Academic literature on the topic 'Tech entrepreneur'

Purpose - Through a comprehensive analysis of relevant literature, this study will examine the most significant factors—such as technology, skills, personality, and motivation—that impact the success of Social tech entrepreneurs Design/ Methodology/ Approach - With the growth of the local economy, Bangalore has seen a boom in tech-social entrepreneurship, which has recently become the most relevant topic in management studies. This article explored a few tech-related social entrepreneurs and used the Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process to gauge their effectiveness (FAHP). The survey covers Bangalore-based tech-social entrepreneurs. 7 social tech entrepreneurs were chosen for the study. Findings - The findings of the study revealed that for successful social tech entrepreneurship, tech business environment, and Tech personality traits are essential and significant. Using their inventive mindset, technological expertise, commitment to change, and self-efficacy for innovation are all important factors in the success of tech social entrepreneurs. Personal qualities came in at number two, suggesting that a social tech entrepreneur’s outlook is influenced by his or her exposure to new technologies and ways of thinking. Originality Value - As the knowledge-based economy and information technology continue to develop and evolve, tech entrepreneurs are better equipped to learn and apply a wide range of technical abilities to a variety of contexts. This is mostly a result of their aptitude for handling and conquering a variety of technological advancements, creating discoveries and inventions, persuading people, and leading them. The traits of an entrepreneur have a big impact on how successful they are as an entrepreneur. The entrepreneur’s personality, leadership, managerial competence, communication skills, and external circumstances are critical in turning the business into a successful one, even if these factors are essential to developing effective companies. External aspects such as favorable conditions (i.e., the potentiality of markets and technological sophistication, etc.), high-caliber of entrepreneur/ entrepreneurial teams, and promotion policies to encourage social entrepreneurship are the factors that promote early business growth. The significance of each of the attributes contributing to social tech entrepreneurship is explored on an original basis using the FAHP technique.

This article discusses the mechanism of the ambidextrous behavior of entrepreneurs in exploring and exploiting simultaneously in new ventures. We draw on social cognition theory to discuss the influence of entrepreneurial self-efficacy (ESE) on entrepreneurs’ ambidextrous behavior and the moderating effect of their status. We contend that an inverted ‘U’ relationship exists between ESE and entrepreneurs’ ambidextrous behavior. A higher economic status of an entrepreneur strengthens the relationship between ESE and that entrepreneur’s ambidextrous behavior, whereas higher power status weakens the relationship. Analyses of high-tech industry entrepreneurs support our hypotheses in the context of emerging economies, represented by China.

In order to consider the future development of high-tech industry clusters, this paper applies an evolution perspective to look into the knowledge integration process from both local and global knowledge linkages of entrepreneurs within the industry cluster. This paper has established a model to explore the entrepreneur's knowledge spillover and diffusion process which promotes the high-technology industry cluster's technology upgrading. Analysis is based on data from questionnaires and interviews with 182 entrepreneurs in the Dongwan software high-tech industry cluster of Guangdong, China. Using the information fusion method the study analyses the distinction of high-tech industry clusters between developing countries and developed countries based on the survey, and found that the knowledge integration process has tremendous influence on industry cluster development, and the co-existence of both high levels of local and global knowledge linkages can greatly affect entrepreneur development and the possibility for the cluster to undertake transformation.

This article focuses on the next generation of entrepreneurs likely to emerge in Silicon Valley. It profiles two tech-savvy college students and describes the Valley’s demographics and subculture to show how previous models of the entrepreneur (the pre-Internet and geek subculture varieties) are blending to form a new sort of entrepreneur for a computer industry in transition.

Self-Help Groups (SHGs) are critical in empowering female entrepreneurs by promoting self-employment and economic prospects. These groups promote entrepreneur empowerment events and encourage members to adopt competitive behavioral norms. However, despite SHG aid, Generation X (Gen-X) women entrepreneurs have difficulties in adopting technology, reducing their competitiveness. This study investigates the influence of technology adoption on competitive behavioral practices among Gen-X women entrepreneurs within SHGs in India. Drawing on the Theory of Planned Behavior and Technology, a questionnaire adapted from prior research is utilized, employing a five-point Likert scale. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) with technology adoption as a moderator is conducted using Partial Least Squares (PLS). Data collection involves convenience sampling, with 230 respondents in the final analysis. The study initially assesses reliability and validity, then conducts path analysis, and finally employs bootstrapping via SMART-PLS. The results indicate that Gen-X women in SHGs demonstrate significant positive entrepreneurial competency behaviors, and similarly, the analysis on technology adoption moderation also shows positive significance. The study suggests that providing training and resources to enhance technology-driven entrepreneurship can promote gender-based social equity and inclusion. It underscores the importance of managerial and policymaker support in facilitating technology adoption among women entrepreneurs in SHGs, thus bolstering their competitiveness in the contemporary business milieu.

I have spent the majority of my career around nascent businesses as an entrepreneur or as a part of the ecosystem of service providers for entrepreneurs, and more recently, as an anthropologist studying entrepreneurs. I have started three tech companies and been a managing director at an organization designed to accelerate the growth of technology-focused businesses. These experiences mean I have been an entrepreneur, have helped entrepreneurs as a business coach, and understand the culture and values of entrepreneurship from an anthropological perspective. In order to discuss how anthropologists can use their skills to help entrepreneurs create and demonstrate value, first I will define entrepreneurship and the values of that culture.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to highlight the Islamic character of entrepreneurial activity along with its systemic, ideological and ethical particularities in contrast to the tech-based entrepreneurial model of Silicon Valley. Design/methodology/approach Hollingsworth’s framework of institutional analysis is used to analyze and compare the institutional design of tech-based entrepreneurship originated in Silicon Valley with the Islamic alternative. Findings An ideal Muslim entrepreneur will have a service-oriented-collectivist mindset, as opposed to an individualistic-self-centric mindset, where solving problems for all stakeholders is a priority instead of profit maximization at the expense of other stakeholders. A Muslim entrepreneur while ensuring the financial sustainability of the firm would avoid complexity on a systemic level, thus would adopt a personalized-family-like atmosphere. A Muslim entrepreneur will also constructively engage local stakeholders and will not possess a disintegrating tendency toward the local social structures. Practical implications The paper can help Muslim entrepreneurs to critically evaluate their entrepreneurial activities and firm design in contrast to the contemporary tech-based model. Originality/value A number of papers already have discussed the features of an Islamic model of entrepreneurship, however, none has done so while sequentially comparing the Islamic alternative with the contemporary model using Hollingsworth’s framework of institutional analysis. In this paper, the resulting model of Islamic entrepreneurship can be clearly evaluated and contrasted, feature by feature, with its tech-based counterpart.

Entrepremeurship and what impact entrepreneurs have on the development of a country's society is a well-discussed subject today. During the recent years, entrepreneurs have been characterized as a country's futrue growth since ther are of utmost importance in terms of both innovation, employment and competition. However, one of the main constraints for entrepreneurs today is to gain access to external capital in the initial phase of their business.Therefore, our thesis will highlight the various financing options the entrepreneurs have in the start-up phase and why they choose a particular funding method for their start-up in the first financing round. The focus will be on entrepreneurs within the technological industry and the Swedish market. Moreover, our thesis is based on a qualitative study which includes interviews with six different start-ups in order to analyse how they have financed the start-up of their business and which funding method they prefer and why. A conclusion has been drawn from our study that internal financing is preferred over external which is in line with one of our financing principles that we have used for this study. Our thesis is expected to contribute with a deeper understanding of the entrepreneur's perspective in matters of financing with focus on the tech industry, which we consider as an extra important industry for global development.<br>Entreprenörskap och vilken inverkan entreprenörer har på utvecklingen av ett lands samhälle är ett väl diskuterat ämne idag. Under de senaste åren har entreprenörer karakteriserats som ett lands framtida tillväxt eftersom de är av yttersta vikt för både innovation, sysselsättning och konkurrens. En av de största begränsningarna för entreprenörer idag är dock att få tillgång till externt kapital i den inledande fasen av dess verksamhet. Vår avhandling kommer därför att lyfta fram de olika finansieringsalternativ som entreprenörerna har i deras uppstartsfas och varför de väljer en särskild finansieringsmetod för deras verksamhet. Fokus kommer vara på den första finansieringsrundan samt på entreprenörer inom den tekniska industrin och inom den svenska marknaden. Vår uppsats kommer även att vara baserad på en kvalitativ studie som innehåller intervjuer med sex olika nystartade företag för att kunna analysera hur de har finansierat sin verksamhet i uppstartsfasen samt vilken finansieringsmetod de föredrag och varför. Från vår studie har vi dragit slutsatsen att intern finansiering är något som respondenterna föredrar överextern finansiering. Detta ligger i linje med en av åra finansieringsprinciper som vi har använt för denna studie. Vår avhandling förväntas bidra med en djupare förståelse av entreprenörens perspektiv rörande finansieringsfrågor med fokus på teknikindustrin, vilket vi anser vara en extra viktig industri för den globala utvecklingen.

This doctoral thesis aims to contribute to open a black box called “nexus”. Shane and Venkataraman (2000) assert that entrepreneurship consists of “the nexus of two phenomena: the presence of lucrative opportunities and the presence of enterprising individuals”. Since their work, few authors tried to describe the “nexus” because its complexity and because it can be considered the real ‘ignition spark’ of every ntrepreneurial experience. In this thesis, we will try to explore this nexus, focusing on two main components. The joint investigation of individuals and opportunities is a critical research path in order to better clarify the mechanisms and the essence of entrepreneurial behaviours and actions avidsson 2008). Therefore from one hand we explore the relevant entrepreneurial motivations that drive the ntrepreneurial choices within high-tech emerging ventures. On the other hand we investigate the nature of entrepreneurial opportunities, by asking if high-tech entrepreneurs recognize or create the technological opportunities that they exploit. In this work a motivation is defined as the activator of a goal oriented behaviour. From a selective review of the literature we note insufficient consideration of the role of the human motivations in the entrepreneurial process within the recent entrepreneurship research. Environmental factors being held constant, human motivation plays a critical role in the entrepreneurial process (Shaneet al. 2003). Classical motivational theories like those by Ajzen, Herzberger and Vroom, can be partially exploited as interpretative frameworks for the entrepreneurial process. According to Shane, Collins and Locke (2003) and to Davidsson (2008), the specificity of entrepreneurial phenomena requires dedicated investigation. The first research question is thus the following. What are the relevant entrepreneurial motivations that drive the entrepreneurial choice within high-tech emerging ventures? How and why motivations change in the phases of life of the firm? We investigate the main motivational driver of high-tech entrepreneurs and eventually we want to identify the mechanism that lead the eventual change of repreneurial motivations.Recent Entrepreneurship research dedicated great attention to the construct called “entrepreneurial opportunity”. (Shane and Venkataraman 2000, ,Sarasvathy et al. 2003, Alvarez and Barney, 2006, Plummer et al. 2007, Davidsson 2008, Harms et al. 2009) Entrepreneurial pportunities are defined as those situations in which new goods, services, raw materials, and organization methods can be introduced in the market and sold at greater than their cost of production (Casson 1982). As far as their epistemological and the ontological features are concerned, two opposite views are available. Opportunities are like mushrooms in the forest (Davidsson 2008) Because of individual differences and information asymmetries all actors do not have access to exactly the same opportunities. This is the core of the “Discovery school”: although recognition of opportunities is a subjective process, the opportunities themselves are objective phenomena that are not known to all parties at all time (Venkataraman 1997, Shane and Venkataraman 2000 AMR, Shane and Eckhardt 2003) The second view is called Creative School: opportunities are created in the entrepreneur’s mind and it is not meaningful to talk about these opportunities separated from their creators. Venture ideas are internally generated based on more or less explicit and correct perceptions of external conditions. (Baker and Nelson 2005,) opportunities do not exist objectively , but are subjectively enacted (Gartner et al. 2001,Sarasvathy 001,2008). Is any reconciliation between the two schools possible? The second question is, thus, the following. Do entrepreneurs recognize or create technological pportunities?. How the two processes – recognition and creation – come off? We are not going to propose a reconciliation theory: our aim is to demonstrate that both the perspectives are practically relevant and thus a general theory of entrepreneurship should take into account the dichotomous nature of entrepreneurial opportunities, distinguishing between objective opportunities and effectually created opportunities. Both qualitative (case studies) and quantitative (survey) approaches have been planned in order to answer to the research questions presented by this doctoral thesis. Quantitative data should be collected through a survey, sent to the firms of the database Veneto High-Tech (which is described in this thesis). Unfortunately the response rate has been too low. Case studies accord to the suggestions proposed by Eisenhardt (1989), Yin (2002), Gummeson (2006) and Flyvberg (2006). The exploratory nature of this study suggests the use of a qualitative methodological approach, and in particular the multiple case studies . Multiple case studies research is a useful tool to understand the complex nature of entrepreneurship, as recommended by Gartner and Birley (2002). The cases have been strategically selected within the considered population (Veneto High-Tech atabase), according to Flyvberg (2006) on basis of size, industry, products, innovative activities, geographical equilibrium and personal knowledge of the entrepreneur. The main limit of this approach is the possibility to present general determinants of phenomena through a limited number of cases. As we will see below, the cases are based of semi-structured interviews with entrepreneurs. A single case study for every enterprise by the researcher, in order to summarize and better fix the interviews and the entrepreneur words. A feedback echanism: every single case should be read , rectified or amended by the people who has been interviewed. The Nvivo 8 software tool has been used in order to collect and analyze qualitative data. The cross case comparison lead us to propose a hierarchical assessment of the motivational drivers. At individual level the basic motivations that emerge from the cases are the following: a) family environment, b) necessity (lack of job or not satisfying job alternatives), c)McClelland (1961) indicators (N-Pow, N-Ach, N-Aff), d) financial return. Once one or more of these motivations are considered relevant from a potential entrepreneur, other motivational aspects can enrich the reasons for the Entrepreneurial Choice and the daily effort of the entrepreneur. We asses them as 1) product level motivations: desire to demonstrate the feasibility of the technology applied in the product, f) desire to demonstrate the profitability of the technology applied in the product 2) strategy-level motivations: , g) desire to be innovative h) desire to iversificate and increase the portfolios of products, i) intention to maintain the technological leadership,3) personal responsibility motivations: l) creation of wealth (jobs, legacy, knowledge), m) corporate social responsibility issues. From a practical point of view the hierarchical assessment of the entrepreneurial motivations can be used for many purposes: 1)as tool for the self-evaluation of motivations, 2)as reference scheme for entrepreneurship education From the cross comparison we identified three wide categories of entrepreneurial opportunities: 1) technological paradigms with a broad spectrum of potential application 2) niche technologies or specific applications of general technological paradigms that solve a particular problem, leading to a new product or process 3) the market. The case studies suggest that the market is viewed by entrepreneurs as a differential opportunity.Several opportunities which present an objective existence can be identified within the case studies. These opportunities have been recognized and exploited through the process described by Shane (2003). This evidence confirms the ontological and epistemological perspective offered by the so called “Discovery School”. Furthermore in some case studies is evident the presence of effectual logic (Sarasvathy 2001, 2008), as driving logic of the ntrepreneurial decision making process. The entrepreneurs act both causally and effectually. This fact lead us to confirm the idea that some opportunities exist only in the entrepreneurs’ mind and thus they are created by the entrepreneur herself/himself. We demonstrate, as far as high-tech entrepreneurship is concerned, the co-existence of two processes: recognition and creation. A powerful general theory of entrepreneurship should take into account both of them, and should try to reconcile the Creative and the Discovery School. Unifying two ontological and epistemological perspectives is a true challenge that the community of scholars and researcher is requested to face.<br>This doctoral thesis aims to contribute to open a black box called “nexus”. Shane and Venkataraman (2000) assert that entrepreneurship consists of “the nexus of two phenomena: the presence of lucrative opportunities and the presence of enterprising individuals”. Since their work, few authors tried to describe the “nexus” because its complexity and because it can be considered the real ‘ignition spark’ of every entrepreneurial experience. In this thesis, we will try to explore this nexus, focusing on two main components. The joint investigation of individuals and opportunities is a critical research path in order to better clarify the mechanisms and the essence of entrepreneurial behaviours and actions (Davidsson 2008). Therefore from one hand we explore the relevant entrepreneurial motivations that drive the entrepreneurial choices within high-tech emerging ventures. On the other hand we investigate the nature of entrepreneurial opportunities, by asking if high-tech entrepreneurs recognize or create the technological opportunities that they exploit. In this work a motivation is defined as the activator of a goal oriented behaviour. From a selective review of the literature we note insufficient consideration of the role of the human motivations in the entrepreneurial process within the recent entrepreneurship research. Environmental factors being held constant, human motivation plays a critical role in the entrepreneurial process (Shane et al. 2003). Classical motivational theories like those by Ajzen, Herzberger and Vroom, can be partially exploited as interpretative frameworks for the entrepreneurial process. According to Shane, Collins and Locke (2003) and to Davidsson (2008), the specificity of entrepreneurial phenomena requires dedicated investigation. The first research question is thus the following. What are the relevant entrepreneurial motivations that drive the entrepreneurial choice within high-tech emerging ventures? How and why motivations change in the phases of life of the firm? We investigate the main motivational driver of high-tech entrepreneurs and eventually we want to identify the mechanism that lead the eventual change of entrepreneurial motivations. Recent Entrepreneurship research dedicated great attention to the construct called “entrepreneurial opportunity”. (Shane and Venkataraman 2000, ,Sarasvathy et al. 2003, Alvarez and Barney, 2006, Plummer et al. 2007, Davidsson 2008, Harms et al. 2009) Entrepreneurial opportunities are defined as those situations in which new goods, services, raw materials, and organization methods can be introduced in the market and sold at greater than their cost of production (Casson 1982). As far as their epistemological and the ontological features are concerned, two opposite views are available. Opportunities are like mushrooms in the forest (Davidsson 2008) Because of individual differences and information asymmetries all actors do not have access to exactly the same opportunities. This is the core of the “Discovery school”: although recognition of opportunities is a subjective process, the opportunities themselves are objective phenomena that are not known to all parties at all time (Venkataraman 1997, Shane and Venkataraman 2000 AMR, Shane and Eckhardt 2003) The second view is called Creative School: opportunities are created in the entrepreneur’s mind and it is not meaningful to talk about these opportunities separated from their creators. Venture ideas are internally generated based on more or less explicit and correct perceptions of external conditions. (Baker and Nelson 2005,) opportunities do not exist objectively , but are subjectively enacted (Gartner et al. 2001, Sarasvathy 2001,2008) . Is any reconciliation between the two schools possible? The second question is, thus, the following. Do entrepreneurs recognize or create technological opportunities?. How the two processes – recognition and creation – come off? We are not going to propose a reconciliation theory: our aim is to demonstrate that both the perspectives are practically relevant and thus a general theory of entrepreneurship should take into account the dichotomous nature of entrepreneurial opportunities, distinguishing between objective opportunities and effectually created opportunities. Both qualitative (case studies) and quantitative (survey) approaches have been planned in order to answer to the research questions presented by this doctoral thesis. Quantitative data should be collected through a survey, sent to the firms of the database Veneto High-Tech (which is described in this thesis). Unfortunately the response rate has been too low. Case studies accord to the suggestions proposed by Eisenhardt (1989), Yin (2002), Gummeson (2006) and Flyvberg (2006). The exploratory nature of this study suggests the use of a qualitative methodological approach, and in particular the multiple case studies . Multiple case studies research is a useful tool to understand the complex nature of entrepreneurship, as recommended by Gartner and Birley (2002). The cases have been strategically selected within the considered population (Veneto High-Tech database), according to Flyvberg (2006) on basis of size, industry, products, innovative activities, geographical equilibrium and personal knowledge of the entrepreneur. The main limit of this approach is the possibility to present general determinants of phenomena through a limited number of cases. As we will see below, the cases are based of semi-structured interviews with entrepreneurs. A single case study for every enterprise by the researcher, in order to summarize and better fix the interviews and the entrepreneur words. A feedback mechanism: every single case should be read , rectified or amended by the people who has been interviewed. The Nvivo 8 software tool has been used in order to collect and analyze qualitative data. The cross case comparison lead us to propose a hierarchical assessment of the motivational drivers. At individual level the basic motivations that emerge from the cases are the following: a) family environment, b) necessity (lack of job or not satisfying job alternatives), c)McClelland (1961) indicators (N-Pow, N-Ach, N-Aff), d) financial return. Once one or more of these motivations are considered relevant from a potential entrepreneur, other motivational aspects can enrich the reasons for the Entrepreneurial Choice and the daily effort of the entrepreneur. We asses them as 1) product level motivations: desire to demonstrate the feasibility of the technology applied in the product, f) desire to demonstrate the profitability of the technology applied in the product 2) strategy-level motivations: , g) desire to be innovative h) desire to diversificate and increase the portfolios of products, i) intention to maintain the technological leadership, 3) personal responsibility motivations: l) creation of wealth (jobs, legacy, knowledge), m) corporate social responsibility issues. From a practical point of view the hierarchical assessment of the entrepreneurial motivations can be used for many purposes: 1)as tool for the self-evaluation of motivations, 2)as reference scheme for entrepreneurship education From the cross comparison we identified three wide categories of entrepreneurial opportunities: 1) technological paradigms with a broad spectrum of potential application 2) niche technologies or specific applications of general technological paradigms that solve a particular problem, leading to a new product or process 3) the market. The case studies suggest that the market is viewed by entrepreneurs as a differential opportunity. Several opportunities which present an objective existence can be identified within the case studies. These opportunities have been recognized and exploited through the process described by Shane (2003). This evidence confirms the ontological and epistemological perspective offered by the so called “Discovery School”. Furthermore in some case studies is evident the presence of effectual logic (Sarasvathy 2001, 2008), as driving logic of the entrepreneurial decision making process. The entrepreneurs act both causally and effectually. This fact lead us to confirm the idea that some opportunities exist only in the entrepreneurs’ mind and thus they are created by the entrepreneur herself/himself. We demonstrate, as far as high-tech entrepreneurship is concerned, the co-existence of two processes: recognition and creation. A powerful general theory of entrepreneurship should take into account both of them, and should try to reconcile the Creative and the Discovery School. Unifying two ontological and epistemological perspectives is a true challenge that the community of scholars and researcher is requested to face.

Sustainable Built Environments Senior Capstone<br>The purpose of this paper is to provide basic empirical evidence to support the implementation of an innovation campus in downtown Tucson. This would be a satellite of the Arizona Center for Innovation (AZCI) currently located in the University of Arizona Science and Technology Park – an innovation, research and business center on the outskirts of Tucson. A multi-case study analysis will be performed where the results will be compared with that of the AZCI results, using the same criteria.

This study investigates the use of two alternative ways of thinking: effectuation and causation logics on decision making in tech startups. Thestudy presents critical examination of the effectual principles: means driven, affordable loss, reliance on network, leveraging contingencies along with the causal approaches and their adoption in early stage tech startups. Thestudy discusses and elucidates the role of decision making and explores the usage of the two logics by ten tech entrepreneurs. The data wascollected in the month of April and May 2020 through semi-structured, in-depth interviews and reveals howand whytech entrepreneurs preferred to use the two decision making logics. Ourfindings suggest that effectuation and causation logics are often usedsimultaneously by tech entrepreneurs during the early stageto overcome the challenges faced during the startup’searlylifecycle.

This thesis focuses on returnee entrepreneurs in a large industrial cluster, Zhongguancun Science Park in Beijing, based on a combined quantitative and qualitative method. Using a hand-collected dataset of returnee entrepreneur-owned 353 SMEs (small and medium enterprises) and local entrepreneur-owned 358 SMEs from Zhongguancun Science Park, the author empirically investigates the role of returnee-firms in technology transfer and knowledge spillovers. The findings suggest returnee entrepreneurs play a significant role in technology transfer and act as a new channel for international knowledge spillovers. It also examines the relationship between the characteristics of returnees and their firms' performance in comparison with non-returnee firms. The results also show that returnee-firms have gained competitive advantage in high-tech industries and perform better than non-returnee firms. Based on eight case studies, the author also compares and contrasts differences and similarities in term of internationalisation process of these two types of firms. It is found that returnee entrepreneurs are the early adopters of internationalisation due to their international background and international networks.

This study focuses on how entrepreneurs learn about international business opportunities and explores the factors that affect the way they do it. The main conclusion of the literature review was that current international entrepreneurship research is still under development and the topic of international entrepreneurial learning about business opportunities yet to receive widespread attention. In addition, entrepreneurs utilise different ways to learn about the opportunities. However, there is a lack of coherence among scholars on what learning strategies are exactly, how many of them exist, and how they should be defined and categorised (Kakkonen, 2010).The research strategy of this study is based on the mixed methods approach. The design is a two-phase, sequential mixed methods study, utilising a qualitative, followed by a quantitative phase (Creswell et al., 2003). The qualitative phase was split into two parts: QUAL1 and QUAL2. Each qualitative phase includes the analysis of interviews and focus group discussions (Tashakkori and Teddlie, 1998). In the quantitative phase, a web-based questionnaire was the chosen data collection tool (Cobanoglu et al., 2001; Sills and Song, 2002). The study was conducted on a sample of 178 high-tech entrepreneurs in Israel. The results show that international entrepreneurs learn strategically about business opportunities. They utilise different ways, means, and mechanisms to assist in the identification process of entrepreneurial opportunities. These processes can be considered as learning processes, and the way they are enacted can be termed as 'learning strategies'. Based on the findings of the qualitative phases (QUAL1, QUAL2) and prior studies, six learning strategies were identified as relevant to the process of opportunity identification. Furthermore, the quantitative phase showed that business ownership experience and entrepreneurial self-efficacy have a significant influence on prior knowledge on international arena. In addition, prior knowledge was found as the most significant factor, affecting the ways entrepreneurs learn about business opportunities, while the cognitive style was found to moderate the strength of the relationships between prior knowledge and the learning strategies. Social networking ties also had an impact on the ways entrepreneurs learn, however this influence is diverse, and its statistical significance depends on the specific learning strategy. The importance and contribution of the proposed study can be defined as follows: Firstly, the study can help to reveal the underlying logic of opportunity identification as a learning process. Secondly, combining different frameworks into a new conceptual model as has been done in this study, may establish a new outlook, and contribute to the progress of research into entrepreneurship. Thirdly, International entrepreneurs can also benefit from these elements by acknowledging that they have a battery of learning strategies, which are relevant to the opportunity identification process, and most importantly, they can be taught how to learn about an idea throughout the process of opportunity identification.

Globalization of business and development of new technologies have enabled the emerge of firms that aim at international markets right away or soon after their foundation. In these knowledge-intensive, flexibly operating firms the role of the entrepreneur(s) is highlighted. Earlier studies have reported that entrepreneur’s earlier experience, networks and behaviour influence the performance of a firm. The purpose of this study is to enlighten how entrepreneurs influence the ability of born global high tech start ups to exploit international opportunities. Furthermore, the aim is to understand the influence of the entrepreneur’s earlier experience, networks, behaviour and character as well as to elucidate how the entrepreneur’s influence changes after the start up phase. For this study six entrepreneurs from three case companies were interviewed. The results propose that entrepreneur’s experience, networks and behaviour all have an influence on this kind of firms and by understanding this, entrepreneurs can better understand the consequences of their actions and positively influence the performance of the company.

Within the disciplines of education and political science, the phenomenon of the voluntary transfer of policy ideas or practices from elsewhere, or “policy borrowing”, is often the topic of intense debate and study. The study of policy transfer also has strong links with the field of diffusion. Scholars in these fields study cases of policy transfer to understand (1) what motives and mechanisms cause policy diffusion and transfer, and (2) how policies are adapted, or reinvented, in the process of being transferred. The majority of such studies have focused on state-to-state cases of policy transfer involving predominantly government actors. Yet, a growing but still limited number of studies have considered the ways policy entrepreneurs have initiated transfer and utilized networks to bring about and implement policy ideas taken from elsewhere. Teach First provides a unique case-study through which to investigate the role of policy entrepreneurs and networks in shaping the process of policy transfer and reinvention. Teach First launched in 2002 as a non-profit organization and innovative teacher training programme based in London. The scheme, proposed and implemented by leaders within the private sector but heavily funded by the central government, was publicly linked to the U.S. programme Teach For America (TFA). Like TFA, Teach First’s purpose was to improve the schooling of disadvantaged pupils by recruiting elite university graduates to teach for two years in under-resourced schools. My research aimed to uncover how and why this policy was first conceptualized and launched as well as how it was reinvented in the process by those individuals and groups involved. Thus, through a case-study of Teach First’s emergence, this study investigates: What roles do policy entrepreneurs and networks play in policy transfer and diffusion processes? and How are policy entrepreneurs and networks involved in reinventing policy during the transfer process? To explore these research questions, I carried out semi-structured interviews with more than 50 individuals from various sectors who were involved in the creation of either Teach First or TFA. After transcribing all interviews, I used a form of narrative analysis to reconstruct the policy story of how Teach First emerged. In the process, I uncovered and accounted for the diversity of motives, institutional pressures, and contextual factors shaping Teach First’s development with a focus on the policy entrepreneurs and networks. Drawing on previous research in policy transfer, innovation-diffusion, and institutionalism to analyze the policy story, I concluded that both policy entrepreneurs and networks were responsible for bringing about transfer of TFA to England and shaping the nature and extent of its reinvention. This temporal process was furthered shaped by the highly politicized nature of initial teacher training in England, which limited the autonomy of policy entrepreneurs and forced further adaptation of Teach First in ways that its original sponsors had not intended. I also discovered that, while the TFA model played an influential role in this process, TFA was not generally used as a guiding model during implementation. Furthermore, I argue that in the process of mobilizing support for Teach First and implementing the idea in its first year, a new network emerged and represented a potentially influential new voice in education. This study aims to contribute to (1) the knowledge of the roles of policy entrepreneurs and networks in policy innovation, diffusion, and transfer and (2) the growing but still limited research on Teach First. This study also provides a foundation for further studies of Teach For All, an organization co-founded in 2007 by Teach First and TFA, which works to spread the programme globally. Through Teach For All, at least thirty-eight other countries now have programmes modeled on TFA and Teach First, though little research has examined how Teach First came about and spread in this way. Finally, the research also illustrates the value of a methodology not often used in transfer studies – narrative reconstruction – through which data is formed into a storied narrative to account for the complexities of the contexts and the socially–constructed views of the diversity of actors involved in policy-making and transfer.

In a country where inventors and innovators are noted as being at liberty to enter and contribute to the free market space, conversely studies have found that Black tech entrepreneurs face greater difficulty launching and growing their businesses. A review of the literature suggests that many of these difficulties stem from the lingering effects of historical inequalities. These inequalities have existed for decades due to laws and regulations that once limited home ownership, income earning, credit access, inheritances, and educational opportunities. Additionally, literature in the tech arena has demonstrated a lack of diversity in the field. Pattern matching or preconceived standards have also been said to impact Black tech entrepreneurs’ opportunities to receive investments to launch and grow their businesses. While great dialogue has taken place in the tech arena around these disparities, little is known in academic literature about how Black tech entrepreneurs engage in the process of creating innovative brands and marketing their companies. In light of this, the researcher conducted a qualitative case study designed to explore black tech entrepreneurs’ perceptions of how they learn to launch and grow their businesses. This study engaged participants who self-identified as tech entrepreneurs of Black or African descent who have launched apps, websites, or hybrid companies in the United States. Among the key findings that emerged from the study were: An overwhelming majority of participants described that seeking the counsel of “expert” others was a key action in securing funding to grow their companies. Further, a strong majority of participants indicated that having a positive self-concept was a key facilitator in growing their businesses; while, an equal number indicated that a misalignment between the investor and entrepreneur inhibited their ability to grow. The tech entrepreneurial field can evolve through the increased trying on of differing perspectives by both investors and entrepreneurs; the continued development of diversity tech ecosystems and support networks; and, sustained progress in increasing the investment opportunities for Black tech entrepreneurs.

AbstractThe world of AI offers new opportunities for companies and is therefore of particular interest to entrepreneurs at potentially every level impacting their business. The following article therefore tries to classify the roles of artificial intelligence (AI) applications on the strategic level and their influence on business models. By means of case studies, current business practice will be examined to give entrepreneurs and researchers an understanding of this technology, by providing practical examples so that they can pursue their own AI path. The analysis is based on case studies that examine the role of AI in a company’s business model, both for new market participants in the form of start-ups and incumbents such as the tech giants. By means of case studies, both sides of the extremes are covered in order to provide a picture of the scope of the applications. Insights from these case studies are processed to develop a classification scheme of the influence of AI on business models. Furthermore, the interaction of the different innovation possibilities of AI is compared and with that the importance for the innovative power of companies. Additionally, strategy types are developed on the basis of the presented classification scheme, but give entrepreneurs a suggestion for their own AI path in terms of AI applications to consider. Further, research could consider the influence of the presented AI roles in business models, especially the AI-driven business model is of interest here.

AbstractEmerging technologies can be defined as a set of technologies whose development and application areas are still expanding rapidly, and their technical and value potential is still largely unrealised. Naturally, this leads to a vivid innovation environment for these technologies. In this book, tech-savvy people can easily read and understand the working principles of 34 different emerging technologies. And then, they can see in what areas these technologies are used and how they can create value. Moreover, the book starts with an “Innovation Journey” chapter. This chapter focuses on innovation and how ideas are converted into value and business. By value, we mean monetary, environmental and social value. In addition, for entrepreneurs and start-ups, we also show the funding and financing mechanisms for innovative ideas.

Who are the high-technology entrepreneurs: superheroes or jack-of-all-trades? Is there a new generation of young entrepreneurs who “think different” and use new and unexpected perspectives to imagine their business, products and mission? This paper presents some empirical evidences emerging from a multiple case study composed by 20 Italian technology intensive firms. After a review of the high-technology entrepreneur topic, some typologies of the Italian high-tech entrepreneurs are analyzed and finally an elementary classification is proposed in order to clarify the difference between “old” and “new way” entrepreneurship. New trends, behaviours, strategies and business models are explored in order to contribute to the academic debate and the practical knowledge about high-technology entrepreneurship. The last section of the paper suggests a future research agenda.

This paper discusses issues of the economic environment in connection with organizational highquality (differentiation) strategy and business orientation. The specificity of the cutting-edge hightech business environment based on knowledge enables enterprises to orient with greater confidence towards a strategy of high quality of the offered products and services. The purpose of the report is to present and analyse elements of the business environment in Dubai, serving as a prerequisite for the implementation of the strategy of high quality. An example of the relationship between the high-tech environment and the vision of consultants and managers regarding the strategic issues of the development of the organization and the offering of high-quality products and services is presented. The specific business environment makes it possible to focus on specific areas in which the entrepreneur has competencies and can secure a target customer group showing interest in a differentiated product or service.

SMEs are seen as the one of the main factors, impacting the growth of the national economy, contributing to the new jobs and social stability. The tendencies of political, economic and technological changes, competition in the local market, and demand of customers have encouraged the managers and entrepreneurs to be more proactive and to take greater risks in developing appropriate international strategies. The paper aims to disclose the main motives and barriers, impacting international expansion of SMEs. The research investigated the extensive number of prevailing factors and considered traditional and high-tech industries. The adopted approach let us provide the main insights into the theory development and to suggest the main propositions for the future investigations.

Human economic behavior arises from primal instincts for survival and, despite our higher aspirations, it seems we just can't escape this fact. History shows that ideologically inspired experiments in egalitarian economic systems have always stalled or utterly failed. Nevertheless, after the financial market crash of 2008, many tech entrepreneurs were bewitched with the captivating and viral idea that technology could eradicate the barriers between individuals who wanted to share the resources they had. This led to the sudden much-hyped explosion of so-called "sharing economy" marketplace start-ups around 2010. However, research that I led showed that idealistic entrepreneurs misunderstood or forgot the basics of human economic behavior and my team's findings predicted the demise of all but the companies that were able to compete on classical economic terms (better value for money). I joined one such company, Lyft, because I shared the founders' vision for more sustainable transportation. Nevertheless, Lyft and the other rideshare and disruptive transportation companies must all compete fiercely to survive. It's a challenging road ahead, with many obstacles to overcome, but the destination is one I remain deeply committed to; I am still an idealist at heart!