Donald F. Kuratko

The Emergence of Entrepreneurship Education: Development, Trends, and Challenges:

Entrepreneurship has emerged over the last two decades as arguably the most potent economic force the world has ever experienced. With that expansion has come a similar increase in the field of entrepreneurship education. The recent growth and development in the curricula and programs devoted to entrepreneurship and new–venture creation have been remarkable. The number of colleges and universities that offer courses related to entrepreneurship has grown from a handful in the 1970s to over 1,600 in 2005. In the midst of this huge expansion remains the challenge of complete academic legitimacy for entrepreneurship. While it can be argued that some legitimacy has been attained in the current state of entrepreneurship education, there are critical challenges that lie ahead. This article focuses on the trends and challenges in entrepreneurship education for the 21st century.

Conceptualizing Corporate Entrepreneurship Strategy

Our knowledge of corporate entrepreneurship (CE) continues to expand. However, this knowledge remains quite fragmented and non–cumulative. Herein, we conceptualize CE strategy as a useful focal point for integrating and synthesizing key elements within CEs intellectual domain. The components of our CE strategy model include (1) the antecedents of CE strategy (i.e., individual entrepreneurial cognitions of the organizations members and external environmental conditions that invite entrepreneurial activity), (2) the elements of CE strategy (i.e., top managements entrepreneurial strategic vision for the firm, organizational architectures that encourage entrepreneurial processes and behavior, and the generic forms of entrepreneurial process that are reflected in entrepreneurial behavior), and (3) the outcomes of CE strategy (i.e., organizational outcomes resulting from entrepreneurial actions, including the development of competitive capability and strategic repositioning). We discuss how our model contributes to the CE literature, distinguish our model from prior models, and identify challenges future CE research should address.

The Antecedents and Consequences of Firm-Level Entrepreneurship: The State of the Field

Empirical research into firm-level entrepreneurship spans over a quarter of a century. This article reviews the current state of this research by identifying key trends in 45 published empirical studies; examining the key issues addressed and methods used to examine them; and outlining six key areas that need greater attention in future research.

A proposed research model of entrepreneurial motivation

Drawing on the literature involving the venture start-up process, integrated with motivational theory from the field of organizational behavior, a model describing the factors that affect firm start-up, strategic implementation, and the entrepreneurs decision to sustain entrepreneurship is proposed. Several hypotheses for future research are suggested.

A Model of Middle-Level Managers' Entrepreneurial Behavior

Middle–level managers’ entrepreneurial behavior is linked to successful corporate entrepreneurship. Herein, we integrate knowledge about corporate entrepreneurship and middle–level managers’ behaviors to develop and explore a conceptual model. The model depicts the organizational antecedents of middle–level managers’ entrepreneurial behavior, the entrepreneurial actions describing that behavior, and outcomes of that behavior as well as factors influencing its continuance. Following discussion of the models contents, we describe its potential value for researchers and those engaging in corporate entrepreneurship.

An Interactive Model of the Corporate Entrepreneurship Process

A review of the intrapreneurship and entrepreneurship literature suggests that there may be consistent organizational and Individual characteristics that lead to intrapreneurial behavior. To date, very little research exists which attempts to establish a theoretical framework or model that outlines the various components, Including Individual and organizational characteristics that affect the corporate entrepreneurship process. This paper proposes a model that explains the intrapreneurial process based on a review of past theoretical and empirical research.

Strategic Entrepreneurship: Exploring Different Perspectives of an Emerging Concept

Within the entrepreneurship and strategic management domains there has been a movement by scholars to combine certain aspects of both areas to create a new concept of strategic entrepreneurship. To date, however, there remains much to know about what constitutes this concept. This special issue is the result of a unique research conference in Germany where some of the worlds most renowned scholars gathered to explore this concept in depth. The set of articles in this special issue examine different perspectives that relate to strategic entrepreneurship and we believe contribute to the growing body of knowledge on this concept by examining diverse scholarly topics. This introduction provides the overview of the perspectives contained in strategic entrepreneurship and argues for the importance of embracing diverse views at this stage rather than attempting to restrict the analysis of this emerging topic.

Examining the Link between Familiness and Performance: Can the F-PEC Untangle the Family Business Theory Jungle?

Family business research appears to be caught in a “jungle” of competing theories in regards to familiness and performance. This study provides a further empirical examination into that relationship. We employ a family influence scale (the familiness–power, experience, and culture scale [F–PEC]) presented by Klein, Astrachan, and Smyrnios in an attempt to assess the relationship between familiness and performance in 831 family businesses. The resulting regression analysis adds to the current state of the literature by demonstrating significant and interesting results. Specifically, familiness showed associations with revenue, capital structure, growth, and perceived performance; however, the relationships were both positive and negative, thus casting doubt upon the F–PEC as a vehicle for untangling the jungle. We conclude with discussion and implications.

Perception of Internal Factors for Corporate Entrepreneurship: A Comparison of Canadian and U.S. Managers:

The purpose of this study was to expand on the previous research conducted by Kuratko, Montagno, and Hornsby (1990) and Hornsby, Montagno, and Kuratko (1992), which was limited to two American samples. The main hypothesis is that, due to the cultural differences that exist between the U.S. and Canada, there will be differences in responses of U.S. and Canadian managers to factors perceived to be part of an organizational culture that fosters entrepreneurial behavior. The findings suggest the following: U.S. and Canadian managers perceive the workplace similarly in terms of entrepreneurial climate; levels of intrinsic satisfaction of Canadian managers are lower than in the U.S.; overall levels of entrepreneurial behaviors are similar between the U.S. and Canada; but for Americans, entrepreneurial behavior is significantly related to the existence of particular organizational factors.

Framing the Entrepreneurial Experience

Building on affective events theory (AET), an experiential perspective for conceptualizing entrepreneurship is introduced. As a “lived experience,” entrepreneurship represents a cumulative series of interdependent events that takes on properties rooted in affect and emotion. Unique characteristics of entrepreneurial experiences are examined. The entrepreneur is presented as actor in an unscripted temporal performance who continually encounters novelty. A model and set of propositions are presented linking pre–venture experience, key events, experiential processing, learning, affective outcomes, and decision making. It is argued that the entrepreneur and venture emerge as a function of ongoing experience, with the venture creating the entrepreneur as the entrepreneur creates the venture.