Programa de Apoio aos Planos de Reestruturação e Expansão das Universidades Federais / This study aims to analyze the performance of entrepreneurial activity in countries participating in the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM), by the use of multivariate quantitative methods, in order to generate new thinking about the role of entrepreneurship in the economic growth and development of countries. Therefore, the research is divided into two papers whose approaches are exploratory, due to the potential of the database for the realization of new research, and the achievement of international comparisons of economies. To achieve this goal, the techniques used were the Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and the Cluster Analysis (CA) to study the relationship between the variables and the countries of the data set, thus obtaining an overview of the studied phenomenon. In the study of the variables, eight have been identified as the most representative of GEM s database, making the study of the entrepreneur process more effective. Among the most representative variables, the strong influence of the entrepreneurs´ attitude about the opening rates of new enterprises can be identified. To analyze the countries included in this study a classification of the economic performance of these nations was proposed, by creating a ranking of Entrepreneurial Activity Performance (EAP). The order of the countries was aligned to the methodologies used by both the World Economic Forum (WEF) and the World Bank, for the ranking of economic performance and economic development. Therefore, the study explored the main points of the GEM database, variables and countries, making use of multivariate techniques that provided information for the analysis of global entrepreneurship from a different perspective / Este estudo tem como objetivo analisar o desempenho da atividade empreendedora dos países participantes do Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM), por meio de métodos quantitativos multivariados, visando gerar novas reflexões sobre o papel do empreendedorismo no crescimento e desenvolvimento econômico dos países. Diante disso, a pesquisa é divida em dois artigos científicos, cujas abordagens são exploratórias, devido ao potencial da base de dados para a efetivação de novas pesquisas, e para a realização de comparações internacionais entre economias. Para tanto, fez-se uso das técnicas de Análise de Componentes Principais (ACP) e de Análise de Clusters (AC) para o estudo das interrelações das variáveis e dos países do conjunto de dados, obtendo assim uma visão global do fenômeno pesquisado. No estudo das variáveis, oito foram identificadas como as mais representativas da base de dados do GEM, tornando mais efetivo o estudo do processo empreendedor. Entre as variáveis mais representativas identificou-se a forte influência das atitudes dos empreendedores sobre as taxas de abertura de novos empreendimentos. Para a análise dos países que contemplam esse estudo, foi proposta uma classificação do desempenho econômico dessas nações, mediante a criação do ranking de Performance da Atividade Empreendedora (PAE). A ordenação dos países alinhou-se as metodologias utilizadas, pelo World Economic Forum (WEF) e pelo World Bank, na classificação dos países por rankings de performance econômica, e por estágios de desenvolvimento econômico. Assim, o estudo explorou os principais pontos da base de dados do GEM, variáveis e países, fazendo uso de técnicas multivariadas que forneceram subsídios para a análise do empreendedorismo global de uma perspectiva diferenciada

This chapter offers a review on modern entrepreneurship analysis, against the background of regional development. Regions with an entrepreneurial culture tend to be forerunners in a competitive economic process. After a conceptual discussion on the importance and the measurement of entrepreneurship, the contribution discusses critical success factors and key determinants of entrepreneurship. Next, much focus is laid on the geography of entrepreneurship as well as on industrial agglomeration, while also due attention is paid to the relevance of networks for modern entrepreneurship. The chapter concludes with some retrospective and prospective remarks. / Series: Working Papers in Regional Science

In this paper we investigate entrepreneurship in the informal sector in Sub-Saharan Africa. Using data from the World Bank we examine the motivational antecedents for why individuals become self-employed within the informal sector. We build on research focusing primarily on data from the formal sector to generate a number of testable hypotheses regarding individual-level predictors of opportunity status. We test our hypotheses using multiple probit model regression analyses. Our results indicate that opportunity-driven entrepreneurs comprise a large portion ofinformal sector in Sub-Saharan Africa and suggest that there are important differences between the antecedents of entrepreneurship in the informal sector in the region and the findings of research focused on the formal sectors of developed countries. Despite a number of limitations, our paper sheds important light on an interesting and comparatively understudied topic but leaves much room for future development.

<p>Women who operate small-scale farms and sell to small markets in Indiana may encounter certain obstacles and constraints due to self-employment in the traditionally male-dominated field of agriculture. Researchers have recognized the role of sustainable agriculture ideology in attracting women to these niche agricultural markets. Despite increasing opportunities for women in sustainable agriculture, research suggests that traditional gender roles are often maintained, manifesting itself through several obstacles (Pilgeram & Amos, 2015). Female agricultural entrepreneurs encounter obstacles including work-family balance, geographic barriers, access to physical resources, access to financial resources, access to places of information. Previous research indicates that female entrepreneurs have less access to human, social, and financial capital to support their business ventures (Powell & Eddleston, 2013). However, this study explored the feminine perspective and management styles which may serve as beneficial resources. </p> <p>The purpose of this study was to explore and describe existing obstacles encountered by female entrepreneurs in niche agricultural markets and their methods of building resilience in their business. Quantitative data was collected through an online survey of 62 agricultural entrepreneurs across the state of Indiana. Participants were asked questions pertaining to their business structure, resources, constraints, processes, achievements, and demographics. Several responses to open-ended questions were also collected and analyzed through open, axial coding. Study results include the diversity of the population, value of human capital resources, prioritization of quality products, significance of internal constraints, discrepancies in division of labor and women’s obstacles to access to social networks. A greater understanding of the obstacles encountered by women agricultural entrepreneurs can also provide valuable insight to Land-Grant University Extension, policymakers, and stakeholders in the Indiana agriculture industry. </p>

The purpose of this research is to investigate the perceptions of secondary school teachers on the Know About Business (KAB) programme in Botswana. They study adopted a survey as its research design. Data was gathered from one hundred and three Know About Business (KAB) teachers in selected secondary schools in Botswana. The sampling technique used was simple random sampling. A questionnaire was used as an instrument to collect data. A computer aided statistical analysis was used to analyse data. The findings of this study reveal that Know About Business (KAB) is taught by majority of male teachers who have degrees in education with 5 years experience and they specialize in other subjects that are not related to business. All these teachers have trained for only two weeks. The time teachers take to teach know About Business (KAB) is not enough to give them the skills they need. The teaching period allocated to Know About Business (KAB) is not enough and its policies are not plan1ned. The programme therefore does benefit the school and other subjects due to its badly planned policies. The programme ties with other programmes at tertiary level, this should start at primary school level and should be done only by those who have interest in it. It should be taught and/or coordinated by those who teach business related subjects and those who volunteer to teach it should given incentives to motivate them. It is recommended that the training for teachers should be longer than two weeks and the teaching time in schools should also be increased to more than two periods a week. Its policies should be well planned. The subject should be examinable. It shouId be coordinated by the Business Studies Department in schools and must be infused into other subjects in order to show students how they can merge their skills. / Thesis (MBA) North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, 2011

The study was conducted in Soweto, South Africa. The objective of the study was to determine the development and challenges of women entrepreneurs in Soweto, South Africa and to identify possible opportunities and improvement of women's businesses. In this study, the variables that were looked at were the motivational factors that influence women entrepreneurs to establish their own ventures, the contribution of women in the economic force of the country, the challenges that women entrepreneurs are facing in businesses, the support and developmental needs; and the possible opportunities for improvement. The key findings indicate that women were motivated by pull and push factors to start up a business. The need for flexible schedules appeared to be the factors to start up a business, followed by need for independence. The other factor is that these women had a desire for wealth. Annual turnover was also a factor, whilst difficult to ascertain with accuracy, provided a useful alternative indicator of business size and sophistication, and possibly of potential for growth. The challenges facing women in South Africa have been identified in this research as limited access to obtain funding; high corruption in procurement offices; high interest rates from banks, insufficient education and training, and difficulty to access market as well as cash flow problem. The above-mentioned challenges have priority over the women's businesses. The developmental needs and support for women entrepreneurs were found to be clear policies, organizations established in assisting women in businesses and the training needs that are supporting women entrepreneurship. Early payments by customers including Government should be facilitated and proper plans for enhancing entrepreneurial women together with education and training should be continuous. / Thesis (MBA) North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, 2010

The positive contribution of high growth small businesses to the economic growth of countries is derived from a body of knowledge in the entrepreneurship domain. Small business growth could be sustained by a better understanding of entrepreneurial orientation. This study is based on the evaluation of entrepreneurial orientation of small businesses in the formal sector with specific reference to businesses in the Gauteng Province. The objective of the study is to analyse entrepreneurial orientation and perceived business success in small and medium-sized enterprises in Gauteng, with the focus on providing recommendations to enhance entrepreneurial activity in small and medium-sized enterprises. A literature review was conducted to explore entrepreneurial orientation and its perceived business success in small enterprises. The five dimensions of entrepreneurial orientation and the two variables measuring perceived business success were explored. A questionnaire constructed by Lotz (2009) was used to measure entrepreneurial orientation variables and perceived business success variables. A target group of 60 business owners was identified and questionnaires were distributed to them. A total of 42 questionnaires were returned but only 38 were deemed usable for the study. The validity of each variable was individually determined by the calculation of the Cronbach Alpha coefficient. Conclusions and recommendations for possible action steps to enhance entrepreneurial orientation were made, based on the empirical data obtained. / MBA, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

The positive contribution of high growth small businesses to the economic growth of countries is derived from a body of knowledge in the entrepreneurship domain. Small business growth could be sustained by a better understanding of entrepreneurial orientation. This study is based on the evaluation of entrepreneurial orientation of small businesses in the formal sector with specific reference to businesses in the Gauteng Province. The objective of the study is to analyse entrepreneurial orientation and perceived business success in small and medium-sized enterprises in Gauteng, with the focus on providing recommendations to enhance entrepreneurial activity in small and medium-sized enterprises. A literature review was conducted to explore entrepreneurial orientation and its perceived business success in small enterprises. The five dimensions of entrepreneurial orientation and the two variables measuring perceived business success were explored. A questionnaire constructed by Lotz (2009) was used to measure entrepreneurial orientation variables and perceived business success variables. A target group of 60 business owners was identified and questionnaires were distributed to them. A total of 42 questionnaires were returned but only 38 were deemed usable for the study. The validity of each variable was individually determined by the calculation of the Cronbach Alpha coefficient. Conclusions and recommendations for possible action steps to enhance entrepreneurial orientation were made, based on the empirical data obtained. / MBA, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Genom sin innovation har entreprenörer en viktig roll i samhället för att skapa affärsmöjligheter och föra ekonomin framåt. Entreprenörer stöter ofta på svårigheter när de startar företag, exempelvis begränsade resurser och brist på erfarenhet. Detta innebär att det är viktigt att entreprenörerna håller sig motiverade vid detta stadiumi den entreprenöriella processen. Till sin hjälp finns organisationer som kallas inkubatorer, vars funktion är att främja utvecklingen av nya affärsidéer.Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka hur inkubatorsupport påverkar entreprenörers motivation till att driva företag. För att skapa oss en förståelse har vi tagit fram forskning och teorier kring entreprenöriella egenskaper, begreppet motivation, vad som motiverar entreprenörer och vilket stödinkubatorer erbjuder. Detta för att undersöka hur inkubatorsupport påverkar entreprenörers motivation. Det finns ett gap i den befintliga forskningen angående vilken effekt inkubatorsupport har på entreprenörers motivation och sambandet mellan dessa. Vårt arbete är en kvalitativ studie där vi intervjuat entreprenörer och affärscoacher som i dagsläget befinner sig på inkubatorer. Detta har utförts på tre inkubatorer i Umeå. Vi har intervjuat totalt tio respondenter, varav sju entreprenörer och tre affärscoacher som arbetar på inkubatorer, för att skapa en förståelse för hur inkubatorsupport påverkar entreprenörernas motivation.Resultatet vår studie visar är att det finns vissa inkubatorsupport påverkar entreprenörernas motivation. Ett exempel är att inkubatorer bidrar med en entreprenöriell miljö, där vårt resultat tyder på att denna miljö även är motiverande för entreprenörer. Det uppkom även många motivationsfaktorer som vi inte kunnat identifiera i tidigare forskning, exempelvis att entreprenörerna får göra det de tycker är roligt. Utöver detta gav inkubatorer stödinom vissa områden som vi inte funnit i befintlig forskning, som att entreprenörerna erbjuds olika former av utbildning.Denna studie är av praktisk nytta för både entreprenörer och inkubatorer, samt samhället i stort. Entreprenörer har nytta av att veta hur deras motivation kommer påverkas av att vistas på en inkubator. Inkubatorer har nytta av denna studie genom att de får konkret forskning kring vilka stödentreprenörerna betraktar som mest värdefull. Studien kan även ha ett praktiskt bidrag till samhället genom att staten får veta vilken effekt inkubatorer har på entreprenörer. Entreprenörer är viktiga för ekonomisk utveckling, vilket styrker den praktiska nyttan av vår studie.

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