Entrepreneurial Orientation as the Determinant of Entrepreneurial Marketing Behaviors

Although entrepreneurial marketing (EM) behaviors are widely reported, there is little discussion on what determines the level of a firm’s behaviors. This study contributes to the knowledge in the fields of entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial marketing by proposing EO, entrepreneurial orientation, as an antecedent of EM behaviors and arguing that EO acts as a multidimensional construct when affecting EM behaviors. The relationships between EO and EM behaviors are empirically investigated using multi-group confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling techniques. Results from the analyses support the hypothesis that EM behaviors are driven by EO. Firms with a higher level of EO engaged in EM behaviors more than firms with a lower level of EO. At the dimension level, innovativeness, proactiveness, and risk-taking are found to independently affect EM behaviors. With innovativeness having the strongest impact, this study concludes that innovativeness is the leading essence of EM behaviors. The results support a new consensus among entrepreneurship research scholars who suggest a direction toward multidimensional EO.

Academic roots : the past and the present of entrepreneurial marketing

Research in entrepreneurial marketing is about 30 years old. During this period research has followed many trajectories. Two important but divergent routes are small business marketing versus entrepreneurial marketing mirroring the discourse of small businesses versus entrepreneurial firms. Today small business marketing and entrepreneurial marketing are regarded as separate research fields, however related. EM-researches have been very open-minded towards different approaches in methodology, especially compared to research within mainstream marketing in the US. During this rather long period of time advances in other disciplines have been beneficial for our own research. One such example is the development of Effectuation theory allowing us to understand entrepreneurial decision-making and consequently, important aspects of entrepreneurial marketing behaviour. Many of the research questions, regarded as important by scholars in a panel 1986, are still regarded as important, for example new venture growth. Other issues have lost its relevance. But over all many important questions still are waiting for an answer and the whole research field of Entrepreneurial marketing offers tremendous research opportunities

Mentor and mentee attitudes in mentoring for entrepreneurs with foreign background

A national governmental mentoring programme for entrepreneurs with a foreign background from 56 different countries was launched in Sweden in 2009. The purpose is the follow-up of mentor and mentee attitudes to participation in this programme. Data is based on extensive nationwide telephone interviews with participating mentors and mentees. Additional in-depth interviews were made to gain a better understanding.   Overall, we found very positive attitudes indicating that the programme’s main content and structure is well adapted to the present situation. The results indicate that mentoring can be used to a much greater extent than was previously considered possible. However, improvements are needed in certain areas, for example in the area of motivation and commitment, there is still much to be done to achieve optimal results. Hopefully, our results may stimulate colleagues in other countries to create similar successful programmes to facilitate entrepreneurship among immigrants

The cleantech mystery : new theoretical model for understanding export capabilities in small and mediumsized innovative cleantech companies

Observers argue that Swedish cleantech companies are excellent at technology, but lackin making business and creating export. We call this the cleantech mystery. Twoimportant questions are what creates export capabilities, and what are the barrierscleantech companies face when exporting viewed from different perspectives? Wesuggest a holistic model for understanding the export conditions of innovative cleantechcompanies at micro and macro levels. The model relies on foundations from fourdifferent theoretical views, and two case studies. The first case is United Stirling(related to Kockums and FFV in Linköping) and its spin-offs. We focus on the dream tocreate sun-powered engines that in turn generate electricity. The second case is theAerosoltrapTM illustrating a creative inventor and his struggle with commercialization.The result is a tentative model, as well as some critical notions regarding the cleantechmystery.Keywords: Cleantech, Innovation, Export, Capabilities, Market orientation,Stirling engines, Aerosoltrap