A presente pesquisa descreve a elaboração do modelo conceitual de um simulador para jogos de empresas que visa oferecer formação prática a empreendedores, estimulando-os a criar negócios na perseguição de oportunidades. O Empreendedorismo é visto como o motor da Economia, segundo a clássica visão de Schumpeter, publicada em 1911. Compõe-se de um meta-modelo, que consolida conceitos recorrentes na literatura, e de um diagrama de influência, que representa as inter-relações entre incertezas, decisões e suas conseqüências presentes no processo de criação de um negócio sustentável. As principais decisões foram identificadas na literatura internacional e, em seguida, organizadas em quatro grupos: 1) posicionamento no mercado, 2) finanças, 3) equipe de trabalho e rede de contatos, e 4) aspectos formais e legais do negócio. Para apoiar a pesquisa bibliográfica, foram realizadas entrevistas internacionais e nacionais com professores e pesquisadores no tema, tendo como meta a adequação do modelo à realidade brasileira. A versão final do modelo é composta por 19 decisões, 13 incertezas e três conseqüências, sendo oito destas decisões não cobertas pelos dois simuladores identificados na literatura internacional (TEG e DEAL). Foram então discutidas as diferenças do empreendedorismo nos contextos brasileiro e norte-americano, além das distinções entre os modelos do século XX e século XXI. Esta pesquisa traz uma importante contribuição: a construção de um modelo com uma declarada preocupação metodológica para publicação no meio acadêmico. A modelagem terá continuidade, tanto pelo exame de outros estágios do ciclo de vida da empresa (crescimento e maturidade) quanto pela elaboração dos modelos matemático e computacional para aplicação e teste. / This research describes the creation of a conceptual model of a business game simulator for entrepreneurial education in order to stimulate entrepreneurs to pursue business opportunities. From Schumpeter's point of view, published in 1911, Entrepreneurship is the engine of an Economy. The model consists of a meta-model, organizing the most cited historical concepts of entrepreneurship, and of an influence diagram, describing the relationships among uncertainties, decisions, and its consequences present on the start-up stage of an organization life cycle. The main decisions identified in important books and research papers were organized in four groups: 1) market positioning, 2) financing, 3) internal people and networking and 4) formal and legal issues. International and national interviews with professors and researchers were performed in order to support the literature review and to include the Brazilian context in the model. The final version of the model is composed of 19 decisions, 13 uncertainties and three consequences. Eight new decisions are not covered by the two business game simulators published in the international literature (TEG and DEAL). The final discussion focuses on differences between entrepreneurship in Brazil and US and between 20th and 21st Century' models. The main contribution of this study for the literature is the creation of a model based on research methods and publication for academic purposes. The modeling process will be continued in two directions: 1) the new stages of the life cycle model (growth and maturity), and 2) the mathematical and computerized models for implementation and test.

O objetivo principal deste trabalho foi identificar, descrever, classificar, analisar e apresentar os fatores contribuintes para a mortalidade precoce de micro e pequenas empresas de São Paulo. A metodologia de pesquisa utilizada buscou analisar os dados disponibilizados pela junta comercial do Estado de São Paulo - JUCESP sobre extinção de empresas, e com base neste levantamento descobrir quais são os fatores contribuintes para a mortalidade destas empresas. Foram adotadas, como ponto de partida, algumas hipóteses definidas a priori às quais foram submetidas aos testes para verificar se alguns fatores contribuem ou não para a mortalidade precoce das empresas nos primeiros anos de atividade. As hipóteses foram testadas e como resultado da pesquisa foi gerado um conjunto de conclusões e recomendações gerenciais destinadas a reduzir taxas de mortalidade precoce de novas empresas no Brasil, aumentando assim as possibilidades de sucesso de novos empreendimentos. / The main objective of this research is to identify, describe, classify, analyse and present the factors that contributed to the early failure of the São Paulo small companies. The methodology was focused on the analysis of São Paulo commercial office data about business failure, and researching deep in this survey discover the factors relationed to the early failure of this companies. As a kick-off was adopted some hipothesis that could be related to the factors relationed to the early failure in the first three years of activities. The hypothesis was tested and the results of this thesis produced a list of conclusions and management advices that probably can reduce the early failure taxes in Brasil, lifting the success possibilities to the start ups.

M.Comm. / Today's managers, faced with rapidly changing and fast-paced competitive environments, are challenged to manage "discontinuities created by an interdependent global economy, heightened volatility, hypercompetition, demographic changes, knowledge-based competition, and demassification of some sectors accompanied by enormous growth in others" (Daft & Lewin, 1993:i). Such environmental conditions place intense demands on organisations to interpret opportunities and threats actively when making key strategic decisions. To cope with such challenges, existing larger firms are increasingly turning to corporate entrepreneurship as a means of growth and strategic renewal (Guth & Ginsberg, 1990). Entrepreneurship involves a process of value creation in which an individual or team brings together a unique package of resources to exploit an opportunity. The key steps involved are: identifying opportunities, developing business concepts, determining needed resources, acquiring resources, and managing and harvesting the venture (Jones, Morris & Rockmore, 1995:86). Corporate entrepreneurship (also termed intrapreneurship) involves extending the firm's domain of competence and corresponding opportunity set through new resource combinations that are internally generated (Burgelman, 1984).- Terms such as 'reinventing the corporation', 'the empowered organisation' and 'organisational renewal' are used to describe change efforts where entrepreneurship is a central ingredient. Research has shown that organisations that adopt an entrepreneurial posture in order to cope with the uncertain environment are characterised along dimensions such as unpredictability, dynamism and heterogeneity. These organisations enjoy superior performance (Covin & Slevin, 1988; Zahra & Covin, 1995). The domain of entrepreneurship is no longer restricted in a conceptual sense to the process of creating an independent new venture (Wortman, 1987; Low & MacMillan, 1988). Lumpkin and Dess (1996:136) describe the essential act of entrepreneurship more appropriately as 'new entry'. New entry is the act of launching a new venture, either by a start-up firm, through an existing firm, or via 'internal corporate venturing' (Burgelman, 1983). With this in mind, they distinguish between entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial orientation. Entrepreneurship explains what entrepreneurship consists of, and entrepreneurial orientation describes how new entry is undertaken. Entrepreneurial orientation can therefore be defined as the processes, practices and decision-making activities that lead to new entry (Lumpkin & Dess, 1996:136). However, the entrepreneurial orientation (also referred to as entrepreneurial posture) is not limited to the creation of new organisations, but exists in all actions that distinguish entrepreneurial behaviour from other types of business activity that might be undertaken to capitalise on an opportunity (Lumpkin & Dess, 1996:153). These actions also pervade the organisation at all levels (Covin & Slevin, 1991:7).

The subject of this dissertation is a fairly contentious issue, with advocates on all sides debating the effectiveness and value of affirmative action, as defined in the Black Economic Empowerment legislature. The goal is to determine the affect of BEE on the management of Small and Medium Enterprises in South Africa, although SME’s have been found by this study to have an influence on the effectiveness of BEE. An overview of the origins and history of affirmative action policies, cumulating in BEE, are discussed, and the various policies and their effectiveness are examined. Special emphasis was placed on the study of the Black Economic Empowerment Commission, and the recent policies around the enforcing of BEE compliance on corporate South Africa. The biggest problem with the implementation of BEE was found to be financing. Many financial models have been attempted to provide the necessary funding for empowerment to happen, but all seem to be flawed in some way or another. Insight was gained into how BEE policies are structured, the particular goals they are trying to achieve, and conclusions were drawn on how best these goals could be met. The study then provides an overview of the position and value of Small and Medium Enterprises in the South African economy and the particular issues that management of these enterprises face. The value of SME’s to the government’s policies of addressing massive unemployment in South Africa is examined, and certain conclusions are drawn around how effective these policies are. The various constraints and peculiar problems of the SME sector are examined, in order to place the topic of the dissertation in context. The dissertation then discusses the approach that was taken by the author in gathering the information and research material that was used to write the paper. These methods included meticulous research of the subject matter in the written press, internet sources, online libraries, as well as many personal interviews with leading industry and government personalities. This information is then used to discuss the effect of BEE in practice, with particular emphasis on impact that BEE has had and is having on the SME sector of the South African economy. Discussion is provided around the application of the BEE scorecard, as well as a section covering finance, both local and foreign, of BEE deals. The opinions of the industry leaders interviewed are discussed and particular issues raised by them are examined in the light of the previous discussions around BEE and SME’s. Lastly, the dissertation presents a set of conclusions drawn by the author, and backed up by industry comment. These conclusions provide a clear understanding of the impact that BEE is having on SME’s, as well as how SME’s will have an effect on the long-term success of BEE in South Africa. / Prof. S. Kruger

M.Tech. (Sport Management) / This exploratory study was a situational analysis of the sport business industry with a specific focus on SMME’s and entrepreneurship. The study subsequently aimed to determine entrepreneurial opportunities in the sport domain. A survey questionnaire was administered to 250 small business entrepreneurs plying their trade in the broad South African sport industry. SMME’s were identified through CIPRO, online business databases, and snowballing. A stratified sample was selected through various non-probability sampling techniques. The survey was administered through a combination of post, email, and hand-delivery. A satisfactory yet representative response rate of 49% was realized. Although the geographic specificity of the electronic and postal surveys are not evenly spread through-out the country, it does lean towards SMME’s in the major urban and semi-urban metropolitan regions of the country. The hand-delivered survey was concentrated in the greater Durban region. Nonetheless, the researcher is of the opinion that the results obtained can provide an insightful and meaningful exposition into the opportunities and trends affecting SMME’s in the sport business industry in South Africa. The SPSS program was utilized to descriptively and inferentially analyze the data. The sport SMME sector in South Africa was found to be relatively young. The small business entrepreneur demographic profile found entrepreneurs to be mainly male, middle-aged and well-educated. Owner-managers were found to have had completed business or entrepreneurship training with varying years experience in the sport business industry. Company properties revealed that based on the age of sport businesses, SMME’s were spread through the start-up, growth, and mature business stages. The vast majority of the sample was categorized as small enterprises. From a legal perspective, most businesses were registered as close corporations. About a third of all SMME’s were registered with a plethora of business associations and agencies thus giving effect to the inherent cross-cutting nature of the sport industry being prominently felt in various spheres of business and industry. SMME’s were also found to be complying to the principles of B-B BEE with encouraging signs of previously disadvantaged ownership.

South Africa is faced with many mutually reinforcing societal challenges which include, amongst others, a high rate of unemployment, poverty and inequality. The community that is mostly affected by these challenges is the black African community. In order to deal with the challenge of poverty and inequality which causes other societal problems, entrepreneurship and enterprise development becomes the answer. This view is supported by the body of knowledge available on the subject of entrepreneurship and enterprise development. This paper undertakes to understand critical success factors affecting entrepreneurial culture within black African communities in South Africa. In addition, this paper undertakes to investigate the perceived influence of education and training, access to funding, government policies (i.e. regulatory environment), government programmes, commercial and financial infrastructure, physical infrastructure, crime, corruption and social and cultural norms on the success of entrepreneurial culture development within black African communities. Propositions are made and tested through conducting in-depth interviews with individuals involved with the dynamics presented by this subject on a day to day basis. Evidence collected is interpreted into knowledge and finally recommendations are made.

Family owned businesses play a vital role in the economy of a country, therefore their sustainability and succession is a topic that requires adequate research and analysis. This is required to determine the impact and contribution at a socioeconomic level and future development of the family owned business. Within the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan area previous research has been conducted analysing the above with regard to Greek family businesses. There is a little evidence to suggest similar studies have been conducted on Indian owned family businesses, specifically businesses operating at a third generation level. This research will therefore analyse Indian owned family businesses that are at a minimum level of third generation within the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan area. The purpose is to investigate whether there is any specific cultural attributes of the Indian culture which have contributed to their success.

The emergence of an entrepreneurial spirit is the most significant economic development in the twenty-first century. Entrepreneurship education was introduced in Grades 10-12 as part of the optional subject Business Studies. There are problems across the country encountered by educators in imparting entrepreneurship skills and knowledge to learners. The integration of entrepreneurial programmes into the education system in secondary schools is a prerequisite to develop the necessary skills to start and run a business successfully. It is the responsibility of the government to ensure that entrepreneurship education is included in the curriculum as a separate subject so as to develop the entrepreneurship skills at secondary school level. The formal employment sector is no longer able to provide jobs for the increasing number of unemployed people. Fewer jobs are available for the economically active population of the South African economy especially the school leavers. The primary objective of this study is to assess the current entrepreneurship education programmes offered at secondary schools in Grade 10-12 levels in Motherwell. The purpose is to learn from global trends and to improve the current entrepreneurship education programmes. A literature review was done to establish global trends and also South African trends concerning entrepreneurship education programmes. A mixed research approach and cluster sampling was used to select the twelve Motherwell senior secondary schools in the Motherwell township of Port Elizabeth. The findings of the study were that strategic skills, operational skills, competitions, labour entrepreneurial skills, management skills, creativity and innovation were taught to a limited extent by educators. The practical exposure of learners was deficient because of the limited involvement of local businesses and organisations. Learners were also not encouraged to operate simulated businesses. The study recommends that the Outcome Based Education, National Curriculum Statement and Curriculum Policy Statement which have been introduced by the Department of Education be followed but adjustments must be made to the iii teaching methods to follow the interactive approach required by entrepreneurship. Policy makers should incorporate comprehensive entrepreneurship education programmes from primary school to secondary school to vocational and university and adult education centres. Finally, entrepreneurship education should be offered as an optional separate subject to all learners and involvement of local businesses and organisations should be encouraged.

Thesis: M.S., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 1978 / Bibliography: leaves 167-170. / by Sara Jane Clope, Edward Kingsbury Osborn, John Edward Pototsky. / M.S. / M.S. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management

The link between the setting of goals and the controls necessary to accomplish those goals is especially interesting in the area of small family businesses where multiple, conflicting goals are believed to interfere with business control. The actual nature of goal·setting and control in the small family firm are matters for debate because the area is not well researched. This study is an interdisciplinary effort, drawing upon existing work in accounting and business management, as well as kinship relations and group process (social psychology). It views the small family business owner-manager as a resource allocator who makes decisions within the field of family and business. Because field theory was developed to explain an individual's behavior in the context of surrounding groups, it is an especially appropriate research tool for investigating the behavior of the owner-manager in the small family business. Existing theories, specifically systems and contingency theories, are analyzed for possible strengths and weaknesses as theoretical frameworks for studying the problems that small family business owners encounter. Systems theory may be unsatisfactory as a research tool because it assumes that the business and family structures are separate and a control system can be fabricated in which the owner-manager will become a passive participant. This separation may be artificial for some small family business owners who feel a sense of responsibility to their families or to families that. assist the business. Contingency theory may be unsatisfactory as a research tool because it merely explains the obvious: The outcomes of the business are dependent upon activities related to family processes. The data were gathered by surveying approximately 900 members of the Blacksburg, Christiansburg, Radford, and Roanoke, Virginia, Chambers of Commerce. The evidence suggests that for a majority of firms field- theory is the appropriate orientation because resources are flowing in noneconomic exchanges between the businesses and families that operate them. / Ph. D.