Previous research has suggested that there is a strong and positive relationship between being an entrepreneur and possessing a high degree of subjective well-being as well as job satisfaction. The big five personality traits have also been argued to be significantly related to both subjective well-being and job satisfaction. Little is however known if personality affects entrepreneurs and regular employees differently. In this paper the impact of personality traits on the cognitive part of subjective well-being as well as job satisfaction are investigated separately among entrepreneurs and regular employees. This is done through OLS-regressions using a Swedish nationally representative survey Employment, Material Resources, and Political Preferences (EMRAPP), where entrepreneurs were oversampled in order to be able to compare entrepreneurs (N = 2483) and regular employees (N = 2642). The findings suggest that there is no substantial difference between entrepreneurs and regular employees when looking at the relationship between personality traits and subjective well-being. Findings on job satisfaction on the other hand showed that the personality trait openness to experience had no impact on job satisfaction, and that the personality trait emotional stability (neuroticism reversed) was equally beneficial for both entrepreneurs and regular employees. Extraversion had a positive relationship with job satisfaction among both entrepreneurs and regular employees, although the relationship was twice as strong among entrepreneurs. The personality traits agreeableness and conscientiousness on the other hand were only related to job satisfaction among entrepreneurs. Personality traits are thus much more important for job satisfaction among entrepreneurs.

The aim of this study is to, by developing ideal types, describe why studententrepreneurs participate in self organised business network. The investigation is based on answers from 41 participants in the business network “Företagare på Lnu”, as well astwo semi-focused groups, which where analysed by using Webers (1978) ideal types.The investigation shows that there are several reasons for student entrepreneurs to participate in self organised business network. For instance some people participate to gather knowledge from other student entrepreneurs for their own future, since they have an idea of soon starting their own business. Others participate just for the fun of knowing what’s going on at the university. / Det behövs ständigt fler företag för att skapa jobb och tillväxt i en ekonomi, samtidigt som det inte är helt enkelt för ett nystartat företag att snabbt komma igång och konkurrera med etablerade och välkända företag. I rollen att utbilda människor till att starta företag, har universiteten blivit allt viktigare då de arbetar med entreprenöriellt lärande. Vid sidan utav sina studier, väljer en del elever att starta företag, och därmed bli så kallade studententreprenörer. För att tillsammans hjälpa varandra i sin uppstartsprocess och vidare i sitt företagande, väljer många unga företagare att gå samman i självorganiserade företagsnätverk.Syftet med den här studien har varit att, genom att använda Webers (1978)idealtypsteori, förklara varför studententreprenörer väljer att delta i självorganiseradeföretagsnätverk. För att studera detta genomfördes enkäter och semifokuserade grupper på nätverket ”Företagare på Lnu”.Resultaten visar att det, i det här fallet, finns nio olika idealtyper i nätverk varav alla söker olika saker. Exempelvis finns individualisten som endast söker utbyte för sin egen del, den nyfikne som är delaktig för att få veta vad som händer och en idealtyp som främst söker inspiration till att snart kunna starta ett eget företag eller projekt.

Background: Social entrepreneurship started to appear in the academic research in the end of 1990´s and has since then been well discussed by researchers. They have come up with numerous of different definitions and meanings of the term, but agree that the goal for these kinds of entrepreneurs is to create social value. Purpose: Our objective with this study is to create an understanding of where social entrepreneurs acquire the necessary resources to start their social business. Research question: How do social entrepreneurs acquire the necessary resources to start their social business in Rio de Janeiro? Methodology: The study adopted a qualitative research method and semi-structured interviews have been done in order to gather data. An abductive approach has been used where the authors has gone back and forth between the theory and the empirical findings. Research findings: The social entrepreneurs that we interviewed used the following ways to acquire resources to start their social business: Social venture capitalists, social capital, human capital, cultural capital and volunteers.

Diss.--Geschichtswissenschaftliche Fakultät--Eberhard-Karls-Universität zu Tübingen, 1995. / Bibliogr. p. 338-356. Index.

It is these days very consistent for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to participate in open innovation activities to battle the internal and external difficulties they are confronting, for example, less resources for R&D, constrained financial resources and specialized abilities, fewer production facilities and distribution channels and so on. Studies demonstrate that open innovation encountered a quick increase in recent years. As of late researchers have additionally indicated distinct interest in research on SMEs whereas in past research large companies were the focus. The focus of the thesis is to highlight how SMEs solve their shortage of scare resources by engaging into open innovation activities.  Two SMEs from various regions, to be specific Pakistan and the United Kingdom, were chosen as research cases for the thesis. Interviews have been utilized as a primary method for data collection. Despite of certain limitations, the research was successfully concluded with imperative findings with the suggestions and practices of open innovation utilized by SMEs. Finding from the thesis demonstrate that entrepreneurs in view of their individual attributes perceived the value of the opportunity and well-spoken the thought into a successful product. Their most vital entrepreneurial qualities are quick basic leadership, risk taking capacity and innovativeness in discovering answers for issues. Both entrepreneurs were effective in sorting out and managing the open innovation process and overwhelm the liabilities of being small. In both cases, entrepreneurs must have utilized external resources to satisfy the absence of their internal resources such as technology exploration innovation strategy and through building and dealing with their innovation network. The result of the research demonstrates that the achievement of the entrepreneurs of how an entrepreneur deals with the business is not simply based on his aptitudes and abilities, however it additionally relies upon the type of innovation procedure which entrepreneurs incorporates within the organization. While organizing and managing the open innovation process there were many difficulties that both entrepreneurs needed to face to make their SMEs successful. Although few differences emerge when the both CEO’s adopted open innovation activities.

La connaissance des conditions psychosociologiques dans lesquelles les entrepreneurs décident de la fin de leur carrière renvoie à des enjeux particulièrement cruciaux pour les chercheurs et les praticiens du conseil. Les conséquences de l’arrêt de l’activité entrepreneuriale sont en effet notables à la fois aux plans individuel, macro-économique car liés à la problématique de la cession-transmission de l’entreprise et sociaux au regard des emplois à préserver (Detienne, 2010). La finalité générale de cette thèse était d’éclairer les facteurs psychosociologiques complexes qui sous-tendent la décision du départ à la retraite dans la population des dirigeants propriétaires. Pour ce faire, le présent travail doctoral visait deux objectifs majeurs. Le premier était de développer un inventaire fiable permettant l’analyse précise de la nature et de la structure des raisons conduisant les entrepreneurs à prendre la décision de mettre fin à leur carrière professionnelle. Trois études distinctes portant sur 442 participants au total ont permis la création et la validation de l’Inventaire des Raisons du Processus Décisionnel du départ à la Retraite des Entrepreneurs (IRPDRE), à partir du modèle Push Pull Anti-push Anti-pull de Mullet, Dej, Lemaire, Raïff, & Barthorpe (2000). Le second objectif visé dans l’étude 4 portait sur le test auprès d’un échantillon de 271 participants d’un modèle des déterminants individuels de la perception des raisons sous-tendant le processus décisionnel de l’arrêt de la carrière chez les entrepreneurs. Cette modélisation incluait également l’examen des liens entre l’évaluation des diverses raisons et l’intention de partir à la retraite des entrepreneurs. Au final, les résultats obtenus dans ce programme de recherches ont permis de proposer un outil multidimensionnel fiable permettant d’évaluer finement la perception complexe des facteurs psychosociologiques à l’origine de la prise de décision du désengagement professionnel des entrepreneurs. Ils ont aussi conduit à une meilleure compréhension des différences interindividuelles lors de la prise de décision de fin de carrière dans cette population. / Understanding the psychosociological conditions of entrepreneurs’ decisions to retire is an important issue for researchers and practitioners. Indeed, the consequences of entrepreneurs’ decisions to retire are important at three levels: individual, macroeconomic in that their retirement is linked to the disposal and transfer of their business, and social in that it affects employment (Detienne, 2010). The overall purpose of this doctoral research was to analyze the psychosociological factors underlying the retirement decision in this specific population. The study had two main objectives. The first was to provide researchers and practitioners with an original and reliable self-report questionnaire to assess the nature and form of the reasons underlying the retirement decision process. Three studies, with a total of 442 participants, were conducted to develop and validate the Reasons for Entrepreneurs’ Retirement Decision Inventory (RERDI), based on the Push Pull Antipush Anti-pull view (Mullet, Dej, Lemaire, Raïff, & Barthorpe, 2000). A fourth study involving 271 participants was carried out to achieve the second objective, which was to test a model of individual determinants of the reasons underlying the retirement decision process. This model also examined the relationships between the evaluation of the reasons and the intention to retire. Finally, the results of these studies allow us to propose a multidimensional and reliable tool to assess in detail the complex perception of the psychosociological factors underlying entrepreneurs’ decisions to retire. The results also provide a better understanding of interindividual differences in this retirement decision.

abstract: As the number of travelers around the world grows, the importance of managing tourism destinations in a sustainable manner becomes increasingly important. Sustainable tourism has long been discussed as necessary for managing tourism responsibly, yet adoption of sustainable strategies and operationalization has been slow. Initiatives and programs often focus on environmental components of sustainability and the role of large companies. Certification programs are one way in which destinations are operationalizing community-wide sustainable tourism and small businesses are engaging in sustainability initiatives and recognition. Using social cognitive theory as the research framework, this study examined internal and external motives and their influence on small business participation in sustainable tourism certification and sustainability practices. Incentives for behavior, modeling of other businesses, company values, and self-efficacy were examined as motives and barriers. Regression analysis and independent samples t-tests were used to examine statistical relationships. This study partnered with the Alaska Travel Industry Association (ATIA) to study businesses that hold Adventure Green Alaska sustainable tourism certification or are viewed as prospects for certification. From a list of 77, 44 Alaska tourism businesses responded to an online questionnaire to participate in this study. Businesses were categorized into those with certification (n = 31) and those without (n=13). Results indicated participation in sustainability practices to be higher among certified businesses than non-certified. Internal motives indicated to be more significant than external motives for participation in sustainable practices and certification. Company values were of high importance to both certified and non-certified businesses in implementing sustainable practices and certification. Consumer interest and marketing benefits were important incentives for participation in sustainability strategies. These findings have implications for tourism industry associations and organizations interested in the operationalization and development of sustainable tourism. This study is expected to aid in marketing and retention efforts for sustainable tourism certification programs, as well as future direction for development of sustainable tourism certification. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Community Resources and Development 2017

Purpose This study explores Social Capital Theory. For the benefit of the business community it examines the role of social networking sites (SNS) in the accumulation and management of social capital for Black women entrepreneurs. This research project explores whether social media and technology have enabled a previously disadvantaged minority group to overcome their obstacles, particularly the lack of access networks that offer value. Significant research has been done on academic Social Capital Theory, but what remains understudied is the link between social capital and social networking sites, especially for minority and indigenous groups in Africa. The research is also applicable to other minority groups globally - adding value to Social Capital Theory in the context of a growing interest in knowledge economies, entrepreneurship and technology. The study makes a contribution to academic research and has implications for both policy and practice. Methodology The research is exploratory in nature and therefore applies a qualitative research methodology. It applies in-depth interviews with Black women entrepreneurs from different industries, and age groups to extract quality data that is analysed against theoretical propositions derived from the literature. Findings Bridging and bonding social capital are unique in how they empower entrepreneurs. Black women are a minority group because of cultural and historical consequences. As a result women are more disadvantaged than men, and minority women are more disadvantaged than white women. Negative stereotypes prejudice Black women from getting equal access to opportunities and resources. SNS, which is geared to accumulating bridging social capital, has the ability to empower Black women entrepreneurs to overcome these challenges. However, instead of using SNS for building bridging social capital - more essential for business growth - Black women entrepreneurs tend to use SNS to deepen bonding social capital which yields support and motivation. The potential value in SNS use should encourage Black women entrepreneurs to invest more resources in learning how to optimise SNS. Although SNS and government empowerment policies are contributing to equalizing access and use of social capital between different genders and races, men and the White business community still have an advantage. Future studies should consider exploring how generation theory and various social-economic issues affect accumulation and use of social capital through SNS use for minority groups / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / zkgibs2014 / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / MBA / Unrestricted

The present study aims to analyse the marketing strategies of Swedish microbreweries and relate them to the entrepreneurial principles of effectuation and causation. The authors investigated eight microbreweries in Mälardalsregionen of Sweden, conducting interviews with members of the founding team or the management team at the microbreweries. The results of the study show that most breweries used effectual principles to describe their marketing efforts. Two effectual principles in particular, bird-in-hand and affordable loss, were shown to be present throughout the sample. Furthermore, most microbrewery founders did not give a lot of importance to marketing and considered it to be a part of everyday activities of the brewery rather than a separate organisational function. There was a direct correlation between the size of the microbrewery and its debts, and the marketing efforts of the microbrewery. Based on these results, the authors propose: (1) Microbrewery founders use effectual logics more than causational logics in their marketing efforts; and (2) Microbrewery founders with unawareness or lack of knowledge of the causational methods are more likely to go about their marketing activities using effectual logic.

Different types of business incubators have been established worldwide in the last decade. As the latest generation of incubation models, the accelerator provides a mix of services including mentorship, office space, access to the latest technology and a network of investors, with an aim to help ventures survive in the market. Meanwhile, startups are important to the society because they help balance the labor market and make contributions to the economic growth. The aim of this paper is to find the factors which best predict the success of new ventures based on characteristics of entrepreneurs and ventures. This research utilizes a case study of TechStars Accelerator and includes 640 startups from all industries and geographical regions which participated in the programs between 2007 and 2015. The analysis employs two statistical models, namely the Logit Model and the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) Model. This study finds that technology intensive ventures founded by a team of entrepreneurs are more likely to succeed. Also, other variables such as the amount of funding, previous industry experience and location have a positive effect on the success of accelerator backed startups.