Towards a dynamic learning perspective of entrepreneurship

This conceptual paper introduces a dynamic learning perspective of entrepreneurship that builds upon existing 'dominant' theoretical approaches to understanding entrepreneurial activity. As many aspects of entrepreneurial learning remain poorly understood, this paper presents key conclusions from in-depth empirical work and synthesises a broad range of contributory adult, management and individual learning literatures to develop a robust and integrated conceptualisation of entrepreneurial learning. Three interrelated elements of entrepreneurial learning are proposed - dynamic temporal phases, interrelated processes and overarching characteristics. The paper concludes by demonstrating how a 'learning lens' can be applied to create further avenues for research in entrepreneurship from a learning perspectiv

Understanding eINVs through the lens of prior research in entrepreneurship, international business and international entrepreneurship

In this chapter we examine the growing phenomenon of internet-based international new ventures, which we label “eINVS,” through the lens of previous research in the fields of entre- preneurship, international business and international entrepreneurship. Our purpose is to iden- tify where these existing bodies of research help us to understand eINVs, and where there are gaps that constitute important questions for future research. We define an eINV by adapting a widely used definition of international new ventures (INV) (Oviatt and McDougall 2005: 5): an eINV is a venture whose business model is enabled by a digital platform and that, from incep- tion, seeks to derive significant competitive advantage from international growth. With a focus explicitly on how extant research helps us understand eINVs, this review differs from that of Reuber and Fischer (2011b), who focus on firm-level internet-related resources that are related to the internationalization of ventures in general; that of Pezderka and Sinkovics (2011), who focus on risk and the online foreign market entry decisions of small and medium-sized enter- prises (SMEs); and that of Chandra and Coviello (2010), who focus on consumers using the internet to pursue international opportunities

Social Networking and Business Performance: The case of Selected Entrepreneurs in Ota, Nigeria

This research study examined the nature of relationship between social networking and business performance using selected entrepreneurs in Ota, Nigeria as respondents. The specific objectives of the study are; (i) to ascertain the extent to which social media networks are used by entrepreneurs (ii)to find out the purpose for which those sites were visited (iii) to determine the effect of electronic networking on sales turnover and (iv) to identify the effect of physical networking on business efficiency. The study used survey research method with structured questionnaire that was distributed among the sampled respondents. The findings of the study revealed that Facebook and twitter were the mostly visited social network by the entrepreneurs for business purposes. The result further revealed that electronic social network has significant effect on sales turnover. Physical social network such as trade associations was also found having a significant effect on business efficiency. Based on these findings, conclusion was drawn and relevant recommendations were made

The Interplay of Human and Social Capital in Shaping Entrepreneurial Performance: The Case of Vietnam

This study investigates the effects of human capital, social capital and their interaction on the performance of 1,398 Vietnamese new-born firms. Operating profit is used as the measure of success. Human capital is captured by individual-level professional education, start-up experience, and learning. Whereas the first two dimensions of human capital are measured with traditional indicators, we define learning as ability to accumulate knowledge to conduct innovation activities (new product introduction, product innovation and process innovation). Social capital is measured as benefits obtained from personal strong-tie and weak-tie networks. Key findings are three-fold: (i) human capital strongly predicts firm success, with learning exerting a statistically significant positive impact on operating profit; (ii) benefits from weak ties outweigh those from strong ties; (iii) interaction of human capital and social capital displays a statistically significant positive effect on new-firm performance.

National Systems of Innovation and Entrepreneurship: In Search of a Missing Link

The literature on national systems of innovation (NIS) has neglected the issue of entrepreneurship because of several incompatibilities between the two notions. The Schumpeterian legacy, the current person-centric view of entrepreneurship, and methodological problems related to treating entrepreneurship at the macro-level, have made it difficult to integrate entrepreneurship into the NIS perspective. At national level it is more appropriate to treat entrepreneurship as a 'property' (dimension) of NIS. In order to link NIS and entrepreneurship we must establish a common conceptual basis. Our argument is that the functional view of NIS and entrepreneurship presents a common basis for such an approach. We develop criteria for the entrepreneurial NIS which we define as being those that can change balance between individual and cooperative entrepreneurship; that enhance both the opportunity and skill aspects of entrepreneurship; and that can balance generation of uncertainty with support to business models and other organisations which pool uncertainty. From the NIS perspective, we explain entrepreneurship as a systemic phenomenon driven by complementarities between technological, market and institutional opportunities. This framework builds on three research traditions in the entrepreneurship/NIS literature (Schumpeterian, Kirznerian and Listian) which jointly form a multi-level, multi-dimensional framework for understanding entrepreneurship from a NIS perspective. This framework could be useful as a heuristic for empirical research on entrepreneurship. Finally, we analyse policies for entrepreneurship and find that they are highly dependent on underlying and previously discussed conceptions of entrepreneurship

Global board games project:a cross-border entrepreneurship experiential learning initiative

Entrepreneurship training and development in the context of higher education has grown tremendously over the past four decades. What began as offerings of a handful of courses aimed primarily at business planning and small business management has evolved into over 3.000 higher education institutions around the world offering degree programs and concentrations in entrepreneurship on both undergraduate and graduate levels (Morris, Kuratko and Cornwall, 2013). Universities – particularly in the USA, UK and EU – have invested into developing entrepreneurship curricula but also extra-curricular programs and infrastructure aimed at supporting enterprise development. It is consensus among educators that entrepreneurship can be taught (Kuratko, 2005). Indeed, entrepreneurship education research has become a field in its own right (Fayolle, Gailly and Lassas‐Clerc, 2006; Pittaway and Cope, 2007; Penaluna, Penaluna and Jones, 2012; Fayolle, 2013; Fayolle and Gailly, 2015; Pittaway et al., 2015; Nabi et al., 2017). As literature indicates, entrepreneurship education can have an important impact on a variety of outcomes, including entrepreneurial intentions and behaviours. Intentions are a motivation to engage in certain behaviour that is geared towards venture creation (Gibb, 2008, 2011) as well as recognition and exploitation of opportunities (Shane and Venkataraman, 2000). Moreover, research has also identified the impact of entrepreneurship education on more subjective indicators such as attitudes (Boukamcha, 2015), perceived feasibility (Rauch and Hulsink, 2015), and skills and knowledge (Greene and Saridakis, 2008). Recently, the literature on the best practices in entrepreneurship education has centred on the importance of experiential learning allowing students to create knowledge from their interactions with the environment (Kolb, 1984). The key to effective experiential learning is engaging students individually and socially in a situation that enables them to interact with elements of the entrepreneurial context thus moving them away from text-driven to action-driven learning mode (Morris, Kuratko and Cornwall, 2013). Increasingly, digital technologies have been leveraged to create a learning environment that provides opportunities for experiential learning (Onyema and Daniil, 2017). This chapter provides findings of a study related to the development and implementation of a collaborative, digitally supported simulation project aimed at enhancing entrepreneurial social skills in an international context

Marketing in Online Businesses:The Case of Migrant Entrepreneurial Businesses in the UK

The study presents an empirical investigation of the marketing activities undertaken by online businesses owned by migrant entrepreneurs and is framed by the theoretical lens of entrepreneurial marketing. Key informant interviews are undertaken with 22 entrepreneurs operating online businesses in the UK and augmented by other sources of data. The study finds that the resources available to the entrepreneurs are shaped by their migrant heritage and that they draw on these resources to market their online businesses. The study also finds that, consistent with notions from entrepreneurial marketing, the online nature of their businesses allow the entrepreneurs to meet their own needs and preferences, which are also shaped by their migrant heritage. The study is important since it provides empirical evidence and a theoretically grounded understanding of how online businesses offer migrant entrepreneurs the opportunity to break out of the low growth, low margin, vacancy chain openings and enter high growth, high margin, post-industrial sectors