David Y. Choi

The venture development processes of “sustainable” entrepreneurs

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the venture development processes (or “entrepreneurial processes”) of “sustainable” entrepreneurs, i.e. entrepreneurs who create and build profitable companies that also pursue environmental or social causes. The paper aims to find how these mission‐oriented entrepreneurs achieve their business objectives while serving their social and environmental causes.Design/methodology/approach – The paper identifies 21 successful sustainable entrepreneurial companies in various industries ranging from apparel to biotechnology that were exemplary in their pursuit for sustainability. The paper examined their key decisions and activities in their “entrepreneurial process”, collecting most of the relevant information from published or self‐developed case studies.Findings – The paper finds that most of sustainable entrepreneurs are an unusual breed with limited business backgrounds. Most obtain financing from non‐conventional sources and employ unorthodox, yet sound huma...

Control, Autonomy and Collaboration in the Fast Food Industry A Comparative Study between Domestic and International Franchising

This article examines the similarities and differences between domestic (US) and international franchises in the amount of control exerted by their US franchisors and the degree of autonomy accorded to franchisees. Based on in-depth interviews with franchisor representatives and franchisees from McDonalds, Subway, Papa Johns, and Dominos, exploratory research is conducted to compare and contrast the franchisor-franchisee relationship in the fast food industry between the USA and Iceland, Ireland, the UK, Belgium, and the Netherlands.The interviews suggest that international franchisees tend to have more autonomy than their US counterparts, especially in decisions involving local market adaptation and in situations in which they experience strong performance or are master franchisees. On the other hand, experienced international franchisees are less likely to demand autonomy, while experienced US franchisees seek more autonomy. Interestingly, international franchisors and franchisees under hardship tend to seek collaboration rather than compete for control or autonomy.

An Examination of the Nonlinear Thinking Style Profile Stereotype of Successful Entrepreneurs

This study begins to empirically examine whether successful entrepreneurs possess a high nonlinear (e.g., creative, intuitive) thinking style, as some researchers and popular stereotypes of entrepreneurs would suggest, or whether they possess a more balanced nonlinear and linear (e.g., rational, logical, analytic) thinking style. As predicted, 48 successful entrepreneurs reflected a much greater level of balance in linear/nonlinear thinking style than their professional actor (n = 33) (predominantly nonlinear) and accountant (n = 31) (predominantly linear) counterparts, as measured by a linear/nonlinear thinking style instrument. Implications are discussed for guiding future cognitive research and theory development in entrepreneurship, as well as providing direction to entrepreneurship education and training.

Homeboy Industries: An Incubator of Hope and Businesses

This case presents the story of Homeboy Industries, which was founded by Father Greg Boyle, S.J. to offer employment opportunities to former gang members in East Los Angeles. Homeboy Industries has successfully launched several businesses to hire and train “homies” who otherwise may not have found jobs. Michael Baca, the new operations director, is faced with the decision of whether to pursue expansion of the promising merchandising division. Complicating the decision is the need to balance both the social and business objectives of Homeboy Industries while dealing with the organizations extreme shortage of managerial and financial resources. This depiction of an unusual entrepreneurial environment also illustrates several organizational challenges and philosophical dilemmas that are common among social ventures.