Showing papers on "Entrepreneurship published in 1988"

“Who Is an Entrepreneur?” Is the Wrong Question:

Abstract: Entrepreneurship is the creation of organizations. What differentiates entrepreneurs from non-entrepreneurs is that entrepreneurs create organizations, while non-entrepreneurs do not. In behavioral...

Implementing Entrepreneurial Ideas: The Case for Intention

Abstract: Entrepreneurial intentions, entrepreneurs' states of mind that direct attention, experience, and action toward a business concept, set the form and direction of organizations at their inception. Subsequent organizational outcomes such as survival, development (including written plans), growth, and change are based on these intentions. The study of entrepreneurial intentions provides a way of advancing entrepreneurship research beyond descriptive studies and helps to distinguish entrepreneurial activity from strategic management.

Properties of Emerging Organizations

Abstract: This article explores the characteristics of emerging organizations and suggests that emerging organizations can be identified by four properties: intentionality, resources, boundary, and exchange. These properties are defined and discussed. Suggestions are made for selecting samples for research on emerging organizations. Implications for research and theory on new and emerging organizations are discussed.

The Long-Term Supply of Entrepreneurs: Students' Career Aspirations in Relation to Entrepreneurship

Abstract: UN MARCHE A LONG-TERME: ASPIRATIONS PROFESSIONNELLES DES ETUDIANTS PAR RAPPORT A L'ESPRIT D'ENTREPRISE Cette enquete, menee d'abord en Angleterre, puis aux Etats-Unis et en Republique d'Irlande, se fonde surles resultats d'un questionnaire sur les facteurs influencantles aspirations et choix professionnels des etudiants au niveau universitaire. Trois groupes semblent avoir un impact prioritaire sur l'evolution de leurs preferences professionnelles: (1) les facteurs de predisposition, tels que l'influence parentale, l'experience personnelle, la connaissance de soi et des organisations considerees; (2) les facteurs de declenchement, tels que la recherche d'un metier, le chomage, les conseils de services specialists; (3) l'existence d'un projet precis de creation d'entreprise. Ces ensembles de facteurs different de facon significative de ceux des etudiants envisageant une carriere independante, ou un poste dans une petite ou grande entreprise, ou dans le public. On retrouve un modele identique d'un pays a l'autre, pour ce qui concerne l'idee que les candidats se font d'eux-memes et des organisations les interessant. La mise en evidence, dans les autres domaines, de l'existence de differences importantes, encourage l'emploi de strategies de recrutement differentes suivant le pays ou la region. Numerous publications, journals, and programs have recently been devoted to small business and entrepreneurship. This growing interest in entrepreneurship, especially on the part of governments, is prompted in part by the assumption that much of an economy's ability to innovate, diversify, and create new jobs comes from the small business sector. Many programs, such as Britain's New Enterprise Program, have been instituted to interest young people in entrepreneurship. In order to encourage entrepreneurship, we must ask, "What shapes career aspirations toward selfemployment?" The purpose of the research survey reported in this article was to identify factors that influence entrepreneurial aspirations by obtaining data on student career aspirations from three countries and using a model to separate, test, and explain the findings. The data were derived from studies conducted in the United States at West Virginia University, in northeast England, and in the Republic of Ireland. The study began in 1982 when researchers at Durham University Business School undertook to assess the potential long-term supply of entrepreneurs in the region by investigating the career attitudes of students in higher education. Supported by funding from Shell U.K. Ltd., nearly 1,000 students were surveyed about their attitudes toward entrepreneurship and careers in small business. The survey revealed significant interest in entrepreneurship, but a lack of knowledge about how small firms enter the marketplace and operate. Some researchers have identified the need for achievement, risk taking, and locus of control as "typical" entrepreneurial characteristics." Still other studies cast doubt on these relationships and demonstrate the importance of situational influences.' No systematic research has been devoted to testing a range of factors that might contribute to the aspirations of students toward self-employement THE MODEL The main variables that influence aspiration of students toward entrepreneurship are categorized as (1) predisposing factors, (2) triggering factors, and (3) possessing a business idea. Figure 1 summarizes the relationships among these factors. Predisposing factors are background/ personality/ perception factors that develop over several years or more. They include one's role models, other background experiences, and the views one has of oneself and of various types of organizations. In this study, "parents owned smallbusiness" and "experiencework and hobbies" are two of the predisposing variables thought to shape perceptions of oneself as a potential entrepreneur. …

Immigrant Entrepreneurs: Koreans in Los Angeles, 1965-1982

Abstract: A decade in preparation, Immigrant Entrepreneurs offers the most comprehensive case study ever completed of the causes and consequences of immigrant business ownership. Koreans are the most entrepreneurial of America's new immigrants. By the mid-1970s Americans had already become aware that Korean immigrants were opening, buying, and operating numerous business enterprises in major cities. When Koreans flourished in small business, Americans wanted to know how immigrants could find lucrative business opportunities where native-born Americans could not. Somewhat later, when Korean-black conflicts surfaced in a number of cities, Americans also began to fear the implications for intergroup relations of immigrant entrepreneurs who start in the middle rather than at the bottom of the social and economic hierarchy. Nowhere was immigrant enterprise more obvious or impressive than in Los Angeles, the world's largest Korean settlement outside of Korea and America's premier city of small business. Analyzing both the short-run and the long-run causes of Korean entrepreneurship, the authors explain why the Koreans could find, acquire, and operate small business firms more easily than could native-born residents. They also provide a context for distinguishing clashes of culture and clashes of interest which cause black-Korean tensions in cities, and for framing effective policies to minimize the tensions.

“Who is an Entrepreneur?” Is a Question Worth Asking:

Abstract: This paper is a response to Gartner's critique of definitions posited by Carland, Hoy, Boulton and Carland (1984) for “entrepreneur” and “small business owner.” The paper concludes that both trait and behavioral approaches to research are necessary in order to understand the concept of entrepreneurship.

Entrepreneurship and development

Abstract: (1988). ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND DEVELOPMENT. Journal of Small Business & Entrepreneurship: Vol. 6, No. 1, pp. 3-7.

Sex Differences and Risk-Taking Propensity of Entrepreneurs

Abstract: RAPPORTS ENTRE LE SEXE DES ENTREPRENEURS ET LEURS TENDANCES A PRENDRE DES RISQUES Il a ete souvent suggere que les entrepreneurs etaient enclins a prendre plus de risques que les gerants, et que les hommes prenaient plus de risques que les femmes. Le but de cette etudetait d'examinerces deux propositions en utilisant un instrument standard,le"Kogan and Wallach Choice Dilemma Questionnaire (CDQ)." Elle s'inspire des recherches conduites par Brockhaus pour determiner la difference d'attitude entre les entrepreneurs et les gerants dans le domaine des prises de risques. Elle en corrobore les resultats: il n'y a aucune difference significative entre la tendance a prendre des risques parmi les entrepreneurs et les gerants. Il en est de meme en ce qui concerne la difference entre hommes et femmes. The entrepreneur's and manager's roles have always involved risk taking. Entrepreneurs, however, are widely believed to be willing to take more risks than managers. In addition, women have been stereotyped as conservative and risk-averse-males are viewed as taking more risks than females. The purpose of this article is to present the results of a study conducted to determine whether male entrepreneurs and female entrepreneurs in the United States differ in risk-taking propensity. A secondary purpose of the study was to replicate the research conducted by Brockhaus comparing the risk-taking propensity of entrepreneurs and managers..sup.1 BACKGROUND Previous researchers have either openly stated or implied that both entrepreneurs and managers are risk-taker..sup.2 According to Burch, "The antithesis of the entrepreneur is a person who never loses because he or she never puts himself or herself at risk.".sup.3 Research conducted prior to the 1960s investigating differences between males and females in various situations typically found females to be more conservative than males..sup.4 Wallach and Kogan concluded that women are more conservative when they make decisions under conditions of uncertainty; however, they are more extreme in their judgments when conditions are certain..sup.5 This result is generally explained by reference to the constraining influences females are exposed to in the socialization process. Males are reinforced for exploratory (i.e., risk-taking) behavior; females are encouraged to be more conservative. The women's movement which took shape in the 1960s and 1970s has had a major influence on societal value systems. Its primary emphasis has been on achieving legal equality and increasing employment opportunities for women, including preparing women for managerial roles, in part by developing awareness of risk-taking..sup.6 During the 1980s, the literature addressed female entrepreneurship and actual risk-taking, which demonstrated women's advancement into entrepreneurial and risk-taking roles.sup.7 Statistics show that during this period, women started more small businesses than men, and women-owned businesses were the fastest growing segment of small business in North America.sup.8 From 1972 to 1982, the number of self-employed women increased by 59 percent; five times the rate of increase among men..sup.9 It appears, therefore, that sex differences with respect to risk taking may no longer exist. DEFINITIONS Many characteristics and attributes have been attributed to "the entrepreneurial personality.".sup.10 Some writers have suggested defining entrepreneurs in terms of role rather than attributes.sup.11 The debate as to what actually constitutes an entrepreneur has not been resolved. For the purposes of this article, the entrepreneur is defined as a major owner of a small business or the major owner and manager of a small business. A manager is defined as a person who manages, but does not own a small business. As for the definition of risk-taking, Baty has said a question to ask when considering an entrepreneurial venture is "are the potential rewards commensurate with the risks? …

Toward a Theory of Small Firm Performance: A Conceptual Model:

Abstract: A conceptual model of small firm performance is developed based on extant theory in strategy, entrepreneurship and organization theory. It provides a framework for the study of the interrelationships among entrepreneurial characteristics, contextual factors and performance outcomes. It is considered a first step toward a limited domain theory of small firm performance.

Doing the Business: Entrepreneurship, the Working Class, and Detectives in the East End of London

Abstract: Doing the Business looks at the culture of London's East End and its relationship with the Criminal Investigation Department of the Metropolitan Police. The cultures of both the East End and the CID are examined in terms of their relationship with the market place and the emergent strategies of negotiation, trading, and, most importantly, entrepreneurship. The author breaks new ground in several crucial areas. He asks how well traditional notions of working class culture fit the East End, and argues convincingly that they do not. His model of an entrepreneurial working class culture (a shadow economy) is a departure from the routine 'them and us' picture of class relationships in Britain. He links the working class ethos peculiar to the East End with the occupational culture of detectives in an illuminating analysis of the working identity of plain clothes policing. There is also much of interest and originality in his theories of crime and delinquency, and in his documentation of the history of detective work in London. This is a highly original and at times controversial piece of work that contributes not only to our knowledge of culture and sub-culture, but also to the sociology of policing, and the study of class relations and organizations.

Implementing Entrepreneurial Ideas: The Case for Intention

Abstract: Although entrepreneurial ideas begin with inspiration, intention and attention are needed to realize the ideas. This analysis focuses on the conscious and intended act of creating a firm, but less on the action than the psychological precursors to that act. Entrepreneurial intentions are directed at creating a new venture or new values in existing ones. Studying intention directs theory toward the complex relationships among entrepreneurial ideas and their consequences. Intention is structured by rational, analytic, and causal processes, and is framed and structured by intuitive, holistic, and contextual thinking. A behavioral, not an institutional, model is presented that guides attention to how entrepreneurs create, sustain, and transform organizations. The model thus distinguishes entrepreneurship from strategic management. The model is based on interviews with 20 entrepreneurs using a discovery-oriented inquiry Five antecedent and three intrapsychic processes are identified. Intention sustains temporal tension and strategic focus; developing an intentional posture requires alignment to a single purpose and direction, and attunement to the entrepreneurial environment. Entrepreneurial intentions impact organizational direction, survival, growth, and form. The model allows deeper insight into the creative process of venture development; and it allows entrepreneurship to be studied consistent with theories of leadership, organizational development, and organizational theory. The model moves research beyond description and statistical analysis. An entrepreneur's actions create organizational theories that may be discovered and analyzed. (TNM)

Entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship in Africa

Abstract: This article examines the widespread belief that indigenous entrepreneurship is less well represented in African countries than in other parts of the developing world. The problems these businesses have encountered suggest that there may be a continuing role for expatriates, provided the industries are fundamentally sound. Small businesses appear to have a better chance of success and are more viable than some of the heavily protected and subsidized transnational enterprises. The article finds that successful industrial entrepreneurs have come from a variety of religious, cultural and educational origins. It also discusses ways to encourage entrepreneurship and notes the importance of a well-grounded and widely dispersed growth of income.

Motivational Factors Influencing High-Technology Entrepreneurship

Abstract: FACTEURS DE MOTIVATION DANS LA TECHNOLOGIE DE POINTE: ESPRIT D'ENTREPRISE Cet article a pour but d'examiner les mobiles qui poussent les entrepreneurs ii faire une nouvelle entree dans le secteur des industries de pointe. Suivant Ie modele de la theorie de strategie commerciale de Guth-Tagiuri, les auteurs soutiennent que la prise de decisionion preludant a toute nouvelle initiative de cet ordre est largement influencee par Ie systeme de valeurs propre a l'entrepreneur. Cette hypothese est corroboree par l'interview d'entrepreneurs et de leurs proches associes, dans 22 firmes de technologie de pointe de la region de Boston, Massachusetts. Cette etude revele l'existence de ressemblances et differenceses interessantestes entre les entrepreneurs de technologies de pointe et les autres. William D. Guth and Renato tagiuri have argued that ". . . it is quite clear, on the basis both of observation and systematic studies of top management in business organizations, that personal values are important determinants in the choice of corporate strategy."' The purpose of the present article is to apply this hypothesis to high-technology ventures, with particular emphasis on the entrepreneurial decision itself On the basis of a survey of high-technology firms in the Boston area, it is argued that the decision to form a high-tech venture is strongly influenced by the personal value structure of the entrepreneur. SAMPLE AND METHOD This article presents the results of a survey of the nature of entrepreneurial activity in the high technology field. Personal interviews, combined with secondary research,.sup.2 were used to examine twenty-two high-technology companies and their founders. The characteristics of these high-technology entrepreneurs were compared with those put forth in the more classical and general models of entrepreneurship. Interviews were conducted with company founders, close friends, and colleagues.sup.3 Interviews with persons other than the founders proved valuable in supplementing and verifying the information obtained from the entrepreneurs themselves. A high-technology entrepreneurial business venture is defined as one which the owner establishes and manages primarily to further intellectual and professional (as opposed to primarily financial) goals. The venture need not be dominant in its field nor constitute the owner's primary source of income, but an essential feature is that it must employ innovative behavior. The sample enterprises chosen for inclusion in this study fit this definition. The founders began their quests with an original idea, discovery, or innovative orientation. The sample is non-random, but is believed to represent the population of high-technology entrepreneurs in the Boston area. Although all began as small entrepreneurial ventures, the sizes of the firms in the sample varied widely at the time of the survey.sup.4 RESULTS Reasons for Starting the Venture High-technology ventures in the Boston area differ in many respects. They tend, however, to have one element in common: the founders began their careers at local universities or research centers. This is not surprising, for entrepreneurial opportunities and research opportunities are alike in that: (1) they both represent a desirable future state involving growth or change; and (2) the individual must firmly believe it is possible to reach that state..sup.5 The founders of the high-technology companies in this sample performed their research in such settings. In all cases, the environments created the atmosphere in which an entrepreneurial opportunity was discovered. Unlike many entrepreneurs who engage in innovation outside the realm of an organization, high-technology entrepreneurs usually venture out on their own only after a discovery or invention has taken place. Surprisingly, within an existing organization, little or no forethought is given to the actual outcome of the scientific work, but once it is apparent that an entrepreneurial opportunity has been created, a problem-solving orientation sets in, creating the drive and obsession needed to complete its development. …

Towards a Typology of Female Entrepreneurs

Abstract: This paper reviews some of the employment problems faced by women and examines how these difficulties might be overcome through entrepreneurship. However, recent empirical work by Goffee and Scase suggests that it is inappropriate to speak of ‘the’ female entrepreneur: there are different types of female business proprietors. Based on an empirical study of 34 aspiring female proprietors, the authors investigate the validity of Goffee and Scase's assertions. Results suggest that there are indeed different types of female entrepreneur, and that while there are some similarities between the typology developed in this paper and that presented by Goffee and Scase, there are also significant differences between them. Possible policy implications of the findings are discussed.

Understanding and Encouraging Entrepreneurship Internationally

Abstract: UNDERSTANDING AND ENCOURAGING ENTREPRENEURSHIP INTERNATIONALLY Suddenly, all over the world, entrepreneurs are the good guys! Not the individuals who sit on their accumulated wealth, counting dividend checks, but those who create local jobs, commercialize technology, and build enterprises that become internationally competitive. But entrepreneurship is proving to be as hard to transplant as its name is to spell. Even "true believers" debate about how to define it, understand it, and encourage it. As a result, in many countries, the encouragement of entrepreneurship is off to a sputtering start.(1) How much do we really understand about entrepreneurship internationally? The Myth of Individual Action Entrepreneurship's true believers often fail to appreciate the degree to which effective entrepreneurship is enmeshed with culture. United States ideology, which emphasizes individualism and a need for personal achievement, has dominated the conventional world view of what entrepreneurship is all about. But the cult of individualism is foreign to--and often unacceptable in--many countries of the world. Gradually, it is becoming clear that each country/culture must develop its (1)See findings reported in Rein Peterson, Mari A. Peterson and Nancy B. Tieken, Encouraging Entrepreneurship Internationally (Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Co., 1988, forthcoming). Dr. Peterson is Director of Entrepreneurial Studies at York University, Toronto, Canada. This essay is based on two workshops he conducted as Paul T. Babson Professor (1985-1986) and as Senior Research Fellow, National Centre for Management Research and Development (1986-1987). own brand of entrepreneurship and raise its own champions to promote entrepreneurial behavior that fits the prevailing societal mores. Even more than national leaders and political change agents, entrepreneurs need to have a deep understanding of the socio-economic environment of which they are a part. Entrepreneurs act as boundary spanners and redefiners, and therefore need to be cultural specialists. Much of what actually passes as U.S. individualism tends to be popular rhetoric. George C. Lodge describes two general ideological extremes--individualism and communitarianism.(2) He believes that each community and nation has over time arrived as an ideological balance that is a unique combination of the two opposing prototypes described below. The First Prototype: Individualism . Individualism. The atomistic notion that the community is no more than the sum of the individuals in it. . Property rights. The best guarantee of individual rights lies in the sanctity of property rights. . Competition. The uses of property are best controlled by each individual proprietor competing in an open market to satisfy individual consumer decisions. (2)George C. Lodge, The New American Ideology (New York: Alfred Knopf, Inc., 1975). . Limited state. The less government the better. . Scientific specialization and fragmentation. If we attend to the parts, as experts and specialists, the whole will take care of itself. The Second Prototype: Communitarianism . Communitarianism. The community is more than the sum of the individuals in it; the community is organic, not atomistic. The survival and self-respect of individuals depends on the recognition of community needs. . Rights and duties of membership. These include the rights to survival, to income, to pensions, to health care. These rights supersede property rights--not only the fit have a right to survive. . Community needs. Clean air and water, safety, energy, jobs, competitive exports, etc., are more important than individual consumers' references. . Active state. An active, planning state is the arbiter of community needs. . Holism. Interdependence, as opposed to scientific specialization. The interrelatedness of all things is recognized. …

Citizen Voice and Public Entrepreneurship: The Organizational Dynamic of a Complex Metropolitan County

Abstract: Recent empirical research points toward a reassessment of the effects of complex patterns of local government in metropolitan areas. As research increasingly discloses positive relationships between (1) indicators of jurisdictional fragmentation and complexity and (2) indicators of efficiency in service provision and production, it becomes more important to explain, in a functional sense, how a complex metropolitan order is able to produce relatively good results. This article first considers two broad approaches to understanding metropolitan complexityexit and voice-and argues that citizen voice must be the principal mechanism of complex metropolitan governance. A case study of St. Louis County, Missouri, is then used to explore the various processes by which citizen voice may contribute to the organization and governance of a metropolitan county. Citizen voice is linked to public entrepreneurship and, thereby, to various efficiency-inducing properties that emerge within a complex metropolitan order.

Academic entrepreneurship at Belgian Universities

Abstract: In this paper a framework of university-industry interactions is discussed. The presence or absence of academic entrepreneurial behaviour is considered as a basic variable in distinguishing a host of transfer mechanisms. As a hypothesis it is stated that university-industry interactions are hampered by three types of barriers: cultural, institutional and operational. This framework is then applied to the Belgian university system. The relative importance of different groups of transfer mechanisms is described. Particular attention is given to the barriers occurring during licensing arrangements and entrepreneurial ventures. A mix of cultural, institutional and operational barriers helps to explain why licensing arrangements and entrepreneurial ventures occur at present less frequently then the assistance mechanisms.