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The Achieving Society

TL;DR: The authors argued that cultural customs and motivations, especially the motivation for achievement, are the major catalysts of economic growth and proposed a plan to accelerate economic growth in developing countries by encouraging and supplementing their achievement motives through mobilizing the greater achievement resources of developed countries.
Abstract: Examines the motivation for achievement as a psychological factor that shapes economic development. Refuting arguments based on race, climate, or population growth, the book instead argues for cultural customs and motivations - especially the motivation for achievement - as the major catalysts of economic growth. Considering the Protestant Reformation, the rise of capitalism, parents' influences on sons, and folklore and children's stories as shaping cultural motivations for achievement, the book hypothesizes that a high level of achievement motivation precedes economic growth. This is supported through qualitative analysis of the achievement motive, as well as of other psychological factors - including entrepreneurial behavior and characteristics, and available sources of achievement in past and present highly achieving societies. It is the achievement motive - and not merely the profit motive or the desire for material gain - that has advanced societies economically. Consequently, individuals are not merely products of their environment, as many social scientists have asserted, but also creators of the environment, as they manipulate it in various ways in the search for achievement. Finally, a plan is hypothesized to accelerate economic growth in developing countries, by encouraging and supplementing their achievement motives through mobilizing the greater achievement resources of developed countries. The conclusion is not just that motivations shape economic progress, but that current influences on future people's motivations and values will determine economic growth in the long run. Thus, it is most beneficial for a society to concentrate its resources on creating an environment conducive to entrepreneurship and a strong ideological base for achievement. (CJC)
Citations
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TL;DR: Why Men Rebel was first published in 1970 on the heels of a decade of political violence and protest not only in remote corners of Africa and Southeast Asia, but also at home in the United States as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Why Men Rebel was first published in 1970 on the heels of a decade of political violence and protest not only in remote corners of Africa and Southeast Asia, but also at home in the United States. Forty years later, the world is riveted on uprisings in the Middle East, and the United States has been overtaken by a focus on international terrorism and a fascination with citizen movements at home and abroad. Do the arguments of 1970 apply today? Why Men Rebel lends new insight into contemporary challenges of transnational recruitment and organization, multimedia mobilization, and terrorism.

1,412 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The study of politics in Africa has been extensively studied in the literature as discussed by the authors, with the focus on the economy of affection, gender, ethnicity, and the external dimension of Africa.
Abstract: Acknowledgements 1. The study of politics in Africa 2. The movement legacy 3. The problematic state 4. The economy of affection 5. Big man rule 6. The policy factor 7. The agrarian question 8. Gender and politics 9. Ethnicity and conflict 10. The external dimension 11. So what do we know? 12. Quo vadis Africa? References Index.

221 citations

01 Jan 2015
TL;DR: For example, the authors hypothesize that the statistical relation between knowledge resources and entrepreneurial vitality in a region will depend on "hidden" regional differences in entrepreneurial culture and derive measures of entrepreneurship-prone culture from two large personality datasets from the United States and Great Britain.
Abstract: In recent years, modern economies have shifted away from being based on physical capital and towards being based on new knowledge (eg, new ideas and inventions) Consequently, contemporary economic theorizing and key public policies have been based on the assumption that resources for generating knowledge (eg, education, diversity of industries) are essential for regional economic vitality However, policy makers and scholars have discovered that, contrary to expectations, the mere presence of, and investments in, new knowledge does not guarantee a high level of regional economic performance (eg, high entrepreneurship rates) To date, this "knowledge paradox" has resisted resolution We take an interdisciplinary perspective to offer a new explanation, hypothesizing that "hidden" regional culture differences serve as a crucial factor that is missing from conventional economic analyses and public policy strategies Focusing on entrepreneurial activity, we hypothesize that the statistical relation between knowledge resources and entrepreneurial vitality (ie, high entrepreneurship rates) in a region will depend on "hidden" regional differences in entrepreneurial culture To capture such "hidden" regional differences, we derive measures of entrepreneurship-prone culture from two large personality datasets from the United States (N = 935,858) and Great Britain (N = 417,217) In both countries, the findings were consistent with the knowledge-culture-interaction hypothesis A series of nine additional robustness checks underscored the robustness of these results Naturally, these purely correlational findings cannot provide direct evidence for causal processes, but the results nonetheless yield a remarkably consistent and robust picture in the two countries In doing so, the findings raise the idea of regional culture serving as a new causal candidate, potentially driving the knowledge paradox; such an explanation would be consistent with research on the psychological characteristics of entrepreneurs

105 citations

Posted Content
TL;DR: This article conducted a rigorous search of articles published in journals within the Thomson Reuters' Social Sciences Citation Index® through an exploratory analysis focused on articles using Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) data.
Abstract: This article analyzes the content and evolution of research based on the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) project. We conducted a rigorous search of articles published in journals within the Thomson Reuters’ Social Sciences Citation Index® through an exploratory analysis focused on articles using GEM data. The main findings of this study reveal that the institutional approach is the most commonly used conceptual framework. Also, although there are still few academic publications using GEM data, the number of articles is increasing, as are opportunities for future research.

84 citations

Journal Article
TL;DR: Möttönen et al. as discussed by the authors investigated entrepreneurs who founded successful, long-standing and high-growth companies and identified four main entrepreneur types: self-made man, practical entrepreneur, educated entrepreneur and business entrepreneur.
Abstract: Möttönen, Tuomas Growth makers: The founder entrepreneurs in Finland from 1870 to 1990 Jyväskylä: University of Jyväskylä, 2017, 330 p. (Jyväskylä Studies in Humanities ISSN 1459-4323; 309 (nid.) ISSN 1459-4331; 309 (PDF)) ISBN 978-951-39-7016-1 (nid.) ISBN 978-951-39-7017-8 (PDF) Company founders are important agents in business economics. I investigated entrepreneurs who founded successful, long-standing and high-growth companies. The data include 402 Finnish founder entrepreneurs who had founded a company and had been awarded the Finnish title of neuvos during the period 1917 2015 (i.e., since the beginning of Finnish independence). So far only few longitudinal studies have been presented on company founders in Finland. This study focuses on the era of industrialism in Finland and addresses the following research questions. First, what kind of entrepreneur groups are identified in different phases of industrialism when studying the backgrounds, education and work careers of founders of successful and long-standing business enterprises in Finland? Second, how has Finnish founder entrepreneurship changed as an historical phenomenon? I identified four main entrepreneur types: self-made man, practical entrepreneur, educated entrepreneur and business entrepreneur. These types serve to illustrate what kind of people founded enterprises in different periods of industrialism. The main result is that after the liberalization of economic life (1860 70s), highly successful company founders came from all kinds of social backgrounds. In this data set self-made men were the most common in the first period (enterprises founded 1875 1913), practical entrepreneurs in the second period (enterprises founded 1914 1939), educated entrepreneurs in the third period (enterprises founded 194

67 citations

References
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TL;DR: Theories of the self from both psychology and anthropology are integrated to define in detail the difference between a construal of self as independent and a construpal of the Self as interdependent as discussed by the authors, and these divergent construals should have specific consequences for cognition, emotion, and motivation.
Abstract: People in different cultures have strikingly different construals of the self, of others, and of the interdependence of the 2. These construals can influence, and in many cases determine, the very nature of individual experience, including cognition, emotion, and motivation. Many Asian cultures have distinct conceptions of individuality that insist on the fundamental relatedness of individuals to each other. The emphasis is on attending to others, fitting in, and harmonious interdependence with them. American culture neither assumes nor values such an overt connectedness among individuals. In contrast, individuals seek to maintain their independence from others by attending to the self and by discovering and expressing their unique inner attributes. As proposed herein, these construals are even more powerful than previously imagined. Theories of the self from both psychology and anthropology are integrated to define in detail the difference between a construal of the self as independent and a construal of the self as interdependent. Each of these divergent construals should have a set of specific consequences for cognition, emotion, and motivation; these consequences are proposed and relevant empirical literature is reviewed. Focusing on differences in self-construals enables apparently inconsistent empirical findings to be reconciled, and raises questions about what have been thought to be culture-free aspects of cognition, emotion, and motivation.

18,178 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors draw upon previous research conducted in the different social science disciplines and applied fields of business to create a conceptual framework for the field of entrepreneurship, and predict a set of outcomes not explained or predicted by conceptual frameworks already in existence in other fields.
Abstract: To date, the phenomenon of entrepreneurship has lacked a conceptual framework. In this note we draw upon previous research conducted in the different social science disciplines and applied fields of business to create a conceptual framework for the field. With this framework we explain a set of empirical phenomena and predict a set of outcomes not explained or predicted by conceptual frameworks already in existence in other fields.

11,161 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a contingency framework for investigating the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and firm performance is proposed. But the authors focus on the business domain and do not consider the economic domain.
Abstract: The primary purpose of this article is to clarify the nature of the entrepreneurial orientation (EO) construct and to propose a contingency framework for investigating the relationship between EO and firm performance. We first explore and refine the dimensions of EO and discuss the usefulness of viewing a firm's EO as a multidimensional construct. Then, drawing on examples from the EO-related contingencies literature, we suggest alternative models (moderating effects, mediating effects, independent effects, interaction effects) for testing the EO-performance relationship.

8,623 citations

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TL;DR: Grit demonstrated incremental predictive validity of success measures over and beyond IQ and conscientiousness, suggesting that the achievement of difficult goals entails not only talent but also the sustained and focused application of talent over time.
Abstract: The importance of intellectual talent to achievement in all professional domains is well established, but less is known about other individual differences that predict success. The authors tested the importance of 1 noncognitive trait: grit. Defined as perseverance and passion for long-term goals, grit accounted for an average of 4% of the variance in success outcomes, including educational attainment among 2 samples of adults (N=1,545 and N=690), grade point average among Ivy League undergraduates (N=138), retention in 2 classes of United States Military Academy, West Point, cadets (N=1,218 and N=1,308), and ranking in the National Spelling Bee (N=175). Grit did not relate positively to IQ but was highly correlated with Big Five Conscientiousness. Grit nonetheless demonstrated incremental predictive validity of success measures over and beyond IQ and conscientiousness. Collectively, these findings suggest that the achievement of difficult goals entails not only talent but also the sustained and focused application of talent over time.

4,470 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The social information processing perspective emphasizes the effects of context and the consequences of past choices, rather than individual predispositions and rational decision-making processes, to explain job attitudes.
Abstract: This article outlines a social information processing approach to explain job attitudes. In comparison with need-satisfaction and expectancy models to job attitudes and motivation, the social information processing perspective emphasizes the effects of context and the consequences of past choices, rather than individual predispositions and rational decision-making processes. When an individual develops statements about attitude or needs, he or she uses social information--information about past behavior and about what others think. The process of attributing attitudes or needs from behavior is itself affected by commitment processes, by the saliency and relevance of information, and by the need to develop socially acceptable and legitimate rationalizations for actions. Both attitudes and need statements, as well as characterizations of jobs, are affected by informational social influence. The implications of the social information processing perspective for organization development efforts and programs of job redesign are discussed.

4,422 citations