Role model influences on entrepreneurial intentions: A comparison between USA and Mexico

Most research and popular writing includes entrepreneurial role models as an important factor in the decision to start a business. Few, if any, studies compare the influence of business owner role models between two different countries. Further, studies cite the importance of role models for potential entrepreneurs but ignore how the role model process actually works. This study looks at activities that role models might engage in and compares their influence on respondents in the US and Mexico. This is the first study that examines differences in role model influence between two countries. Ten of the variables are significantly different between respondents in the two countries. Nine of the differences were rated as being significantly more influential among Mexican students than US students while only one variable was rated as being significantly less influential. Results of the study, especially as related to the specific influence of role models on career intentions, may be relevant in designing entrepreneurship programs. The results may also be appropriate in courses that discuss entrepreneurship in different countries (e.g., international entrepreneurship). The results may also be relevant in family businesses where eventual continuity of family ownership through succession is desired.     

Entrepreneurship and diversification on English farms: Identifying business enterprise characteristics and change processes

Despite the growing importance attached to entrepreneurship as a policy concept in European Union (EU) agriculture, little assessment has been made of its practical application. This paper makes a preliminary consideration of the issues in relation to on-farm diversification. First the literatures on agricultural diversification and innovation are reviewed to establish entrepreneurial traits in (1) business change processes, and (2) business enterprise characteristics. The business enterprise characteristics are then used to identify entrepreneurial diversified businesses from a sample of 118 agricultural enterprises in England. Some 15 entrepreneurial farm businesses were identified and their managers interviewed to reflect on the underlying change processes that they had adopted during 1997–2001; the effects of diversification in terms of socio-economic benefits at business and regional levels; and the effectiveness of agricultural business advice services in supporting entrepreneurial behaviour. Respondents confirmed the importance of networking processes to managing change in their businesses. Importantly all had benefited from diversification, through increased net income, reduced dependence on agricultural subsidies and greater income stability during the survey period. Regional economic benefits were more difficult to quantify, although positive employment generating effects were evident among businesses. Importantly respondents commented on their disengagement from sectoral extension agencies in contrast to their enthusiastic use of generic business support. Consequently, consideration is made of adjustments in extension and advisory provision to enhance on-farm entrepreneurial diversification.     

Desperate entrepreneurs: no opportunities,no skills

Promoting entrepreneurship has become an important policy strategy in Europe in the hope to stimulate the crisis-shaken economy. In this paper, we caution against undue expectations. Using data from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor for 17 European countries, we find that a considerable proportion of the new entrepreneurs have started a business despite a negative perception of business opportunities as well as lack of confidence in their own entrepreneurial skills. This proportion has increased during the economic crisis, especially in those countries which were particularly affected by economic downturn and rising unemployment. We extend existing entrepreneurship theories to account for this phenomenon, which we call “nons-entrepreneurship”. Testing the hypotheses derived from our model, we find that the primary motivation for these people to turn to entrepreneurship is the lack of other options to enter the labour market during the economic crisis. Still, this sort of “desperate” entrepreneurship does not equal necessity based entrepreneurship, warranting further research.     

The relationship between the migration experience and risk perception: A factor in the decision to become an entrepreneur

This study examines the proposition that the migration experience influences perceptions of risk and, as such, the ‘migrant condition’ is a factor in explaining relatively high rates of entrepreneurship among immigrants in many host countries. The study analyses data obtained from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) Spain 2009 Survey with regard to perceptions of risk in beginning a new venture. The study finds that immigrants to Spain, irrespective of their origin or ethnicity, are less likely than native Spaniards to perceive business creation as a risky situation. Moreover, the findings suggest that the perception of risk has a significant impact on the decision to engage in business start-up activity.     

Resources,Capabilities and Entrepreneurial Perceptions*

abstract We review and develop a subjectivist theory of entrepreneurship that focuses on individuals, their knowledge, resources and skills, and the processes of discovery and creativity, which constitute the heart of entrepreneurship. First, we establish the fundamental importance of subjectivity in entrepreneurial discovery and creativity. Second, we build on Penrose (1959 ) to elaborate how entrepreneurs' perceptions and personal knowledge shape a firm's subjective productive opportunity set. Third, we explain that entrepreneurial perceptions and knowledge partly originate from entrepreneurs' experiences in specific business settings such as the firm, the management team, and the industry. Fourth, we highlight the causal connections between subjectivity in entrepreneurship and observed heterogeneity in firm‐level economic performance. Lastly, we suggest directions for further advancing a subjectivist resource‐based approach to future entrepreneurship research.     

Adjustment of business expatriates in Greater China: a strategic perspective

Research has found that due to similarities, firms that have gained business experience elsewhere in Greater China may exhibit relatively better performance in mainland China. Hence, the experience of business expatriates could be of strategic importance for the expansion path of their firms. Based on data collected by a survey, this study compares how business expatriates adjust to life and work in different locations in Greater China. Results show that expatriates assigned to Singapore had a higher degree of general adjustment and interaction adjustment than their counterparts elsewhere in Greater China, while expatriates both in Hong Kong and Singapore were better adjusted to work than those in mainland China. Regarding time to proficiency, defined as the period it takes the expatriates to reach an acceptable performance level at their new foreign assignment, findings indicate that it takes longer both in Hong Kong and mainland China than in Singapore. Implications of these results for business firms contemplating to enter Greater China and specifically mainland China are discussed in detail.     

Determinants of Expatriate Success: An Empirical Study of Singaporean Expatriates in The Peoples Republic of China

ABSTRACT

Globalization of business operations has assumed an increased significance in contemporary business strategy across the developed and developing world. Assignment of staff overseas is one of the most critical areas of the global business operations. While there have been numerous studies on various aspects of expatriate performance, such as selection, training, and compensation of expatriates, these studies have been mostly “americentric” in their scope and approach. Keeping in view the growing importance of China as a favored recipient of Foreign Direct Investment not only from the United States and Europe, but also from other Asian countries such as Japan and Singapore this study has examined factors that determine the success of Singapore expatriates in China. One of the significant findings of the study is that there is a discrepancy between perception of success factors between the expatriates themselves and the human resource directors (HRDs) of the multinational corporations who have an important role in the assignment of those expatriates. Thus this study argues that in addition to the knowledge of what constitutes success in overseas ventures it is important to achieve a common agreement on the factors determining such success.     

Profitability in traditional and emerging lines of black business enterprise

The literature on Black entrepreneurship identifies two major obstacles to progressive operation of Black-owned businesses: (1) lack of capital and contact with financial institutions and (2) lack of managerial skills and attitudes among Blacks. These explanations are essentially hypotheses and the present study attempts to measure empirically the relative significance of financial capital inputs and human capital inputs as determinants of business profitability. Results of the estimation exercise provide an empirical basis for examining a number of hypotheses concerning historical patterns of Black business development and future developmental prospects of Black entrepreneurship.     

New business creation and regional development: Enhancing resource acquisition in areas of social deprivation

Over 7 years, the UK-Government funded an entrepreneurship scholarship scheme in the most deprived regions of England. This study examines how, for 211 of these nascent entrepreneurs, bootstrapping compensated for their inability to obtain debt or equity funding. Results show that social capital (strong, weak and brokerage ties) is important for access to bootstrapped resources. While human capital, including previous business experience and financial skills, are linked to joint-utilisation approaches to bootstrapping, higher financial investment is linked to owner- and payment-related approaches. A key outcome for developing appropriate regional policy is that ‘brokers’ provide a link between socially disadvantaged entrepreneurs and external resources.     

Lesbian and gay expatriation: opportunities,barriers and challenges for global mobility

The research presented in this paper addresses an important gap in the expatriation literature in examining perceptions of opportunities, barriers and challenges for expatriation of lesbian and gay (LG) expatriates. This is an area that is under-researched despite such individuals representing a growing sector of the global talent pool. Based on an analysis of interviews with 20 LG expatriates, the study draws on social capital theory as a lens for highlighting LG expatriates' unique attributes and networks. The research is significant in suggesting that the expatriates' sexual minority status is viewed as both a disabler and enabler in expatriation. We suggest that there is a corporate ceiling for LG expatriates, and that they experience discrimination and stereotyping, and oftentimes limited organizational and host-country support. Significantly, the findings also extend research in suggesting that LG workers may have more opportunities in global staffing than previously thought and a valuable role in contributing to inclusivity debates and policy development on the global business stage. Furthermore, LG expatriates may be accepted in host countries when homosexuality is deemed legally or socially unacceptable for locals, and legal and financial independence within LG partnerships may provide them with more mobility than their heterosexual counterparts.     

Business incomes in rural Nicaragua: the role of household resources,location, experience and trust

This paper analyses the determinants of business income for rural households in Nicaragua. A sample of 1030 households was studied in order to assess the importance of material and behavioural factors that influence income from business activity. The households are involved in manufacturing, trade, services or have a mixture of businesses. They generally have a low income and asset value. Households supplement their income from wages and agricultural activities. To estimate non-farm business income per employed person we analyse the impact of resources, location, entrepreneurial experience and trust. Our results show that household resources and entrepreneurial experience are significant determinants for business income in all sectors. Trust is also important, particularly generalized trust. The contribution of other forms of trust, such as institutional trust, depends on the sector in which households participate.     

Sustainable Entrepreneurship and B Corps

Sustainable entrepreneurship contributes to solving social and environmental problems through the means of successful for‐profit businesses. This paper contributes to understanding how sustainable entrepreneurship is implemented by exploring an emerging new form of business, ‘B Corps’, that employs market tactics to address social and environmental issues. Through interviewing 14 B Corps, the exploratory research study found that B Corps treat profit as a means to achieve positive societal ends, they regard the B Corp model as a tool for change, the B Corp model provides a common collective identity for internal and external validation, they are focused on societal impact rather than maximizing profits and they attempt to legitimate this form of sustainable entrepreneurship by influencing the business community and government officials. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment     

Evaluating entrepreneurship training: How important are field experiments for estimating impacts?

Governments and donors around the world spend billions of dollars subsidizing entrepreneurship training programs. Unbiased evaluation estimates are paramount to understanding whether subsidies and investments in these programs are justified. The goal of this paper is to compare nonexperimental to experimental methods for evaluating the effectiveness of entrepreneurship training programs that provide training in management, marketing, accounting, legal, and other aspects of starting and running businesses. For the comparison, I take advantage of an unprecedented setting in which experimental and nonexperimental estimates are derived from the same underlying population of study participants. The Growing America through Entrepreneurship field experiment provides a uniquely large sample allowing for a separate nonexperimental analysis using only the control group. Experimental estimates indicate null effects of entrepreneurship training on business outcomes: business ownership, sales, and employment. In contrast, nonexperimental estimates using an extremely rich set of controls, including typically unobservable characteristics, such as previous family business experience, credit problems, and personality traits, find large, positive, and statistically significant effects. The nonexperimental estimates range from 21 to 22 percentage points (pp) for business ownership, $1300–2000 for average monthly sales, and 4–6 pp for hiring any employees at 1.5- and 5-year follow-ups. Nearest-neighbor and propensity-score matching models using detailed individual characteristics provide similarly large, positive, and statistically significant effects of entrepreneurship training on business outcomes. The findings have implications for choosing evaluation methods of government programs and provide evidence of positive selection bias which has more general implications on the scalability of entrepreneurship training programs to broader populations.     

Capturing Entrepreneurial Opportunities in the Romanian Equine Sector: an Fs-Qca Approach

The paper proposes an analysis of entrepreneurial intentions in the equine sector in Romania and the identification of the variables influencing economic growth in this field. The equine sector plays a strategic role in the development of durable, sustainable and social entrepreneurship. The combination of equine services can ensure a business's survival during a crisis, and businesses involving horses can be considered complex. The equine sector is constantly changing: it is affected by politics, the social environment and new competitors. Changing customer requirements make it a difficult area in which to develop a sustainable start-up ecosystem. The present study is important in drawing attention to the main impediments faced by Romanian entrepreneurs in the development of the equine sector, a sector which—because of the emotional and physical benefits that horses offer—has great potential. The horse industry needs true "enthusiastic entrepreneurs" who have the management knowledge and skills to make their business more professional and profitable. It was found that the firm's organisation method is an important factor in predicting business continuity, in achieving medium- and long-term objectives, and in ensuring business success.

     

Variation in the average leadership behaviour of managers across countries: Finnish expatriates’ experiences from Germany,Sweden, France and Great Britain

This paper presents the experiences of Finnish expatriates (n=36) from four European countries representing proposed cultural clusters in Western Europe. The focus is on variation in manager–subordinate interaction, i.e. on leadership behaviours of managers across countries. Based on cultural theory and existing comparative research, the national origin of managers is expected to influence their leadership behaviour. By reviewing various earlier comparative studies, working hypotheses are formed about expected variation across countries. The results indicate that variation could be identified in the average styles of managers across countries, although in most cases differences also emerged between expatriates’ reports. This variation in expatriates’ experiences indicates that variation within countries should also be kept in mind when discussing variation across countries. However, it was regarded as possible to form a model of typical characteristics of leadership styles of managers across countries from the perspective of Finnish expatriates based on the identified variation. The implications of variation identified across countries for expatriates and multinational companies are also discussed.     

Entrepreneurship education: the role of local business

Entrepreneurship education is high on political agendas for its contributions to cultural change and economic growth. Scholars have suggested that the local context may influence the results of entrepreneurship education, and have recommended that educators strengthen their relationships with local businesses and help students learn from actual business settings. By combining policy analysis with empirical data, the present qualitative study explores two issues. First, we look at how the role of local business is expressed in entrepreneurship education policy documents. Second, we explore how local entrepreneurial activity and culture may influence how policies are understood and translated into practice at the local level. The findings indicate that collaboration between schools and business life may strengthen, rather than change, existing local development paths. The present paper contributes to the literature and understanding of the interplay between entrepreneurship education policy and the local context and proposes several policy recommendations emerging from the empirical study.     

Sustaining entrepreneurial business: A complexity perspective on processes that produce emergent practice

This article examines the management practices in an entrepreneurial small firm which sustain the business. Using a longitudinal qualitative case study, four general processes are identified (experimentation, reflexivity, organising and sensing), that together provide a mechanism to sustain the enterprise. The analysis draws on concepts from entrepreneurship and complexity science. We suggest that an entrepreneur’s awareness of the role of these parallel processes will facilitate their approaches to sustaining and developing enterprises. We also suggest that these processes operate in parallel at multiple levels, including the self, the business and inter-firm networks. This finding contributes to a general theory of entrepreneurship. A number of areas for further research are discussed arising from this result.     

Individual entrepreneurship,collective entrepreneurship and innovation in small business: an empirical study

The study reported in this article examines simultaneously the impact of individual entrepreneurship and collective entrepreneurship on innovation in small business. It intends to address the weakness in previous entrepreneurship research that either only focuses on the individual entrepreneur's role in innovation (Miller 1983 Management Science, 29:770-791), or only stresses the importance of collective entrepreneurship (Reich 1987 Harvard Business Review, 65 (3), 22-83; Stewart 1989). The results of structural equation modeling analysis of data from more than 200 small businesses show that both individual entrepreneur(s) and the collective contribute to innovation in small business. Analysis results also reveal the complex relationships between the two types of entrepreneurship in terms of their impact on innovation in small business. Factors that contribute to collective entrepreneurship were found to contribute to individual entrepreneurship, while factors that are often associated with individual entrepreneurship were found to have negative impact on collective entrepreneurship. Communication among members of the small business, which was found to directly contribute to collective entrepreneurship, was found to contribute to individual entrepreneur's knowledge of emerging markets, products, and technologies. In contrast, centralized decision making, which was found to have direct negative impact on innovation, was found to have negative impact on collaboration and communication. Implications of the study are discussed.     

Determinants of agricultural entrepreneurship: a GEM data based study

The aim of this study is to explain the determinants of entrepreneurship in agriculture industry. What are the drivers of early stage entrepreneurial activity of agri-business entrepreneur and how it is influenced by various cognitive and social capital factors? To answers these questions various driving factors of entrepreneurial activity have been explored from the literature. To achieve the objective, the study uses APS (Adult Population Survey) 2013 data of 69 countries provided by GEM (Global Entrepreneurship Monitor). Total number of respondents 1470, those who are alone or with others, currently trying to start a new business, including any self-employment or selling any goods or services to others in Agriculture Industry, were selected from the data set. To measure the influence of cognitive and social capital factors on early stage entrepreneurial activity logistic regression was employed. The findings show that those who see entrepreneurial opportunities, are confident in their own skills and ability, having personal relationship or social networks with existing entrepreneurs, and have invested in others business as business angels are more likely to become an entrepreneur. Additionally, fear of failure or risk perception does not prevent people to become entrepreneur. Policy implications have been discussed. This is one the first study of its kind and contributes to the existing literature by explaining agricultural entrepreneurship through an integrated approach of entrepreneurial cognition and social networking.

     

East meets West: the case of Polish expatriates in the UK

This paper attempts to redress the balance in research on expatriation by exploring the experiences of an under-researched group of expatriates in an under-researched destination. Although there has been an increase in research on the adjustment of expatriates, the focus of IHRM research has, to date, tended to view the expatriation process through a narrow lens, emphasising the role of managers from affluent ‘Western’ countries working in less affluent countries. The growing numbers of multinationals and therefore expatriates from other countries means that the research agenda must be broadened, in this case to the experience of Poles in the UK. By focusing on expatriates from a former socialist economy we highlight the differing motives and experience of adjustment that they face. We show how the economic and social benefits of this East–West transfer can be a powerful motivating factor and may override adjustment difficulties. Furthermore, the analysis of East to West European expatriate transfers, from less to more developed nations, contributes to and widens the range of parent and host countries studied within the realm of expatriate adjustment.