| Organizational Roles and Transitions to Entrepreneurship |
| | Dobrev, Stanislav | Tulane U. | sdobrev@mailhost.tcs.tulane.edu | (504)-865-5037 |
| | Barnett, William P. | Stanford U. | Barnett_William@gsb.stanford.edu | 650 723 1421 |
| | Organizational Roles and Transitions to Entrepreneurship |
| | Keywords: entrepreneurship; organization theory |
| A Multi-Level Model of Entrepreneurial Cognition |
| | Forbes, Daniel P. | New York U. | dforbes@stern.nyu.edu | (212) 998-0216 |
| | This paper develops a multi-level model that proposes some antecedents and consequences of "entrepreneurial cognition",
a set of biases and heuristics that are characteristic of entrepreneurs (Busenitz & Lau, 1996). In particular, it is argued that
entrepreneurs are likely to exhibit a greater degree of reliance on the biases associated with entrepreneurial cognition when
they are managing smaller and younger organizations and when their firms are operating in dynamic environments. It is further
argued that the degree to which entrepreneurs exhibit these biases is negatively related to their firms' use of decision making
processes that are "rational" (Miller, 1987) or comprehensive. The model is significant for several reasons. First, it suggests
a way in which entrepreneurial cognition might ultimately influence firm performance. Second, it illustrates the power of a
"meso-level" approach to entrepreneurial activity. Third, it links entrepreneurship research with a rich vein of mainstream
management research on managerial cognition. Finally, it paves the way for future research that may enable educators
and practitioners to enhance the decision making abilities and performance prospects of entrepreneurs. |
| | Keywords: entrepreneurship; cognition; decision making |
| Proposing a Paradigm for Entrepreneurship Using Information and Knowledge Theory |
| | West, III, Page G. | Wake Forest U. | westp@wfu.edu | (336)-758-4260 |
| | The field of entrepreneurship has long been concerned with the recognition and pursuit of opportunity amidst conditions
of true uncertainty. Venkataraman (1997) suggests that answering questions related to the nexus of opportunity and
enterprising individuals in large part defines the domain of the field. At the same time, however, the field lacks a
broadly-shared theoretical framework or paradigm in which these and other questions and ideas may be understood.
This paper proposes using information and knowledge theory as one such organizing framework, and borrows on concepts
and findings from other literatures in support of this view. The framework incorporates key distinguishing characteristics
about entrepreneurship described earlier by scholars such as Knight, Mises, Schumpeter, and Kirzner. Moreover, the
framework provides a useful venue through which to view and test other questions of interest to entrepreneurship scholars. |
| | Keywords: information; knowledge; uncertainty |
| Examining Female Entrepreneurs' Organizational Role Definition: An Application of a "Relational" Frame |
| | Buttner, Holly | U. of North Carolina, Greensboro | ehbuttne@uncg.edu | (336)-334-4532 |
| | In the spirit of adopting a pluralistic approach to organizational analysis, this paper presents a qualitative analysis of female entrepreneurs'
reports of their organizational roles using Relational Theory as the analytical frame. Analysis indicated that the women used relational skills
including preserving, mutual empowering, achieving, and creating team in working with employees and clients/customers. The entrepreneurs
reported their use of relational skills led to feelings of satisfaction and enhanced the performance of their organizations. However, participants
also discussed the difficulty of mediating between the need to operate their organizations efficiently and to manage in an empathetic and
empowering manner. Results confirm the findings of earlier studies of relational practice and suggest an expanded definition of Fletcher's
(1998) definition of the achieving dimension of relational practice. Implications and future research directions are discussed. |
| | Keywords: relational; entrepreneurs; management |
| The Curvilinear Effect of Start-up Experience on VCs' Assessment of Success |
| | Zacharakis, Andrew L. | Babson College | zacharakis@babson.edu | (781) 239-4497 |
| | Shepherd, Dean A. | Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute | shephd2@rpi.edu | (518)-276-6833 |
| | Considerable research has explored how VCs make investment decisions. The common mantra is that it's the entrepreneur and team that are critical in assessing which ventures will succeed. One gauge of the entrepreneur's potential is her/his previous start-ups. The current study examines how start-up experience influences the investment decision using real time methods. There is a curvilinear relationship. Some previous start-up experience is viewed favorably, but too many previous start-ups are viewed unfavorably. |
| | Keywords: Venture Capital; Decision Making; Start-ups |
| Risk Taking Propensity as a Distinctive Entrepreneurial Characteristic: A Meta-Analytic Review |
| | Stewart, Wayne H. | Clemson U. | waynes@clemson.edu | 864-656-3776 |
| | Roth, Philip L. | Clemson U. | rothp@clemson.edu | 864-656-1039 |
| | A central issue in understanding entrepreneurial dispositions has been comparing the risk taking propensities of entrepreneurs and
managers. After 30 years of study, there appears to be little consensus concerning whether or not entrepreneurs have a higher risk taking
propensity. Some researchers suggest no differences (e.g., Brockhaus & Horwitz, 1986), but others argue for substantial differences
(e.g., Carland, et al., 1984). Both schools of thought have drawn conclusions from narrative reviews of the conflicting empirical evidence,
but such reviews are subject to a variety of limitations. These limitations include not mathematically combining information from different
studies, not being able to assess sampling error, not being able to correct measures of covariance for unreliability in measurement, etc.
We overcome these limitations by mathematically cumulating the literature using psychometric meta-analysis (Hunter & Schmidt, 1990).
For each study, we compute the standardized difference (d) in risk taking between entrepreneurs and managers, with a positive score
indicating a higher risk propensity for entrepreneurs. The observed difference suggests d=.55 for all studies and d=.58 for studies using
the Jackson measures of risk propensity. The standardized differences increase to .66 for all studies and .68 for Jackson risk measure
studies when we correct for measurement error in risk propensity assessment instruments. Thus, the data show that entrepreneurs have
at least a moderately higher level of risk propensity than do managers. We demonstrate why our analyses are conservative and discuss
the implications for future research. |
| | Keywords: Risk taking propensity; Meta-analysis |