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The context in which the entrepreneurial process is embedded plays a crucial role in determining its success. While past work has looked at the role of multiple and diverse contextual factors, the focus has been on studying the role of the visible and objective side of the contexts, like the environmental conditions in which the entrepreneurial action takes place. More recent research has recommended expanding our study of context to more invisible and subjective aspects of contexts. In this dissertation, I focus on one such factor: the social cohesion in the environment in which entrepreneurial behavior takes place and its role in the relationship between the drivers of entrepreneurial behavior and its outcomes. I explore cohesion at two levels: 1) within the geographic community where entrepreneurship happens and 2) within the Top Management Team (TMT) in a large organization. In the first chapter, I look at how geographic community-level cohesion arising from norms can impact the ability of a venture with a hybrid mission to raise funds. We find that hybrid entrepreneurs can mitigate the difficulties of fundraising by situating themselves in congruent communities. The second chapter looks at how group-level cohesiveness with the TMT can impact the ability of executive compensation to encourage exploratory innovation at the firm level. We see that the power of stock options in driving executive compensation is higher when the cohesiveness among the members of the team is higher. This dissertation contributes to our understanding of the role of an invisible factor of social cohesion in enabling entrepreneurial behavior. / Business Administration/Strategic Management

Entrepreneurship research often lacks a contextualized perspective, even though contexts matter in entrepreneurship (Welter and Gartner 2016). In addition, entrepreneurship theory is still predominantly based on empirical insights from developed economy settings (Barkema et al. 2015; Bruton et al. 2022). By not sufficiently paying attention to the differences in contexts entrepreneurs are embedded in, entrepreneurship research misses the opportunity to advance theory by creating new theoretical frameworks that go beyond ‘mainstream’ entrepreneurship theory. Instead, using entrepreneurship contextualization theory makes differences in entrepreneurship visible (Baker and Welter 2020). In response to scholars calling for more inclusive and diverse entrepreneurship research (Cooke and Xiao 2021; Hughes and Jennings 2012), this dissertation contextualizes women’s entrepreneurship in China. It pursues an interdisciplinary approach that draws on entrepreneurship contextualization theory, uses gender as a lens, and is situated in the empirical setting of China. The researcher crafted the dissertation as explorative qualitative research and employed a narrative inquiry with ethnographic elements to investigate the following overarching research questions: 1) How do ‘when’ and ‘where’ contexts and their interplay shape everyday women’s entrepreneurship in China? and 2) How and why do everyday women entrepreneurs shape contexts and gender in China? The main findings show how contexts shape women’s entrepreneurship in China and, at the same time, how women entrepreneurs in China demonstrate agency in shaping the contexts in which they are embedded. An integrative theoretical framework on top-down and bottom-up interaction of contexts and women’s entrepreneurship in China is also derived. This dissertation positions Chinese women entrepreneurs as everyday entrepreneurs (e.g., Welter et al. 2017) and adds to the academic discussion on how women entrepreneurs ‘do’ context and gender (Baker and Welter 2017, 2020; Welter 2020; Welter and Baker 2021). / Um Entrepreneurship zu verstehen, ist es essenziell, die Kontexte, in denen Entrepreneurship stattfindet, zu betrachten. Obwohl Kontexte für Entrepreneurship wichtig sind, mangelt es in der Entrepreneurship-Forschung häufig an kontextbezogener Theorie (Welter und Gartner 2016). Darüber hinaus basiert Entrepreneurship-Theorie immer noch überwiegend auf empirischen Erkenntnissen aus Industrieländern (Barkema et al. 2015, Bruton et al. 2022). Indem Entrepreneurship-Forschung die unterschiedlichen Kontexte, in denen Entrepreneurship eingebettet ist, nicht ausreichend in der Theoriebildung einbezieht, verpasst sie eine Gelegenheit, neue theoretische Erkenntnisse zu erlangen, die über die „Mainstream“-Entrepreneurship-Theorie hinausgehen. In diesem Zusammenhang ermöglicht die Theorie der Kontextualisierung von Entrepreneurship eine differenzierte Betrachtungsweise von Entrepreneurship-Aktivitäten (Baker und Welter 2020). Als Reaktion auf die Forderung nach einer inklusiveren und vielfältigeren Entrepreneurship-Forschung (Cooke und Xiao 2021; Hughes und Jennings 2012) fokussiert sich diese Dissertation auf die Kontextualisierung von Entrepreneurship-Aktivitäten von Unternehmerinnen in China. Diese Dissertation verfolgt einen interdisziplinären Ansatz, der die Theorie der Kontextualisierung von Entrepreneurship verwendet, eine gender-spezifische Analyse durchführt und China als empirischen Untersuchungsgegenstand heranzieht. Diese Dissertation ist als explorative qualitative Forschung angelegt. Sie verwendet eine narrative Analyse mit ethnographischen Elementen, um die folgenden übergreifenden Forschungsfragen zu untersuchen: 1) Wie beeinflussen Kontexte und ihr Zusammenspiel die Entrepreneurship-Aktivitäten von Unternehmerinnen in China? und 2) Wie und warum beeinflussen Unternehmerinnen Kontexte und Gender in China? Diese Dissertation entwickelt ein integratives theoretisches Rahmenwerk für die Top-down- und Bottom-up-Interaktion von Kontexten und Unternehmerinnen in China. Die Arbeit positioniert chinesische Unternehmerinnen als „Everyday“ Entrepreneure (Welter et al. 2017) und trägt zum wissenschaftlichen Diskurs darüber bei, wie Unternehmerinnen Kontexte und Gender aktiv prägen und gestalten (Baker und Welter 2017, 2020; Welter 2020; Welter und Baker 2021).

Female entrepreneurship, as a subject of the academic research, has gained a lot of popularity in the recent years. A considerable amount of attention to this field has been caused by the growing recognition that female entrepreneurship has a profound impact on the economic development. Nevertheless, the potential of female entrepreneurs is far from being fully realized in many economies. Having chosen Russia as the area of investigation, the researchers intend to examine female entrepreneurship and discover specific obstacles contained in it. Therefore, this study aims at discovering preventing factors that dissuade Russian women from stepping into entrepreneurship. For the purposes of this work,qualitative research approach is followed, with the actors view and qualitative content analysis being applied. Case studies and interviews are used to collect data about female entrepreneurs' opinion on the general state of female entrepreneurship in Russia, their attitudes toward it and assumptions about existing barriers.               The results of the research demonstrate that distinguished and describedbarriers of female entrepreneurship hold different level of influence. The researchers also emphasize that actual barriers do not fully comply with those that are generally perceived by Russians and broadly described by scholars. From the study it is revealed that the most influential barriers are the following: managerial incompetence together with financial illiteracy, mistrust to the government and the myth of female entrepreneurship, with corruption and social prejudices being of less significance. The conclusion can also be drawn that the revealed myth of female entrepreneurship influences women's attitude towards entrepreneurship in Russia to much more extent than other obstacles. Some recommendations regarding possible alterations to current state of female entrepreneurship in Russia as well as suggestions to future female entrepreneurs, such as improving entrepreneurial environment, educational toolkit for female entrepreneurs, the importance of telling inspirational stories, are presented.

Since the early 1990s entrepreneurship education has experienced a significant interest and growth in South Africa, due to the fact that it plays a very important part in the success of businesses, whether it is a new or an existing business venture. Corporate entrepreneurship can be defined as the development of new ideas and opportunities within a large organisation and is characterized by individuals who are energetic, creative, innovative, self-confident and take calculated risks. When looking at the entrepreneurial orientation variables, Autonomy, Innovativeness, Risk-taking, Pro-Activeness and Competitive aggressiveness in any organisation, they require an acceptable climate to ensure that each dimension prosper. The line, middle and senior managers play an important role in entrepreneurial actions, whether it is part of creating the climate or driving the process once initiated. Entrepreneurial success factors such as creativity, innovation, risk orientation, leadership, good human relations, a positive attitude and perseverance, are all attributes of successful entrepreneurs. The primary research focus of this study has been to investigate the influence of entrepreneurial orientation variables (Autonomy, Innovativeness, Risk-taking, Pro- Activeness and Competitive aggressiveness) on the perceived success in a personal protective equipment organisation in South Africa. For the purpose of this study, the business success has been measured by means of two dependent variables namely Business growth and Business development and improvement. An empirical study has been conducted by using a questionnaire that measured five dimensions regarding entrepreneurial orientation. Data from 42 participants have been collected and analysed, and the results indicate that the organisation have certain aspects of entrepreneurial orientation present. The results show that the managers in the personal protective equipment business perceived that the entrepreneurial orientation variable Innovativeness have a positive influence on their Business Growth. An important relationship between the independent variable Innovativeness and the dependent variable Business development and improvement has been found to exist. Entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial orientation are more than just vibrant words in the industry; they play important roles in the survival and growth of organisations. It is also crucial to understand that the correct climate needs to be fostered within the organisation to ensure that all the various aspects of corporate entrepreneurship are achieved. The organisation will reap greater benefits that could contribute to the business staying the leader in the industry, being more competitive, creating new ventures, and introducing new products and services. The area of significant concern for the organisation is a low or poor tolerance for risktaking. Practical recommendations, suggestions and an action plan are presented in order to improve the entrepreneurial climate of the organisation. / MBA, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Since the early 1990s entrepreneurship education has experienced a significant interest and growth in South Africa, due to the fact that it plays a very important part in the success of businesses, whether it is a new or an existing business venture. Corporate entrepreneurship can be defined as the development of new ideas and opportunities within a large organisation and is characterized by individuals who are energetic, creative, innovative, self-confident and take calculated risks. When looking at the entrepreneurial orientation variables, Autonomy, Innovativeness, Risk-taking, Pro-Activeness and Competitive aggressiveness in any organisation, they require an acceptable climate to ensure that each dimension prosper. The line, middle and senior managers play an important role in entrepreneurial actions, whether it is part of creating the climate or driving the process once initiated. Entrepreneurial success factors such as creativity, innovation, risk orientation, leadership, good human relations, a positive attitude and perseverance, are all attributes of successful entrepreneurs. The primary research focus of this study has been to investigate the influence of entrepreneurial orientation variables (Autonomy, Innovativeness, Risk-taking, Pro- Activeness and Competitive aggressiveness) on the perceived success in a personal protective equipment organisation in South Africa. For the purpose of this study, the business success has been measured by means of two dependent variables namely Business growth and Business development and improvement. An empirical study has been conducted by using a questionnaire that measured five dimensions regarding entrepreneurial orientation. Data from 42 participants have been collected and analysed, and the results indicate that the organisation have certain aspects of entrepreneurial orientation present. The results show that the managers in the personal protective equipment business perceived that the entrepreneurial orientation variable Innovativeness have a positive influence on their Business Growth. An important relationship between the independent variable Innovativeness and the dependent variable Business development and improvement has been found to exist. Entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial orientation are more than just vibrant words in the industry; they play important roles in the survival and growth of organisations. It is also crucial to understand that the correct climate needs to be fostered within the organisation to ensure that all the various aspects of corporate entrepreneurship are achieved. The organisation will reap greater benefits that could contribute to the business staying the leader in the industry, being more competitive, creating new ventures, and introducing new products and services. The area of significant concern for the organisation is a low or poor tolerance for risktaking. Practical recommendations, suggestions and an action plan are presented in order to improve the entrepreneurial climate of the organisation. / MBA, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

This thesis explores the concept of entrepreneurship. It aims at answering the question: does the Austrian view provide a comprehensive framework for the analysis of entrepreneurship? For this purpose the problem is separated into three main objectives: to trace its development, to describe its foundations and to explain its principal features. In order to achieve these objectives, the study is divided into six chapters. Chapter 1 outlines the historical origins of the Austrian School. Chapter 2 describes the uniqueness of the individual as the foundation of Austrian economic theory. Chapter 3 explains how individuals act in a society. Chapter 4 covers the idea of the market as a process. Chapter 5 analyzes the role of the entrepreneur. Finally chapter 6 presents some case studies from the IT industry. The thesis concludes that the Austrian school provides a fully comprehensive framework for the development of the concept of entrepreneurship. / Economics / M.A. (Economics)