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We examine the role of two cognitive styles (intuitive and analytical) in students’ entrepreneurial intentions within two distinct cultural contexts (Kuwait and the United States). Specifically, we...

PurposeThis study examines how transformational leadership on the part of senior attorneys in law firms may affect their subordinate attorneys' performance in an industry experiencing both distinctive leadership challenges and widespread economic upheaval. Specifically, our multilevel theoretical model attempts to capture the moderated mediation relationships between transformational leadership, innovative climate, entrepreneurial orientation, and individual performance.Design/methodology/approachThe study employs of a multilevel path analysis to examine the earlier described conceptual model utilizing primary data collected from 484 attorneys at 31 professional service firms.FindingsThe authors used multilevel path analysis to examine the existence and the extent of a multilevel mediation effect. They found that a firm's entrepreneurial orientation mediates the relationship between supervising attorneys' transformational leadership and individual attorneys' performances. The authors also found that the indirect effect of supervising attorneys' transformational leadership on individual attorneys' performances through entrepreneurial orientation is conditional on the degree of firm innovative climate.Originality/valueThe authors draw on theories of social learning to construct a dual-level theoretical model that connects domains within the leadership and entrepreneurship literatures. It does so by examining the relationships between the law firms' supervising attorneys' change-oriented leadership and their subordinate attorneys' billable hours during a period of severe economic disruption.

One of the world’s most pressing concerns in the next few decades will be job creation. The biggest cause for concern may be the accelerating advances in technology radically reducing the human role in production of goods and services. In this increasingly “autonomous economy”, managers and policy makers must develop strategies and policies to ensure that the impending technological progress leads to “net job creation,” that is, a net positive effect on the overall employment level in the economy. In this effort, this article presents a new perspective and analysis of the net job creation process and the challenges to employment that technology poses. Also discussed are potential managerial and public policy alternatives that may slow the job loss and help cope with the potential consequence of permanent underemployment.

We examine the relationships and intervening mechanisms between founding CEOs' transformational/transactional leadership and the innovative behaviour of managers. We develop and test our hypotheses on a sample of 39 participating CEOs and 105 managers with the use of a multilevel structural equation model. The results show that both transformational and transactional leadership on the part of the CEO relate positively to managers' innovative behaviour. We also discover that firm's innovative climate mediates the relationship between transformational leadership and innovative behaviour. However, we fail to find the mediating effect of innovative climate between transactional leadership and innovative behaviour. Our findings contribute to an improved understanding of how founding CEOs' different leadership styles affect employees' innovative behaviour in start-ups and to what extent the innovative climate influences the relationship.

We discuss the value of a Bachelor’s Degree in Entrepreneurship. We do this in part by responding to some of the most common criticisms for the perceived shortcoming of the degree. Some of the issues addressed include the benefit of a major over a minor; the advantage of experience versus education; and the degree’s effectiveness in preparing students for an entrepreneurial career. We base most of the responses on our experiences at Loyola Marymount University. We conclude by pointing out that the Entrepreneurship degree can serve as a powerful foundation for the right type of students.

Do entrepreneurial companies make responsible corporate citizens? In this paper, we examine the relationship between companies' entrepreneurial orientation and their corporate citizenship. An empirical study consisting of 261 South Korean firms reveals that entrepreneurial orientation does not have direct causal effect on corporate citizenship. Analysis also shows that market orientation has full mediation effect between entrepreneurial orientation and corporate citizenship. The findings indicate that entrepreneurial companies may indeed act more responsibly if they are also market oriented. Practical implications are discussed.

This empirical study advances entrepreneurial cognition research by examining whether entrepreneurs possess a high nonlinear (e.g., intuitive, creative, emotional) thinking style, as some studies a...

We examine the roles of two distinct cognitive styles and national culture in enhancing entrepreneurial intention within the theory of planned behavior framework. First, we examined which of two di...

This paper examines the performance of Silicon Valley ventures with Asian-American founding teams. We review some challenges faced by these ventures, compare their performance with that of other ventures, and analyze the impact of strategic partnerships on their performance. Our results indicate that firms founded by Asian American entrepreneurs tend to require more time to reach initial public offering (IPO) status than do other ventures in Silicon Valley. Our results further show that, despite needing this extra time, Asian American-founded ventures significantly outperformed their counterparts in 12-month post-IPO share price gain. This superior short-term post-IPO performance suggests that Asian American firms, particularly those that lacked relationships with U.S.-based strategic investors, might have been undervalued prior to and at IPO.

The so-called “social” ventures or “socially responsible” ventures have grown in number and popularity in recent years. Yet they still remain a mystery for most investors as to what their objectives are and whether they are worth the consideration for investment. The article examines some of the key questions financiers have about social ventures, e.g., extent of their profit-orientation, inclination toward raising capital, and preferred strategies for exits. In addition, we analyze several key management practices of social ventures, with particular attention to those activities that impact the companies9 financial performance.

This paper examines 30 entrepreneurs who created profitable companies, and who were also exemplary in their efforts towards social responsibility. It examines their management practices to understand how these socially responsible entrepreneurs created and built their companies. The study reveals that these socially responsible entrepreneurs founded their companies, at least in part, to achieve idealistic objectives, and pursued financial and non-financial objectives simultaneously. Most avoided financing from institutional sources, hired employees for their shared values, and shrewdly leveraged their social identities to differentiate themselves in the marketplace. Many of these entrepreneurs made unusual efforts to create a strong organizational culture and implement sustainable operational processes to meet their self-imposed ethical standards. These socially responsible entrepreneurs gave a substantial amount of their profits to causes of their choosing, and volunteered themselves as role models for other businesses and entrepreneurs to follow.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the venture development processes (or “entrepreneurial processes”) of “sustainable” entrepreneurs, i.e. entrepreneurs who create and build profitable companies that also pursue environmental or social causes. The paper aims to find how these mission‐oriented entrepreneurs achieve their business objectives while serving their social and environmental causes.Design/methodology/approachThe paper identifies 21 successful sustainable entrepreneurial companies in various industries ranging from apparel to biotechnology that were exemplary in their pursuit for sustainability. The paper examined their key decisions and activities in their “entrepreneurial process”, collecting most of the relevant information from published or self‐developed case studies.FindingsThe paper finds that most of sustainable entrepreneurs are an unusual breed with limited business backgrounds. Most obtain financing from non‐conventional sources and employ unorthodox, yet sound human resource management practices. They are shrewd in their marketing strategies and effective in running efficient, environmentally sound operations. Also, they find innovative methods for balancing their financial goals against their objectives of making a difference in their environment and society.Practical implicationsThe paper's findings help demystify and provide some insights into how values‐oriented entrepreneurs and their companies can simultaneously meet economic, social and/or environmental objectives.Originality/valueThis paper is one of the few studies that examine the business practices of for‐profit, sustainability‐oriented entrepreneurs. It is also one of the few formal studies that identify commonalities among a relatively large and diverse sample of companies. Most important, this research suggests practical guidelines for aspiring entrepreneurs to follow as they build their sustainable business ventures.

This study begins to empirically examine whether successful entrepreneurs possess a high nonlinear (e.g., creative, intuitive) thinking style, as some researchers and popular stereotypes of entrepreneurs would suggest, or whether they possess a more balanced nonlinear and linear (e.g., rational, logical, analytic) thinking style. As predicted, 48 successful entrepreneurs reflected a much greater level of balance in linear/nonlinear thinking style than their professional actor (n = 33) (predominantly nonlinear) and accountant (n = 31) (predominantly linear) counterparts, as measured by a linear/nonlinear thinking style instrument. Implications are discussed for guiding future cognitive research and theory development in entrepreneurship, as well as providing direction to entrepreneurship education and training.

This article examines the similarities and differences between domestic (US) and international franchises in the amount of control exerted by their US franchisors and the degree of autonomy accorded to franchisees. Based on in-depth interviews with franchisor representatives and franchisees from McDonald's, Subway, Papa John's, and Domino's, exploratory research is conducted to compare and contrast the franchisor-franchisee relationship in the fast food industry between the USA and Iceland, Ireland, the UK, Belgium, and the Netherlands.The interviews suggest that international franchisees tend to have more autonomy than their US counterparts, especially in decisions involving local market adaptation and in situations in which they experience strong performance or are master franchisees. On the other hand, experienced international franchisees are less likely to demand autonomy, while experienced US franchisees seek more autonomy. Interestingly, international franchisors and franchisees under hardship tend to seek collaboration rather than compete for control or autonomy.

This case presents the story of Homeboy Industries, which was founded by Father Greg Boyle, S.J. to offer employment opportunities to former gang members in East Los Angeles. Homeboy Industries has successfully launched several businesses to hire and train “homies” who otherwise may not have found jobs. Michael Baca, the new operations director, is faced with the decision of whether to pursue expansion of the promising merchandising division. Complicating the decision is the need to balance both the social and business objectives of Homeboy Industries while dealing with the organization's extreme shortage of managerial and financial resources. This depiction of an unusual entrepreneurial environment also illustrates several organizational challenges and philosophical dilemmas that are common among social ventures.

U.S.-based stock exchanges (e.g., NASDAQ) continue to be the financial markets of choice for IPOs among Asian entrepreneurs, although many Asian firms, upon listing, have performed poorly. This paper surveys the existing literature and summarizes the main advantages and disadvantages associated with a U.S. listing by an Asia-based venture. The paper also examines the post-IPO experience of four Asian companies which illuminate issues that are particularly relevant for Asian entrepreneurs. Our findings indicate that a U.S. listing can provide Asian companies with increased liquidity, visibility, and business opportunities. But being public in the U.S. brings disadvantages that include disclosure and reporting requirements, risk of lawsuits, and additional expenses. Our case studies reveal that successful U.S. listings require Asian firms to fully commit to transparency and investor relations programs. Based on our findings, we develop practical guidelines as to when a U.S. IPO may be sensible for an Asian venture.

This explorative paper examines the impact of online piracy on innovation and the creation of new, legitimate businesses. While viewed only as a legal matter, online piracy has shown to be an important source of technological and strategic innovation to both industry incumbents and newcomers. This paper briefly describes the evolution of pirate technologies and the associated online communities. Then, it examines the processes by which pirate technologies and communities have stimulated innovation and the creation of pirate as well as legitimate business models. The paper concludes with some suggestions by which incumbents and entrepreneurs may deal with and take advantage of piracy.

This paper examines the business practices of socially re sponsible entrepreneurs with particular focus on activities that directly impact their companies' finances. We collect case studies of 30 recog nized socially responsible entrepreneurial firms from a wide range of industries. We analyze how and to what extent the entrepreneurs and their companies balance their profit objectives with their social or envi ronmental goals. Our results indicate that the companies pursue profits in manners comparable to those of most conventional businesses. How ever, we learn that our companies make certain deliberate exceptions in their business practices to exercise their beliefs, although such ac tions may reduce profits. We also observe the entrepreneurs making ef forts to identify situations that simultaneously increase the companies' profits and serve their causes. Most companies choose to stay private and commit to building an enduring organization rather than pursue the conventional exit strategies. Finally, we find that many of the compa nies in our list commit themselves to and proactively manage formal ized giving programs.

No abstract received.

This article examines the development patterns and performances of companies founded by Asian American entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley and compares them with those of companies founded by non-Asian Americans. The authors find that companies founded by Asian Americans tended to have more Asian Americans in the executive team than those founded by their counterparts. Asian American ventures were more likely to secure venture capital and strategic investments from Asia-based companies and less likely to obtain strategic investment from U.S.-based corporations. In spite of the above differences, the two groups show no systematic differences in founder equity share or company valuation at IPO. The authors also find little statistical difference in the time to IPO (time from company founding to IPO offer date) or post-IPO performances between the two groups.

Executive Overview This study examines the global knowledge management (KM) experiences of Accenture, a pioneer in organization-wide KM efforts. We interviewed 18 KM managers and consultants in its U.S. and East Asian offices. We found that despite its significant efforts, Accenture was falling short of fully harnessing and transferring management knowledge across its global organization. Our study indicates that Accenture's global KM strategy, based on its “one global firm” vision, did not make sufficient considerations for local or regional challenges. Accenture was unsuccessful in motivating its East Asian consultants to contribute to KM by failing to show appreciation for their knowledge. Furthermore, Accenture appeared not to have provided adequate support for addressing cross-cultural challenges. Finally, its push for a standardized global KM practice made insufficient allowances for its local offices to address their own needs.

America's preference for homogeneous, bland-tasting beer may have been largely derived not from an efficient, market-clearing equilibrium, but rather as a result of a series of interesting historical processes and events. The authors argue that the U.S. market may have become locked in a sub-optimal equilibrium in which most consumers are no longer familiar with the full range of what beer is and can be. As a result, most competition in this market concerns advertising campaigns designed to differentiate between increasingly generic beers. Although the concepts of path dependency, switching costs, and lock-in have been employed principally in studies discussing technology standards, these ideas may be usefully extended to consumer branded products, including foods and beverages.

The authors examine nearly 200 corporate strategies which promised innovation at the level of the business model, and which were successful. They distill ten essential ‘innovation themes’ which provide basic elements for a fresh perspective on strategy. In particular, the themes can be used in two ways to devise a business strategy. Corporate examples are given of each innovation theme.

Current developments in information technology allow information intensive industry sectors to deliver their services and products electronically (online) to individuals’ personal computers or other information appliances at home or work. Electronic delivery channels promise to offer improved convenience and value to customers while reducing service-delivery costs. The continued growth of electronic services is likely to have a profound impact on competition in many of these industry sectors. Moreover, it also provides an alternative channel of service delivery where no service infrastructure has yet been built, for example, in many remote areas of developing countries. In this chapter, we analyze alternative delivery technologies and service processes in information-intensive services, using the example of retail (consumer) banking. Similar methods have been used to analyze industrial services by Karmarkar (2000) and Bashyam and Karmarkar (2004, 2005).

Entrepreneurship has played a vital role in South Korea’s economic and technological development (Choi et al., 2008; Jung, 2002). Seldom discussed, however, is the potentially significant effect entrepreneurship has had in shaping the’ views and value systems in Korean society, especially since the late 1990’s. The changes in views and value systems among the Korean people are driven in large part by the country’s continued modernization and industrialization, but its vibrant entrepreneurial economy may be accelerating the pace. These changes, we suggest in this chapter, are likely to have a lasting impact on Korean society. The chapter is organized as follows: first, it provides the background and facts associated with South Korea’s entrepreneurial economy. Next, it describes some of Korean culture’s most fundamental values, followed by a discussion about how these Confucian values conflict with those of entrepreneurship. The chapter then examines the progression of entrepreneurship in South Korea to see how its growth has affected people’s values systems and their perspective on the various groups’ roles in society. Lastly, we briefly discuss how Korea’s experience with entrepreneurship and its impact on society might compare with that of the United States.

This work examines the venture development processes of sustainable entrepreneurs, i.e., entrepreneurs who create profitable companies that also pursue environmental or social causes. We identified and analyzed over 20 successful sustainable entrepreneurs in various industries. Obtained are insights into how these unorthodox entrepreneurs initiated, grew and built their exemplary companies.

During the process of starting and growing a company, entrepreneurs seek help from their key advisors, which include its directors, advisory board members, financiers, as well as others informally affiliated with the venture. This paper examines how the various groups add value to a venture and assesses the relative value of their contributions. Through a survey of high technology entrepreneurs, we find that directors, advisory board members and informal advisors add significant value by offering their expertise in various fields. Surprisingly, investors add relatively little value, even in such key areas as strategic planning and finance. While professional venture capitalists add more value than private investors, even the venture capitalists' contribution was perceived lower than those of the other advisors in key areas. Our results suggest that the contributions of investors may have been overestimated in conventional literature.

This study examines how the entrepreneurial process may be driven and shaped by a founder’s passion for inventing. We propose a dual-level, theoretical model that connects domains from the organiza...

We examine the relationship and intervening mechanisms between transformational leadership and innovative behavior in an entrepreneurial context. Based on data from 39 participating CEOs and 105 ma...