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Sociology Department Seminars 14 May 2014 Comparative entrepreneurship and the

Sociology Department Seminars 14 May 2014 Comparative entrepreneurship and the sociology of markets Hugh Whittaker Dep.t of Management and International Business,. Research on Japanese and UK small businesses (vs large)

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Sociology Department Seminars 14 May 2014 Comparative entrepreneurship and the

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  1. Sociology Department Seminars 14 May 2014 Comparative entrepreneurship and the sociology of markets Hugh Whittaker Dep.t of Management and International Business,

  2. Research on Japanese and UK small businesses (vs large) Are entrepreneurs and processes of entrepreneurship essentially similar, or do they differ in important ways? Are they shaped by their respective environments, and if so what environments, and how? Motivation

  3. GEM’s view of entrepreneurship Source: Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2003 Executive Report, p.10

  4. Hypothesize that ent.p is influenced by the institutional environment Select sector and highlight different focuses or types of innovative/ ent.l activity Cf Hall and Soskice 2001 ….. danger of confirmation of prejudice (Qualitative) institutional/VoC approaches

  5. ‘processes in which opportunities are discovered or created, and turned into market outcomes by organizational means’ Entrepreneurship(working definition)

  6. Compare like with like, seek to explain differences and similarities Focus on ‘high tech’ defined by industry, SMEs - less than 200 employees ‘Combined method’ research - quantitative (2 Japanese, 2 UK surveys) and qualitative (25 Japanese, 25 UK interviews) (Difficulty of researching ‘processes’: Approach used in this study is one of ‘snapshots’ or ‘frames’ provided by surveys, interpreted and linked by interview data) Research design

  7. Research design and data set Founders & Founding data set UK n = 148; Japan n =90 1st J Quest. July-Aug. 1996 ‘Venture’ 308 valid resp. (13.3%) 2nd J Quest. Feb.-March. 2002 ‘Venture’ 349 valid resp. (9.4%) UK., Japan cases Selection of 25 UK, 25 J. cases (‘theoretical sampling’) UK interviews 2001, J. interviews2003-04 1st UK Quest. Jan. 1998 ‘High tech’ 510 valid resp. (26.9%) 2nd UK Quest. Dec.2000-Jan.2001 ‘High tech’ 237 valid resp. (34.2%) Integrated (quantitative-qualitative) data Comparative Entrepreneurship data set UK n = 113; Japan n =223

  8. Average founding age 37 - importance of employment background Most start out as ‘reproducers’ not ‘innovators’ - ‘soft’ start (some get stuck in ‘soft’ stage) e.g. subcontracting; exceptions were serial entrepreneurs, MBO/MBI (UK), successors (Japan). Become more innovative over time Majority started with co-founders, former employer support common Gradualists, cautious approach to growth Becoming rich was not a major motivation; over-riding concern was to establish a viable and trusted business CONTRAST with VC-backed, ‘home run’ product-oriented, fast-growth-and-exit (‘SV’) model Similarities but salient differences as well….

  9. Founding teams: ex colleagues vs family/relations, greater vs less resource contribution Attitudes to growth, risk, innovation: more vs less growth, voluntary vs involuntary view of risk, product vs product and process focus Competitive orientations: external focus on customer needs vs building internal competences HRM orientations and leadership: entrepreneur as conductor vs locomotive Collaborations: more vs less collaborations, no.s of partners, reasons Differences

  10. Underlying differences Project entrepreneurship Lifework entrepreneurship (Market focus) Logic of choice Logic of ‘responsivity’ (horizontal) Programmed time (Technology focus) Logic of commitment Logic of control (vertical) Open-ended time More prevalent in the UK More prevalent in Japan differences maintained or even heightened by high performers…

  11. Different environments (population ecology) Backgrounds of entrepreneurs (technology vs management) Markets/institutions (utility vs relational markets) What can be brought to the market? Who can participate? What are the terms of participation and exchange? (Cultural factors) Why these differences?

  12. Comparison of post-industrial (or post-Fordist) UK with industrial (or Fordist) Japan? Anecdotal evidence of change from finance, IT, biotech, etc. Some differences in terms of business objectives, orientations But overall, much continuity as well (cf high performers) Changing Japan?

  13. Influence of (supposed) Silicon Valley model on Japan, the UK and other countries Should policy aim to change the nature of entrepreneurship (to match the SV model), or should it attempt to build on the existing model? (A fundamental dilemma) The ‘shadow of Silicon Valley’

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