Righteousness and Profitableness: The Moral Choices of Contemporary Confucian Entrepreneurs

This paper explores the relationship of various trait emotions to the ethical choices of 189 college students who completed a managerial decision-making task as part of an in-basket exercise in a laboratory setting. Prior research regarding emotion influences on ethical decision-making and linkages between emotions and cognition informed hypotheses about how different types of emotions impact ethical choices. Findings supported our expectations that positive and negative emotions classified as active would be more strongly related to interpersonally-directed ethical choices than to organizationally-directed ones, and that passive emotions would be less related to ethical choices than active emotions. Implications for ethical decision-making research and organizational practices are discussed.     

Righteousness and Profitableness: The Moral Choices of Contemporary Confucian Entrepreneurs

The present study takes Confucian entrepreneurs as an entry point to portray the dynamics and problems involved in the process of putting moral precepts into practice, a central issue in business ethics. Confucian entrepreneurs are defined as the owners of manufacturing or business firms who harbor the moral values of Confucianism. Other than a brief account of their historical background, 41 subjects from various parts of Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur were selected for in-depth interviews. By studying the moral choices they made in the market, it was discovered that, contrary to the prevalent mode of inquiry in economics either to reduce all social phenomena to rational calculations or to consider moral actions in terms of utilitarian values, their economic action cannot be accounted for by the postulate of utility maximization, and that the efforts to do business according to their moral principles can be very costly. The study also attempts to document how these Confucian entrepreneurs reconciled the conflict between the moral values they cherished and the instrumental goals they pursued, and will seek to uncover how they responded when faced with this dilemma.     

Speed to Legal Registration and Nascent Venture Performance: A Temporal Dilemma for Nascent Entrepreneurs in an Emerging Economy

In this paper, we examine the effect of a nascent venture's speed to legal registration during its formation on the initial venture performance in an emerging economy. Quickly obtaining legitimacy via legal registration in the early stages of a new venture's formation accelerates its resources acquisition and transition to other start‐up activities, facilitating the venture to seize dynamic entrepreneurial opportunities; however, in an emerging economy, quick legal registration also incurs substantial costs and compliance activities that may inhibit the venture's engagement in other start‐up activities. A nascent venture in an emerging economy suffers from being either too fast (early) or too slow (late) in registering its business during the formation process, and the relationship between the speed to registration and nascent venture performance is best reflected by an inverse U‐shape. Moreover, the inverse U‐relationship becomes more pronounced when the entrepreneurial opportunity is more innovative. Based on analyzing 145 nascent entrepreneurs from the event history data set of the China Panel Study of Entrepreneurial Dynamics (CPSED), we found strong support for our arguments.     

风险投资选项过程及企业家应对措施

本文在介绍风险投资的基本概念和作用的基础上,指出风险投资的选项过程,及在选项过程中所采用的投资政策和选项标准,然后据此得出期望获取风险投资的企业家应采取的措施。     

The Influence of Funding Approaches,Growth Expectations,and Industry Gender Distribution on High‐Growth Women Entrepreneurs

This study examines three key aspects of entrepreneurship associated with women business owners and their ability to achieve high growth: debt versus equity financing, growth expectations, and industry gender distribution. We present a number of theoretical lenses spanning disciplines such as gender studies, entrepreneurship, social psychology, and finance. Using longitudinal data from U.S. startups over an eight‐year period, our research reveals a number of interesting findings. We find that, proportionally, high‐growth women entrepreneurs are more likely to finance their growth with personal and business equity funding. Additionally, women‐owned firms in “feminine industries” are more likely to achieve high growth than women‐owned firms in “non‐feminine industries.”     

Role Models and Women Entrepreneurs: Entrepreneurial Superwoman Has Her Say

It is suggested that more “role model” women entrepreneurs are needed. However, the gender gap in entrepreneurship remains. This study analyses the narratives of 51 role model women entrepreneurs to explore how they represent women entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship. We found that in accordance with the contemporary pressure for women to succeed and perform personally and professionally, the voice of the (super)woman doing “individualized entrepreneurial femininity” dominates. The role models narratives obscure race, class, and age barriers; reproduce prevailing gender stereotypes; normalize discriminatory workplace treatment and depict entrepreneurship as an appropriate alternative for working mothers. Implications for policy makers are presented.     

Women Entrepreneurs and Family Firm Heterogeneity: Evidence from an Emerging Economy

Family firms add to the economic and social well-being of countries. While research on heterogeneity of family firms is gaining momentum, it has mostly been gender-neutral. The study fills this gap by examining heterogeneity of family firms owned and managed by women, in the context of a developing country—Brazil. The study draws upon the resource-based view of the firm to investigate the relationships between firm performance, family involvement, and financial resources at the start-up phase. An inductive analysis reveals two patterns. First, family firms that are started with the family achieve better performance than firms that are launched without the family and later evolve into a family business. Second, family firms that are funded with women entrepreneur’s own savings achieve worse performance than family firms that are started with borrowed funds. The results are useful for strategic decision making in fostering family businesses headed by women and proactive public policies for future innovation to enhance the success of women entrepreneurs.     

The Size of the Informal Venture Capital Market in the United Kingdom

Despite its undoubted importance to the financing of entrepreneurial ventures, there are few reliable measures of the size of the informal venture capital market. This paper reviews three methods used to generate such estimates – market-based approaches, firm-based approaches and the capture-recapture approach – and develops an alternative approach that is based on scaling up from the visible segment of this market represented by business angel networks. This methodology is applied to provide the first formal estimate of the size of the informal venture capital market in the United Kingdom. Informal venture capital investment is shown to broadly equate to the amount of institutional venture capital provided to start-up and early stage ventures. Reflecting the smaller average size of investments in the informal venture capital market, however, eight times as many businesses raise finance from business angels than from institutional venture capital funds.     

风险资本支持下的中小企业成长

与大企业和成熟企业相比,中国中小企业的创新能力与持续成长遇到了很多问题,其中缺乏外部金融资本的支持是最重要的制约。成熟市场条件下的中小企业是依靠运作良好的风险投资和资本市场的支持来获得创新动力的,而目前在中国,这只是一个理想的规划,尚缺乏有效的制度保障和市场环境。因此,本文拟重点分析风险资本支持下的中小企业成长的特征,提出强化我国中小企业与风险资本互动的机制与策略。     

Entrepreneurs: The world needs you

The way we see the role of business is changing dramatically. What have we learned from the recent and ongoing crises? Where does one look for guidance on the “right thing to do” now? In a world where we live on one globe, it is time to shift our energy to real responsibility and sustainability. This requires a new paradigm. As Albert Einstein said, “No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it.” We are not separated from our environment, nature, and society; we are actually a part of it. Therefore, let us unleash entrepreneurship and the power of business in a way to serve us more holistically. This new type of thinking, this expanding consciousness, is giving birth to all the new concepts of social entrepreneurship, corporate social responsibility, corporate sustainability, inclusive business, conscious capitalism, and sustainable development. On the global level, there are increasing numbers of business‐oriented initiatives aimed at steering the power of business toward the public good such as the UN Global Compact and the Business Call to Action. Where to look for inspiration at the individual level? Within yourself. As Mahatma Gandhi said, “You have to be the change you want to see in the world.” © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Microfinance Traps and Relational Exchange Norms: A Field Study of Women Entrepreneurs in Tanzania

In interdependent social groups, microfinance traps occur when conflicts arise between borrowers’ affective ties related to family needs and instrumental ties related to obligations toward their loan group. Thus, the social capital that facilitates microfinancing can lead to conflicting obligations toward business needs and economic obligations toward family. Building on an inductive field study among female entrepreneurs in Tanzania, we conceptualize microfinance traps. By using relational contract theory to interpret the qualitative data, we argue that microfinance traps can be reduced by balancing role integrity, preserving norms and reciprocity, and harmonizing the social matrix toward the family and loan group.     

Interaction between the Business and Family Lives of Women Entrepreneurs in Turkey

This research was carried out among 220 married women entrepreneurs in Ankara urban center to determine the interaction between the business and family lives. In this study, random sampling method has been used and women entrepreneurs have been taken to sphere of the research were interviewed. The effect of being an entrepreneur on the multiple roles (family, social, economical and individual) and the state of conflict between the entrepreneur role and other roles in family were examined. On the other hand, the stress occurred from business and family life was emphasized. Research findings showed that the women thought that being entrepreneurs affect their roles in family life negatively, while positively affecting their roles in social, economical and individual life and they suffered from conflicts between the entrepreneur role and other roles in family and that the role of entrepreneur mostly conflicted with the roles of housewife, mother, and wife, respectively. It was found that the most important factors causing stress due to business and family life were insufficient demand in the market, excessive expectations of family members and physical fatigue.     

国有企业公司化改制中的“内部人控制”问题与企业家成长

国有企业公司化改制中的“内部人控制”问题的实质是企业经理人员在激励和约束不对称的条件下,企业家的行为扭曲。他们将自己的创新能力从市场的开拓和产品的开发等创新活动中转移到寻找制度的漏洞,利用制度的不完全性和改革的不彻底性,侵占国有资产。因此,国企改制的目的,就是要矫正企业家行为,为企业家的成长设计出相应的激励和约束机制。其中财产抵押制、年薪制和股票期权制在整合国有资产与企业家利益中具有极为重要的作用。     

Women Entrepreneurs: A Comparison of International Small Business Owners in Poland and the Czech Republic

Women entrepreneurs from two Central European countries with relatively new market economies were interviewed for this research. The authors describe the experiences and motivation of these women international business owners and compare them to the literature on women entrepreneurs in North America. Cross-culturally, women entrepreneurs share many of the same motivations for starting a business, and experience similar challenges to making their enterprises successful. North American models of entrepreneurship are also examined. The findings suggest a universal model for entrepreneurship. Suggestions for government policies are put forward. Managerial and theoretical implications are also presented and new directions for research on women entrepreneurs are suggested.     

The Influence of Entrepreneurial Risk Assessment on Venture Launch or Growth Decisions

Entrepreneurs are thought to engage in riskier behavior than nonentrepreneurs, yet little empirical evidence supports that intuitively appealing notion. We argue instead that differences in information, not risk aversion, may explain the decision to launch or grow a venture. We separately test risk taking propensity and risk assessment. We hypothesize that entrepreneurs will not differ from nonentrepreneurs on risk taking propensity. Additionally, we propose and test a model of risk assessment. The sample size for this exploratory study is n=53 with 30 respondents declaring themselves as entrepreneurs and 23 declaring themselves as nonentrepreneurs. The study’s design is a simulation. Each respondent is provided with data on a potential acquisition that would result in either the launch of a new venture or significant growth for an existing firm. Consistent with the hypotheses, the results show no difference between entrepreneurs and nonentrepreneurs on the risk taking measure. We also find that we can predict entrepreneurial behavior based on risk assessment. We close with a discussion of limitations and directions for future research.     

Venture Creation Speed and Subsequent Growth: Evidence from South America

Though time is an important dimension of the venture creation process, our understanding of why some entrepreneurs are able to act more quickly than others is limited. Equally, not much is known about the relationship between venture creation speed and the subsequent venture growth. In this paper, we use a resource‐based perspective to provide insights into the factors that quicken or retard venture creation and to explore how speed impacts on subsequent growth. This is important because the topic remains generally underresearched and because even less is understood about venture creation speed in the context of South American economies. Data were collected from face‐to‐face interviews with 647 entrepreneurs in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Peru. Using a multivariate regression framework, we find that entrepreneurs make use of their human and social capital resources to shape the speed by which their venture is created. Moreover, their perceptions of unfavorable environmental conditions seem to retard venture creation. Findings also suggest that entrepreneurs who take more time to create a more solid resource base tend to receive better growth outcomes. Implications from the findings are discussed.     

The White Stone: Six Choices

What sort of jobs? What sort of companies? What sort of capitalism? What sort of society? What sort of education? What sort of life? Starting with mundane statistics of GDP growth and job creation, this article moves on to explore the relationship between business and some of the major issues of human life. It is based on a speech to London Business School Alumni.     

Understanding the Continuation of Firm Activities when Entrepreneurs Exit their Firms: Using Theory of Planned Behavior

Up to now, little attention has been paid to the continuity of a firm when entrepreneurs exit. Survey data from 175 entrepreneurs confirm the theory of planned behavior as an appropriate framework to understand whether entrepreneurs, when leaving, sell or liquidate their firm. Entrepreneurs' sale attitudes are related to sale intentions, which are associated with firm sale. Further, sale attitudes are positively related to whether entrepreneurs perceive firm continuation to be out of free will, their experience, the number of employees, and whether the firm is a multigeneration family business.     

Cautious International Entrepreneurs: The Case of the Mittelstand

This paper investigates the international entrepreneurial behaviour of Mittelstand firms (German small and medium sized enterprises). Analysis of a survey of the international marketing strategies of Mittelstand firms revealed three clusters of firms, two that had below and one above average international activities. None of the clusters displayed born global type of internationalisation processes. However, this does not mean that they adopt passive approaches to internationalisation. The results suggest that Mittelstand firms engage in entrepreneurial behaviour that is proactive and innovative but which is cautious, sequential, and risk adverse. The implications of this analysis for future research in the area of international entrepreneurship are considered.