Community colleges face a host of challenges and opportunities in the next decade. Survival and success will depend on responses requiring flexibility, creativity, and innovation. Organizations are turning to new approaches in contending with these challenges and opportunities. One such response has been entrepreneurism. Managers have been implementing a series of purposeful, systematic techniques to promote and enhance innovation and entrepreneurism. / However, several problems have been associated with this practice, and the corporate literature indicated both benefits and liabilities inherent in entrepreneurial strategies. Literature on entrepreneurship in education is scarce. Although some authors recommend entrepreneurial responses for educational organizations, others are skeptical. The purpose of this study was to examine the organizational characteristics related to entrepreneurism at selected single-campus community colleges and to identify benefits and liabilities associated with management approaches at those institutions. / All single-campus Florida community colleges were considered for this study. A combination of panel, survey, and case study procedures were used. Each of the 17 single-campus institutions were surveyed, with three "entrepreneurial" institutions identified for in-depth study. Various roles and organizational characteristics were examined within the conceptual framework of role theory and organization effectiveness. / Single-campus institutions were essentially participatory as described by a modified version of Likert's (1961) Profile or Organizational Characteristics. Entrepreneurial case study institutions were found to be systematic in their management approaches, although approaches ranged from president-centered to entrepreneur-centered. No "ideal" management template was found for entrepreneurial case study institutions. Regardless of management approach, entrepreneurial institutions were found to inherit certain liabilities associated with institution strategy. Motivation approaches ranged from highly intrinsic to highly extrinsic at case study institutions. A distinct operational philosophy and set of ground rules served to regulate entrepreneurial behavior at each case study institution. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 51-06, Section: A, page: 1922. / Major Professor: Louis W. Bender. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1990.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_78262 |
| Contributors | Langrell, John Ronald, III., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 360 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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