The performance effect of network and managerial capabilities of entrepreneurial firms

Building on the organizational capabilities view, this study explores the impact of network and managerial capabilities on the performance of entrepreneurial firms in the architecture and real estate sector. We apply an extended organizational capabilities model by integrating Porter’s value chain model and Grant’s hierarchy of organizational capabilities. Starting from differences in entrepreneurial orientation between architecture and real estate development firms, we argue that under higher environmental uncertainty, network capabilities are more important for the performance of architecture firms whereas managerial capabilities are more important for the performance of real estate development firms. Employing data from Austria, Germany, and Switzerland, the research results support the hypotheses. This study integrates Porter’s value chain concept and the organizational capabilities model and delivers a contribution to the organizational capability theory. In addition, it contributes to the entrepreneurship literature by showing that network capabilities are more important for creating competitive advantage in entrepreneurial firms than in other firms.     

A new entrepreneurial drive in large and small manufacturing firms in Japan

Japan's per capita GDP growth has been decelerating for at least three decades, despite groping towards better ways of accommodating individualistic Smithian market forces. Japan has made great progress in opening markets and fostering profit seeking, yet it has not reaped the benefits anticipated so far. Facing the most severe economic downturn of the post-war period, it is now rethinking the fundaments of its economic and management system. The necessity of developing competitive advantages in new industries has been identified but a crucial question is how they will affect the way industry has organized itself to maximize quality, efficiency and flexibility. It is said that an entrepreneurial culture was not needed during the post-war period in Japan because a group-based industrial organization could generate about the same dynamism and outcome. Nevertheless, this time, a venture-type business culture may be a key factor in the renewal of the Japanese economy to put it back on a sustainable growth path. The objective of the article is to make a critical assessment of the trends in entrepreneurship in Japan, using secondary data. They are complemented by partial results of two surveys made by the author, the first one in 1997 in ten electronic companies on intrapreneurship schemes, and the second one in 1998 in 40 small companies in the Hiroshima prefecture, centred on human resource management. To these are added information obtained through interviews in the small business agency, MITI, and a number of universities on business-university research collaboration schemes.     

Industrial clusters,entrepreneurial culture and the social environment: The effects on FDI distribution

Using balance sheet data from a sample of 3498 foreign firms in the manufacturing industry we analyse the distribution of foreign direct investments (FDI) in Italy at a very detailed geographical level, i.e. the provincial level, a region which comprises an urban area and the limited geographical area surrounding it. In this paper, we test the impact that agglomeration economies, entrepreneurial culture and social capital have on the distribution of foreign investments. While the findings regarding the social variables are mixed, the important role played by agglomeration economies is confirmed. Our analysis shows that investments by multinationals are attracted by those areas that combine industrial cluster characteristics with an agglomeration of foreign firms and that have a high level of entrepreneurial culture. The role that this last variable plays is fundamental and suggests the idea that multinational corporations (MNCs) invest in regions with entrepreneurial resources.     

Knowledge and internationalization of returnee entrepreneurial firms

This study aims to answer whether and how returnee entrepreneurs’ international experience and returnee entrepreneurial firms’ international market knowledge influence these firms’ internationalization. Anchored in a framework combining an entrepreneurial and knowledge-based view, we develop a model and four hypotheses on the relations between returnee entrepreneurs’ international experience, international market knowledge, international market commitment, and level of internationalization of the returnee entrepreneurial firm. Empirical evidence of the proposed model is derived from a recent sample of Chinese returnee SMEs in knowledge-intensive and high-technology industries. The main finding is that returnee entrepreneurs’ international experience nurtures international market knowledge of returnee entrepreneurial firms, which in turn has a positive effect on these firms’ international market commitment and level of internationalization. In terms of theory, the study extends our understanding of returnee entrepreneurial firms by uncovering the role of returnee entrepreneurs’ international experience and returnee firms’ international market knowledge during their initial and early international expansion.     

Top management teams and the performance of entrepreneurial firms

This article examines why some entrepreneurial firms succeed while others do not. The focal explanation is top management teams, including several studies that address when and how top management teams are likely to influence entrepreneurial firm performance. There are several insights. First, large and diverse teams with a history of working together are more likely to succeed. This effect is particularly large when they launch in growth markets. Second, teams are effective in making strategic decisions when they are fast, highly conflictual, and still get along. Third, they are also effective when they rely on “simple rules” heuristics to perform significant activities like new product development and internationalization that nonetheless happens often. A further insight is that these “simple rules” can become the strategy of their firms. Fourth, more effective teams continuously organize the structures of their firms at the “edge of chaos”. Overall, top management teams emerge as central to the success (or lack thereof) of entrepreneurial firms.     

Factors affecting the performance of entrepreneurial service firms

In the current climate, the importance of the role played by entrepreneurship as a palpable reality that enables economic growth at a macroeconomic level, and as a factor that favours the progress of companies at a microeconomic level, has made it the subject of continual analyses from many different perspectives and in a variety of contexts by researchers from around the world. In this study, Spanish entrepreneurial firms in the service sector are analysed in order to determine the factors that influence their performance.     

Fast growing small entrepreneurial firms and their venture capital backers: An applied principal-agent analysis

First the empirical background of the U.K. venture capital industry is developed using a panel of major U.K. venture capital funds over the period 1988–92. Then a framework for applied principal agent analysis is developed, focusing on risk management and information. Under risk management it explores attitude to risk, risk sharing and bearing, and the effects of risk bearing on effort. Under information handling, it explores information systems, information asymmetries between investor (venture capitalist) and investee (entrepreneur), and ways of attenuating them, and information variance and costs. Finally, the contract between investor and investee is seen as a device for trading risk and information. The implications of this trading for risk bearing, effort and efficiency are explored. The whole analysis is supported by a detailed case study which reflects current practice in the U.K. venture capital industry. The evidence provides striking confirmation of the applicability of the principal-agent model to the venture capital financing of hightech ventures.     

Achieving sustained competitive advantage in retail and consumer service firms: The role of entrepreneurial orientation and entrepreneurial bricolage

The vital role of entrepreneurial orientation and entrepreneurial bricolage in creating sustained competitive advantage in retail and consumer service firms is increasingly acknowledged in modern markets. Using data from 246 retail and consumer service firms (hereafter R&CSFs) in Japan, this paper develops and empirically tests a framework delineating how entrepreneurial-oriented R&CSFs strategically combine existing resources while managing risks to differentiate their service portfolios to be competitive. The findings reveal that entrepreneurial orientation and entrepreneurial bricolage influence differentiation advantage and risk management, which, in turn, is associated with creating a sustained competitive advantage (hereafter SCA). This paper adds novel insights to the dynamic capabilities view and retail and service marketing literature by identifying entrepreneurial orientation, entrepreneurial bricolage, and risk management as dynamic capabilities, which allows R&CSFs to create service innovations in resource-constrained environments.     

International entrepreneurial capability: The measurement and a comparison between born global firms and traditional exporters in China

This study presents the development and application of a new measure of international entrepreneurial capability. The data were collected from manufacturing firms in China, both traditional exporters and born global firms. Five key dimensions of international entrepreneurial capability were identified from the capability and entrepreneurship literature. After scale purification and validation, this new measure was used to examine the relationship between international entrepreneurial capability and global market performance. Born global firms are statistically different from traditional firms along three dimensions: international learning capability, international networking capability, and international experience. Implications and future research directions are then provided.     

A comparative analysis of the entrepreneurial orientation/growth relationship in service firms and manufacturing firms

This article builds on the recently increasingly mentioned notion that entrepreneurship in the service sector is a worthwhile, but clearly underresearched topic. Using a sample of 1,612 small- and medium-size enterprises from the four German-speaking countries Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein, and using structural equation modeling, this article finds that service firms have a significantly higher entrepreneurial orientation (EO) than manufacturing firms – both on the overall level as well as for each of the three sub-categories proactiveness, innovativeness, and risk-taking. With regards to the positive relationship between a firm's EO and its growth aspirations, nevertheless, no significant differences could be identified. Accordingly, this study shows that EO is a strategic orientation of highest value for service firms as well, under the premise of growth-orientation.     

Product life-cycle considerations and the nature of strategic activities in entrepreneurial firms

This article reports on the nature of strategic activities and concerns reported by the CEOs of 77 entrepreneurial manufacturing firms once initial success in their marketplace had been achieved. Once the entrepreneurial firm achieves initial market success, the rate and number of strategic decisions faced by the entrepreneurs rapidly expand. A product becomes a product line. Product lines are added. Facilities and equipment are expanded. Personnel are added. A more formal and interpersonally complex organization becomes necessary. Markets and distribution channels expand, adding uncertainty to key market-related decisions. New financial risks arise, often as the result of undercapitalized cash flows. All of these factors combine to dramatically increase the pressure on the entrepreneur's strategic decision making.A major factor underlying the complicity inherent in this scenario is the product/market life cycle: the entrepreneurs must now organize and make decisions regarding several product lines that span several life-cycle stages with different strategic concerns, rather than regarding the narrow product range and limited life-cycle position that provided their initial success. The research reported in this article examined the relative importance of ten strategic activities and concerns reported by the 77 CEOs across products at different life-cycle stages.Initial interviews with selected CEOs and a review of the strategic-management literature identified ten key factors shaping the firm's evolving decision-making practices. These ten factors were divided into three groups:

• 1.1. Operational concerns that necessitate strategic attention: 1) changes in product design; 2) changes in process design; 3) risk of producing a product; and 4) emphasis on creativity.
• 2.2. Dimensions influencing a firm's strategic-management activities: 5) demand on the strategic manager's time: 6) speed of decision making; 7) problems of internal politics; and 8) environmental uncertainty.
• 3.3. Fundamental assumptions underlying a firm's decision-making practices: 9) annual-profit potential; and 10) value of strategic planning.

There are two main sets of results: First, four process-related factors (value of strategic planning, demand on CEO's time, speed of decision making and annual-profit potential) were consistently the most important factors affecting performance within eact stage. Regardless of the life cycle of a particular product line, the manner or process by which decisions were made (strategic planning, CEO's time, and speed of decision making) and one key assumption or objective-annual-profit potential-were seen as factors more important in affecting performance than were operating concerns that necessitated strategic attention. Second, strategic issues associated with product lines at the development and growth stages of their life cycle are reported to be significantly more important to CEOs in entrepreneurial manufacturing firms than are strategic issues associated with mature or declining products lines.These results suggest that CEOs in entrepreneurial manufacturing firms should re-examine their strategies and practices to be sure that sufficient “strategic attention” is being given to decisions regarding mature product lines. In addition, these CEO's need to ensure, in the face of constant demands for their time and decisions, that operating concerns requiring strategic attention get appropriate consideration.     

简述经济环境与企业会计模式之间的关系

本文对经济环境与企业会计模式之间的的关系进行了论述.     

简述经济环境与企业会计模式之间的关系

本文对经济环境与企业会计模式之间的的关系进行了论述.     

Differences in managerial behavior between small international and non-international firms

The main question raised in this article is whether there are any differences between the work activities of managers in small firms primarily operating on an international market and those managing firms doing business on a domestic market. If so, what are these differences, and what do they tell us about the internationalization of small firms? The comparative method used here is based on multiple approaches including interviews, diary studies, and direct observations. The conclusions indicate that managers in small international firms are more proactive in their networking behavior, delegate operative activities, and devote more time to planned strategic activities connected with their international expansion than managers in other small firms.     

The role of small firms in Indonesia

During the last two decades small firms in developing countries have received more and more attention from researchers and policy makers. For this, several reasons have been brought forward. The decline in labour absorption in agriculture and the slow growth of employment opportunities in the other sectors of the economy, combined with the fact that the growth of the labour force has accelerated, have led to un- and under-employment problems in many of these countries.Small firms are generally viewed as a useful means of alleviating these problems, because medium and large firms only would not help to solve the problems. However, from this study it can be concluded that the medium and large firms in the manufacturing sector in Indonesia are doing better in employment and income than generally anticipated.The purpose of this study is to examine the relative pattern of change and development of small firms in the manufacturing sector in Indonesia in the last two decades and possible factors affecting their growth. Also the relative importance of small firms in terms of income generation will be assessed.The study will use national data collected from the Department of Industry and Central Bureau of Statistic in Indonesia. Further, the study will be based, for its theoretical analysis, on relevant literature on the subject and on some empirical studies in Indonesia as well as in other developing countries.     

The role of entrepreneurial orientation in service firms: empirical evidence from Austria

Entrepreneurial behaviour is becoming increasingly important for all firms, regardless of size, age, or industry sector. It is increasingly seen as one of the most important drivers for economic growth and corporate success. Nevertheless, no empirical research has so far concentrated on the role of entrepreneurial behaviour in service firms, although the service sector has become the most important (and the only growing) industry sector. This article therefore investigates the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and corporate performance on the basis of an empirical survey of 310 service firms in Austria. Here, a significant positive relationship between EO and corporate performance could be identified, with a clear emphasis on innovative behaviour as the most important sub-dimension.     

The cumulative nature of the entrepreneurial process: The contribution of human capital,planning and environment resources to small venture performance

The study is theoretically grounded in the resource-based view and applied to a service industry-tourism. It examined the performance of small ventures by utilizing an integrated dynamic model of entrepreneur choices and resource accumulation. Each phase in the process is added to previous one. Findings from 305 small tourism ventures revealed that the human capital of the entrepreneur, particularly managerial skills, were the greatest contributing factor to performance. This was followed by venture type. The study illustrates the unique nature of the entrepreneurial process among small ventures, often defined as “lifestyle businesses”.     

Decision making behavior in smaller entrepreneurial and larger professionally managed firms

The main findings in this study are that: • Entrepreneurs from smaller firms are less comprehensive in their decision behavior than professional managers from larger firms, with comprehensiveness defined as the degree to which an individual follows a formal rational decision process; • As decision comprehensiveness declines, so too does organizational performance, both among entrepreneurs and professional managers.The present study was based on the responses of 15 entrepreneurs from smaller firms averaging 25 employees and 13 CEOs and other top level corporate executives from larger, more professionally managed firms averaging 740 employees. The firms were randomly selected from a list of mid-Atlantic electronic manufacturing firms. Field interviews and questionnaires were employed, as well as a decision scenario involving a series of questions to which the entrepreneur or professional manager responded.After reviewing the literature on entrepreneurship, the researchers noted that most of it focused on developing profiles of entrepreneurs—for example, that they were high achievers, impatient and made decisions quickly. However, little—if any—research has focused on the behavior of entrepreneurs, particularly when compared to that of professional managers. Given this gap in the research, a field study was designed to compare the decision behavior of entrepreneurs and professional managers. It was expected that entrepreneurs would be less comprehensive than professional managers, but given previous research on comprehensiveness, it was difficult to predict the consequences of this less comprehensive model for performance.The researchers note in the discussion and conclusion that the results of the study have major implications for entrepreneurs and professional managers. Granted that decision comprehensiveness should be emphasized, they question the ability of entrepreneurs to change their decision behavior. It is argued that many of the drawbacks of comprehensiveness can be overcome by more sophisticated planning techniques and information processing systems. The paper concludes by stressing the need for research on techniques and ways to train entrepreneurs and managers to be more comprehensive.In summary, the present study has produced some important preliminary findings. It confirmed in larger scale studies, they could have major implications for the manner in which entrepreneurs and professional managers are trained and developed.