Entrepreneurial Team and Performance in Lombardy SMEs: An Empirical Study

-- Marco Talaia and Serena Mascherpa

Identifying which factors affect firms' performance is a critical issue. Within International Entrepreneurship stream of search, most of the extant studies have focused on the individual entrepreneur, with Entrepreneurial Team (ET) neglected in the literature. Our paper addresses the influence of ET over the behavior and performance of Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs). We argue that the ET is decisive in SMEs, inasmuch as the lack of resources push them to rely more on their ET. Based on a survey of 269 Lombardy SMEs, we have demonstrated that some ET features have a crucial role in the determination of performance.

© 2011 IUP. All Rights Reserved.

An Analysis of the Role of Self-Employment in the Economic Development
of the Rural Northeastern United States

-- Saima Bashir, Tesfa Gebremedhin and Jerald J Fletcher

Generating employment and alleviating poverty are the biggest challenges for regional economic growth in the rural areas of the Northeastern United States. Despite the revival of the economy in much of the nation’s heartland, rural areas are still suffering from high poverty and unemployment rates. Selfemployment, a measure of entrepreneurship, indicates an opportunity for rural communities to improve the quality of life and accelerate regional economic development. Taking into consideration the problem of unemployment in rural communities, there is a need to focus on generating self-employment opportunities at micro level to enhance economic growth and reduce the per capita income ‘gap’ between rural and urban areas. The overall objective of the study is to identify and estimate the impacts of self-employment in the economic development of the Northeastern United States. The empirical model of this study is derived from the three-equation simultaneous model of Deller et al. (2001). The study estimated the relationship of employment, population and per capita income to self-employment. Research findings show that employment and population have a positive relationship to self-employment, indicating positive contribution of self-employment to regional economic development.

© 2011 IUP. All Rights Reserved.

Entrepreneurship in Biotechnology Sector

-- Divya Christopher and Simarpreet Kaur

Setting up a business or a venture in the area of biotechnology sector is known as bioentrepreneurship. Although this concept is fairly new in India, it provides the bioentrepreneurs with great opportunities for growth and advancement because the industry is growing at a rate of 25%. Particularly notable are the areas of vaccines, therapeutic proteins, diagnostics, seed hybrids, recombinant DNA technology, monoclonal antibodies and gene therapy. A bioentrepreneur may start his venture in a number of ways, but the most common way involves identifying the need for a product and its benefits for all the major stakeholders. In order to become an entrepreneur, you don’t need to follow any formal path. You must be motivated enough and must communicate well in order to deal in a business environment. However, to be able to set a business as an entrepreneur, one must be able to overcome the major hindrances which include high early stage investment, the technology associated with the development of new biotech products, high risks associated with the investments and the availability of fewer amounts of exit options for the investors. The prime purpose of this research is to develop the abstract concept of bioentrepreneurship, categorize its main dimensions and substantiate its theoretical validity and viability, without testing its empirical relevance. One of the objectives is also to briefly study and exhibit bioentrepreneurship as the key driver of the new bioeconomy.

© 2011 IUP. All Rights Reserved.

Entrepreneurial Propensity and Its Relation to Self-Employment Intentions Among Engineering and Business Students: A Comparative Case Study

-- S A Vasantha Kumara and Y Vijaya Kumar

For decades, questions as to why some college educated professionals seek entrepreneurial career and others do not have remained largely unanswered. Entrepreneurial Propensity (EP) measures ones proclivity for choosing an entrepreneurship career. It is a combination of three dimensions: perceived level of entrepreneurial education, beliefs concerning entrepreneurial opportunities in the economy, and one’s confidence in one’s ability to access the available opportunities. In this case study, a questionnaire consisting of EP scale and self-employment intentions along with demographics was administered to 172 students (97 final and pre-final year BE students and 75 second semester MBA students) at Dayananda Sagar Institutions, Bangalore. The research instrument measured high validity and reliability. Using tests on correlation coefficients and ANOVA, it was observed that the demographics have little influence on EP and intentions among both BE and MBA students. Partial least squared regression path analysis indicated that EP and self-employment intentions are strongly related. Prospective entrepreneurs were identified who scored high both in EP and intentions. However, large sample studies confirm the above findings. This study enables Entrepreneurship Trainers and Motivators to identify specific training needs and design competency-based curriculum for Entrepreneurship Education.

© 2011 IUP. All Rights Reserved.