the intention of the novice to remain an entrepreneur. Since the mentor comes into play after the company start-up, and mentees must sometimes live with their previous choices, plus given the very low profitability of companies in the sample, everything leads us to believe that mentoring makes novices more aware of the limitations of their business plans. In this context, to enhance the effect of mentoring on

Forest SME entrepreneurs: Toward a Higher-Performance Business Model?

Abstract: Over the last 30 years, the forest industry in Eastern Canada has undergone a radical transformation, from a model where larger forestry businesses operated their own production equipment to a model where harvesting, transport and forest road construction are awarded to contractors This change in strategy on the part of the large corporations has created new start-up opportunities for many forest entrepreneurs Their dependency on a single large client (wood buyer), however, could hinder entrepreneurial behaviour This study aims to examine the forest SME population, identify the factors that stimulate their performance despite a business environment that may be deemed unfavourable, and draw an overall picture of the existing situation An analysis of 535 questionnaires filled by forest machine owners suggests that SMEs with four employees or more show better performance results than those with three or fewer employees (VSEs), essentially because these businesses are typically able to work more weeks in a year Their managers use a significantly higher number of tools to measure performance and attribute greater importance to management duties The results have enabled us to identify certain performance factors, but suggest that further research is needed to better understand the underlying causes of contract assignment and the relationships that develop between SME managers and large forest product companies