The instability within the financial services sector is not a new phenomenon, and this has been exacerbated by the global financial crisis. There is a requirement of banks to stay at the forefront of change and innovation, due to the fact that technological advancements and heightened competition are changing the face of banking as we know it. The requirement of corporate training divisions to be innovative is also apparent in the literature. Corporate training divisions within the banking industry operate against the backdrop of a severe skills shortage within South Africa. Furthermore, the necessity of corporate training divisions to be able to show a return on investment for money spent on training is evident. Hence, there is a requirement of both the banking industry as well as corporate training divisions to function entrepreneurially. A relationship is evident in the literature between the performance of organisations, which is seen as a multidimensional construct and entrepreneurial orientation. The primary objective of this research study was to investigate the impact of entrepreneurial orientation on the perceived success of corporate training divisions within selected South African banks. The dimensions of entrepreneurial orientation assessed included Innovativeness; Competitive Aggressiveness; Autonomy; Risk-Taking and Proactiveness. The study also identified the success factors of corporate training organisations and correlated these factors with the dimensions of entrepreneurial orientation. Secondary objectives were also formulated to support the attainment of the primary objective. Fourteen South African banks‟ corporate training divisions were selected to participate in the research study. A comprehensive literature study was followed by an empirical study. An existing questionnaire was adapted to assess entrepreneurial orientation, and a questionnaire was designed based on the literature study to assess the perceived success factors within the selected corporate training divisions. The survey was housed on the internet in electronic format. Factor analysis was applied to assess the discriminant validity of the items measuring entrepreneurial orientation and success factors. Furthermore, Kaiser‟s criterion was used to determine the number of factors to be extracted and the Cronbach alpha coefficients were calculated to assess the internal consistency of the items measuring the various factors under investigation. Regression analysis was used to determine relationships between the entrepreneurial constructs and the success factors as identified in the study. Furthermore, hypotheses were formulated and tested regarding the correlations between the entrepreneurial dimensions and the success factors within corporate training organisations. Relationships between some demographic factors and the constructs under investigation were also analysed. After a detailed analysis of the data, it was concluded that positive relationships do exist between some constructs of entrepreneurial orientation and some constructs of success factors of corporate training organisations. One negative relationship was evident. Positive relationships were also observed between some demographic factors and the constructs investigated. Consequently, Competitive Aggressiveness demonstrated a positive influence on Learner Reaction2; Learning; Learner Behaviour; Business Results; Return on Investment; Supportive Learning Environment; Concrete Learning Processes and Leadership Reinforces Learning within corporate training divisions. Furthermore, the results of the multiple regression analysis also indicated that respondents within the selected banks view that Innovativeness has a positive influence on Supportive Learning Environment; Concrete Learning Processes and Leadership Reinforces Learning. A negative relationship was indicated between Innovativeness and Learner Behaviour. In addition, the results of the multiple regression analysis disclosed that respondents within the selected banks perceive that Autonomy has a positive influence on Learner Behaviour; Supportive Learning Environment and Leadership Reinforces Learning. Moreover, the results of the multiple regression analysis disclosed that respondents within the selected banks perceive that Risk-Taking has a positive influence on Learning; Business Results; and Return on Investment. Also, a statistically significant difference in terms of the mean values in which respondents of 39 years and younger and respondents of 40 years and older perceived six variables, namely Competitive Aggressiveness; Learning; Learner Behaviour; Business Results; Return on Investment and Supportive Learning Environment were indicated. Practical statistical significances which yielded medium effect sizes for Learner Behaviour and Return on Investment were noted. No statistical significant differences were observed in the mean values of males and females. A statistically significant difference in terms of the mean values in which respondents with a highest qualification being a diploma or lower, and respondents with a highest qualification being a degree or higher perceive Learning; Learner Behaviour; Return on Investment and Concrete Learning Processes were reflected. However, no practical statistical significances were noted. Based on the findings of the empirical study recommendations were made to cultivate and foster entrepreneurial orientation within corporate training organisations within the banking industry. / Thesis (MBA)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

L’objectif de cette thèse est d’apporter de nouveaux éclairages théoriques et empiriques sur les mécanismes d’entrepreneuriat organisationnel, et plus précisément « orientation entrepreneuriale » (OE). Afin de mieux comprendre ce phénomène, cette dissertation est le fruit de quatre efforts successifs : - Identifier ce qu’est l’orientation entrepreneuriale en le distinguant de ce que ce n’est pas - Comprendre comment le construit « OE » s’intègre dans les principaux modèles d’entrepreneuriat organisationnel - Offrir une discussion critique en synthétisant et mappant les questions existantes, dévoilant qu’il y a en fait au moins quatre conceptualisations derrière « OE », parmi lesquelles la conceptualisation initiale de Miller (1983), ignorée ou incomprise. - Pour poursuivre dans l’intention de Miller, je propose une tamie dexono firmes selon leur gestalt d’OE, ainsi que les caractéristiques propres de chaque configuration. Par une meilleure compréhension du phénomène d’entrepreneuriat organisationnel, cette thèse propose de contribuer à la littérature en entrepreneuriat, en management stratégique, et en management. / The objective of my PhD is to better understand the theoretical and empirical mechanisms of organizational-level entrepreneurship, and more precisely “entrepreneurial orientation” (EO). To better comprehend the phenomenon, this dissertation is the succession of four research efforts: - Identify what entrepreneurial orientation is by distinguishing from what it is not (entrepreneurial management) - Understand how the EO construct fits into the main models of firm-level entrepreneurship - Furnish a critical discussion of EO through the synthesis and mapping of existing issues, to unveil that there are actually four conceptualizations behind the term “EO”, among which the original conceptualization by Miller (1983), gone unheard or misunderstood - In line with Miller’s initial intention, I offer a taxonomy of firms according to their gestalt of EO, and the characteristics of each configuration This dissertation aims at contributing to entrepreneurship literature, to strategic management, and to general management by improving our understanding of firm-level entrepreneurship in SMEs.

Internationalization is a strategy which is regarded as a trend where firms expand their business globally to achieve competitive advantages, especially for firms with limited resources. International new ventures are firms that are international from inception, con- nected to them is a certain failure rate. Further, entrepreneurial orientation is seen as a strategy for firms to implement risks-taking attitudes, proactiveness and innovativeness within such firms. Different scholars also show the importance of strong personal and business networks for international new ventures. The three dimensions of international entrepreneurial orientation can aid a firm to prepare themselves to the international envi- ronment. The purpose of this thesis is therefore to analyze the influence of international entrepre- neurial orientation and networks on the performance of international new ventures. How- ever, emphasis on specific kinds of networks or performance has been left out. The dif- ferent theories have been investigated separately and in correlation to each other to pre- sent what research has shown so far. To portray how the different theories are correlated a conceptual framework derived from the literature has been developed. This research has been conducted following the abductive approach, since there is a short- age of research concerning the Swedish context and the combination of the three theories. To enable the investigation of these relationships, semi-structured interviews with differ- ent Swedish international new ventures operating in different industries have been con- ducted. In order to be able to see similarities and differences between the cases a cross- case analysis has been applied. One of the results of the study have found that the effect of networks on performance of international new ventures come in different forms. The findings also show that interna- tional entrepreneurial orientation has a mostly positive impact to different extends on performance. However, the outcomes in relation to international entrepreneurial orienta- tion have presented other factors, which are not included in the concept of international entrepreneurial orientation, having a positive impact on performance. The study under- lines the importance of having both constructs in order to enhance the performance of international new ventures.

Familjeföretag är en av de vanligaste företagsformerna i världen. Även i Sverige är en majoritet av företagen familjestyrda företag. Den konkurrensutsatta omgivning som skapats under det senaste årtiondet gör det viktigt för företag att utveckla ett entreprenöriellt förhållningssätt. Det entreprenöriella förhållningssättet låter företagen nyttiggöra sina resurser och utforska möjligheter i deras omgivning. Entreprenöriell orientering är ett företags förmåga att utveckla företagets strategiska förhållande till risktagande, proaktivitet och innovationsförmåga. Familjestyrda företag har vissa gemensamma drag. Familjestyrda företag har en unik sammansättning av resurser och förmågor, där de familjestyrda företagens speciella karaktärsdrag i sin tur påverkar de olika delarna i företagets entreprenöriella orientering. Syftet med denna studie är att förklara om familjestyrande i svenska små och medelstora aktiebolag påverkar företagets entreprenöriella orientering. Tidigare studier visar på motsättningar om familjestyrda företag är entreprenöriella eller konservativa, traditionella och riskaverta.

Entrepreneurship has been argued to be a key driver of the economy by creating jobs, turning inventions to innovations, and also improving the overall standard of life. A firm’s entrepreneurial orientation (EO) indicates the degree to which a firm is entrepreneurial. However, there are several different approaches to conceptualizing the EO concept and its sub-dimensions, frequently described as innovativeness, risk taking, and proactiveness. The role of the sub-dimensions is not quite clear in the EO literature. Furthermore, many studies claim that firms can increase their performance simply by increasing their EO, while this thesis draws upon contingency theory to argue that EO needs to be aligned with—‘fit’ the internal and external context, if the firm is to perform well. Thus, this thesis aims to advance the conceptualization of EO by problematizing the core construct and also discussing how EO can fit with context. The thesis consists of four papers in which the EO concept is elaborated on and contingency theory is applied to construct conceptual models of the interaction between EO and different contexts, which are also empirically investigated. Furthermore, the sub-dimensions of EO are discussed in terms of their meanings and measurement to point out their individual impact on the EO. The overall findings indicate that EO is not as simple a concept as often portrayed in the EO literature. Rather, EO is more complex in the ways that it can fit with internal and external context and, on these bases, it is suggested that ideal types of EO and context is a way forward for research in the area. Additionally, it is argued that EO as a theoretical construct may not only be conceptualized as an overall entrepreneurial attribute (which is common in the extant literature), but also as a complex and granular attribute.

Non communiqué / Non communiqué

The students’ enrollment in higher education institutions (HEIs) in Rwanda keeps growing (MINEDUC, 2018). There is also a simultaneous growth of graduates’ unemployment rates which leaves many of them wonder for their future (NISR, 2017). While employers and educators acknowledge the gap between market and graduates’ employability skills and appeal for joint efforts in providing a long-lasting solution to the issue, there are new market changes which leave many institutions wondering how best and fast they can structure their policies and strategies for skills development (Corominas, 2010). It is true that during the recruitment process employers look for graduates who possess specific curricula skills but also advanced sets of entrepreneurship skills, behaviours and mindset values. For reducing the skills gap, the government of Rwanda and HEIs recommended entrepreneurship education to address both employability skills and entrepreneurship competences. Entrepreneurship skills development can be measured through entrepreneurial orientation (EO). EO involves intentions and actions related to risk-taking, autonomy, proactiveness, innovativeness and competitive aggressiveness which help firms and individuals to deal with uncertainties that characterize the environment in which they operate; to strategically and swiftly take informed decisions that impact their performance and competitiveness (Lumpkin and Dess, 1996; Rauch et al., 2009; Rosenbusch et al., 2013). Studies about entrepreneurship education in Rwanda have identified an entrepreneurship curriculum deficit (too basic in content and more theoretical); a deficit of teachers trained in how to teach entrepreneurship; deficit in supportive schemes for effective teaching; deficit in practical entrepreneurship concepts and tools that stimulate proactive, interactive and creative entrepreneurial skills and mindset (Honeyman, 2016; Malunda, 2014). In this study, the focus is put on the new entrepreneurship teaching methodologies and transmission techniques which converge on the action and experiential learning as an alternative to classical business plan. Action-learning theory capitalises on the potential that human beings have in dealing with difficult challenges and problems through own learning experiences. It acknowledges that individual development takes place through experiential learning. The latter follows pragmatic approaches where individuals come together to exchange, support and challenge each other in action and learning. Associated to action-learning is the action-research which goes through cyclic experiential learning processes; uses participative, qualitative and reflective approaches. As this study deals with EO of students that involves their intentions and actions regarding the future, people acknowledge that actions of peoples are driven by expected consequences which are mostly economically motivated:- the higher the expected benefits the higher the level of individual engagement (expectancy theory) (Renko et al., 2012). Within this framework, the objective of the study was to develop and test a new action-oriented module on undergraduate science students in Rwanda. The purpose was to assess the effects of entrepreneurship education (EE) on students’ entrepreneurial orientation (EO). EO was measured through dimensions of risk taking, autonomy, proactiveness, innovativeness and competitive aggressiveness. The business plan module which is the most frequent model for entrepreneurship teaching was redesigned and delivered to the same target group in a control group. In the design of both modules, common concepts and pedagogies included Entrepreneurship and Intrapreneurship which followed an instructive method; Business Idea Generation and Selection which followed instructive and experiential methods. Both modules differed in other components. The business plan module covered different “components” by following an instructive method. The action-oriented module covered the Business Model Generation (experiential method) and Rapid Market Appraisal using participatory learning action, exploratory and investigative methods. Two hypotheses were made. First, we assumed a positive relationship between the taught entrepreneurship modules and students’ entrepreneurial orientation. Second, we assumed the new action-oriented module induces higher effects on students’ entrepreneurial mindset values and competences than the traditional business plan. After analyzing the findings, both hypotheses were confirmed. In this experiential and action research process, a mixture of qualitative, quantitative and observation methods were used for data collection. Targeted students were purposively selected from the final or prefinal years in departments of Civil engineering, Biotechnologies and Land Survey. They must have not attended any training in business skills development before. They were randomly split into two groups: the control group (N=49) which learned the business plan; the treatment group (N=68) which followed the New action-oriented module. Qualitative data were collected through: 1) literature review about EE, curriculum review of entrepreneurship courses delivered in different programs at INES-Ruhengeri; 2) not-structured interviews (3 program managers and 3 class representatives); 3) trainers’ observations of the whole teaching process. Quantitative data were collected using a standardized questionnaire covering 5 EO dimensions with 23 indicators. They were measured on a seven Likert scale with 1 = Strongly disagree and 7 = Strongly agree. The questionnaire was administered to both groups before and after training; descriptive and inferential statistical analyses were done using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Findings in the descriptive and inferential statistics showed a general positive trend in students’ mindset change after training. Compared with how they ranked themselves before the training, the differences in the mean averages were positive in 18 out of 23 indicators in the CG. They were 21 out of 23 indicators in the TG. It was also observed that differences in the mean averages were statistically significant in 2 out of 5 dimensions in the CG (risk-taking and innovativeness). However, they were 4 out of 5 dimensions in the TG (risk taking, proactiveness, innovativeness, competitive aggressiveness). Although the CG did not register significant changes in proactiveness and competitive aggressiveness, the TG recorded significant changes in the same dimensions. We argued that such differences originate from teaching pedagogies and tools used in TG. They push more for participatory learning, interaction and fact finding from the market field. On the other side, both groups did not record statistically significant changes in autonomy. This dimension recorded, at the same time, the lowest mean averages in both groups. This situation can be attributed to students’ lifestyle which is mostly characterized by a safe and stable environment at school. It may also be influenced by other local market realities which include financial inaccessibility, lack of start-up capital, weak and insufficient schemes for supporting entrepreneurial learning, especially curricula didactics. The lack of confidence in autonomy is a signal that, after graduation, students are more inclined to becoming intrapreneurial. In the training process, it could be observed that the learning process in the business plan module was a bit challenging compared to the new action-oriented module. Major challenges were associated with reading and understanding business plan concepts (which were new to many students), and applying the concepts to group ideas within the allocated time. Contrary to the business plan, the learning process was a bit easier, flexible and straightforward in the action-oriented module. Though flexible, interactive and reflexive in nature, the new action learning requires more than just the understanding of entrepreneurship concepts and application of tools. Teaching strategies need to go beyond evaluating students’ intensions in entrepreneurial or intrapreneurial career prospects. Pedagogies should give learners the opportunity to develop product or service prototypes as well. Another area of concern is where students must feel the world of entrepreneurship and be ready for opportunity detection and exploitation. The graduates (soon to be) must be put on the map of alertness which is a factor that constitutes a major entrepreneurial trait that interacts with other factors. This study recommends to continuously explore new ways of teaching which predominantly use experiential learning approaches. Furthermore, we recommend that EE objectives and intended purposes of learning should be well streamlined. There should also be enough time for practical teaching and learning to produce proof of concepts (evidence-based learning). Lastly, there should be changes in monitoring and evaluation strategies of the learning process. This study contributes to the theory and didactics of entrepreneurial action and thinking in university education. It introduces new combinations of learning strategies that can help students acquire entrepreneurial skills and competences in a short time. The new training model combines concepts and tools used in business skills and value chain analysis and rests mainly on participatory learning and action learning approaches

Under the background of the competitive and dynamic international market, many enterprises started or intended to develop international entrepreneurial orientation (IEO) as a strategic posture. For achieving this kind of orientation, leadership behaviours are necessary and shared leadership is put forward to support enterprises to adapt to the fast-changing global market. Moreover, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are an essential type of business enterprises, especially in China. Therefore, the purpose of the research is to study how shared leadership contributes to the development of IEO in a Chinese SME. As a qualitative research, data were collected by interviews and processed by content analysis. The findings of this research are: (1) shared leadership contributes on the establishment of common IEO thinking at the phase of building the IEO awareness; (2) shared leadership plays a role as explicit support and implicit support on implementing IEO; (3) these contributions of shared leadership are mutually reinforcing and complementary, which result in the reinforcement and complementation between the awareness and the implementation of IEO. These findings contribute to the research in the combination of shared leadership and IEO through studying the effects of shared leadership and the process of IEO development. Moreover, this research enriches the study on the field of SMEs and provides guidance for SME leaders who intend to develop IEO.

Background: Small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) are major contributors to wealth,economy as well as society. In today’s uncertain times, the challenge for SMEs’ top managerslies in choosing the right strategic approach to generate a competitive advantage and wealth. Research Problem: Due to the ambiguous business context, the strategic approach of SMEs isof high importance to ensure a flexible, growth, and value-generating approach. Top managersare exposed to the difficulty of applying a strategy, which ensures performance and enables thecreation of newness. The concept of strategic entrepreneurship consists of advantage-seekingand opportunity-seeking and aims to ensure wealth creation. This is done by combining thesetwo dimensions to ensure strategic renewal within established organizations. Until now,especially in SMES, the concept of strategic entrepreneurship has not been studied substantialenough from a top managers perspective. We consider the field decisive to analyze, ensuring astrategic approach for top managers in SMEs to help manifest the competitive advantage intoday’s ambiguous business context. Research Purpose: To explore how top managers are managing the two dimensions, namelythe performance (advantage-seeking) and the entrepreneurial (opportunity-seeking) dimension,of strategic entrepreneurship in SMEs.Research Questions: (1) How do top managers engage in strategic entrepreneurship in SMEs?(2) How do top managers manage the relationship between advantage-seeking and opportunityseekingin SMEs? (3) How does the SME context impact top managers in managing SE? Method: Ontology: Relativism - Epistemology: Social constructionism - Research approach:Qualitative study - Methodology: Study based on exploratory qualitative interviews - Datacollection: In-depth interviews - Sampling: Purposive sampling with 10 SME top managers and2 SME consultants - Data Analysis: Content analysis with tree-diagram Conclusion: This study contributes by demonstrating the cognitive as well as the contextuallevel top managers are utilizing to engage in strategic entrepreneurship in the performanceorientedSME context. Moreover, our contributions are associated with various managerialsupport actions. To demonstrate these, we developed a model which outlines top managers’cognitive-oriented engagement towards the advantage-seeking and opportunity-seekingdimension of SE in SMEs. Managerial Implications: We present three managerial implications for top managers who areactive in SE as well as for aspiring top managers and SME owners. The practicalrecommendations can support top managers’ engagement in strategic entrepreneurship from anindividual as well as an organizational perspective.

Digitalization has changed the business environment for all businesses, whether large or small. As the multitude of digital solutions for the business world continuously develop and evolve, investigating how companies can better take advantage of digitalization is crucial for gaining and retaining competitive advantage. The current research field regarding digitalization is rather novel and has been heavily focusing on how digitalization can improve businesses, and which technical solutions may work best for companies. Thus, switching the focus and studying how companies can improve their digitalization presents an alternative perspective for the current research. As the research field has stressed the importance of studying digitalization within SMEs due to the lack of knowledge and know-how in smaller companies, we examine digitalization in the context of SMEs. In order to examine aspects that may be beneficial for digitalization, we chose to use entrepreneurial orientation as a lense. Entrepreneurial orientation considers a set of characteristics resulting in a level of entrepreneurship in all sizes of companies, and it is found to improve business performance. In order to develop a comprehensive theoretical framework regarding entrepreneurial orientation and digitalization, the following research question was formed: How is the digitalization of Swedish SMEs facilitated by Entrepreneurial Orientation? For gaining a comprehensive understanding on how digitalization is implemented to the business models of SMEs in Sweden, and how entrepreneurial orientation facilitates the implementation of digitalization, our theoretical framework is built upon three theories: entrepreneurial opportunities; digitalization; and entrepreneurial orientation. The construct used for observing entrepreneurial orientation consists of five elements: proactiveness, risk taking, innovativeness, autonomy and competitive aggressiveness. The study was conducted in Sweden through semi-structured interviews. The data was collected from small- to medium sized companies that all had implemented digitalization in their business models and were mature. The interviewees were all in managerial positions in the firms, either as CEOs or COOs. The semi-structured interviews resulted in rich data that provided us with insights in terms of digitalization, how digitalization is implemented to the business models of SMEs, and how the elements of entrepreneurial orientation play a role in this implementation. The results indicated that digitalization begins by making smaller changes to business models (e.g. adopting business systems). Gradually, the existing systems are completely replaced by digitalization, and the companies move on to exploring digitalization in terms of new products and services. In this process, entrepreneurial orientation has a facilitating effect through i.a. higher levels of risk taking, emphasis on being early in adopting new solutions, improved productivity and efficiency through innovativeness, and increased trust for employees to make decisions and to perform projects autonomously. The only element that did not show any clear indications in terms of digitalization was competitive aggressiveness, as SMEs do not use digitalization directly as a source of competitive advantage, but rather as a way to improve other aspects in their business models and thereby gain competitive advantage.