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)

Despite the economic significance of entrepreneurship, relatively little is known about the entrepreneur, particularly how the entrepreneur differs from the corporate manager. This problem is both cause and symptom of the discord regarding definitions of the entrepreneur, rendering sampling, research replication and generalizations about entrepreneurs problematic. As a result, inquiry has failed to adequately establish how entrepreneurs differ from managers, a problem partially stemming from a dearth of methodologically rigorous comparisons of entrepreneurs with managers. The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the potential of psychological constructs to predict a proclivity for entrepreneurship. Moreover, differences in types of small business owner-managers were also investigated. Included in the research model were three common themes in the entrepreneurship literature: achievement motivation, risk taking propensity and preference for innovation. Also incorporated were the interactions of the psychological constructs, as well as individual and firm demographic variables.

Corporate entrepreneurship, its correlates, and its impact on the global presence of firms were examined through 439 United States companies, represented in all geographic realms of the world. Executives responded to a lengthy survey of organizational characteristics which enabled corporate entrepreneurship and its dimensions--innovation, proactiveness, and risk taking--to be examined in firms with varying global presence. Risk factors were assigned to countries and realms from the averaged rankings of three published risk-forecasting services. Maximum risk country, maximum risk geographic realm, average risk of countries, average risk of geographic realms, number of countries, and number of geographic realms, were differentially weighted to equalize scales and combined into a composite global presence scale. Strategy-related variables--competitive aggressiveness and adaptiveness--dominated other organizational attributes in explaining corporate entrepreneurship, and corporate entrepreneurship dominated other variables in explaining global presence, according to correlation and multiple regression analysis. Although no variables correlated strongly with measures of global presence, corporate entrepreneurship consistently had significant positive correlations across all six measures of global presence and the composite global presence scale. In forward stepwise multiple regressions, corporate entrepreneurship was the first variable entered into the prediction equation for five of the six measures of global presence; only when the dependent variable was the number-of-countries measure of global presence did scanning load before corporate entrepreneurship. Of the dimensions of corporate entrepreneurship, risk taking had the weakest correlations with measures of global presence, although risk was the theoretical basis for the first four measures of global presence; the risk taking dimension of corporate entrepreneurship represents executives' perceptions of risk, whereas global presence was derived from published risk rankings of countries. Environmental dynamism and heterogeneity, although not hostility, correlated with corporate entrepreneurship; however, neither environmental element showed a systematic relationship with global presence. Overall, corporate entrepreneurship, driven primarily by strategy-related variables, influenced the global presence of firms. Corporate entrepreneurship did not influence performance.

In the recent years, a new type of investments called Impact Investing has been growing rapidly. Those investments are made with the intention to improve social and/or environmental conditions in the world while generating financial returns. In this case, financial metrics are not enough to measure whether the investor objective was reached, and tools for measuring the social performance of the investments are needed. From that need, various measurement approaches were created, but the fragmentation of methods leads to a huge inefficiency in the impact investing industry. Efforts towards creating standards for measuring and reporting social performance are emerging, but there is still little understanding among impact investors about the real benefits and possible challenges the standardization would bring. In this context, an important question arises, which is the subject of study in this research: What are the potential consequences of establishing social performance standards for the impact investing industry? The purpose of this research is to analyze the possible consequences of establishing social performance standards on the impact investing industry. Qualitative approach and interpretive paradigm were chosen to be followed in this research. Primary data was collected in the form of interviews with impact investors and specialists in social performance measurement. Secondary data comes from books, articles, journals and websites. The data was analyzed using the consequences of innovations framework presented by Rogers (2003). The results suggest that obviously there are potential desirable and undesirable direct consequences, but also indirect consequences that are not perceived without a thorough analysis. Key words: Impact Investing, social performance, social performance standards, social businesses.

Background: Female entrepreneurship has been through a big upswing during the past decades. More women are deciding to start their own business and engage in the business creation world, which is proven to be one of the most important and fast-growing aspects of entrepreneurship worldwide. However, in the past, females who made such decisions have faced many obstacles and resistance in terms of treatment, financial support and combining working and family life. Further, previous research regarding female entrepreneurship and its correlation to societal change proves that the progression is affected by external factors such as governmental institutions, attitudes and fundamental assets (first developed by Baumol in 1990). Purpose: By identifying certain rapid changes that society has been through during the past decades, the purpose of this study is to highlight what these developments mean for female entrepreneurs and their current role in a changing society.  Method: This is a qualitative research based on an inductive approach where semi-structured interviews are the foundation of its empirical findings. The method has adopted the Gioia (2012) method with the purpose of identifying patterns and themes that can generate useful conclusions on the chosen topic.  Conclusion: The findings show that digitalization and technology have been two of the most significant changes in society during the past decades. These have generated more role models, new social networks, better communication and new entrepreneurial fields - all promoting the growth of female entrepreneurship. Combining work and family life seem to be primarily an obstacle and it is no longer a huge disadvantage to be a female when starting a new business. Its developments have resulted in new advantages for investments and gaining opportunities, as well as new entrepreneurial fields.

This study sheds light on sustainable social entrepreneurship by investigating the main motivators of rural entrepreneurs to start and continue in their businesses beyond financial gain. In this paper, case study design with local entrepreneurs and organizations from two different countries: Sweden and Palestine, was used as the unit of analysis. In order to unleash more creativity, the author adopted iterative abductive thinking, which allows the researcher to go back and forth between theories and empirical data.  Systematic review approach in reviewing the literature was used as the research purpose and questions are clearly defined in the research. Guided and semi-structured interviews were employed to collect empirical data. "Initial coding" was used for data analysis, allowing the author to identify themes and thus perform complete research.  Rural entrepreneurs' motivations are heavily focused on achieving sustainable development. Sustainable entrepreneurs recognize the significance of creating businesses that are good for the environment and benefit their communities. While financial gain is still one of the most important factors they seek when starting businesses in order to survive and continue to achieve social and environmental benefits, the extent varies depending on several factors such as the entrepreneur's level of involvement in entrepreneurship, their backgrounds, resources availability, policies, and support. The journey is still full of challenges and difficulties, and much support from government agencies and communities is required. However, there is a growing awareness among these parties about the significance of understanding and supporting rural entrepreneurs on their path.

This qualitative study explores factors within families that influence women entrepreneurs of Pakistan. Pakistan is chosen as the key research area as where the corporate environment as well as the domestic sphere, they belong to, represent the intricate interaction of social, cultural, traditional, and religious components, especially considering the characteristics of the existing patriarchal system. For the purpose of examining the influence of family on women entrepreneurship, 12 semi-structured interviews were conducted. They have different marital status (married, single and/or divorced), however, the commonality that is essential for the purpose of the current paper is that all of the participants are residing with their families.Through the analysis of found empirical material and previous literature on the topic it has been concluded that gender stereotypes, family rules, regulations, conventions, as well as cultural and/or societal values may influence how entrepreneurial decisions are made within the family. These influences have been structured to five groups of factors: gender assigned roles, financial and educational background of the family, children, spouse and his family, as well as the family of origin. The factors have various influences and while some families may modify their standard of life to fit cultural trends, other families may choose to adopt (within societal patterns) what best suits them. In other words, it can be said that family has, indeed, a strong influence on women entrepreneurship in Pakistan, both in positive and negative ways.

The proliferation of female entrepreneurs, especially in developing countries, instigated this study, to understand their judgement and decision-making processes in the highly complex and uncertain entrepreneurial landscape within which they need to thrive. The study focused on cognitive bias and its effects on risk perception and firm performance, particularly in female entrepreneurs. This study took a quantitative approach to analyse the effects of cognitive bias. A cross sectional explanatory research design, using a combination of purposive and snowballing non-probability sampling strategies, yielded a sample of 75 female entrepreneurs. The data collected on their risk perception, which is believed to be a determinant of success, was analysed using Pearson’s correlations, paired t-tests and multivariate regression statistical techniques. The key findings of this study are based on the evaluation of four research hypotheses were; a weak negative relationship exists between overconfidence and risk perception; a positive relationship exists between overoptimism and risk perception; and no relationship exists between self-efficacy and risk perception. With regard to firm performance, none of the cognitive biases or risk perceptions were found to have any statistically significant relationship. This study brought a different dimension to the effects of cognitive bias, as its findings mostly contradicted existing literature. / Mini Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2021. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / MBA / Unrestricted

Studies have attempted to explain the linkage between achieving success in the field of entrepreneurship and the pedagogy instituted to teach the skills entrepreneurs need to achieve success in their chosen endeavors. It is widely known and well documented that people have experienced entrepreneurial success with limited, and sometimes no formal entrepreneurial training. The ever present question of “can entrepreneurship be taught” has been debated from many varying perspectives. The late Peter Drucker pragmatically once said “The entrepreneur mystique? It’s not magic, it’s not mysterious, and it has nothing to do with the genes. It’s a discipline. And, like any discipline, it can be learned” (Drucker, 1985). A study conducted by the Center for College Affordability and Productivity recently determined that almost half of Americans with college degrees are overqualified for their jobs. Many studies have also concluded that college graduates accumulate greater lifetime earnings than non-college graduates. Yet the escalating costs of attending college and the diminishing prospects of job security after attaining a college degree have brought the cost of education to the precipice of a potential “education bubble”. Student loan debt exceeds One Trillion Dollars and the typical student loan needs to be repaid over ten years at nearly seven percent interest. Similar to the recently experienced “housing bubble” there is a genuine concern, as it relates to education, that today’s populace is paying too much for something that yields limited value. Therefore, the question of “can entrepreneurship be taught” should be supplanted with “can entrepreneurship be learned?” “Are graduates capable of applying their academic training to produce tangible results?” If there are too many academic degrees being generated that are unable to be absorbed into a stagnant job market, it would stand to reason that a college degree, from a business school iv or any co-curricular discipline, without significant concentration in the study of entrepreneurship, serves only a limited purpose in a growing, capitalistic society that is predicated on job growth. Centers for entrepreneurship provide an excellent foundation for invigorating new college graduates from multiple academic disciplines with the motivation and desire to achieve success in business as entrepreneurs. This comparative analysis of two thriving and vibrant Centers for Entrepreneurship at major universities in the growing central Florida region examines their best practices and compares them to current national guidelines established by the Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers, a 200 + member organization domiciled in the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana that serves as the key junction for university-based entrepreneurship centers across the United States to collaborate, communicate and jointly advance excellence in entrepreneurship (www.globalentrepreneurshipconsortium.org). The evaluator and author of this dissertation implemented procedures similar to those used in accreditation reviews and applied professional judgment techniques to design a connoisseurship evaluation of entrepreneurship centers at two major universities --- The Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of South Florida in Tampa, FL and The Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, FL. We have all heard the Horatio Alger “rags to riches” stories of entrepreneurs who “bootstrapped” their business ideas without benefit of any formal business or entrepreneurial education. But it is just as great a likelihood in the coming years that we will admire those who give the credit for their success to the concepts they mastered in an entrepreneurial studies program and how their alma maters provided mentors through their centers for entrepreneurship who saved them from committing an abundance of mistakes by trial and error as they transported v their business ideas from conceptualization to realization. This research will assist centers of entrepreneurship as they strive to incorporate standards of excellence to benefit students who endeavor to become business and job creators in the future.

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