Etienne St-Jean

Factors Associated with Growth Changes in 'Gazelles'

The goal of this paper is to identify the factors that precede and may cause sudden changes in the pace of growth of high-growth SMEs or gazelles. A retrospective longitudinal case study of seven high growth SMEs that had undergone a total of 14 sudden shifts in growth reveals that a number of events caused the changes of pace. Some were triggered by the entrepreneurs decisions while others resulted from events beyond his/her control. Managements motivation for growth was an important element and this motivation changed over time, being influenced by both success and problems associated with actual growth. The success of growth strategies also appears to depend on the firms proximity to its client base and its ability to obtain the information required for sound decision-making. Lastly, the availability of tangible and intangible resources was found essential in allowing the company to seize growth opportunities and proximity to the business milieu may help accessing these resources.

FACTORS AFFECTING THE USE OF PUBLIC SUPPORT SERVICES BY SME OWNERS: EVIDENCE FROM A PERIPHERY REGION OF CANADA

Public authorities throughout the world, recognizing both the importance and fragility of SMEs, have over the years created agencies and set up numerous venture development support and assistance measures. Despite all these efforts, SME owner-managers do not appear to make maximum use of the services available. Results from a survey of 70 SME owner-managers show that the likelihood of an SME using public support services increases as the perceived usefulness of public agencies and their services increases, and as the level of knowledge of public agencies increases. Furthermore, the probability of using public support services decreases as the experience of the owner-manager increases. On one hand, many owner-managers do not seem to understand the utility or relevance of the services the agencies provide, while on the other, they do not seem to know enough about the agencies working in their region. However, most of the owner-managers who had used the agencies felt the services they had received were appropriate to their needs. Therefore, the problem appears to lie more with the perceptions of certain owner-managers than with the nature or quality of the services themselves.

Mentoring as Professional Development for Novice Entrepreneurs: Maximizing the Learning.

Mentoring can be seen as relevant if not essential in the continuing professional development of entrepreneurs. In the present study, we seek to understand how to maximize the learning that occurs through the mentoring process. To achieve this, we consider various elements that the literature suggested are associated with successful mentoring and test a comprehensive model with the main parts of the mentoring process. Using a structural equation model on a sample of 360 Canadian�?mentored entrepreneurs, the study demonstrates that mentors career�?related functions are the most effective factor in the development of learning, followed by psychological functions and the role model function. In order to foster these functions, trust and perceived similarity are needed to build a strong and high�?quality relationship as is mentee self�?disclosure. These results are of interest because they highlight the different elements that influence learning through mentoring and show the mediating role of trust, perceived similarity and mentors functions between the mentees self�?disclosure and learning.

The Effect of Mentor Intervention Style in Novice Entrepreneur Mentoring Relationships

In this study, we aimed to determine whether mentor intervention styles influence benefits gained by novice entrepreneurs through their mentoring relationship. An empirical study conducted with 360 mentees who had received mentoring services shows that an intervention style which combines a maieutic approach with mentor involvement produced the best results. This style made it possible for the mentor to play a more decisive role with the mentee and also fostered the development of certain mentee outcomes. Mentoring program directors can make their mentors aware of the importance of their mentoring style to maximize outcomes for novice entrepreneurs.

Developing Attitudes toward an Entrepreneurial Career through Mentoring: The Mediating Role of Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy.

Mentoring is reputed to support the career choices and development of individuals in various contexts. This study is one of the few that investigates the effect of mentoring on career satisfaction and retention of novice entrepreneurs. We surveyed 360 novice entrepreneurs who had been supported by a mentor. Our analyses demonstrate the direct effect of mentoring on entrepreneurial self-efficacy, which mediates the relationship between satisfaction of being an entrepreneur and the intention of staying in the profession. Moreover, mentoring not only has an indirect effect on satisfaction; it seems to have a negative direct effect on intention. This result could possibly be due to the awareness of novices regarding the limitations of their initial business project. Given that entrepreneurs are closely tied to their business project, mentoring should come earlier in the entrepreneurial process in order to influence career satisfaction and retention of novice entrepreneur.

Entrepreneurial orientation in the forestry industry: a population ecology perspective

Purpose – This study primarily seeks to focus on how entrepreneurial orientation (EO) may have influenced the evolution of SMEs in a constrained environment, namely the forestry industry. It also aims to find out how EO still acts on strategic intentions, management behaviour of the business leader and the SMEs performance.Design/methodology/approach – The approach takes the form of an empirical study based on a sample of 717 forestry SME owner‐managers, with cluster analysis of the data, taking a population ecology perspective.Findings – The study reveals the existence of two types of forestry SMEs. The first, which could be referred to as an entrepreneurially‐oriented enterprise, generates a large portion of its revenues from out‐of‐forest activities. The second type is a small‐business‐oriented enterprise. In the context of the forestry sector, many opportunities to start a business were created following the decision of large corporations to subcontract their wood supply. The study shows how entrepre...

The Influence of Decisional Autonomy on Performance and Strategic Choices - The Case of Subcontracting SMEs in Logging Operations

The emergence of new actors in the globalized economy has given rise to increased competition in a number of economic sectors, including the forest industry. The logging industry in Canada has seen challenging times in recent years, as it faces problems at both the structural and cyclical levels. Increases in the cost of fibre, currency exchange rates and compensatory fines on timber that are detrimental to exports to the United States, higher energy costs, a decrease in the price of timber and some paper products, the increasing scarcity of resources: the industry faces many serious problems.

NURTURING ENTREPRENEURIAL LEARNING THROUGH MENTORING

This study highlights the factors that maximize the entrepreneur’s learning that occurs throughout a mentoring relationship. To achieve this, we conducted a hierarchical regression analysis involving a sample of 314 mentees participating in a business-mentoring program. The findings show that to maximize the learning from this relationship, the entrepreneur must perceive similarity and mutual trust with his or her mentor. The data shows that in exerting psychological and career-related functions, the mentor enables the entrepreneur’s learning.

Wanting to change the world, is it too much of a good thing? How sustainable orientation shapes entrepreneurial behaviour

Purpose When pursuing a sustainable orientation (SO), entrepreneurs can resolve environmental and social problems and act as change agents by pursuing opportunities related to market failures. While many studies focus on entrepreneurial intention, very few try to explain entrepreneurial behaviour. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the circumstances under which people could be led to become sustainable entrepreneurs. It examines the effect of SO, as well as the entrepreneurial motivation to change society as key drivers of entrepreneurial behaviour. Design/methodology/approach The hypotheses were tested in three waves (six-month interval) on a sample of 197 university students that are neither entrepreneurs, nor involved in any entrepreneurial processes. The authors measured entrepreneurial behaviour as a dependent variable and used subjective norms towards entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial self-efficacy, entrepreneurial attitude as well as entrepreneurial motivation and SO as independent variables. Findings Contrary to the expectations, sustainability orientation has a negative impact on entrepreneurial action. However, individuals who think that entrepreneurship can change society (instrumentality) exhibit higher entrepreneurial action. Furthermore, this belief positively moderates the negative impact of SO on entrepreneurial action. In other words, if someone thinks that entrepreneurship can change the world, not only he/she is more inclined to engage in entrepreneurial actions but their values of SO will not decrease their entrepreneurial action. Research limitations/implications A longer timeframe of longitudinal research is needed to overcome the limitation regarding the assessment of entrepreneurial action. Practical implications As a practical implication, educators who want to engage their institution as an engine of change towards sustainable development could highlight cases of sustainable businesses where profits, environmental and social issues were not neglected to improve the perceived feasibility and thus, entrepreneurial action. Originality/value Results demonstrate the negative effect of SO on entrepreneurship as a career choice, but not for those who believe that they can change society through this mean. This research highlights the relevance of Socio Cognitive Career Theory in the field of entrepreneurship, especially the neglected effect of outcome expectations on entrepreneurship as a career choice.

Can less be more? Mentoring functions, learning goal orientation, and novice entrepreneurs’ self-efficacy

One of the main goals of entrepreneurial mentoring programs is to strengthen the mentees’ self-efficacy. However, the conditions in which entrepreneurial self-efficacy (ESE) is developed through mentoring are not yet fully explored. The purpose of this paper is to test the combined effects of mentee’s learning goal orientation (LGO) and perceived similarity with the mentor and demonstrates the role of these two variables in mentoring relationships. The current study is based on a sample of 360 novice Canadian entrepreneurs who completed an online questionnaire. The authors used a cross-sectional analysis as research design. Findings indicate that the development of ESE is optimal when mentees present low levels of LGO and perceive high similarities between their mentor and themselves. Mentees with high LGO decreased their level of ESE with more in-depth mentoring received. This study investigated a formal mentoring program with volunteer (unpaid) mentors. Generalization to informal mentoring relationships needs to be tested. The study shows that, in order to effectively develop self-efficacy in a mentoring situation, LGO should be taken into account. Mentors can be trained to modify mentees’ LGO to increase their impact on this mindset and mentees’ ESE. This is the first empirical study that demonstrates the effects of mentoring on ESE and reveals a triple moderating effect of LGO and perceived similarity in mentoring relationships.