International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal

This paper focuses on the likelihood of firms adopting corporate entrepreneurship in response to the challenges and opportunities presented by a change in their business environment shaped by the growth of the Internet. We further examined if firms are willing to modify their existing systems in response to such a change. We also investigated the paths or modes of entrepreneurship that firms would adopt when they perceive being entrepreneurial to be a viable response in light of a specific change in their business environment. Finally, we identified the impediments that firms may need to overcome when adopting corporate entrepreneurship. Results based on the data from senior executives lend support to our hypotheses. Managerial implications of the results are discussed.

In recent decades, it has been widely assumed that undeclared work is rife amongst the self-employed. Until now, however, few have evaluated the extent and nature of the participation of the self-employed in undeclared work and whether they do so out of choice or necessity. The aim of this paper is to fill this gap. To do this, an extensive 2007 Eurobarometer survey on undeclared work is reported comprising 26,659 face-to-face interviews conducted in the 27 member states of the European Union. The finding is that some 1 in 12 of the 1,842 self-employed respondents surveyed had participated in undeclared work in the previous year, although the propensity of the self-employed to engage in undeclared work varies significantly both socio-demographically and spatially. Analysing whether they do so out of choice or necessity, meanwhile, various ratios of involuntary-to-voluntary participation in undeclared work are found to prevail across different populations, places and types of undeclared work. The paper concludes by reviewing the implications for policy. Its argument is not only that state authorities targeting the self-employed alone will fail to eradicate undeclared work but also that a more variegated approach is required if the participation of the self-employed in undeclared work is to be efficiently and effectively tackled. KeywordsInformal economy–Informal employment–Self-employment–Entrepreneurship–Tax compliance–European Union

Despite the existence of a positive relationship between new firm creation and economic growth, a certain controversy still exists regarding the need for the public promotion of entrepreneurship. The recent surge of entrepreneurship policies encompasses a wide variety of instruments and goals that are mainly designed and implemented at a regional or local level, which allows for a more efficient use of public resources. Case studies are therefore a useful approach to assessing “good practices” in entrepreneurship policies. We adopt this approach to empirically analyse whether policies are targeting specific entrepreneurial projects or not in the region of Valencia. We identify the features (in relation to the entrepreneur, the sector and the characteristics of the project itself) that may influence greater access to public funding and are principally related to standard requirements for this means of financing. These variables do not address specific entrepreneurial profiles, sectors or applicant projects, thereby revealing a substantial degree of horizontal policy design. Other features, such as almost all entrepreneurial characteristics (previous experience, age, etc.), do not seem relevant in terms of receiving public funds.

Much of the current empirical literature on academic spin-off formation focuses either on relevant framework conditions or on the potential academic entrepreneurs’ opportunity-seeking process. The interdependency of these two important factors, in contrast, remains understudied, even though it is theoretically well established in general entrepreneurship literature. Against this background this article makes the case for an integrated consideration of motivation and framework conditions. It demonstrates how this approach can convincingly explain changes in prevalent modes of spin-off creation in developing and transforming economies. To do so, data from 68 academic spin-off enterprises from China are investigated.

Literature reveals the need for entrepreneurship training programmes that focus on the skills required by female entrepreneurs. The purpose of this paper is to introduce the Women Entrepreneurship Programme (WEP) as an initiative to provide entrepreneurial and business skills to female entrepreneurs. An experimental group of 116 women attended this training intervention whereas 64 women formed the control group who did not attend the WEP. The findings highlight that through the WEP the experimental group gained new skills and knowledge relevant to running a business; increased their confidence in their entrepreneurial abilities; and used these skills to start new ventures.

This cross-cultural research project, involving the United States and Finland, explored how the entrepreneurial firm’s acquisition of business processes’ knowledge from interaction with incubator management positively impacts on new product development, increased technical competence, enhanced reputation and lower costs of sales to customers. In a sample of 52 firms, the study’s methodology depended on single response, self-reported data. The findings suggest that the sole knowledge benefits gained by the firm, from the incubator relationship, is a perception of enhanced reputation. Also, incubator managers should focus more on assisting new technology based firms with growing the venture in the marketplace.

High technology incubators have been funded in universities by the UK government as part of the ‘third mission’ for higher education (DTI 2000a). The provision of such facilities is premised on the notion that new technology firms achieve success at least in part from the benefits of incubators as rich networked environments where specialist knowledge acquisition can occur. This paper presents a exploration of how this process takes place, based on a case study of the high-tech incubator at the University of Southampton. The paper shows that firm founders adopt different approaches to the networked environment provided by the incubator; in this case the shift from Directorial support to that embedding in external networks was significant as firms grew. Taking account of this process should enable incubator managers to develop practices that ensure firms gain maximum advantage from the available resources.

This paper presents a model that describes the dynamics of small firm capital acquisition decisions. The model proposes that the primary factors influencing capital acquisition decisions are (1) availability of information, (2) ease of capital acquisition, (3) owner’s goals, and (4) terms of external providers of capital. The paper discusses the relationships between these primary influence variables and capital acquisition decisions. A better understanding of the factors influencing capital acquisition can provide insight into the process by which small firms make capital acquisition decisions. A better understanding of these dynamics can also lead to improved support systems and conditions for small businesses that may be searching for capital. Insight from the model can be useful for business owners, business consultants, and classroom instructors.

Acquisition is one way entrepreneurial firms have to capture the assets needed to achieve their strategic objectives. We investigate shareholder value creation of Spanish listed firms in response to announcements of acquisitions over the period 1991–2006. Similar to foreign markets, bidders earn insignificant average abnormal returns regardless of the pricing model used in the estimation procedure. When we relate these results to company and transaction characteristics our evidence suggests that the listing status of the target firm is a critical key in the strategic decision to acquire a company. This listing status effect is mainly associated with the fact that unlisted firms tend to be smaller and lesser–known firms, and thus suffer from a lack of competition in the market for corporate control. Consequently, the payment of lower premiums and the possibility of diversifying shareholders’ portfolios lead to unlisted firm acquisitions being viewed as value–orientated transactions which have major implications for managers. KeywordsAcquisition–Target selection–Unlisted firms–Event–study

This paper presents a harmonized data set over the period 1972-2002, containing two-yearly data on the number of non-agricultural business owners and the size of the labour force for 23 OECD countries, as well as the quotient of these two variables which is called the business ownership rate of a country. The data set is called COMPENDIA, which means COMParative ENtrepreneurship Data for International Analysis. It has been constructed making use of OECD statistics as well as other relevant sources. We make an attempt to make business ownership rates comparable across countries and over time.

Through the development and extension of theories and scholars’ subsequent empirical analyses of significant, theoretically grounded research questions, the knowledge about corporate entrepreneurship (CE) and its successful use continues to advance. Moreover, the literature suggests important relationships between the corporate environment, managers’ entrepreneurial behavior and successful implementation of corporate entrepreneurship actions. In an attempt to test some of those relationships, we describe an empirical study of 523 managers that examines the relationships among the antecedents to managers’ entrepreneurial behavior, a decision to implement entrepreneurial actions, and resulting job satisfaction and reinforcement practices.

This article analyses the importance of training as a creator of human capital, which enables a company to obtain competitive advantages that are sustainable in the long-term that result in greater profitability. The study is based on the general theoretical framework of resource and capacity theory. The study not only analyses the impact of the influence of training on performance; it also attempts to analyse the nature of such a relationship in greater depth. This being the case, an attempt has been made to measure explanatory capacity from two different perspectives: the universalistic approach and the contingent approach. At the outset, two hypotheses are formulated that attempt to quantify the relationship from a universalistic perspective to later, in two more hypotheses, incorporate the potential moderating effect of the strategy into the model, in order to verify whether or not this strategy improves the explanatory power of our model of analysis.

The aim of this article is to define what is meant by clusters, their characteristics or determinants and the advantages they generate, focusing on the role they play in boosting entrepreneurship and new venture creation. In clusters, a balance is reached between cooperation and competition which becomes evident in the higher productivity of the companies because of their increased access to inputs, information, technology and institutions; or in greater innovation and venture creation. The cluster incentivizes the entry of new companies or start-ups. The hope is, then, that the new companies will revitalize specific regions where competitiveness has fallen and that entrepreneurship will contribute to economic development and improved country-wide competitiveness.

This paper starts from Ajzen’s theory of planned behavior to test the role of different perceptions on the individual’s intention to become an entrepreneur. Support has most often been found for this theory in the field of entrepreneurship. However, little is yet known about the way in which perceptions are formed. It may be argued that social values regarding entrepreneurship, and also personal skill perceptions, would both affect entrepreneurial intentions. Our objective, therefore, is testing the existence and reach of both effects. Empirical analysis has been carried out on a sample of 249 university students. Structural equations models have been used to test our hypotheses. Results generally confirm them, since values and skills do play a significant role in explaining intention. However, the role of perceived skills seems to be more relevant. Implications may be derived in several areas, and especially regarding entrepreneurship education.

A considerable agreement exists about the importance of promoting entrepreneurship to stimulate economic development and employment generation. In particular, entrepreneurship education has been considered one of the key instruments to increase the entrepreneurial attitudes of both potential and nascent entrepreneurs. Nevertheless, the factors that determine the individual’s decision to start a venture are still not completely clear. Cognitive approaches have attracted considerable interest recently. But the explaining capacity of personality traits or demographic characteristics is still considered. Therefore, there is a need to clarify which elements play the most influential role in shaping the personal decision to start a firm. This paper tries to contribute to filling this gap by providing empirically-based suggestions for the design of improved entrepreneurship education initiatives. The empirical analysis is based on two essential elements: firstly, an already validated instrument (EIQ); secondly, a statistical method (factor-regression procedure) which is not dependent on any theoretical approach. It uses all the information collected through the questionnaire items, selecting them solely based on their capacity to explain the dependent variable. Results will allow the design of more effective education initiatives. They suggest that personal attitude and perceived behavioural control are the most relevant factors explaining entrepreneurial intentions. Thus, based on these results, a number of considerations about the most effective role of education in promoting and developing attitudes and intentions towards entrepreneurship are considered. Besides, the EIQ could be used as an evaluation instrument for entrepreneurial education programmes. KeywordsEntrepreneurship–Entrepreneurial intention–Entrepreneurial intention questionnaire–Entrepreneurial education

For a long time economic researchers condemned the existence of a huge informal sector in economies, viewing it as a deterrent to investment, growth and development. This view is however being confronted with intense criticism particularly in developing countries where formal unemployment is rapidly growing and poverty widely spreading, which in turn is leading to an expanding informal sector. Thus alternative schools of thought that view the informal sector as a source of livelihood to the unemployed and poor have subsequently been developed. However, not much empirical work has been carried out to validate any of these theoretical claims, particularly in African economies. This paper attempts to fill this gap. The findings of the study indicate that there is a positive relationship between informal sector activities and investment. These results suggest a review of the standard thinking towards the role of the informal sector in development. KeywordsInformal-Investment-Employment-Incomes

This paper analyses innovation patterns of Austrian Low- and Medium Tech (LMT-) SMEs and how these companies are supported by public policy. It adds evidence to the claim that Low-Tech SMEs are actually more innovative than commonly thought and that supporting these industries might yield positive effects. The Austrian innovation system is diversified, yet programmes that aim at LMT innovations are scarce. LMT SMEs are surprisingly innovative, but rarely use available support measures, indicating that these measures may be too High-Tech-oriented. Relatively high additionality effects and impacts can be achieved, if innovative LMT projects are fostered.

This study develops an entrepreneurial typology employing two dimensions, high versus low entrepreneurial alertness and internal versus external attributional styles that helps illustrate why entrepreneurs start new businesses. The resulting 2 × 2 typology of entrepreneurs identifies four entrepreneur types based on these two dimensions: the true believer, clueless, practical, and reluctant. Using a representative sample of 315 nascent entrepreneurs from the Panel Study of Entrepreneurial Dynamics, we found that some types differed across three key entrepreneurial characteristics, need for achievement, risk-taking propensity, and commitment, thereby providing some preliminary empirical support for the typology’s validity. We conclude by discussing future research avenues.

Strategic alliances have become a popular strategy in many industries. However, the process through which alliances emerge and get popularized is not well understood. While both the institutional and entrepreneurial views are relevant, they represent competing explanations regarding the alliance phenomenon. This paper recognizes both views and sees alliance emergence as a function of both the firms entrepreneurial posture and its institutional environment. The popularization of alliances is discussed as a legitimization process that changes the institutional environment, which in turn encourages more alliance formation.

Managing limited display areas is an increasingly challenging task in the grocery retail industry, especially given the current high levels of product proliferation. The decision of how to best allocate and manage shelf space is critical to grocery retail profitability. Moreover, this decision is escalated for initial shelf space considerations at new grocery stores. Without loss to generality, this paper presents a new approach to the shelf space allocation problem that could be applied to new grocery stores for determining their initial shelf space consideration by incorporating consumer behavior actions based on the consumer’s decision process.

The franchising business model is widely and increasingly used by entrepreneurs seeking growth through geographic expansion. Thus, continued research efforts are needed to help entrepreneurs make wise choices as to whether the franchising business model is appropriate for them. To help promote such research, we reviewed the literature on reasons for franchising and outcomes of franchising. Based on that review, we drew conclusions as to future research directions likely to be fruitful. Specifically, we recommend that researchers (a) continue adding theoretical diversity to franchising research, (b) build large-scale, longitudinal databases, (c) test or control for implicit and explicit assumptions, (d) pay more attention to micro-level considerations within franchise networks, and (e) compare franchising with alternative business models suitable for geographic expansion. KeywordsFranchising–Business models–Growth–Geographic expansion–Resource scarcity–Agency

As barriers to globalization have steadily diminished, the number of entrepreneurial and noncommercial expatriates have grown from a trickle to a torrent. Much of what we know about expatriatism may not apply to this new breed of expatriates. A four-quadrant typology of expatriates draws attention to important differences in expatriate types. I make use of the notions of comparative fit and normative fit from self-categorization theory to validate the typology. Examining the experiences of 160 expatriates demonstrates that the proposed typology represents real differences and is invoked by expatriates in the field. Scholars may apply this typology to explain inconsistent findings in extant studies and as a guide for the development of new research questions.

Social enterprises are unusual change organizations; typically their purpose is to bring about change to improve social well-being. Yet they do so in unusual ways. Traditional entrepreneurs generate social value as a by-product of economic value; whereas for social entrepreneurs the reverse is true. This brings about an ambiguity in integrating business and social well being, most manifest in identity and in managing the enterprise. Moreover, the values which drive social enterprise are “different”. Consequently, we examine how values shape practices and how they give direction and purpose to what social enterprises do and how this shapes identity over time. Using the social organisation as the unit of analysis, we collected the narratives about tensions and how these were reconciled. We contribute by improving our understanding of social enterprise by showing how values are worked, used and deployed to give direction in reconciling ambiguity. Moreover, these ambiguities provide a unique identity and purpose for social enterprise. KeywordsSocial enterprise–Narratives–Values–Purpose–Practices

This research aims to quantify the importance of a country’s entrepreneurship level in terms of its competitiveness rates. Our hypothesis is that those countries entrepreneurship growth rates increase their competitiveness indicators and that this entrepreneurial improvement could be a key factor in reaching the next stage of development. We establish this relationship using a longitudinal database of Latin American countries that participated in the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) and the Global Competitiveness Reports of the World Economic Forum (WEF) from 2001 to 2006. GEM and WEF construct aggregated indexes using several variables to rate each country’s entrepreneurship activity and competitiveness development. We use a discriminant analysis to identify various countries’ competitiveness subgroups and show how each country’s entrepreneurship rates have weight in different stages of competitiveness, placing a special emphasis on Latin America. Our results suggest that Latin American countries need to gain entrepreneurial dynamics and economic (and competitiveness) development by transforming their typical self-employment or low value-added new ventures for local markets into strong, innovative networked firms competing globally. Some management and policy implications are also discussed. KeywordsCompetitiveness–Economic growth–Global Entrepreneurship Monitor–Latin America–Discriminant analysis

This study analyzes the relationship between entrepreneurial dynamics in Latin-American countries and the level of competitiveness these countries show. Based on the research conducted by Wennekers et al. (2005) that demonstrates a U-shaped relationship between the country’s rate of entrepreneurship and its level of competitiveness and economic development, we hypothesize that Latin-American countries have a descending behaviour under the U-shaped curve approach. The results from three regression models support this relationship and suggest that region’s competitiveness and economic growth have not had an important effect on entrepreneurial dynamics. We discuss that Latin-American countries need to improve some structural factors to achieve a high level of entrepreneurial dynamics.

New ventures are increasingly playing an important role in Latin American economies. However, little is known about the determinants of new firm growth in this context. The purpose of this study is to gain an understanding of the factors influencing new firm growth in Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and Peru. Individual, organizational and environmental factors are included in an empirical model, which is tested using data collected by face-to-face interviews with 582 entrepreneurs. Different specifications of employment growth and regression approaches are employed. Results suggest that growth strongly depends on the characteristics of the entrepreneur. National environment and firm-related factors are also important factors in determining growth.

Should entrepreneurship education be the same in every country or should it be adapted to each context? In addition to answering this question, it appears to be important to identify the concerns students have regarding their entrepreneurship education programs, so as to strengthen their perceptions of feasibility and desirability of an entrepreneurial career. In this article we examine whether differences exist among American, Asian and European students in terms of entrepreneurial intentions and dispositions, as well as motivations and perceived barriers for business startup. Results indicate that entrepreneurial disposition and intentions differ by country but that students across countries are motivated and/or discouraged by similar variables. However, our results indicate that the levels of sensitivity to each motivator and barrier differ by country. Our results support the argument made by past researches that cultural differences should be taken into consideration when developing entrepreneurship education programs. KeywordsEntrepreneurship education–Cross-cultural–Motivations–Barriers–Belgium–US–China–India–Spain

This article determines whether transaction cost theory can be used as a framework for analysing industrial district relationships, using the Gnosjö/Anderstorp industrial district in Sweden as a case example. Interviews with six firm owner/managers, representatives from the trade union and the local industrial development centre were conducted. Data was analysed using pattern matching in accordance to the theoretical framework. The findings indicate that interfirm relationships in the industrial district are motivated by the desire to reduce transaction costs. The article offers an alternative perspective in analysing industrial districts as current studies use network theory in explaining the industrial district phenomena.

This article presents the development of a model of types of work based on organizational theory. It analyzes the different characteristics of work and efficient forms of Management, and joins all these aspects together in terms of corporate entrepreneurship. Organizational theory provides the instruments needed to manage work, the causes that make decentralization desirable and the technical, social and institutional mechanisms for its control. The literature on corporate entrepreneurship provides material for forms of discovery or creation of opportunities based on accumulated experience in the firm, on the collective relationships linked to entrepreneurship and on the way in which resources are managed. This article contributes to existing knowledge by systematically addressing these two fields, showing how the instruments that allow for the efficient management of work are the same as those necessary for corporate entrepreneurship and how the efficient management of work is a prerequisite and an enabler of entrepreneurial activity.

While International Entrepreneurship has attracted scholars’ attention during the last two decades, the impact cognitive aspects exert has been studied on cursory level only. The purpose of this paper was to apply the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to the very field of International Entrepreneurship in order to examine whether this theory contributes to clarify what influences Small and Medium-sized Enterprises’ (SME) decision-makers’ intention—an important cognitive antecedent to behavior—to play an active part in internationalization. In particular, it had to be clarified whether or not International Entrepreneurship—due to its contextual specificities—deserves to be extended by further elements, i.e. experience and knowledge. Based on more than 100 responses from German SME executives, the study yielded several interesting results. First, TPB indeed helps explain how intentions to actively participate in international business are built. Second, an extension of the theory’s basic model seems to make sense, probably due to the specificities of international entrepreneurial behavior. As for the extensions, direct and moderating effects have been observed. Furthermore, cognitive elements seem to be key entrepreneurial resources which serve as sort of enablers. From these results several conclusions can be drawn. Cognitive aspects are a promising starting point for understanding decision-making in SME. Thus, the intersection of international entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial cognition deserves further attention—several examples for possible future studies are presented. Policies supporting SME should be extended: pure resource-based approaches seem to be insufficient. Furthermore, entrepreneurship courses and curricula should reflect the relevance of cognitive aspects. KeywordsInternational entrepreneurship–Cognition–Intention–TPB

This paper analyzes the spatial aspects of social capital creation between co-localised start-ups and customers, aiming to explain the factors which may influence the diffusion of inter-organizational social networks inside industrial clusters. We suppose that local social capital is not a public good, but its creation depends both on proximity. between actors and on a sense of affiliation of an entrepreneur to the cluster. While the embeddedness of a start-up inside a cluster has a positive influence on the relational and cognitive dimensions of social capital, it negatively influences the structural dimension. Implications and future lines of research are discussed.

In recent years the emergence of so-called born-global firms -firms which start their international activities from their start up- has challenged traditional theoretical assumptions about the incremental process of internationalization, giving birth to the development of a new stream of studies. In order to give a contribution to this area of studies, the purpose of this paper is to empirically test a model to explain how well some factors are able to explain the level of international development of born global companies. A mail survey was conducted within a sample of born-global Italian companies, belonging to the most representative industries for the Italian economy (metal products and machinery equipment; furniture; chemicals and food). Findings support the validity of a model including five significant predictors: uncertainty and dynamism in the firm’s industry, operating in niche-based industries, markets’ and segments’ knowledge held by the founder/managers, product innovation and firms’ innovativeness, access to networks. Findings are discussed and managerial implications are drawn.

The present paper examines the concept of emigrant entrepreneur in relation to level of training and language skills. The study focuses on the relationship of both variables with business activity, motivation and the process followed by entrepreneur. The results show a trend in the relationship between the variable language skills and the type of activity developed. The variable “level of training” is revealed as the most influential factor affecting the business sector of activity, the level of turnover and the attitude towards entrepreneurship. KeywordsEntrepreneurship–Emigrant–Language–Formation

An examination of the relationship between marketing and SMEs raises two kinds of questions: the first relates to the categories of SMEs studied, and it goes without saying that their responses will depend on their size (very small, small, and medium); the second depends on the elements likely or not to bring out a marketing approach. In fact, we can infer a large part of this approach from the answers having to do with segmentation practices, positioning, and information research. These three practices constitute the foundation of this approach. For all that, to ask questions directly (especially with regard to segmentation) would lead to biased responses. Taking these premises into account and with understanding of marketing behaviour in the medium-sized firms as an objective, we conducted two surveys in two locations, France and Québec (Canada), in which only enterprises with 50 to 250 employees were retained. The results show that if the marketing approach of the medium-sized firms is always focused on client distinction (more than on the market as such), competition leading to positioning is very much a part of their preoccupations; finally, these enterprises commonly practice commercial intelligence. This implies structuring commercial activity in general and marketing in particular, the two not always well delimited. These last two traits differentiate them from the other categories of SMEs, the very small enterprises (VSEs) and the small enterprises (SEs).

This research contributes to a greater understanding of minority ethnic business (MEB) needs and practices and helps identify the support needs of minority ethnic firms in relation to existing support provision. The aims are, therefore, to examine the take-up of support by minority ethnic enterprises focusing mainly on the South Asian community with some representation from the African-Caribbean and Korean communities. Fifty minority ethnic businesses across South West London were contacted and semi-structured interviews took place with the owner/owner managers. The findings suggest that policy makers need to appreciate the diversity of MEBs and policies aimed at these businesses should reflect that diversity.

New technology based firms (NTBFs) play a major role in the development and commercialisation of new technologies and the development of national economies. Using an entrepreneurship-in-networks approach, this paper examines the early stages of the development of these companies, i.e. from opportunity recognition through opportunity exploration. Case study data was collected on 22 NTBFs from six European universities. The findings highlight specific needs related to five functional areas of importance to NTBFs, namely: R&D, market development and sales, organisation and governance, finance and administration, and production/operation. These needs are reported for both the pre- and post-foundation phases and can thus be utilised by both entrepreneurs and support agencies to guide the development of NTBFs.

This paper investigates how SMEs support investments in intangible assets. Using a multivariate framework that controls for a range of industry- and firm-level characteristics, we examine whether patterns of investment financing are associated with an SME’s past growth history and future growth expectations. We base our analysis on proportionately weighted, stratified survey data from 2960 Canadian firms. Our results suggest that SME growth history is positively related to investments in intangible assets. This finding was observed in both debt-financed investments as well as those supported by equity.

In the current global corporate climate that surrounds us, firms would do well to encourage the talent and creativity of their employees in order to achieve success. This is achieved, not by giving priority to individual talent, but by optimizing the collective as a whole and the firm’s activity based on team work and joint effort. Heads of organizations might benefit from creating a favorable context for the birth and growth of collective internal cooperation, which is understood to be the collective ability to create and innovate on the part of the team, the firm or the organization. Having contrasted our hypotheses through research on Spanish firms, we have concluded that job satisfaction and commitment to the team are factors that have a direct and positive effect on collective entrepreneurship.

Entrepreneurship has been emphasized in many countries as a way of boosting economic growth and job creation. As entrepreneurship is becoming popular around the world, its education should be customized according to each country’s unique cultural context. The purpose of this paper is to identify differences among the selected nations in terms of factors that are important to enhance the pedagogical effect of entrepreneurship education. This is an empirical study based on the data collected from university students in the US, Korea, China and Fiji representing nations with significantly different cultural contexts. The results imply that customized approaches based on unique cultural context are needed for effective entrepreneurship education in each country.

Book review of David B. Audretsch' The Entrepreneurial Society, Oxford University Press, 2007.

This paper examines the relationship between labour productivity and employment in Australian manufacturing small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The results indicate that labour productivity of SMEs varies substantially between industries within the manufacturing sector, but on average labour productivity for manufacturing SMEs increased at a faster rate than that of large manufacturing enterprises across all industries. All manufacturing industries except one recorded employment growth during the period under study. However like labour productivity growth, employment growth also varies across industries within the manufacturing sector. Yet the study could not establish any definite relationship between labour productivity growth and employment. This finding is consistent with some previous studies.

Using quantitative and qualitative approaches, this paper examines the prevalence of high-performance human resource (HR) systems in Australian family businesses. Focusing on the wine industry, we found that establishing formal HR systems, particularly related to employee involvement and motivation, was positively related to perceived effectiveness of a company’s HR function, leadership, strategic alignment and profitability. Results indicated that formalizing HR systems occurs slowly in the industry, and is largely a function of organizational size. This exploratory study shows the need for more in-depth studies of HR in family-run organizations and supports the notion that increased emphasis on people practices is important to operational and financial success of the family business.

The biotechnology industry is seen as one of the most globalized. It is also an industry dominated by SMEs in most countries. It would be expected then that these biotechnology SMEs themselves would be global in their focus. It is the intent of this research to understand the globalization issues that are encouraging biotechnology companies to go global, whether these companies really are truly global companies, and if not, at which stage of the globalization process these companies are operating. The study is undertaken using secondary quantitative data on all the publicly listed biotechnology companies in Australia that have undertaken some form of internationalization, based on 2003/4 annual reports. The main conclusion from the research is Australian biotechnology companies are still in an immature stage of development in the globalization process. The companies’ market strategies are directed at profitable countries and regions, such as the USA and Europe. This neglects other markets that are more accessible and can provide much needed early income streams. The internationalization effort of Australian biotechnology companies is only partial and could not be considered to be a true globalization effort.

Research on human resource practices within family businesses is limited, particularly in the wine industry. In this comparative study, 57 US and 37 Australian small and mid-sized family wineries responded to a comprehensive survey of their human resource systems. In addition to contrasting HR practices between family wineries in different countries, this study analyzed the impact of these activities on company sales and profitability. Results were consistent with the hypotheses: US firms were more likely to formalize HR practices than their Australian counterparts, Australian wineries emphasize worker training whereas US wineries focus on hiring qualified employees and both groups connected formalized HR practices to effectiveness and profitability. Finally, the US wineries reported higher profitability than Australian wineries. Implications of the results are discussed and directions for future research are suggested.

In this longitudinal study, we investigate whether franchisees in their role as experts exhibit consistent recall of their perceptions of franchise value after a 3-year interval when a strong autobiographical instance association (i.e., the multiunit decision) is created. Paired-sample t tests and correlation analysis are used to examine recall accuracy. While the analysis reveals stability of recall for typical franchisee experts over both the recent and the distant past, the individual level data indicate that the precision of recall deteriorates over time. Implications for future research involving retrospective data are offered.

The main objective of the paper is to elaborate and suggest positive note on basic agenda existing in Middle East resisting the women entrepreneur growth development and use of ICT. The entrepreneurship among the women in Arabic countries has been lately given due consideration. In order for develop women entrepreneurship for economic growth their must be strong move by all stakeholders. ICT enables women entrepreneurs to extend equal participation compared to the male in the growth and development of the nation’s economy. The extended use of ICT will help the entrepreneur for creating advantage, research; participate in the global world of business for technology transfer, training, collaboration, and development initiatives at the global level. The paper tries to highlight the barrier for women for entrepreneurial growth and use of ICT with special reference to Middle East countries. The case related to women in two gulf countries will elaborate the deep insight of the issue. KeywordsWomen entrepreneurs-Middle East-ICT-Barriers-Development

Entrepreneurial activity among women continues to attract attention world wide. However, despite obvious gains, women lag behind men in business ownership and economic independence on every continent. This paper will review the research on entrepreneurship as a career choice for women, the motivations and career paths followed by women entrepreneurs, the attitudes and behaviors associated with successful ventures, the problems that persist and policies that conspire to keep women’s businesses few and small. A discussion of legislation and practices that have helped and hindered women’s entrepreneurship will follow, with suggestions for reframing the issues and reforming policies.

This study makes an attempt to understand some of the reasons why some nascent firms make the transition to new operational firms (a process called “firm emergence”) while others do not. Because of liabilities-of-newness, nascent firms face the daunting task of acquiring legitimacy from their immediate audience in order to emerge as new operational firm. This study claims and finds empirical evidence that through certain legitimating behaviors nascent firms can acquire legitimacy from their immediate audience and thus succeed in becoming new operational firms. The study will put forward more general propositions for future testing, and will draw implications for practitioners and entrepreneurship scholars.

By promoting refugee entrepreneurship, both the integration of refugees in society can be aided and domestic entrepreneurship can be boosted. Refugee entrepreneurship has been an underdeveloped domain of scientific research though. There clearly exists a potential for refugee entrepreneurship in Belgium, but this is too seldom realized in practice. Male refugees who have been self-employed in the past and whose family is active as an entrepreneur have a higher appetite for entrepreneurship. Refugee entrepreneurs are mostly male, in their thirties and forties and active in ‘inferior’ sectors. It was also found that refugee entrepreneurs earn less than other entrepreneurs.