HT7 - Entrepreneurship

Question 1

Drucker (1985)

Answer 1

Innovation comes from analysing 7 kinds of opportunities + commitment to the systematic pracice of innovation
1. exploiting unexpected occurrences, e.g. IBM’s machine for payroll
2. Incongruities - noticing inefficiencies, e.g. Alcon exploiting the gap in existing surgical technology
3. Process needs, e.g. adapting the reflector used in the US to Japan to see cars on the roads
4,5,6,7: Insutry and market changes, demographic changes, changes in perception, new knowledge

Question 2

Davis & Olson (2008)

Answer 2

Strategic differences between small and large companies:
1. Suppliers: relationship to resources (should we de a project vs can a project attract investment), investor expectations (steady/rapid growth, liquidity), investor risk tolerance, time horizon for results (short/long term)
2. Customer/market related: building on market strengths (established/process of choosing), size of the market (small growth is ok/not)
3. Competition-related: Visibility by and of competitors (monitoring/does not matter), portfolio management (several/one product), triage (lower/higher-level decisions)
4. Regulation-related: Constraints (several regulations/less constrained)
5. Internal culture-related: Processes (less complicated in smaller companies)

Question 3

Bhide (1996)

Answer 3

Framework for entrepreneurs to follow:
1. Clarifying goals - identifying personal goals, risks and sacrifices needed
2. Setting strategy - well-defined, focused on long-term, profits and growth matter, sustainability is key
3. Executing strategy - right resources and relationships, assessing strengths, capabilities

Question 4

Zahra & Covin (1995)

Answer 4

Corporate entrepreneurship can improve long-term financial performance (needs to be measured over a long time horizon)
CE is effective in hostile environments, as it is accomplished by risk-taking, innovation and proactive competitive behaviour

Question 5

Stevenson & Jarillo (1990)

Answer 5

1. entrepreneurial organisations pursue opportunity regardless of the resources currently controlled
2. the level of entrepreneurship within a firm is highly dependent on the individuals within the firm (not just the top management)
3. for an organisation to become entrepreneurial, it needs to position individuals to be able to detect opportunities, train them to do so, and reward them for it
4. if the negative consequence of failure is mitigated within the organisation, individuals are more likely to become entrepreneurial
5. the organisation needs to make sure that the employees can exploit opportunities
6. organisations with huge informal internal and external networks allow sharing of resources and demonstrate higher entrepreneurial activity

Question 6

Driver & Porter (2012)

Answer 6

Focusing on social change is becoming permanent – shift towards profits that also produce positive social change, and financial markets that reward companies for doing so
social entrepreneurship could be a broad foundation rather than a specialised field
shared value: ability to both create economic value and let us call it social or societal benefit – it is about solving problems while making profit
Social opportunities that are leveraged well (e.g. microfinance) can transform capitalism, not NGOs or CSR goals