This dissertation sets out to explore the phenomenon of Born Globals, a small, international entrepreneurial firm. The study aims at exploring how the entrepreneur perceives the factors that influence the creation of a Born Global. This topic has been chosen since little research has been carried out in order to investigate what the entrepreneurs find important in the creation of a Born Global. This fact has been the basis in developing our study’s aim to investigate the factors’ relative importance. The first step in the investigation is the literature review which is carried out in order to gain significant knowledge about the phenomenon before collecting empirical data of our own, the deductive approach. The literature review revolves around the conceptual framework created by Andersson & Wictor (2003), which has been used to summarise other findings by other authors into the four subcategories that our found to facilitate the creation of a Born Global. In addition to these factors we have found that nation specific characteristics and company specific advantages, as well as entry modes are feasible facilitators to discuss further. When considering methodology a qualitative design has been found the most suitable. The approach used is influenced by Phenomenography which aims to describe people’s perceptions and experiences of different phenomena. In order to investigate this phenomenon we have used open interviews with two different entrepreneurs that were found through careful sampling. The companies chosen are located on two different continents and in two different businesses. The interviews have been transcribed and categorised and the empirical data have been divided into the same categories used in the literature review. This has been done in order to make it easier to read but also easier to analyse. After the summary of the empirical data we have conducted a cross analysis. In analysing the data we have looked for similarities and differences in order to draw conclusions regarding the issues set out to investigate. The empirical results and the analysis revolve around the six areas outlined in the theory, i.e. Globalisation, Entrepreneur, Networks, Industry, Entry Modes, and A fit between nation specific characteristics and company specific advantages. The two entrepreneurs consider the same factors to have had the biggest influence for the biggest part. However they disagree regarding the importance of Networks and Market Entry. These factors have both had an impact on the companies but their relative importance is disputed. We would like to stress that the investigated attitudes are subjective. It is the interviewees’ attitudes and opinions the study has been aiming at investigating and therefore it is important to identify the individual as a factor when discussing the investigation’s credibility. It is rather unlikely that we would have reached the same conclusions with different interviewees but since it is attitudes that have been investigated it is only natural and does therefore not clash with the purpose of the study.

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This study is about how women entrepreneurs are represented in Taiwan¡¦s business magazines. The role of mass media is to transmit information and establish the cultural value in a society. Hence, mass media is a key source of the construction of gender stereotype. Comparatively, women entrepreneurs are the minority in the society. We have difficulties in getting the first-hand information of their venturing process and experience. Mass media, under these circumstances, is the primary source of our perception of the women entrepreneurs. Many previous studies have suggested that the media tend to summarize the experience of women entrepreneurs from a masculine perspective, over-simplify the gender differences, draw particular attention on the private domain of women entrepreneurs and emphasize the stereotype of female. In this study, our major research question is ¡¥how are women entrepreneurs, in Taiwan, represented by the news media.¡¦ The study has adopted discourse analysis as research method and the related reports are all from the most three popular magazines in Taiwan. By analyzing words and sentences, the study try to reveal preferences and standpoints of media. After analyzing 87 reports, we could say that the media prefer to represent women entrepreneurs in the following ways. 1. Women entrepreneurs are rare in the society. 2. Describe women entrepreneurs with masculine traits. 3. Women entrepreneurs have to show feminine traits at some time, not too aggressive all the time. 4. The influences from women entrepreneurs¡¦ fathers and husbands. 5. Represent the stereotype of women entrepreneurs. 6. Focus on marriage and family status of women entrepreneurs.

More and more women choose to start their own microbusinesses and have obtained significant achievements. But what are the key factors to run a lucrative microbusiness? It is an issue worthy of researching. Therefore, I try to find some common features of those women who run a microbusiness, for example, the motivation of the entrepreneur, the standard of choosing a profitable microbusiness, the business model of earning profit and how to overcome difficulties. By studying this interesting issue, I have finalized five characteristics of successful female microbusiness entrepreneurs: 1. They are successful in business with which they are highly familiar or interested. Most of them even had part-time jobs in same kind of business. 2. Almost all of them raise all the entrepreneur capital on their own. This means that they must take all the risk. 3. They all have their own unique business model. They know clearly from which they can gain returns, and what the niche of the business is. 4. All of them take finance seriously, including daily cash flows, the situation of daily and monthly income. 5. They strive to pursue the balance of work and life quality. In the past, most of them worked so hard that they ignore their own health condition. When it became a serious problem, they realized that achievement is nothing without a healthy body.

Entrepreneur plays an important role in the success of start-up companies. According to the past research, the successful rate of entrepreneurial team is much higher than individual. Therefore, ¡§entrepreneurial team¡¨ becomes a significant topic in entrepreneurial research. However, scholars pay more attention on ¡§the complement of competence and resource between members of entrepreneurial team¡¨ rather than ¡§the different schema between entrepreneur and entrepreneurial partner.¡¨ In order to find out the schema difference, this research uses case study of qualitative research method, conducting in-depth interview towards 5 entrepreneurs and 12 entrepreneurial partners. After data coding and persistent thinking, we find 3 main schema differences between entrepreneur and entrepreneurial partner from the perspective of fitness landscape. They are differences in ¡§sight,¡¨ ¡§step¡¨ and ¡§principle.¡¨ For ¡§sight,¡¨ the environment evaluation of entrepreneur is relatively ¡§comprehensive,¡¨ ¡§long-tem¡¨ and ¡§sharp,¡¨ while it of entrepreneurial partner is ¡§partial,¡¨ ¡§short-term¡¨ and ¡§dull.¡¨ For ¡§step,¡¨ entrepreneur¡¦s manner of achieving goal is relatively ¡§risky¡¨ and ¡§hard-working,¡¨ while entrepreneurial partner¡¦s is ¡§conservative¡¨ and ¡§easy.¡¨ For ¡§principle,¡¨ entrepreneur¡¦s rationale of decision making is relatively ¡§finance-oriented,¡¨ while entrepreneurial partner¡¦s is ¡§technology-oriented.¡¨ Besides, the schema differences between entrepreneur and entrepreneurial partner will interact with each other, resulting in further schema change. Besides age and experience, the main factor leads to the schema differences between entrepreneur and entrepreneurial partner is the different ¡§structure¡¨ that entrepreneur and entrepreneurial partner are situated. This research points out the schema differences between entrepreneur and entrepreneurial partner. In practice, this research helps entrepreneur cultivate a better understanding in entrepreneur partner¡¦s schema to facilitate the cooperation and coordination between them. In management education, this research emphasizes the importance of schema cultivation beside technical training.

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The goal of this thesis is to develop a framework for technology commercialization specifically geared towards the capabilities of an entrepreneur. The entrepreneur in this case is typified by limited capital assets and minimal visibility to mainstream consumers. This affects many aspects of business including manufacturing, marketing, advertising and customer recognition. This thesis defines the entrepreneur’s technology commercialization framework in discrete steps based on existing and widely accepted technology commercialization models. The developed framework is specialized for the entrepreneur by proposing methods that leverage existing infrastructures to maximize the effectiveness of the entrepreneur. Two existing technology commercialization models were used as a foundation for the proposed framework. By combining the product-centric model developed by Vijay Jolly with the market-centric model developed by Everett Rogers and further refined by Geoffrey Moore, a foundation for the entrepreneur’s technology commercialization framework exists. The entrepreneur’s technology commercialization framework consists of four phases and four links that can be associated with the combined commercialization model described earlier. Further research examining processes and rules that so-called successful entrepreneurs follow was also required. Key activities successful entrepreneurs perform were identified. These activities were integrated into the entrepreneur’s technology commercialization framework. Following development of the entrepreneur’s technology commercialization framework, the application of the framework is described. The application focuses on the introduction of new products in the golf equipment industry, specifically golf club iron sets. The application of the framework is prefaced by two case studies specific to the golf equipment industry that reinforce the utility of the proposed entrepreneur’s technology commercialization framework. The application describes in detail the plan for developing and introducing an innovative golf club iron set. / text

Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.