Numerous papers relating ¡§the motives of entrepreneurs¡¨ have been published, yet literally few discussed ¡§why do others don¡¦t¡¨. Based on the phenomenon, this study aims at discussing whether significant cognitive differences about entrepreneurial activities exist between entrepreneurs and others and to find key factors causing these behaviors in order to test the hypotheses derived from the concept that ¡§everyone could be an entrepreneur¡¨. This research applies the theory of planned behavior (TPB) as the foundation and categorizes study objects into two groups by ¡§entrepreneurial activities¡¨ ¡V ¡§entrepreneurs¡¨, and ¡§non-entrepreneurs¡¨. Results of the thesis are: I. The two groups possess no significant difference in the ¡§attitude¡¨ category of TPB: The ¡§attitude¡¨ part aims at measuring the importance of certain entrepreneurial motives cognized by people involved, such as: realizing dreams, feeding back to the society, increasing wealth and so on. The results indicate that both ¡§entrepreneurs¡¨ and ¡§non-entrepreneurs¡¨ address significant importance on the category, i.e. this might not be a key distinguishing factor of entrepreneurial activities. II. The two groups possess significant differences in the ¡§subjective norms¡¨: The ¡§subjective norms¡¨ part aims at measuring how one¡¦s decisions are influenced by others, such as whether parents¡¦, spouse¡¦s and others¡¦ support matter when one considering starting a business. The results indicate that ¡§entrepreneurs¡¨ paid significantly less importance on the category than ¡§non-entrepreneurs¡¨, which indicating that this might be a critical factor affecting entrepreneurial activities¡¦ appearance. III. The two groups possess significant differences in the ¡§perception behavior control¡¨: The ¡§perception behavior control¡¨ part aims at measuring one¡¦s concept of the importance of resources when considering starting a business, such as practicability, possession of capital and information, etc. The results indicate that ¡§entrepreneurs¡¨ paid significantly more attention on the category than ¡§non-entrepreneurs¡¨, thus this might also be a critical factor affecting entrepreneurial activities¡¦ appearance. In addition, this study categorizes the ¡§non-entrepreneurs¡¨ into four categories by their willingness of starting a business, they are: ¡§never thought of / not-willing¡¨, ¡§thought of / not-willing¡¨, ¡§might-be / willing¡¨ and ¡§desperately want to / willing¡¨ in order to examine the differences between ¡§non-entrepreneurs¡¨ who possess different levels of willingness and the ¡§entrepreneurs¡¨. It is expected that this thesis could be served as an important source of information for domestic entrepreneur-related groups and to address the problems, for the sake of boosting the entrepreneurship of citizens and the economy as a whole.

This thesis focuses on how entrepreneurial cognition interacts with internal stakeholder perception in established entrepreneurial organizations. In addition, the influence of interdependent factors of cognitive biases, temporality, growth and performance on the interaction has been examined. The study is exploratory, phenomenological and framed within an interpretive research paradigm. Primary data was gathered using a qualitative multiple case study methodology. Semi-structured interviews were conducted every three months over an eighteen-month period with entrepreneurs and internal stakeholders of nine organizations in Phase I and three organizations in Phase II. This research is original because it focuses exclusively on the interaction between concepts of entrepreneurial cognition and biases, temporality, internal stakeholder perception, organizational factors, growth and performance for established entrepreneurial organizations. The empirical evidence highlights that cognitive diversity and differences in perception and expectations have an impact on entrepreneurial and internal stakeholder interrelationships in established entrepreneurial organizations. Furthermore, entrepreneurial decision-making leads to the Icarus Paradox of confidence-success-attribution cycle that either moderates or mediates organizational growth and performance. The consequence of longer communication chains is limited information flow that results in cognitive dissonance. The research contributes to closing the gap in literature on the interdependent nature of entrepreneurial cognition and internal stakeholder perception on organizational growth and performance. The contribution to practice therefore is that in established entrepreneurial organizations the entrepreneurs and internal stakeholders can focus on performance by understanding the cause and effect influence of their interactions. This sets the foundation for further research on the interaction between entrepreneurial cognition and other organizational concepts.

O presente trabalho tem o objetivo de analisar como as estruturas de conhecimento dos empresários de micro e pequenas empresas, denominadas roteiros cognitivos, influenciam a capacidade de decodificação das mudanças institucionais que ocorrem em projetos de desenvolvimento de Sistemas Locais de Produção e Inovação (SLPI). A fase emergente do processo de desenvolvimento do SLPI contempla mudanças no sistema regulatório, normativo e cognitivo com o intuito de estimular a atividade empreendedora. O desenvolvimento do trabalho investiga se variações nos roteiros cognitivos dos micro e pequenos empresários estão associados à divergências na decodificação das leis, políticas, normas e crenças que interferem nos negócios.O referencial teórico que sustenta o trabalho fundamenta-se nos paradigmas dos SLPI (clusters), empreendedorismo, instituições e cognição empresarial. Os SLPI são apresentados como um grupo de firmas e instituições correlatas que possuem interdependências econômicas e sociais, localizadas em um mesmo espaço geográfico e pertencentes à um mesmo setor industrial. O estímulo à atividade empreendedora dentro do SLPI se desenvolve pelas instituições que são responsáveis por coordenar as transações entre empresários e os demais agentes locais como: poder público, escolas técnicas, universidades, sindicatos e associações de classe. Nos estágios emergentes dos SLPI, os agentes agem isoladamente e as instituições começam a ser formadas para coordenar o comportamento coletivo. Durante a mudança das instituições, os empresários utilizam roteiros cognitivos para analisar a influência nos negócios. A metodologia utilizada para o desenvolvimento empírico do trabalho é o estudo de caso único com várias unidades de análise. O estudo de caso, desenvolvido com trinta micro e pequenas empresas do setor de vestuário na cidade de Indaiatuba, permitiu observar os roteiros cognitivos que orientam as decisões empresariais e a respectiva influência na decodificação nas mudanças institucionais. Os resultados apontam que diferentes níveis de assistência dos roteiros cognitivos estão associados à forma como o empresário decodifica as mudanças institucionais e incorpora nas transações de negócios. / The present work aims to analyze how the knowledge structures of micro and small entrepreneurs, called \"cognitive scripts\" influence the decoding capability of institutional changes that occur in development projects of Local Systems of Production and Innovation (SLPI). The emerging phase of the development process of SLPI contemplates changes in the regulatory system, normative and cognitive, in order to stimulate the entrepreneurial activity. The development of this paper investigates if variations in the \"cognitive scripts\" of micro and small entrepreneurs are associated with differences in the decodification of laws, policies, norms and beliefs that interfere at the business system. The theoretical framework underpinning the work is based on the paradigm of the SLPI (clusters), entrepreneurship, business institutions and cognition. The SLPI are presented as a group of related firms and institutions that have social and economic interdependencies, located in the same geographic area and belonging to the same industrial sector. The stimulation of the entrepreneurial activity within the SLPI is developed by the institutions that are responsible for coordinating transactions between businesses and other local actors like: public authorities, technique colleges, universities, unions and class associations. In the emergent stages of SLPI, agents act in isolation and institutions begin to be formed to coordinate the collective behavior. During the change of institutions, entrepreneurs use \"cognitive scripts\" to analyze the influence at the business. The methodology used to the empirical development of this paper is the single case study with multiple units of analysis. The case study, developed with thirty micro and small companies in the garment sector in the city of Indaiatuba, allowed the observation of the \"cognitive scripts\" that guide business decisions and their influence at the decodification of institutional changes. The results indicate that different levels of \"assistance of cognitive scripts\" are associated with how the entrepreneur decodes the institutional changes and incorporates them in business transactions.

O presente trabalho tem o objetivo de analisar como as estruturas de conhecimento dos empresários de micro e pequenas empresas, denominadas roteiros cognitivos, influenciam a capacidade de decodificação das mudanças institucionais que ocorrem em projetos de desenvolvimento de Sistemas Locais de Produção e Inovação (SLPI). A fase emergente do processo de desenvolvimento do SLPI contempla mudanças no sistema regulatório, normativo e cognitivo com o intuito de estimular a atividade empreendedora. O desenvolvimento do trabalho investiga se variações nos roteiros cognitivos dos micro e pequenos empresários estão associados à divergências na decodificação das leis, políticas, normas e crenças que interferem nos negócios.O referencial teórico que sustenta o trabalho fundamenta-se nos paradigmas dos SLPI (clusters), empreendedorismo, instituições e cognição empresarial. Os SLPI são apresentados como um grupo de firmas e instituições correlatas que possuem interdependências econômicas e sociais, localizadas em um mesmo espaço geográfico e pertencentes à um mesmo setor industrial. O estímulo à atividade empreendedora dentro do SLPI se desenvolve pelas instituições que são responsáveis por coordenar as transações entre empresários e os demais agentes locais como: poder público, escolas técnicas, universidades, sindicatos e associações de classe. Nos estágios emergentes dos SLPI, os agentes agem isoladamente e as instituições começam a ser formadas para coordenar o comportamento coletivo. Durante a mudança das instituições, os empresários utilizam roteiros cognitivos para analisar a influência nos negócios. A metodologia utilizada para o desenvolvimento empírico do trabalho é o estudo de caso único com várias unidades de análise. O estudo de caso, desenvolvido com trinta micro e pequenas empresas do setor de vestuário na cidade de Indaiatuba, permitiu observar os roteiros cognitivos que orientam as decisões empresariais e a respectiva influência na decodificação nas mudanças institucionais. Os resultados apontam que diferentes níveis de assistência dos roteiros cognitivos estão associados à forma como o empresário decodifica as mudanças institucionais e incorpora nas transações de negócios. / The present work aims to analyze how the knowledge structures of micro and small entrepreneurs, called \"cognitive scripts\" influence the decoding capability of institutional changes that occur in development projects of Local Systems of Production and Innovation (SLPI). The emerging phase of the development process of SLPI contemplates changes in the regulatory system, normative and cognitive, in order to stimulate the entrepreneurial activity. The development of this paper investigates if variations in the \"cognitive scripts\" of micro and small entrepreneurs are associated with differences in the decodification of laws, policies, norms and beliefs that interfere at the business system. The theoretical framework underpinning the work is based on the paradigm of the SLPI (clusters), entrepreneurship, business institutions and cognition. The SLPI are presented as a group of related firms and institutions that have social and economic interdependencies, located in the same geographic area and belonging to the same industrial sector. The stimulation of the entrepreneurial activity within the SLPI is developed by the institutions that are responsible for coordinating transactions between businesses and other local actors like: public authorities, technique colleges, universities, unions and class associations. In the emergent stages of SLPI, agents act in isolation and institutions begin to be formed to coordinate the collective behavior. During the change of institutions, entrepreneurs use \"cognitive scripts\" to analyze the influence at the business. The methodology used to the empirical development of this paper is the single case study with multiple units of analysis. The case study, developed with thirty micro and small companies in the garment sector in the city of Indaiatuba, allowed the observation of the \"cognitive scripts\" that guide business decisions and their influence at the decodification of institutional changes. The results indicate that different levels of \"assistance of cognitive scripts\" are associated with how the entrepreneur decodes the institutional changes and incorporates them in business transactions.