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What
Motivates Entrepreneurs and Can their Motivation be Influenced?
--
Peter
Grenholm,
Anders Hansen,
Anders Sahlman and Nikolaos Volakakis
The
different factors that determine an individual's motivation
to become an entrepreneur have been briefly examined in
this paper. Entrepreneurs seem to have a common pattern
of personality traits; but it is the environment that plays
the instructive role in the decision to engage oneself in
entrepreneurial activities. Various parameters of the current
European social and business environments have been identified
as potential modifiers (activators or inhibitors) of the
motivation of entrepreneurs.
©
2004 Peter Grenholm, Anders Hansen, Anders Sahlman and Nikolaos
Volakakis (www.ki.se). Reprinted with permission.
The
Entrepreneurial Ethic of the Sikhs: Religious Signaling
and the Importance of Social Capital for Trust and Exchange
--
Nathaniel
D Paxson
This
paper employs the rational choice and institutional economic
theorizing to the understanding of sectarian groups, in
particular, the Sikh religion of Northern India. The Sikh
religion exhibits many striking characteristics for an interesting
case study to showcase the importance of religious institutions,
sectarian practices, reputation and self-enforcement mechanisms,
signaling entrepreneurship, collective production and transactions
costs. Religious affiliation provides goods to sect members
which can be modeled economically as club goods. Religion
can also be understood as setting forth institutional structures
which foster incentives and channel behavior in various
predictable ways. This paper explores how particular sect
practices generate formal and informal norms that positively
affect trade with non sectarian members. Also, the concept
of social capital is explored as a means of explaining trust,
reciprocity, and internalized norms.
©
2004 Nathaniel D Paxson (http://gunston.doit.gmu.edu). Reprinted
with permission.
Critical
Issues
of
Starting Entrepreneurship
in Kazakhstan
--Kamrul
Ahsan and Patrick Low Kim Cheng
Initiating
and implementing an entrepreneurship start-up is a complex
decision-making process, where many opportunities and risks
need to be analyzed. To help entrepreneurs grow, policymakers
should provide a favorable environment that facilitates
business rather than creating obstacles. The article investigates
the current entrepreneurship barriers in Kazakhstan, identifies
the critical factors faced by entrepreneurs, and recommends
some suggestions having policy implications. The researchers
use a system approach known as the "Thinking Process"
to identify the critical factors that hinder entrepreneurship,
and determine the causal relationships between these factors.
These relationships will help policymakers to create a better
environment for starting entrepreneurship in Kazakhstan.
©
2006 IUP . All Rights Reserved.
Social
Wealth Creation via Experimental Entrepreneurial Philanthropy
--
Ian
C MacMillan
Governments
and philanthropists in the United States of America and
other rich nations, spend billions of dollars each year
supporting philanthropic causes that attend to the manifold
social problems of the world. Some of their effortsperhaps,
on the order of hundreds of millions of dollars each yeargo
toward supporting start-up firms and small entrepreneurial
businesses, a strategy linked to the belief that the creation
and growth of new enterprises fuel the growth of the economy,
particularly through employment. Till date, however, few
people have considered the role that entrepreneurial activities
can play beyond improving employment. Based on the research,
the author contends that such activities can directly confront
social problems and create new societal wealth.
©
2006 Ian C MacMillan (www.wep.wharton.upenn.edu). This article
had earlier appeared in the Experimental Entrepreneurial
Philanthropy Program. Reprinted with permission.
Case
Study
Philip
F Anschutz: Entrepreneur with a "Contrarian Strategy"
-- T Phani Madhav and S Pampana
Philip
F Anschutz, one of the richest American businessmen acquired
stakes in more than 100 underperforming businesses and successfully
restructured them into profitable entities. He built one
of the largest theatre chains in the US, the Regal Entertainment
Group, and also flourished in the telecommunications business
through Qwest. Anschutz's flair for betting on underperforming
businesses had earned him the recognition as an entrepreneur
with a "contrarian strategy". However, Anschutz
faced setbacks when an accounting scandal forced him to
quit from the post of the non-executive chairman in Qwest.
s opined that his latest venture into newspaper business
was also a challenge, considering the strong competition
from The Washington Post. The
case, while detailing the strategies followed by Anschutz
to become one of America's richest and successful entrepreneurs,
provides a scope for analyzing Anschutz's `contrarian strategy'.
©
2005 IBS Case Development Center.
For accessing and procuring the case study, log on to www.ecch.cranfield.ac.uk.
Research
Summary
Entrepreneurship
as a Non-profit Seeking Activity
Entrepreneurial
pursuit is not for mere profits. It is also governed by
possibilities of greater autonomy, creative utilization
of skills and ideas.
©
2005 Matthias Benz. All Rights Reserved. IUP holds the copyright for the Research Summary.
Book
Review
We
Got Fired! ...And It's the Best Thing That Ever Happened
to Us
--
Harvey Mackey
The
author has sought to provide real-life instances and accounts
of individuals from different walks of life who have made
a success of their professional lives after getting fired
from the job. This book gives an account of the lives of
the protagonists, interspersed with some short clippings
on related instances from other famous lives.
©
2004 Harvey Mackey. All Rights Reserved. IUP holds the copyright for the review. |
