Since their emergence almost two decades ago, accelerators have evolved towards a global phenomenon that has the potential to shape global economies and societies. The rapid evolvement of the accelerator phenomenon increasingly caught scholars’ interest to examine what makes this specific form of startup support unique and popular in practice. Despite the growing amount of valuable contributions in accelerator research, several key aspects of the accelerator phenomenon remain unsolved or misunderstood, which leaves scholars as well as practitioners with a discordant understanding of how and why accelerators evolved and how they function to date. Hence, ambiguities are still large with regard to thoroughly understanding the accelerator mechanism and its recent developments. However, this understanding is crucial to develop theory in accelerator research and provide assistance for practitioners on how to increase value creation of accelerator programs. By means of five research studies this cumulative dissertation contributes to the lack of common conceptual foundations, an adequate consideration of theoretical underpinnings, a contemporary presentation of defining accelerator characteristics and their evolvement, and reliable insights on accelerator efficacy. In addition, this dissertation contributes numerous lessons learned and guidance to various stakeholders affected by accelerators.

Thesis (MComm (Business Management))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009. / This study recognises that innovation and renewal is instrumental in gaining competitive advantage. However, large firms often face a renewal dilemma. Despite the fact that many firms recognise the need for innovation and renewal, they find it challenging to implement innovation. Thus, the need for renewal is complicated by finding a suitable business development tool to bring about the renewal needed. The problem is further aggravated by a fundamental managerial conflict of exploration and exploitation. This conflict causes a reluctance to engage in exploration activities (searching for new resources, knowledge, and competence), due to the operational focus of exploiting current resources, knowledge, and competence. To overcome the renewal dilemma, this study investigated the relationship and linkages between Internal Corporate Venturing (ICV) and corporate renewal to determine how Internal Corporate Venturing (ICV) can be used as a tool to initiate corporate renewal and overcome the renewal dilemma. The study made use of a qualitative, mixed-method methodology and investigated the research problem in two phases. The first phase of this study used Grounded Theory to propose a theoretical framework that illustrated how ICV provides a firm with a strategic process that effectively balances exploration and exploitation activities, providing the linking mechanisms needed between a firm’s corporate context and its external environment, enabling the firm to initiate corporate renewal. In the second stage of this study, the theory was assessed, by comparing the proposed theoretical framework to a case study involving an internal venturing programme at an established financial services firm in Southern Africa. Based on a comparison between the proposed theoretical framework and the case study, this thesis concludes that ICV could theoretically be used to address the renewal dilemma; however, it was not possible to confirm this proposition, due to the stage in which the corporate venturing programme the case examined found itself,. The case study did however suggest that ICV could enhance a firm’s ability to instigate corporate renewal, through its ability to create idiosyncratic endowments from a firm’s endowment base.

<p>Sammanfattning</p><p>I dagens förändringssamhälle, med en ökad globalisering och en snabb teknologisk utveckling behöver företagen hänga med i utvecklingen för att de inte ska bli ikapp- och förbisprungna. För att de ska lyckas med detta behöver de ha en offensiv inställning till tillväxt, de bör hela tiden tänka framåt och se vad de kan göra för att, inte bara hänga med utan, ta ledningen och visa vägen in i framtiden. Företagarna (FR) i Bollnäs kom därför på idén att låta en student genomföra ett arbete om tillväxten bland små företag.</p><p>Det finns två syften med uppsatsen. Det ena är en övergripande bild för att se hur företag inom Bollnäs kommun ser på tillväxt på företag. Det andra är att se hur företag inom kommunen ser på tillväxten för sitt företag. De stora/övergripande frågorna i arbetet är: Hur ser företagarna i Bollnäs på tillväxt för företag? Hur ser företagarna i Bollnäs på nätverk/samarbete med andra? Hur anser företagarna i Bollnäs att samverkan fungerar mellan dem och kreditinstituten?</p><p>Eftersom syftet med uppsatsen var att se hur företagarna i en kommun ser på tillväxt föll valet på en kvantitativ undersökning, enkätundersökning. Enkäten skickades ut till 46 företag och fick en svarsfrekvens på 76 %, dvs. 35 stycken. För att få ytterligare åsikter från respondenterna genomfördes en kvalitativ undersökning, valet föll på intervjuer, närmare bestämt 5 stycken.</p><p>Då det finns nästan 2100 företag inom kommunen inriktades undersökningen på fyra branscher att skicka ut enkäten till. Valet föll på handel, livsmedel, turism och verkstadsindustrin. En annan avgränsning var att de deltagande företagen skulle bedrivas i någon typ av företagsform.</p><p>Många företag anser att de går en ljus framtid till mötes och av de intervjuade är fyra av fem positiv till tillväxt. Bland intervjurespondenterna växer företagen utifrån efterfrågan på marknaden. En del företag vill inte växa och orsaken till detta är flera. Den övervägande orsaken är att företagarna är nöjda med hur företaget ser ut. De allra flesta av enkätrespondenterna, 42 %, svarade att anledningen till varför de inte ville växa var att de var nöjd med hur deras företag ser ut i dagsläget. Dock var orsak två, efterfrågan på deras produkt/tjänst hack i häl med 37 %. En av intervjurespondenterna ville inte växa, orsaken han angav är att han känner sig nöjd med företaget.</p><p>Från enkätundersökningen kunde ses att det största hindret för företagens tillväxt var alla avgifter och skatter. Av intervjuerna var det skilda meningar om vilka de ansåg vara mest negativa. Respondenternas svåraste val var att rangordna dem, eftersom de menade att alla påverkar företaget negativt, mer eller mindre.</p><p>Många av enkätrespondenterna använder sig av nätverk. Däremot är det lite olika beroende på bransch och storlek på företaget. Alla intervjuade företagare anser att nätverk är bra, fyra av fem använder även sig av någon form av samarbete. Eftersom studier påvisat att med hjälp av nätverk kan företagen nå högre mål känns det som en självklarhet att använda sig av det, vilket också de flesta av företagen har insett. 67 % av respondenterna av enkäten svarade att de kan tänka sig att samarbeta med andra om en större order. De företag vilka använder sig av samarbete kan få ekonomiska fördelar gentemot sina konkurrenter och därigenom kan de stärka sin position på marknaden. Bland intervjurespondenterna var det lite skilda meningar om nätverk men tre av dem samarbetar i dagsläget med andra för att nå ut till fler kunder.</p><p>Många från enkätundersökningen anser att det är lätt att få kredit. En intressant teori är att ju mer resurser företagen har, desto mer entreprenöriell kan de bli. Detta ser därför bra ut för företagen, många av dem har möjlighet att få kapital och detta kan göra att de kan utveckla sina verksamheter. Samtliga av intervjurespondenterna skulle vända sig till banken om de hade behov av externt kapital, dock använder sig tre av dem enbart av sitt interna kapital.</p> / <p>Summary</p><p>In today’s changing society, with increasing globalisation and rapid technological development the companies need to hang on to development, otherwise they could be over run by competitors. If they are going to succeed they need to have an offensive attitude to growth, they need show forward thinking and see what they can do to take the lead and show the way into the future. With this in mind Företagarna (FR) in Bollnäs decided to let a student carry out an essay about the growth among small firms.</p><p>This essay has two purposes. The first purpose is to get an overall picture of how firms in the district of Bollnäs view growth in firms generally. The second purpose is to find out what these firms think of the growth of their own companies. The major questions asked in the essay are: What do the leaders in Bollnäs think of the growth of their firms? What do they think of networking and co-operation with others? What do the leaders think of co-operation between them and the credit institution?</p><p>Since one of the purposes with the essay was to see what leaders in a community think of growth, a quantitative study was used through means of a questionnaire. The questionnaire was sent out to 46 firms and the response rate was 76 %, i.e. 35 answered. To get further opinions from the leaders a qualitative survey was carried out by conducting 5 interviews.</p><p>There are almost 2100 firms in the district so the survey was limited to four lines of businesses. The selection among the lines of businesses was trade, provision merchants, tourism and the engineering industry. One other demarcation was that the firms should conduct some kind of corporate form.</p><p>Many companies see a bright future ahead and among the interviewed, four out of five are positive about growth. According to the respondents firms are growing from the research on the market. Some of the respondents don’t want to grow and the reasons for this are several. Among many of the leaders, 42%, the main reason why they didn’t want to grow was that they were satisfied with how their firms were currently. The second reason, the research on the firm’s product or service was close with 37 %. One of the interviewees didn’t want to expand, the reason he gave was that he was satisfied with the company.</p><p>According to the questionnaire the biggest obstacle for the firm’s growth is all the costs and taxes. Among the respondents there were different opinions on what they saw as the most negative factors to their firms. The hardest part for the participants was to have an order of precedence, meaning that all the factors had a negative influence on the firm, but some more and others less.</p><p>Many of the respondents use networking. The reasons however are different among the lines of businesses and size of the company. All the interviewees thought that networking is a good practice and four out of five use some kind of co-operation. Studies have shown that by using networking companies can reach higher goals. With that in mind it seams obvious to use it and most of the firms have realised that. 67 % of the respondents can imagine working with other firms.</p><p>Firms that use some kind of co-operation can benefit from the financial advantage against their competitors and in that way they get a stronger position on the market. Among the interviewed there were some different opinions on networking but three of them have co-operation today and the reason is to reach more customers.</p><p>Many from the respondents think that it’s easy to get credit. One interesting theory is that the more resources the companies have the more entrepreneurial they can be. This looks good for the firms then many of them have an opportunity to get capital and then develop their enterprise. If the respondents need external capital they all turn to the bank but only two of them look externally when they need capital the other three use only internal capital.</p>

This thesis investigates organizational formalization within the context of young Swedish high-technology ventures. The research provides four longitudinal case studies which approach the formalization process in vivo through multiple actor engagement, including a retrospect understanding of the initial development. Formalization has been considered an irrelevant lens for understanding the organization of new ventures and the development of formalized structures. If discussed at all it has been treated as a legitimacy challenge or a consequential problem of growth. A new strand of research gives other indications; it argues that the formalization of structures is among the earliest decisions taken during high-technology venturing. It is also suggested that the earliest decisions direct increased formalization. Emergent knowledge about early formalization, while an important platform, only captures part of the complex formalization process. The results of my research indicate that formalization is an ongoing process that develops in parallel through dual-actors. Management on the one hand, is hesitant and indecisive about how to increase formalization, but uses formalization as an instrument to direct focus among the employees. Employees, on the other hand, pursue formalization through a continuous mapping of core processes. These findings are brought together to reconceptualize formalization from a new venture perspective. The thesis offers a new research framework for future empirical investigation and theory development. / <p>Diss. Stockholm : Handelshögskolan, 2008</p>

Sammanfattning I dagens förändringssamhälle, med en ökad globalisering och en snabb teknologisk utveckling behöver företagen hänga med i utvecklingen för att de inte ska bli ikapp- och förbisprungna. För att de ska lyckas med detta behöver de ha en offensiv inställning till tillväxt, de bör hela tiden tänka framåt och se vad de kan göra för att, inte bara hänga med utan, ta ledningen och visa vägen in i framtiden. Företagarna (FR) i Bollnäs kom därför på idén att låta en student genomföra ett arbete om tillväxten bland små företag. Det finns två syften med uppsatsen. Det ena är en övergripande bild för att se hur företag inom Bollnäs kommun ser på tillväxt på företag. Det andra är att se hur företag inom kommunen ser på tillväxten för sitt företag. De stora/övergripande frågorna i arbetet är: Hur ser företagarna i Bollnäs på tillväxt för företag? Hur ser företagarna i Bollnäs på nätverk/samarbete med andra? Hur anser företagarna i Bollnäs att samverkan fungerar mellan dem och kreditinstituten? Eftersom syftet med uppsatsen var att se hur företagarna i en kommun ser på tillväxt föll valet på en kvantitativ undersökning, enkätundersökning. Enkäten skickades ut till 46 företag och fick en svarsfrekvens på 76 %, dvs. 35 stycken. För att få ytterligare åsikter från respondenterna genomfördes en kvalitativ undersökning, valet föll på intervjuer, närmare bestämt 5 stycken. Då det finns nästan 2100 företag inom kommunen inriktades undersökningen på fyra branscher att skicka ut enkäten till. Valet föll på handel, livsmedel, turism och verkstadsindustrin. En annan avgränsning var att de deltagande företagen skulle bedrivas i någon typ av företagsform. Många företag anser att de går en ljus framtid till mötes och av de intervjuade är fyra av fem positiv till tillväxt. Bland intervjurespondenterna växer företagen utifrån efterfrågan på marknaden. En del företag vill inte växa och orsaken till detta är flera. Den övervägande orsaken är att företagarna är nöjda med hur företaget ser ut. De allra flesta av enkätrespondenterna, 42 %, svarade att anledningen till varför de inte ville växa var att de var nöjd med hur deras företag ser ut i dagsläget. Dock var orsak två, efterfrågan på deras produkt/tjänst hack i häl med 37 %. En av intervjurespondenterna ville inte växa, orsaken han angav är att han känner sig nöjd med företaget. Från enkätundersökningen kunde ses att det största hindret för företagens tillväxt var alla avgifter och skatter. Av intervjuerna var det skilda meningar om vilka de ansåg vara mest negativa. Respondenternas svåraste val var att rangordna dem, eftersom de menade att alla påverkar företaget negativt, mer eller mindre. Många av enkätrespondenterna använder sig av nätverk. Däremot är det lite olika beroende på bransch och storlek på företaget. Alla intervjuade företagare anser att nätverk är bra, fyra av fem använder även sig av någon form av samarbete. Eftersom studier påvisat att med hjälp av nätverk kan företagen nå högre mål känns det som en självklarhet att använda sig av det, vilket också de flesta av företagen har insett. 67 % av respondenterna av enkäten svarade att de kan tänka sig att samarbeta med andra om en större order. De företag vilka använder sig av samarbete kan få ekonomiska fördelar gentemot sina konkurrenter och därigenom kan de stärka sin position på marknaden. Bland intervjurespondenterna var det lite skilda meningar om nätverk men tre av dem samarbetar i dagsläget med andra för att nå ut till fler kunder. Många från enkätundersökningen anser att det är lätt att få kredit. En intressant teori är att ju mer resurser företagen har, desto mer entreprenöriell kan de bli. Detta ser därför bra ut för företagen, många av dem har möjlighet att få kapital och detta kan göra att de kan utveckla sina verksamheter. Samtliga av intervjurespondenterna skulle vända sig till banken om de hade behov av externt kapital, dock använder sig tre av dem enbart av sitt interna kapital. / Summary In today’s changing society, with increasing globalisation and rapid technological development the companies need to hang on to development, otherwise they could be over run by competitors. If they are going to succeed they need to have an offensive attitude to growth, they need show forward thinking and see what they can do to take the lead and show the way into the future. With this in mind Företagarna (FR) in Bollnäs decided to let a student carry out an essay about the growth among small firms. This essay has two purposes. The first purpose is to get an overall picture of how firms in the district of Bollnäs view growth in firms generally. The second purpose is to find out what these firms think of the growth of their own companies. The major questions asked in the essay are: What do the leaders in Bollnäs think of the growth of their firms? What do they think of networking and co-operation with others? What do the leaders think of co-operation between them and the credit institution? Since one of the purposes with the essay was to see what leaders in a community think of growth, a quantitative study was used through means of a questionnaire. The questionnaire was sent out to 46 firms and the response rate was 76 %, i.e. 35 answered. To get further opinions from the leaders a qualitative survey was carried out by conducting 5 interviews. There are almost 2100 firms in the district so the survey was limited to four lines of businesses. The selection among the lines of businesses was trade, provision merchants, tourism and the engineering industry. One other demarcation was that the firms should conduct some kind of corporate form. Many companies see a bright future ahead and among the interviewed, four out of five are positive about growth. According to the respondents firms are growing from the research on the market. Some of the respondents don’t want to grow and the reasons for this are several. Among many of the leaders, 42%, the main reason why they didn’t want to grow was that they were satisfied with how their firms were currently. The second reason, the research on the firm’s product or service was close with 37 %. One of the interviewees didn’t want to expand, the reason he gave was that he was satisfied with the company. According to the questionnaire the biggest obstacle for the firm’s growth is all the costs and taxes. Among the respondents there were different opinions on what they saw as the most negative factors to their firms. The hardest part for the participants was to have an order of precedence, meaning that all the factors had a negative influence on the firm, but some more and others less. Many of the respondents use networking. The reasons however are different among the lines of businesses and size of the company. All the interviewees thought that networking is a good practice and four out of five use some kind of co-operation. Studies have shown that by using networking companies can reach higher goals. With that in mind it seams obvious to use it and most of the firms have realised that. 67 % of the respondents can imagine working with other firms. Firms that use some kind of co-operation can benefit from the financial advantage against their competitors and in that way they get a stronger position on the market. Among the interviewed there were some different opinions on networking but three of them have co-operation today and the reason is to reach more customers. Many from the respondents think that it’s easy to get credit. One interesting theory is that the more resources the companies have the more entrepreneurial they can be. This looks good for the firms then many of them have an opportunity to get capital and then develop their enterprise. If the respondents need external capital they all turn to the bank but only two of them look externally when they need capital the other three use only internal capital.

The global economy is creating profound and substantial changes for business and industries throughout the world. In the agricultural industry this is also true regarding the active consolidation of the food-value chain that is taking place at a rapid rate and on the other hand a strong component of international competitiveness is becoming a reality with multi-national role players positioning them globally. The consumer on the other hand requires a simpler and cheaper supply chain and wants to participate in the deliberations regarding the end product. In order for Senwes to be successfully positioned as an intermediary, it is evident that change is essential and unavoidable. Therefore, Senwes business platform has to be enlarged, scale of volume has to be added and trade mark has to be addressed. The literature review in this study confirmed that corporate entrepreneurship is recognised as a potential viable means of promoting and sustaining competitiveness, and transforming business and industry opportunities for value-creating innovation. The primary objective of this study is twofold: Firstly, to assess the determinants of corporate entrepreneurship and retail in an agri-business in South Africa and secondly to propose an integrated framework to facilitate the process of establishing and maintaining corporate entrepreneurship and retail within the specific agribusiness in South Africa. A comprehendsive literature overview on corporate entrepreneurship was conducted in chapter 2. In the literature review corporate entrepreneurship was defined and the necessity and fostering of corporate entrepreneurship discussed. A framework with determinants for sustainable corporate entrepreneurship was furthermore explained. The chapter was concluded with a discussion on corporate entrepreneurial strategy. A historic overview of the agricultural industry in South Africa was presented. The focus of the discussion was on the agri-business sector in South Africa with a discussion on Senwes Limited. The nature of retail was discussed in chapter 4. An overview of the nature of retail with a definition of retail was explained. The reason for the change in retail, with different types of retailers as well as a strategic model was noted and discussed. A specific focus in the chapter was given to the strategic drivers for retail success with an overview of key retail success factors. The chapter was concluded with a discussion on the future of retailing. Empirical research was conducted after the literature review. The empirical research Specific climate variable. Work discretion and Management support need development to become present. As far as the retail survey is concerned, six variables describing the theoretical dimensions of Store factor, Technology, Service factor, Merchandise/Product, Price and Segmentation/Target market were extracted. As indicated from the results the constructs Store factor, Technology and Service factor are present in the business. Merchandise/Product, Price and Segmentation/Target market need development to become present in the business. Regarding the perceived success survey is concerned three factors, Financial measures, Process measures, People development were extracted. All three factors are present in the business. . Finally, recommendations were proposed by means of an integrated framework that could assist the agri-business to establish and maintain corporate entrepreneurship and retail within the business focused on discussing the results obtained from the corporate entrepreneurial climate and retail questionnaire. Middle management and first line supervisors/staff of Senwes Village, Retail division, were selected as the sample population for this study and a 65% ratingwas achieved. Basic demographic information were dealt with first, after which the perceptions of the respondents with regard to the corporate entrepreneurial orientation and climate constructs, constructs measuring retail and perceived success of the business were discussed. Furthermore, relationships were determined between demographic variables and the constructs measured in the questionnaire. Following the detailed empirical analysis done in chapter 5, conclusions were made in chapter 6. Regarding the entrepreneurial orientation survey, five variables describing theoretical dimensions of Autonomy, Innovativeness, Risk-taking, Pro-activeness and Competitive aggressiveness were extracted. The constructs Innovativeness, Pro-activeness and Competitive aggressiveness are present in Senwes Village, Retail division. Autonomy and Risk-taking are less prevalent in Senwes Village, Retail division due to the lower average mean score that was obtained from the empirical study. In conclusion to the entrepreneurial climate survey, four variables describing theoretical dimensions of Management Support, Work discretion, Rewards/Reinforcement, Specific climate variables were extracted. The construct that is already active within the business is Rewards/Reinforcement. / Thesis (MBA)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.

The global economy is creating profound and substantial changes for business and industries throughout the world. In the agricultural industry this is also true regarding the active consolidation of the food-value chain that is taking place at a rapid rate and on the other hand a strong component of international competitiveness is becoming a reality with multi-national role players positioning them globally. The consumer on the other hand requires a simpler and cheaper supply chain and wants to participate in the deliberations regarding the end product. In order for Senwes to be successfully positioned as an intermediary, it is evident that change is essential and unavoidable. Therefore, Senwes business platform has to be enlarged, scale of volume has to be added and trade mark has to be addressed. The literature review in this study confirmed that corporate entrepreneurship is recognised as a potential viable means of promoting and sustaining competitiveness, and transforming business and industry opportunities for value-creating innovation. The primary objective of this study is twofold: Firstly, to assess the determinants of corporate entrepreneurship and retail in an agri-business in South Africa and secondly to propose an integrated framework to facilitate the process of establishing and maintaining corporate entrepreneurship and retail within the specific agribusiness in South Africa. A comprehendsive literature overview on corporate entrepreneurship was conducted in chapter 2. In the literature review corporate entrepreneurship was defined and the necessity and fostering of corporate entrepreneurship discussed. A framework with determinants for sustainable corporate entrepreneurship was furthermore explained. The chapter was concluded with a discussion on corporate entrepreneurial strategy. A historic overview of the agricultural industry in South Africa was presented. The focus of the discussion was on the agri-business sector in South Africa with a discussion on Senwes Limited. The nature of retail was discussed in chapter 4. An overview of the nature of retail with a definition of retail was explained. The reason for the change in retail, with different types of retailers as well as a strategic model was noted and discussed. A specific focus in the chapter was given to the strategic drivers for retail success with an overview of key retail success factors. The chapter was concluded with a discussion on the future of retailing. Empirical research was conducted after the literature review. The empirical research Specific climate variable. Work discretion and Management support need development to become present. As far as the retail survey is concerned, six variables describing the theoretical dimensions of Store factor, Technology, Service factor, Merchandise/Product, Price and Segmentation/Target market were extracted. As indicated from the results the constructs Store factor, Technology and Service factor are present in the business. Merchandise/Product, Price and Segmentation/Target market need development to become present in the business. Regarding the perceived success survey is concerned three factors, Financial measures, Process measures, People development were extracted. All three factors are present in the business. . Finally, recommendations were proposed by means of an integrated framework that could assist the agri-business to establish and maintain corporate entrepreneurship and retail within the business focused on discussing the results obtained from the corporate entrepreneurial climate and retail questionnaire. Middle management and first line supervisors/staff of Senwes Village, Retail division, were selected as the sample population for this study and a 65% ratingwas achieved. Basic demographic information were dealt with first, after which the perceptions of the respondents with regard to the corporate entrepreneurial orientation and climate constructs, constructs measuring retail and perceived success of the business were discussed. Furthermore, relationships were determined between demographic variables and the constructs measured in the questionnaire. Following the detailed empirical analysis done in chapter 5, conclusions were made in chapter 6. Regarding the entrepreneurial orientation survey, five variables describing theoretical dimensions of Autonomy, Innovativeness, Risk-taking, Pro-activeness and Competitive aggressiveness were extracted. The constructs Innovativeness, Pro-activeness and Competitive aggressiveness are present in Senwes Village, Retail division. Autonomy and Risk-taking are less prevalent in Senwes Village, Retail division due to the lower average mean score that was obtained from the empirical study. In conclusion to the entrepreneurial climate survey, four variables describing theoretical dimensions of Management Support, Work discretion, Rewards/Reinforcement, Specific climate variables were extracted. The construct that is already active within the business is Rewards/Reinforcement. / Thesis (MBA)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.

Entrepreneurship can be described as the creation of a venture out of nothing, except for an entrepreneur’s idea. No manuals or blueprints for entrepreneurs‘ particular ideas exists. Add to this plenty of adversities along the way. For many, the entrepreneurial journey ends long before their products or services have reached the market. How do entrepreneurs deal with adversities and goal disruptions on the path to venture creation, and what effects does this have on their ventures? This study focuses on the goal disruptions that entrepreneurs experience and builds a model of perceived resistance. The model illustrates how entrepreneurs appraise goal disruptions, choose certain coping strategies, either eventually overcoming the goal disruptions or terminating their venture creation journey. The key issues affecting how novice entrepreneurs cope with goal disruptions are entrepreneurs’ emotions, life life goals, as well as their energetic resources. / <p>Diss. Stockholm : Handelshögskolan, 2008</p>

The background in which global organisations operate in at present is very competitive. In an ever faster growing global economy the role of the entrepreneur within the large organisation becomes more and more important to ensure the company keeps the competitive edge. The Linde Group is a world class company with a world class management strategy and systems to support the strategy. Part of the The Linde Group management strategy is being a high performing organisation, wanting to give all employees the opportunity to contribute to improvement by sharing their ideas with the company. This study was done at African Oxygen Limited, South Africa, a regional business unit in Africa for The Linde Group. African Oxygen Limited embarked on various programmes to create opportunities for employees to think in an entrepreneurial way. Middle managers at African Oxygen Limited play an important role in the innovation programs implemented at African Oxygen Limited. Against this background, this study seeks to confirm whether African Oxygen Limited, South Africa has a true entrepreneurial climate and whether the middle management level involved with these initiatives share this perception. Corporate entrepreneurship is characterised by people who are innovative, creative, spend time and take risks. To support these entrepreneurial activities, the organisation needs a climate and culture that is beneficial to these activities. An entrepreneurial orientation within an organisation is marked by dimensions such as innovativeness, pro–activeness, risk–taking, competitive aggressiveness and autonomy. The entrepreneurial behaviour among middle level managers is most critical to the effective implementation of corporate entrepreneurship. The primary objective of this study was to assess the entrepreneurial climate in African Oxygen Limited and to make recommendations to foster corporate entrepreneurship within the organisation. The literature review was instrumental to gather secondary data on corporate entrepreneurship and to understand its dynamics. In order to gain primary data, quantitative research was carried out. The study population comprised lower and middle management, who were requested to complete questionnaires. This was followed by statistical analysis. The empirical results indicate no practical significance in respondents' perception based on the gender of the respondents. However, the results do indicate practical significant differences between the relationship between the groups of middle and lower management level with respect to entrepreneurial climate and the perceived organisational success. An evaluation of the corporate entrepreneurial climate in the organisation was performed and the average mean for the study calculated. Seven out of 13 constructs evaluated had a mean above the average mean of x = 3.502, the other six constructs evaluated had a mean ranked lower than the average mean. All of the constructs still had a mean above three out of five. All four of the used variables measuring the perceived organisational success, were reported by respondents to have a mean above three which is the neutral point. The average mean of the perceived success of the organisation was 3.688. It was clear that the constructs for perceived organisational success had a fairly strong presence, but there is still room for improvement. With reference to the entrepreneurial climate within Afrox the conclusion is that it is not optimally entrepreneurial and initiatives put into practice that should encourage entrepreneurial behaviour, are falling short. The study concludes with practical recommendations on assessment of the achievement of objectives and suggestions for future research. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

The background in which global organisations operate in at present is very competitive. In an ever faster growing global economy the role of the entrepreneur within the large organisation becomes more and more important to ensure the company keeps the competitive edge. The Linde Group is a world class company with a world class management strategy and systems to support the strategy. Part of the The Linde Group management strategy is being a high performing organisation, wanting to give all employees the opportunity to contribute to improvement by sharing their ideas with the company. This study was done at African Oxygen Limited, South Africa, a regional business unit in Africa for The Linde Group. African Oxygen Limited embarked on various programmes to create opportunities for employees to think in an entrepreneurial way. Middle managers at African Oxygen Limited play an important role in the innovation programs implemented at African Oxygen Limited. Against this background, this study seeks to confirm whether African Oxygen Limited, South Africa has a true entrepreneurial climate and whether the middle management level involved with these initiatives share this perception. Corporate entrepreneurship is characterised by people who are innovative, creative, spend time and take risks. To support these entrepreneurial activities, the organisation needs a climate and culture that is beneficial to these activities. An entrepreneurial orientation within an organisation is marked by dimensions such as innovativeness, pro–activeness, risk–taking, competitive aggressiveness and autonomy. The entrepreneurial behaviour among middle level managers is most critical to the effective implementation of corporate entrepreneurship. The primary objective of this study was to assess the entrepreneurial climate in African Oxygen Limited and to make recommendations to foster corporate entrepreneurship within the organisation. The literature review was instrumental to gather secondary data on corporate entrepreneurship and to understand its dynamics. In order to gain primary data, quantitative research was carried out. The study population comprised lower and middle management, who were requested to complete questionnaires. This was followed by statistical analysis. The empirical results indicate no practical significance in respondents' perception based on the gender of the respondents. However, the results do indicate practical significant differences between the relationship between the groups of middle and lower management level with respect to entrepreneurial climate and the perceived organisational success. An evaluation of the corporate entrepreneurial climate in the organisation was performed and the average mean for the study calculated. Seven out of 13 constructs evaluated had a mean above the average mean of x = 3.502, the other six constructs evaluated had a mean ranked lower than the average mean. All of the constructs still had a mean above three out of five. All four of the used variables measuring the perceived organisational success, were reported by respondents to have a mean above three which is the neutral point. The average mean of the perceived success of the organisation was 3.688. It was clear that the constructs for perceived organisational success had a fairly strong presence, but there is still room for improvement. With reference to the entrepreneurial climate within Afrox the conclusion is that it is not optimally entrepreneurial and initiatives put into practice that should encourage entrepreneurial behaviour, are falling short. The study concludes with practical recommendations on assessment of the achievement of objectives and suggestions for future research. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.