Entrepreneurial and Small Business Operations Commons^™

Women’S Work: Labor Market Outcomes And Female Entrepreneurship In Ghana, Loretta Agyemang

Butler Journal of Undergraduate Research

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This paper is an investigation of female entrepreneurship in Ghana. It seeks to answer the following question: Why are Ghanaian women so heavily concentrated in microenterprise in the informal economy? The literature review explores labor market trends for women on three different scales including an overview of developing countries, Sub-Saharan Africa regional, and Ghana-specific analysis. After exploring issues women face in formal employment, the study delves into business operations of informal, urban-based market participants by analyzing data pertaining to Ghanaian microenterprise. Additionally, the paper details the experiences and views of female entrepreneurs through in-depth interviews and participant observations with thirty …

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Effectuation, Not Being Pragmatic Or Process Theorizing, Remains Ineffectual: Responding To The Commentaries, Richard J. Arend, Hessam Sarooghi, Andrew C. Burkemper

Scholarship and Professional Work - Business

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We appreciate the opportunity to respond to the provocative Dialogue pieces of Read, Sarasvathy, Dew, and Wiltbank (2016; henceforth, “RSDW”); Reuber, Fischer, and Coviello (2016; henceforth, “RFC”); Gupta, Chiles, and McMullen (2016; henceforth, “GCM”); and Garud and Gehman (2016; henceforth, “GG”), each of which makes several claims in defense of effectuation, as well as describes several ways forward in entrepreneurship- and process-related theorizing. We respond in a manner consistent with the traditional perspective in management theorizing that “good theory is practical” (Lewin, 1945), where “theory is theory” (Simon, 1967; Van de Ven, 1989) based on our discipline’s collective commitment to …

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Effectuation As Ineffectual? Applying The 3e Theory-Assessment Framework To A Proposed New Theory Of Entrepreneurship, Richard J. Arend, Hessam Sarooghi, Andrew C. Burkemper

Scholarship and Professional Work - Business

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Effectuation is a proposed new theory of entrepreneurship, with insufficient empirical testing and critical analysis. Drawing on a new, comprehensive set of theory-building criteria—sourced from and complementing those of Robert Dubin and others—we provide the first formal assessment of effectuation as a theory. We highlight its strengths and weaknesses, leveraging the former to address the latter in five different directions that would build on the existing work to improve this theory. The assessment exercise also displays the value of our assessment framework in guiding the evaluation and development of other existing and future theories in entrepreneurship and management.

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Entrepreneurship: Theory And Application In A University Arts Management Setting, Paul Linden

Scholarship and Professional Work - Communication

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This article explores the applicability of entrepreneurship as an academic course of study with respect to the broader area of arts management pedagogy. A historical overview of primary texts ranging from the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries serves as a preface for a discipline-based perspective of its twentieth-century articulations. Primary theoretical exponents reveal the economic, sociological, and psychological underpinnings of entrepreneurship as it is developed as an academic topic. Mahoney and Michael’s subjectivist theory informs the relationship between entrepreneurship and the study of creative and cultural industries. Recommendations for specific pedagogical application include structuring and content for in-class activities and outreach …

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When Do Domestic Alliances Help Ventures Abroad? Direct And Moderating Effects From A Learning Perspective, Hana Milanov, Stephanie A. Fernhaber

Scholarship and Professional Work - Business

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While the importance of strategic alliances for new venture internationalization is well acknowledged, the effect of domestic partners remains less understood. Building on organizational learning theory's vicarious learning arguments, we suggest that internationally experienced domestic partners positively influence new ventures' international intensity. Moreover, acknowledging that ventures may have multiple learning sources, we argue that the effect is more pronounced when substituting for the lack of new ventures' top management teams' international experience, or when complementing the insights about foreign markets received from foreign alliance partners. The analysis of 194 publicly held new ventures largely supports our hypotheses.

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Entrepreneurial Orientation And International Scope: The Differential Roles Of Innovativeness, Proactiveness, And Risk-Taking, Li Dai, Vladislav Maksimov, Brett Anitra Gilbert, Stephanie A. Fernhaber

Scholarship and Professional Work - Business

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This research integrates the international business and entrepreneurship literatures by examining the independent influences of innovativeness, proactiveness, and risk-taking on the ability of a firm to broaden its scope across international markets. For each dimension of entrepreneurial orientation, a cost–benefit framework is applied to highlight the trade-offs associated with different levels in the internationalization context. Based on a unique dataset of 500 SMEs spanning 10 industries, the results reflect the consequences of being “stuck in the middle” with respect to their strategic posture on innovativeness and proactiveness, but reveal a nuanced role for risk-taking behavior. The non-uniform and non-linear relationships …

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Is More Always Better? Risk Trade-Offs Among Internationalizing New Ventures, Stephanie A. Fernhaber, Patricia P. Mcdougall-Covin

Scholarship and Professional Work - Business

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Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to investigate how ventures manage the negative returns associated with higher levels of internationalization. Many new ventures are internationalizing to fully exploit new innovations and/or gain access to larger markets. Yet at some point the rising costs associated with internationalization outweigh any benefits, resulting in an inverted U-shaped relationship between internationalization and performance.

Design/methodology/approach

– New ventures are theorized to better manage high levels of internationalization by limiting exposure to other sources of risk. This can be achieved by leveraging greater size and/or limiting simultaneous diversification efforts on product innovation. To test …

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International Exposure Through Network Relationships: Implications For New Venture Internationalization, Stephanie A. Fernhaber, Dan Li

Scholarship and Professional Work - Business

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Drawing on the network literature and attention-based view, we examine the extent to which international exposure from key informal (geographically proximate firms) and formal (alliance partners) network relationships impacts new venture internationalization. Our findings are three-fold. First, international exposure from both types of network relationships positively influence new venture internationalization, and serve as substitutes for each other. Second, the effects differ based on the age of the venture. While older ventures benefit more from international exposure from alliance partners, younger ventures are more influenced by international exposure from geographically proximate firms. Third, our analysis confirms a three-way interactive effect of …

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Untangling The Relationship Between New Venture Internationalization And Performance, Stephanie A. Fernhaber

Scholarship and Professional Work - Business

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To help untangle the inconsistency in prior performance studies for new venture internationalization, the dynamic capabilities perspective is revisited to consider whether the relationship is more complex than previously assumed. While internationalization requires the reconfiguration of routines and resources, survivability is argued to peak at moderate levels of internationalization where the associated resources and risk is balanced between local and foreign markets. In contrast, sales growth is suggested to peak at either low or high levels of internationalization where a singular market focus and set of capabilities is being exploited. The results confirm that the level of new venture internationalization …

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Beating Competitors To International Markets: The Value Of Geographically Balanced Networks For Innovation, Pankaj C. Patel, Stephanie A. Fernhaber, Patricia P. Mcdougall-Covin, Robert P. Van Der Have

Scholarship and Professional Work - Business

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Being able to launch new products internationally is critical for technology-based ventures to recoup the high costs of R&D and to exploit their innovations fully. Despite the widely recognized importance of networks within the innovation development process, there appear to be contrasting viewpoints as to whether local or foreign network partners contribute more in the race to internationalize. Drawing on the theoretical underpinnings of comparative advantage, we propose and empirically confirm that ventures pursuing a balance of local and foreign network connections for the development of an innovation are able to bring the product more rapidly into the international marketplace. …

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How Do Young Firms Manage Product Portfolio Complexity? The Role Of Absorptive Capacity And Ambidexterity, Stephanie A. Fernhaber, Pankaj C. Patel

Scholarship and Professional Work - Business

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Building a complex portfolio of products can be beneficial for young firms due to increased sales growth and competitiveness. Yet, the benefits from product portfolio complexity (PPC) are often outweighed by rising costs, leading to an inverted U-shaped relationship between PPC and performance. Recent research has called for an increased understanding of how firms are able to better manage higher levels of PPC. We suggest that absorptive capacity and ambidexterity are vital to enhancing the benefits and mitigating the costs of increasing PPC. Using a sample of 215 young high technology firms, we find support for positive moderating effects of …

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Single. Women. Entrepreneurs., Erin Albert

Butler University Books

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The number of unmarried adult women actually outnumbers the number or married women for the first time in US history, according to the Population Reference Bureau, in October, 2010. Women are now earning more, going to college and graduate schools more, and finding ways to become more indepedent. Also, according to the Kauffman Foundation, single, divorced and widowed women start more businesses as entrepreneurs than men in their respective categories. This book interviews 30 single women entrepreneurs throughout the US to discern why they started thier original businesses, what the perceived advantages and disadvantages are for the single woman entrepreneur, …

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The Challenge Of Implementing An Erp System In A Small And Medium Enterprise – A Teaching Case Of Erp Project Management, Hongjiang Xu, Patrick J. Rondeau, Sakthi Mahenthiran

Scholarship and Professional Work - Business

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Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system implementation projects are notoriously risky. While large-scale ERP cases continue to be developed, relatively few new ERP cases have been published that further ERP implementation education in small to medium size firms. This case details the implementation of a new ERP system in a medium sized manufacturing firm. As students explore the case, they will be required to address the many ERP-related project management, procurement, human resource, and management involvement issues raised by it. This case highlights the ERP implementation problems experienced by case company in one of their two divisions. The firm is considering …

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The Impact Of Interorganizational Imitation On New Venture International Entry And Performance, Stephanie A. Fernhaber, Dan Li

Scholarship and Professional Work - Business

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We examine the impact of interorganizational imitation on new venture international entry and subsequent performance. Using a sample of 150 U.S.-based publicly held new ventures, we find that new venture international entry is in part an imitative response to the internationalization of other firms in the venture's home country industry and/or subsets of firms with certain traits or outcomes. We also find that interorganizational imitation moderates the relationship between new venture international entry and profitability, but not the relationship between new venture international entry and sales growth. These findings contribute to the growing body of literature on new venture internationalization.

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Immigrant Business Enterprises: A Classification Framework Conceptualization And Test, Roberto Curci, Robert Mackoy

Scholarship and Professional Work - Business

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This article proposes the Immigrant Business Enterprises Classification Framework to organize immigrant-owned businesses into categories associated with different levels of business integration into a host country's mainstream business community. The article applies the framework and reports the findings of structured face-to-face interviews with 199 Hispanic business enterprises (HBEs) in Indianapolis. The authors find Hispanic-owned businesses hold different characteristics depending upon the integration category in which they are classified; the findings suggest that to support immigrant entrepreneurship, governments, business development organizations, and researchers should address category-specific challenges, opportunities, and needs.

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Venture Capitalists As Catalysts To New Venture Internationalization: The Impact Of Their Knowledge And Reputation Resources, Stephanie A. Fernhaber, Patricia P. Mcdougall-Covin

Scholarship and Professional Work - Business

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Venture Capitalists (VC) play an important role in influencing the strategic direction of the firms in which they invest. The findings of this study reveal that VCs can serve as a catalyst to new venture internationalization through the provision of knowledge and reputation resources. Furthermore, the international knowledge of a VC is more positively related to new venture internationalization when the VC is also reputable.

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Spanish Foreign Direct Investments In Latin America: Internationalization Strategies And Financial Management Practices, Roberto Curci, Guillermo Cardoza

Scholarship and Professional Work - Business

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This study analyzes the internationalization strategies and the financial management practices of seven Spanish companies with the largest volume of investments in Latin America. The companies selected for an in-depth analysis represent approximately 80 percent of the total Spanish foreign investments during the period of analysis. Their investments have taken place mainly in service sectors such as banking, energy, and telecommunications. The study identifies the market conditions and the corporate strategies that have allowed these Spanish companies to successfully initiate and expand business activities into Latin America. The findings suggest Spanish investors have strengthened their global competitiveness and have accomplished …

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Racing To Success By Identifying Key Performance Drivers, Kathy Paulson Gjerde, Susan B. Hughes

Scholarship and Professional Work - Business

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This article focuses on ways to identify key performance drivers (KPDs) and key performance indicators (KPIs). Unfortunately, lists of KPIs published in the past often focus on one industry and assume a generic business strategy. In addition, an overemphasis on financial measures will mean that KPIs will reflect past activities rather than signaling future performance. Managers need to develop meaningful metrics for their own businesses, not use generic KPIs. This is particularly important in small and medium-sized enterprises. How adept are you at this task? Do you know what drives net income for your organization?

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Exploring The Role Of Industry Structure In New Venture Internationalization, Stephanie A. Fernhaber, Patricia P. Mcdougall, Benjamin M. Oviart

Scholarship and Professional Work - Business

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While we have gained considerable knowledge since the late 1980s regarding the phenomena of international new ventures, less is known about the influence of industry structure on these ventures. In the present paper, we draw on literature from industrial economics, international business and entrepreneurship to identify industry structure variables that fit within the theoretical framework of international new ventures. We then offer propositions as to how the identified industry structure variables individually and jointly influence the likelihood of new venture internationalization.

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Entrepreneurship In A Transition Economy: An Examination Of Venture Creation In Hungary, M. A. Lyles, L. S. Baird, J. Burdeane Orris

Scholarship and Professional Work - Business

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This study examines entrepreneurs and new ventures in a transition economy, Hungary, and identifies what variables distinguish between Hungarian entrepreneurs and their new ventures in the pre-1988 transition period from that which followed. The variables that discriminate most strongly are their business strategies. The newer firms had a concentration strategy while the older firms had a new product development strategy. Other variables that discriminated between the groups include reacting to the political environment, satisfaction with firm performance, encouragement from investors, recent investment in building improvement, and family history of entrepreneurship. The newer entrepreneurs had more family role models of entrepreneurship.

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Alliances And Networks: Cooperative Strategies For Small Businesses, L. S. Baird, M. A. Lyles, J. Burdeane Orris

Scholarship and Professional Work - Business

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Research on large firms shows that cooperative strategies have the potential to improve performance by helping firms gain access to necessary resources, enter new markets, and spread the risk over several partners. Interviews with thirty-four small business managers show small firms also can profit from using a cooperative network. Highly-allied small businesses entered alliances to gain resources and based their alliances on a distinctive competence. The highly allied businesses grew more rapidly than the less allied firms. Mutual goals and joint decision making were viewed as critical to the high level of satisfaction achieved.

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