What
the Entrepreneur Does: A Study of Ant Colony Optimization
Techniques and Entrepreneurial Activity
--
Lynne Butel and Alison Watkins
This
paper presents Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) techniques
as an appropriate means of modeling the patterns of entrepreneurial
activity. This activity is defined as the search for opportunities
for value creation and exploitation in a changing environment.
The paper addresses the key question of what entrepreneurs
actually do that distinguishes them from other successful
managers. In addition, it considers how one might distinguish
between an entrepreneurial organization and an equally successful
but less entrepreneurial one. The paper proposes that the
methods used by students of real ant colonies, where detailed
study of entrepreneurial activity in the field informs the
research, is the most appropriate means of researching the
behavior of entrepreneurs. It is impossible to study the
individual entrepreneur in isolation from the community
and environment in which he or she operates.
©
2002 Lynne Butel and Alison Watkins (www.sses.com). Reprinted
with permission.
Initial
Marketing Mistakes and Business Failure : Case Analysis
on Information Technology Ventures
-- Shuji Honjo and
Takeru Ohe
This
preliminary study, which entailed the case analysis of eighteen
information technology-related new ventures in Japan, sought
to shed more light on initial marketing mistakes. It showed
that most of them initially built marketing assumptions
that were too optimistic, and such mistakes affected businesses.
Many companies lost too much time and resources before redirecting
their businesses.
©
2003 Shuji Honjo and Takeru Ohe (www.uic.edu). Reprinted
with permission.
Creating
a Culture of Innovative Entrepreneurship
--
Günter Faltin
Entrepreneurship
has more to it than just self-employment and hard work;
to tap its full potential, one needs to put emphasis on
the generation and development of ideas. Research on creativity
suggests that all of us are able to engage in this kind
of creative activity. This essay presents techniques for,
and examples of, generating entrepreneurial ideas. Its goal
is to show that in the present age, which is marked by rising
levels of education, growing consumer sophistication and
increasing opportunities for comparing values, ideas that
are developed in harmony with society's values have good
and growing chances for success in the marketplace. Ultimately,
a culture of innovative entrepreneurship is envisioned,
one which is able to incorporate economic, artistic, and
social activities as parts of one coherent spectrum of human
creativity.
©
2001 Günter Faltin (www.entrepreneurship.de). This
article was originally published in Journal of International
Business and Economy, Fall 2001, Vol. 2, No. 1. Reprinted
with permission.
Project
Formulation: A Zero-based Approach
-- G Jayabal and K Nagarajan
This
article explains how an entrepreneur can reduce his project
cost by applying a systematic zero-based approach to project
formulation. This not only reduces the initial investment
considerably, but also improves the financial viability
of the project. The article specially focuses on investment
in land and building, plant and machinery, choice of electrical
installations, etc.
©
2004 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
Technical
and Entrepreneurial Research Information System: An Applied
e-model for Sustainable Entrepreneurship Development--
Dhrupad Mathur
This
article stresses on the need for an e-application like Technical
and Entrepreneurial Research Information System (TERIS),
which enables interaction among academia, industry and various
agencies related to researchers for sustainable entrepreneurship
development. The functional details of the model are also
discussed.
©
2004 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
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