The purpose of this research project is to qualitatively investigate the patterns of activity (modalities) in which entrepreneurs engage to create value for their customers. Proceeding from observations made by Claude Levi-Strauss (1962), who identified distinct modalities in which people of all cultures interact with the world around them, which are engineering, art, bricolage, and to a lesser degree craft, this research uses grounded theory to build a typology of entrepreneurial work and investigates the relationship between entrepreneurial categories, financial performance, longevity of the created ventures, and organizational form. Based on interviews and extensive field work observing 23 entrepreneurs, this study found evidence to support the presence of the four original modalities as well as a fifth -brokerage. The results of this study support a new theory of entrepreneurial work that offers: a) a new five-category typology of how entrepreneurs pattern their work, specifically based on their use of methods, tools, and resources to create value for their customers, and b) propositions suggesting relationships between each of the five modalities, entrepreneurial success, and organizational form. The new five-category typology consists of: 1) art, 2) craft, 3) engineering, 4) bricolage, and 5) brokerage. Among the five patterns of entrepreneurial activity, engineering and brokerage were found to have achieved the highest levels of financial success; however, none of the modalities appeared to be related to the longevity of the ventures. The category of engineering also seemed to be the most closely associated with organizational growth and formal hierarchical structures, while entrepreneurs who relied exclusively on bricolage experienced little growth and flat organizational structures. The implications from these observations are that patterns of activity are consequential for organizational growth and that financial success, while helpful and desirable, is not necessary for entrepreneurial ventures to survive for long periods of time.

Research in the international management literature has traditionally studied internationalization processes from an exploitation perspective. This exploitation-focused argument demonstrates an incremental process of international expansion with the internationalization of mature multinational corporations (MNCs). However, the situation is different for international new ventures, which may not have sufficient resources and economies of scale in their domestic countries before starting operations in other countries. After initial internationalization at a young age, international new ventures might choose to go to similar foreign markets to leverage and exploit existing knowledge for growth or they might continue experimenting with less related foreign markets. In this study, I propose that international new ventures benefit from using an ambidextrous strategy for long-term performance employing both exploitation and exploration. I use both traditional international management literature and international entrepreneur studies to develop the concept of international ambidexterity. I argue that new ventures are able to develop such a capability, defined as the capability to successfully balance international exploitation and exploration activities. This capability is founded on new ventures' initial activities but needs to be further developed and refined through international operations with both incremental and radical approaches. I also propose that the relationship between international ambidexterity and new venture growth is positively moderated by these firms' subsequent activities to explore technological knowledge. In order to theoretically develop and empirically test the concept of the international ambidexterity, I introduce arguments that support certain antecedents to developing this capability. Results from my analyses show that the benefits associated with international exploration through early internationalization are realized when a firm continues further commitment to exploitation capabilities so they can accomplish ambidexterity learning from narrower scope of international expansion. Additionally, domestic alliances and foreign alliances show significant relationships with new venture's international exploration. Therefore, inter-organizational learning can link to the social capital and network perspectives in international entrepreneurship research; mimetic learning can help investigating the social aspects of international entrepreneurship studies. Further, new ventures should be encouraged to build inter-organizational networks, domestically and internationally to pursue their growth. / Ph. D.

Yes / An ability to act upon an entrepreneurial opportunity has been noted to be a major driver of new venture success. However, scholarly knowledge is limited on how and when entrepreneurs’ alertness to entrepreneurial opportunities drives new venture success. The current study addresses this gap in the entrepreneurship literature by arguing that variations in new venture performance are a function of levels of entrepreneurial alertness and networking capabilities. Using primary data gathered from 203 new ventures operating in a sub-Saharan African economy, Ghana, the study finds that increases in the levels of entrepreneurial alertness are related to increases in new venture performance. Additionally, the study finds that, under conditions of increased use of social and business networking capabilities, the potency of entrepreneurial alertness as a driver of new venture success is amplified. Theoretical, managerial and policy implications of these findings are discussed.

Business incubators have become an integrated part of innovation systems worldwide, designed to support innovative entrepreneurship and regional development. However, empirical research on incubated firms show mixed results on innovation and growth. In this paper, 18 Swedish incubators, top-ranked and funded by government innovation programs, are studied through the lens of the institutional logics perspective. Multiple conflicts in state and market logics are highlighted and discussed, as well as implications for new venture creation and future research on business incubators as influential institutional actors.

Background: There has been a great effort in the venture capital research community in trying to identify what criteria are used by venture capital firms (VCFs) when evaluating new ventures as an investment opportunity. Efforts have also been put on trying to rank these criteria’s importance in relation to each other, with the main literature arguing that the new venture team (NVT) has the greatest influence over the VCF’s investment decision. Although there is scientific consensus regarding the superior importance of the NVT relative to other criteria, the practical methods used by VCFs to evaluate the NVT is highly underexplored. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore the decision process and evaluation of NVTs by VCFs in the Nordic venture capital industry. Method: A qualitative method with an inductive approach conducted through semi-structured interviews with seven relevant industry professionals within the Nordic venture capital space. Conclusion: The findings suggest that the evaluation of NVTs follows a linear process of five sequential phases. Ten practical evaluation methods are identified as being used in the five phases of the process. The evaluation of specific NVT sub-criteria is found to be influenced by the availability of methods of evaluation in a respective phase of the process. Furthermore, it is found that the first phase of the process can only evaluate hard NVT sub-criteria, and that to evaluate soft sub-criteria, methods underlined by personal interaction between the two involved parties are necessary. The findings are synchronized into a framework depicting the dynamics of the NVT evaluation process and temporality of the NVT sub-criteria.

No description available.

New venture internationalization differs from that of large established firms and is an important research inquiry for international entrepreneurship. In the past 30 years, studies on new venture internationalization have proliferated but with fragmented nature. The first study reviews extant studies regarding conceptual and methodological developments of international new ventures (INVs) through content analysis of 74 influential works. Particularly, this study focuses on the determinants and performance of INVs at the entrepreneur, firm, and environment levels. We then identify significant gaps within this stream of research and suggest future research directions. The second study explores the effect of founding team ethnic composition on a new venture's internationalization strategic choice and then examines the consequent performance implications of INV strategy. A new venture with an ethnically diversified founding team could leverage international experience and network of each of its founders, thereby influencing its recognition of opportunities and access to resources to pursue internationalization strategy. Analyzing longitudinal data of 4,928 new ventures in Kauffman Firm Survey, our empirical results suggest that more immigrant entrepreneurs in a new venture's founding team are more likely to pursue INV strategy while more US citizen entrepreneurs in a founding team will pursue domestic new venture (DNV) strategy. Furthermore, an INV has higher revenues than a DNV but there is no difference in profits between them. The findings suggest that early internationalization is critical to immigrant-started new ventures through revenue growth. The third study explores the survival of ethnic new ventures, particularly testing the roles of INV and ethnic entrepreneurs' immigration status. New ventures are more likely to fail in early years of formation as they face liability of newness and smallness. We found that ethnic new ventures overall have a lower likelihood of survival compared with non-ethnic new ventures. But, ethnic new ventures could increase survival through INV strategy and immigration status. After ethnic entrepreneurs' naturalization, ethnic new ventures could achieve legitimacy, seeking further social capital in host country. Meanwhile, INV strategy could compensate for ethnic new venture's liability of ethnicity in host country. By incorporating diaspora and ethnic entrepreneurship literature, my dissertation focuses on the role of immigrants on early internationalization strategy and the effect of such strategy on performance and survival of their started new ventures, further advancing the understanding of international entrepreneurship. / Business Administration/International Business Administration

L’intensité concurrentielle et les évolutions technologiques n’ont jamais été aussi intenses. Aussi, les entreprises en quête de pérennité sont-elles de plus en plus confrontées à une nécessité d’exploiter leurs activités actuelles et d’explorer des activités futures. Or la gestion de ce double impératif est loin d’être évidente, générant potentiellement d’importantes tensions au sein des entreprises. Bien que la recherche en management ait permis de mieux appréhender cette tension d’Exploration/Exploitation, il reste des zones de contradiction et des espaces non explorés. En particulier, il n’y a pas de consensus sur les définitions des concepts d’exploration et d’exploitation, ne permettant pas ainsi de garantir une certaine cohérence dans la recherche (Birkinshaw & Gupta, 2013). D’autre part, la tension Exploration/Exploitation n’a que très peu été étudiée dans le contexte des jeunes entreprises de croissance - également appelées « scale-up » - qui ont la particularité d’être exposées à de forts enjeux de survie. Ainsi, afin de contribuer à une meilleure compréhension des problématiques que soulève cette tension au sein de celles-ci, un format de thèse sur travaux, comprenant trois études complémentaires, est adopté.Au préalable, afin de cadrer conceptuellement la thèse, je réponds, dans une première étude, à l’appel des chercheurs pour la clarification des concepts d’exploration et d’exploitation en proposant une typologie d’exploration. Puis, par l’intermédiaire d’une approche multi-cas longitudinale menée auprès de huit jeunes entreprises de croissance, j’explore tout d’abord, dans une deuxième étude, les facteurs influençant les orientations stratégiques des entreprises quant à leurs activités d’exploration et d’exploitation. Enfin, dans la troisième étude, je cherche à comprendre comment le fonctionnement des équipes de direction définit les rôles de chacun dans les activités d’exploration et d’exploitation. / Competition and technological change have never been as intense as they are today. To survive, companies must increasingly carry out current activities at the same time that they explore future ones. It is no easy task to operate on both of these fronts, and doing so is a potential source of tension and contradiction. Although management research has provided insight into the exploration and exploitation tension, there are still contradictions and unexplored areas. In particular, there is no consensus on the definition of the concepts of exploration and exploitation, which means the research lacks a certain level of consistency. In addition, there has been very little attention paid to the Exploration/Exploitation tension in the context of young, growing “scale-up” companies, which are particularly exposed to threats to their survival. To obtain a better understanding of the situations this tension causes in these companies, we have adopted a multi-paper dissertation consisting of three complementary studies.In the first study, to create a conceptual framework for the thesis, we answer researchers’ call for a clarification of the concepts of exploration and exploitation by proposing a typology of exploration. Then, based on a longitudinal, multi-case approach focused on eight scale-up companies, we first explore, in a second study, the factors influencing firms’ strategic orientations vis-à-vis exploration and exploitation activities. Finally, in the third study, we seek to understand how management teams define their individual roles with respect to exploration and exploitation activities.

University education is no longer a passport to secure employment for graduates. This requires young graduates to consider entrepreneurship and self-employment as a viable career option. Understanding the determinants of entrepreneurial intention (EI), therefore, becomes important. In exploring the determinants of EI, prior studies investigate the effects of individual factors, contextual factors and entrepreneurship education (EE) in isolation from each other. Moreover, literature on the effect of EE on EI shows mixed conclusions. The current study, by considering EE as the kernel, firstly examines individual and institutional determinants of EI. Secondly, it explores whether EE affects the relationships between EI and its individual and institutional determinants. To avoid bias from utilising one particular methodology, this study purposely employed a concurrent triangulation strategy. This was intended for model testing and in-depth understanding of the research issues in the Zambian context. Primary data were collected from Zambia via qualitative interviews and a quantitative survey. For the qualitative study, 13 interviews were conducted and interviewees included final year undergraduate students, educators and practitioners in enterprise support organisations. For the quantitative study, 452 useful responses were received from final year undergraduate students. Research results suggest that, firstly, EI is primarily a function of perceived feasibility and desirability of entrepreneurship. Secondly, individual and institutional factors directly influence perceived feasibility and desirability of entrepreneurship. Thirdly, and more importantly, individual and institutional factors indirectly exert their impact on perceived feasibility and desirability via EE. The study contributes to knowledge in four major areas. Firstly, against the backdrop of mixed conclusions in prior research about the effect of EE on EI, this study finds that the effect of EE should be examined in conjunction with factors at individual and institutional levels. Specifically, it establishes that effectiveness of EE mediates the effects of individual and institutional factors on perceived feasibility and desirability of entrepreneurship i.e. the attitudinal antecedents of EI. This helps clarify the role of EE. Secondly, unlike prior studies and models that examine the influence of EE, individual factors and contextual factors in isolation from each other, this study develops and validates a multi-level integrated model to explore how these factors jointly shape EI. Specifically, the model shows that factors at individual and institutional levels influence EI not only through their effects on perceived feasibility and desirability but also through their impact on the effectiveness of EE. Thirdly, the study provides evidence from Zambia, an under-researched developing country, that EI is primarily a function of perceived feasibility and desirability of entrepreneurship. This supports prior research conclusions from developed countries. Lastly, the study further develops and validates constructs for EE, providing a basis for evaluating EE. In particular, it demonstrates that effectiveness of EE in relation to EI can be evaluated from three angles: perceived learning from the module/programme, experiential learning and access to resources. On the whole, the findings derived suggest that, in order to promote graduate entrepreneurship, multifaceted and concerted efforts will be required from policy makers (to help shape institutions), practitioners (to devise and implement collaborative support mechanisms), educators (to design and deliver appropriate EE content and pedagogy) and scholars (to evaluate and develop knowledge). Acknowledgements I am entirely responsible for the work presented in this thesis. However, at the same time I acknowledge that work of this magnitude and depth can never be solely the effort of one individual. There are many stakeholders to thank. I am greatly indebted to the Commonwealth Scholarships Commission (UK) for offering the Commonwealth Academic Staff Scholarship, the Coppebelt University for granting the study leave, and the University of Wolverhampton Business School’s Management Research Centre for facilitating the research project. I am also indebted to my supervisors, Dr Yong Wang (Director of Studies), Dr Ian Mckeown and Dr Graham Tate for guiding me through this study. Without Dr Yong Wang’s dedicated direction, mentoring and support, this project would not have been finished properly. Special thanks go to the eight universities in Zambia which authorised and facilitated access to the final year students for the survey. Special gratitude also goes to the lecturers, students and enterprise support practitioners in Zambia who participated in the interviews. I am also grateful to all the staff at the University of Wolverhampton for their support. Particularly, I wish to thank Prof Silke Machold, Prof Mike Haynes, Prof Les Worrall, Dr Paschal Anosike, Dr Stuart Farquhar and Steven Greenfield for their encouragement and support. I thank Andy (Dr Jones), David and Aurelian (Dr Mbzibain) for all the insightful discussions in ML119 and ML120. Lastly, words are not adequate for appreciating my wife and best friend Bernadette and our children Bruce, Grace and Benita for their encouragement and sacrifice during this research project. I end this section with gratitude to God for life and blessing.

本碩士論文裡的研究主要設計用來檢測目前現有的國際化理論，以依據公司1970至1999年的母公司年報來研究一間多國企業的藥廠 — 必治妥施貴寶其部分具有知名度的代表性產品之國際化路徑如此的研究方法。本論文的最終目標就是透過這樣的實務研究來回答以下問題來挖堀出現有國際化理論的一些缺口及提供寶貴的意見來修正這些缺口，研究問題如下： i. 一間多國企業藥廠通常採用何種進入策略，而這些策略是否會隨著時間而改變？是否有任何經驗傳承的證據？ ii. 多國企業所選擇進入的外國市場是否會隨著時間的改變而改變？如果有，是否一間多國企業會先選擇進入與其母國文化較相近或地理位置較相近的國家？ iii. 哪一個國際化理論比較適合用來描述必治妥施貴寶其國際化路徑？ 本研究的結果有以下四項重要的發現： 1. 在某些國家的進入策略的改變是循序漸進的，但是在某些國家則是有同時間採用兩種以上不同的進入策略。 2. 循序漸進進入策略的改變在九十年代必不明顯。 3. 必治妥施貴寶所選擇進入的外國市場會隨著時間的改變而改變，而且其新產品會選擇與其母國美國文化距離較近的國家先進入，然後再慢慢的選擇進入離美國文化距離較遠的國家。但是這樣的證據並不是相當明顯。其他的因素也會影響一家多國企業在國外市場選擇的決定。 4. 部分結果顯示出一些經驗傳承的現象，在九十年代必治妥施貴寶所開發出的產品相對於八十年代所開發出的產品在全球上市所花的時間明顯較短。 結論就是本研究結果有部分與循序漸進理論為主的國際化理論 – ‘The Stages Internationalization Theory’一致，此理論主張國際化是一種循序漸進對於國際市場知識的累積及資源的投入。部分結果則顯示出此理論尚有其不足之處。此理論是在七十年代被Johanson及Vahlne兩位學者所提出，當時的國際企業環境與現在比起有相當大的差異，因此此理論在某種程度上太過簡化，而且並不適用於所有的產業。有許多會影響某企業其國際化路徑的因素應該一併納入，尤其在面對像製藥產業如此特別的產業，因素例如不同國家的製藥產業法規、產品特性、專利保護、在不同時間點的國際企業環境都會影響企業的國際化路徑的發展。因此後續與本碩士論文類似的實務研究需要更充分的資料來檢測現有國際化理論的主張。 / This Master thesis is designed to test the currently existing internationalization theory by studying the internationalization processes of some of the representative products of a foreign multinational pharmaceutical firm – The Bristol-Myers Squibb using the data contained in the annual reports of the period from 1970’s to 1990’s. By answering the following questions, the ultimate goal is to provide useful suggestions that will help to make corrections to any possible flaws in the Internationalization theory as they are uncovered during the course of this study by answering the following questions: i. What entry modes to foreign markets does a multinational pharmaceutical firm adopt and do entry modes change over time? Is there any sign of experience transfer? ii. Do foreign markets served by a multinational pharmaceutical firm also change over time? iii. Which theory depicting the internationalization process of firms is more applicable to Bristol-Myers Squibb? The results of the analysis of the data show four important findings: 1. Progressive changes in entry modes took place in certain countries and the employment of multiple entry modes was also observed. 2. The progressive changes in entry mode were barely observed during the 1990’s. 3. The choices of foreign markets did change over time and the marketing activities of new products tended to commence in countries that are the most culturally proximal from the U.S., and then gradually shifted to countries that are more culturally distant from the U.S. However, other factors might also influence a firm’s choice in the foreign markets apart from culture. 4. There seemed to be a sign of experience transfer since the some of the results showed that the time it took to introduce a product developed in the 1980’s in foreign markets was relatively shorter than the time it took to launch a product of the 1990’s. In conclusion, the results of study were partly consistent with ‘The Stages Internationalization Theory’ which argued that the internationalization was a process of knowledge accumulation of foreign markets and resource commitment gradually. However, there might be some flaws in the theory which needed to be refined. The theory was developed in the 70’s and it might not be perfectly applicable to describe the internationalization processes of the firms in every industry. It should also take other factors apart from culture into considerations such as the nature of products, regulations and policies of different countries, competitive scope of the industry or the international business environment at different time points, especially when dealing with some special industries such as that of the pharmaceuticals in which regulations of different countries, patent protection and the nature of the products might influence the pattern of internationalization of the firms. However, further empirical studies with more adequate data would be necessary in the future in order to justify the propositions of different theories of internationalization.