Self-Actualization: The Zenith of Entrepreneurship

This paper presents entrepreneurship  literature  which supports  a treatment  of entrepreneurial drive as a continuum. Behavioral differences among entrepreneurs are presented and examined in the light of Maslow's hierarchy of needs. The two perspectives are linked by a perspective of entrepreneurial activity as a vehicle which can support one's advancement through all levels of the hierarchy. This perspective is examined empirically with a database of 156 entrepreneurs, and the authors conclude that the respondents in this study who displayed higher entrepreneurial drive did view their businesses as vehicles for achieving self-esteem and self-actualization. Those respondents displaying lower entrepreneurial drive viewed their firms as vehicles for providing  basic financial  needs

A Model of Potential Entrepreneurship: Profiles and Educational Implications

In an effort to determine the propensity for  entrepreneurship  of potential  entrepreneurs, students enrolled in Small Business Management classes at the graduate and undergraduate level were examined. A series of surveys including Jackson's Personality Inventory for Innovation and Risk Taking, and Jackson's PRF for Need for Achievement as well as the Carland Entrepreneurship Index were completed. The results supported the empirical development of a model of potential entrepreneurship. That model was tested from theoretical, statistical and visual perspectives. Finally, the model was used to develop implications for entrepreneurship education

Seeing What's Not THere: The Enigma of Entrepreneurship

The process is clear: entrepreneurs initiate business ventures. What is not clear is why they do so. The debate continues to rage about entrepreneurial behavior and this singular act of individual volition which is so vital to a nation's economic health and well being. The drives and personalities continue to be debated. Gartner (1988) asks, "Can one know the dancer from the dance?"  Is it even important to try? Carland, Hoy and Carland (I 988) think it is essential because one cannot understand the dance without  understanding the dancer.We think that the dance takes on the personality of the dancer. It is the dancer who interprets the dance and each artist makes the process his or her own. If we seek to understand the entrepreneurial process, we must have some insight into the entrepreneurial psyche. This is especially true if we wish to design educational and training programs for prospective and practicing entrepreneurs.In this work, we empirically examine 502 owner/managers of small businesses. We identify entrepreneurial vision, the ability to see what is not there, as their commonality. We empirically /ink that vision to the entrepreneurial psyche and use that to build insight into the entrepreneurial enigma, the process  of entrepreneurship

An Investigation of the Planning-Performance Conundrum in a Dynamic Macroentrepreneurial Environment

While it is intuitively appealing from  a theoretical perspective  to confirm  the relationship between strategic planning and performance as measured by growth and profitability,  many unknowns tend to confound the perfect model.  The literature is rich with studies attempting to explicate the dynamics of planning  and performance, yet  there is no closure because of the vagaries of sample and methodology.   This paper  investigates the planning-performance conundrum  in a dynamic macroentrepreneurial   environment.The results  of this study  clearly  show  that for   the present  sample  of macroentrepreneurs, strategic   planning    had   a   deleterious    effect   on   peiformance.        This   suggests    that entrepreneurship  researchers  may  need  to reexamine  some  basic  axioms  and precepts.    For example,  perhaps   entrepreneurs  do  employ  a  rapidly  evolving  vision  to  negotiate  through dynamic   environments   rather   than   operate   under   the  constraints   of  strategic   planning. Clearly,  the firms   in  this  sample  were  all  highly  successful  ventures.    Further,  they  all practiced  strategic  management.   If strategic planning  did not contribute to that success,  what did? The search for an explanation continues

Are Small Businesses Falling through the GAAP?

Professional accountants have long recognized the need for a change in the reporting requirements for small businesses because standard setting agencies focus on large firms and promulgate GAAPs which ignore special problems of small firms. We propose a procedure which may correct the problem  in the United States and which could provide a model for  use in other countries