Thesis (M.M. (Entrepreneurship and New Venture Creation))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, Graduate School of Business Administration, 2013. / With the growth of developing nations there has also been a growth in the need to recognize entrepreneurship and market-driven solutions as tools that can be used to bring the people in these developing nations out of poverty. If technology is widely adopted and accepted in a society, the long-term impact on that society can be more effective than any other social force. A great example of this phenomenon is the explosive growth of mobile devices technology that has infiltrated every part of the world and in all levels of the economic pyramid as they can play a large and critical role in social transformations in developed and developing economies (Lee et al 2010). Since the introduction of the mobile phone in Zimbabwe in 1996, there are 9,527,520 users of mobile phones. .A mobile banking platform, Eco-Cash, was launched by Econet Wireless, a cellular phone network provider at the end of 2011. This platform was launched in order to take advantage of a large identified gap in the Zimbabwean economy (Makunike 2013). At the end of 2012 there were 270 000 active users and 1.5 million registered users of the Eco-Cash MPP (Kabweza 2012). This study is of the perceptions and adoption of Mobile Payment Platforms (MPP) by informal entrepreneurs in Zimbabwe and employs the use of an adapted version of the Technology Acceptance Model, developed by F. Davis in his doctoral thesis in 1985, as the research framework. The model has been modified by different researchers over the years. Data collection for this study was administered telephonically to the informal entrepreneurs in Zimbabwe and this study only used primary data sources. This data was extracted from the respondents answering the telephonic surveys. This research found that although informal entrepreneurs, who are either personal or business users or non-users of the MPP are positively disposed, in terms of perceived usefulness, perceived cost, perceived support, perceived social influence, overall trust and perceived overall risk, this disposition may not necessarily lead to the increased usage of the MPP by informal entrepreneurs iv in Zimbabwe. However, perceived ease of use proved to be the exception, as the research study showed that the more informal entrepreneurs perceived the MPP to be simple and easy to use, this perception may lead to the increase in the perceptions and adoption of MPP. As this is one of few studies that to look into the adoption of MPP in Zimbabwe, this study serves as the foundation for future research in Zimbabwe that pertains to the adoption of MPP by entrepreneurs in Zimbabwe‟s formal and informal economy.

Female entrepreneurs contribute significantly to the global economy especially through employment creation, contributing to diversity in entrepreneurship and economic growth. Notwithstanding this contribution, their potential remains considerably unexploited in many countries, evidenced by businesses that underperform those owned by men. Significant research gaps on the subject of female entrepreneurship exist in the literature. To illustrate, the number of studies focusing on women-owned businesses remains significantly fewer than that of studies focusing on businesses owned by men, resulting in little being known about the subject. Another important research gap is the absence of a conceptual model of factors affecting performance of women-owned SMEs in the context of Sub-Saharan African countries. Furthermore, the majority of studies on female entrepreneurship have been done in developed countries, giving rise to theories originating from those contexts and relative lack of knowledge and empirical results in the context of developing countries. Zambia represents a specific case of a developing context where little is known about female entrepreneurs. This research develops and tests a conceptual model of individual level and firm level factors affecting performance in women-owned SMEs in Zambia, drawing on the Competency Approach, Entrepreneurial Orientation (EO), and Resource Based View of the firm as the main theoretical foundations. It adopts a mixed method approach implemented in two stages: an exploratory qualitative study (carried out as the initial stage of this research) and a main quantitative study. The study uses the findings of the exploratory qualitative study to refine the conceptual model developed and to provide insights into the quantitative findings. The conceptual model is tested empirically using structural equation modelling with SPSS Amos software. The research makes a new contribution by identifying a new set of entrepreneurial competencies relevant to the Zambian context. It also attempts to integrate two literature streams (i.e. competency approach and entrepreneurial orientation) by providing empirical evidence that the relationship between entrepreneurial competencies and firm performance is partially mediated by entrepreneurial orientation. The study also extends the boundaries of knowledge by challenging the applicability of established measures and research approaches originating from developed contexts to non-industrially developed contexts. For example, it provides empirical evidence that the relevance of entrepreneurial competencies in a particular context is contingent on the unique aspects of its business environment. The study also challenges widely accepted knowledge that EO enhances firm performance, and provides empirical evidence for the argument that this relationship is context-specific. It further demonstrates that the individual dimensions of EO may have varying effects on firm performance, suggesting that it is better to view the EO construct as a multidimensional rather than unidimensional construct. This research also extends literature on entrepreneurial competencies by showing that they are strong predictors of firm performance in the current research context, and that formal education and previous entrepreneurship experience contribute to their development.

The existing scholarship on women in China suggests that gender inequality still exists against the background of the country’s reform and opening in recent years. However, the situation of women in enterprise ownership and leadership seems to indicate that under the surface of women being disadvantaged, some of them are playing a more active and significant role in China’s economic development. Based on a series of interviews with women enterprise owners, wives of enterprise owners and women managers conducted in three localities in three difference provinces of China, this research aims to discover the deeper socio-political realities of leading women in enterprises. By analyzing information on these women’s personal experiences, career and families, this thesis investigates their status at work and at home, as well as their connections with local politics. The research results suggest that although traces of gender inequality can still be found in these women’s lives, they appear to be actively engaged in the business establishment and operation and gradually casting off the leash of domestic responsibilities. At the same time, these women have developed strong connections with the Party-state, not necessarily in their own right, but largely through their family ties. The research has also highlighted that the varied socio-economic development of each locality has its effects on these women’s development.

<p>Date: 26 May 2008</p><p>Program: International Business and Entrepreneurship (IB&E)</p><p>Level: Master Thesis 10 Points (15 ETCS)</p><p>Title: Internationalization process from entrepreneurial perspectives – a case study of TOA Group</p><p>Authors: Thi Thanh Thuy Le - Email: tle07001@student.mdh.se</p><p>Theerata Thornjaroensri - Email: tti07001@student.mdh.se</p><p>Supervisor: Bengt Olsson</p><p>Research Problem: How do entrepreneurs play a vital role in the internationalization process of TOA Group?</p><p>Aim of the Thesis: The purpose of our research project is to present a perspective that includes the entrepreneurs in the analysis in order to have a comprehensive understanding about the internationalization process of TOA Group, a Thai-owned paint multinational company.</p><p>Method: The nature of the research is qualitative. The deductive and a single case study approaches have been applied. Both secondary data and primary data are used to conduct the research. The semi-structure interview is used to get the primary data.</p><p>Conclusion: The establishment chain pattern of the Uppsala Model is too deterministic and mainly on learning process at organizational level. This research project adopts three entrepreneurial perspectives with three entrepreneur types. The TOA case shows that entrepreneurial perspectives directly influence the firm’s internationalization.</p><p>Key Words: Internationalization, entrepreneurs, entrepreneurial perspective</p>

Title: Immigrant Entrepreneurship - Case studies of challenges faced by immigrant entrepreneurs in a large and small Swedish city. Purpose: The purpose is to investigate if the challenges faced by immigrant entrepreneurs in Sweden differ between large and small cities. Method: Eight case studies, four in Jönköping and four in Stockholm of seven Asian and one Eastern Europe immigrant entrepreneurs in the restaurant business. Results: The typical Jönköping case and the typical Stockholm case are similar with respect to some challenges faced: a lack of finance, marketing and sales skills are key challenges, and language is not a strong challenge in either city. The typical cases are different with respect to whether or not working longer hours, high rent and administrative and regulatory requirement are challenges. Keywords: Challenges, Entrepreneur, Entrepreneurship, Immigrant Entrepreneurs, Immigrants, Jönköping and Stockholm

Date: 26 May 2008 Program: International Business and Entrepreneurship (IB&amp;E) Level: Master Thesis 10 Points (15 ETCS) Title: Internationalization process from entrepreneurial perspectives – a case study of TOA Group Authors: Thi Thanh Thuy Le - Email: tle07001@student.mdh.se Theerata Thornjaroensri - Email: tti07001@student.mdh.se Supervisor: Bengt Olsson Research Problem: How do entrepreneurs play a vital role in the internationalization process of TOA Group? Aim of the Thesis: The purpose of our research project is to present a perspective that includes the entrepreneurs in the analysis in order to have a comprehensive understanding about the internationalization process of TOA Group, a Thai-owned paint multinational company. Method: The nature of the research is qualitative. The deductive and a single case study approaches have been applied. Both secondary data and primary data are used to conduct the research. The semi-structure interview is used to get the primary data. Conclusion: The establishment chain pattern of the Uppsala Model is too deterministic and mainly on learning process at organizational level. This research project adopts three entrepreneurial perspectives with three entrepreneur types. The TOA case shows that entrepreneurial perspectives directly influence the firm’s internationalization. Key Words: Internationalization, entrepreneurs, entrepreneurial perspective

Trots en ökande trend av antalet kvinnliga entreprenörer är proportionen till manliga entreprenörer fortfarande relativt låg. Anledningen kan bland annat bero på att entreprenörskap definieras efter egenskaper som återfinns bland typiska manliga egenskaper som till exempel riskbenägenhet och en stor självtillit. Med stor sannolikhet är detta en av orsakerna till att få kvinnor kan identifiera sig själva med rollen som entreprenör. Denna studie undersöker vad som i nuläget utförs för att främja entreprenörskap bland kvinnor och vad detta kommer att bidra till i framtiden gällande det kvinnliga entreprenörskapet. Metoden har skapats genom ett kvalitativt tillvägagångssätt i form av intervjuer. Totalt innehöll studien sex deltagare och bestod av representanter från Svenska Uppfinnareföreningen, Almi, Nutek, Idélab och Arbetsförmedlingen Kultur samt en kvinnlig entreprenör vid namn Mia Seipel, Boobdesign.

Small and medium enterprises have played an important role in Taiwanese economic development. However, there are few studies talking about their history of initiating entrepreneurship and systematic developments. Therefore, this paper adopts case study method, using qualitative research method to collect and analyze data. We take one medium and public company in Taiwan to study and interview 26 people semi-structurally from the case company. The targets we interviewed include chairman, vice-president, supervisors, stockholders ; others are senior managers and ex-senior managers. This paper made a systematic analysis on the entrepreneurial and development progress. Based on the way of stories-telling, we intend to find out different practices of the case company from the same trade; discuss starting business, operation characteristics, and leadership styles in order to argue its actual construction.

There are more and more women in Taiwan are running their own business. Therefore women entrepreneurs¡¦ sex-role attitudes and their operating characteristics are worthy to study. The interview concludes that the sex-role attitudes of women entrepreneurs can be divided into two parts ¡X family role and work role. In family, women entrepreneurs take part in traditional role taking the most responsibility of house working and child rearing. At the same time, they also take an active role in decision-making and risk-taking in business. She needs to share household duty to keep balance between family and work with her family, her mother or mother in law, and babysitter or servant. The sex-role attitude of spouse will affect the marital relations. If the husband does not support wife¡¦s entrepreneurship and at the same time the wife could not put her family as the first priority, they would have frequent quarrel or argument. Women entrepreneurs have an operational weakness that is they doesn¡¦t have plentiful business¡¦ network. The reason may they didn¡¦t spend much time to set their connection with other business partners but spend most time stay at home after work. When Women entrepreneurs require the emotional support or some business¡¦ suggestions, they usually appeal to their friends. The results to analyze their entrepreneurial behaviors are as follow, although some women entrepreneurs launch their own business for making money but they still want to achieve the goals of personal development and customer satisfaction etc. Besides, they measure their performance in social contributions, good interactions between customer and employee not just only in growth of market share and increase in profit.

Texte remanié de: Thèse de doctorat--Droit--Cergy-Pontoise, 2004. / Bibliogr. p. 523-569. Index.