Tatiana Iakovleva

Entrepreneurial intentions in developing and developed countries

Purpose – This study proposes to use the Theory of Planned Behaviour to predict entrepreneurial intentions among students in five developing and nine developed countries. The purpose is to investigate whether entrepreneurial intention and its antecedents differ between developing and developed countries, and to test the theory in the two groups of countries. Design/methodology/approach – A total of 2,225 students in 13 countries participated in this study by responding to a structured questionnaire in classrooms. Structural equation modelling was used to analyse the data. Findings – The findings indicate that respondents from developing countries have stronger entrepreneurial intentions than those from developed countries. Moreover, the respondents from developing countries also score higher on the theorys antecedents of entrepreneurial intentions – attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control – than respondents from developed countries. The findings support the Theory of Planned Behaviour in both developing and developed countries. Research limitations/implications – The findings strongly support the Theory of Planned Behaviour. The measure of subjective norms used, a multiple-item index encompassing the views of other people and motivation to comply with these, seems to have advantages over other measures of this concept. Practical implications – Developing countries need to focus on the development of institutions that can support entrepreneurial efforts. At the same time, developed economies may need to accept that entrepreneurial intentions are dependent on the dynamism of an economic environment and possibly on risk-perceiving behaviours. Originality/value – While multiple-country studies on entrepreneurship in developing and developed countries have been called for, no previous study has compared entrepreneurial intentions between developing and developed countries. The inclusion of developing countries provides a unique quasi-experimental setting in which to test the theory.

An integrated model of entrepreneurial intentions

The present research investigates whether the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) (Ajzen, 1991) and the model of the entrepreneurial event (Shapero and Sokol, 1982) can be integrated into one model of entrepreneurial intentions, and clarifies the differences between different types of entrepreneurial intentions. The model is tested using data from 324 Russian university business students. The results indicate that the two intentions models can be successfully integrated into one, where attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioural control determine desirability-feasibility, which in turn, determines intentions.

Financial availability and government support for women entrepreneurs in transitional economies: cases of Russia and Ukraine

– This paper studies female entrepreneurship in two post‐Soviet countries – Russia and Ukraine. Employing institutional theory, the research aims to investigate the entrepreneurial environment, particularly government support programmes and the availability of financial resources, with a focus on women entrepreneurs., – This research is a qualitative investigation that comprises 60 interviews with Russian and Ukrainian entrepreneurs, bank officers and representatives of government organisations supporting the development of entrepreneurship., – The investigation provides evidence that these countries have overcome the transition from a command to a market economy and local people are gradually adjusting to the new environment. Concentrating on macro/meso and money elements from the 5M model suggested by Brush et al., the authors suggest an additional construct – “motherland” – to embed a context in a new model., – Only two factors of Brush et al.s 5M model were considered – i.e. macro/meso environment and money (availability of financial resources). Discussion of management, marketing and motherhood is beyond the scope of the present paper., – The study reveals a broad range of managerial information and empirical data on the development of female entrepreneurship in contemporary Russia and Ukraine. The findings are helpful for policymakers engaged with these two countries., – The study is an attempt to capture the context dependency of research on female entrepreneurs, and suggests a new dimension for inclusion in Brush et al.’s 5M model – “motherland”.

Firm resources, opportunity recognition, entrepreneurial orientation and performance: the case of Russian women-led family businesses

This paper proposes a framework for studying the roles of entrepreneurial orientation, financial and social capital acquisition and opportunity recognition and their influence on performance expectations on a large sample of women-led family and non-family owned businesses in Russia. Based on our findings, it is possible to conclude that the ability of women entrepreneurs to identify opportunities and thereby determine and exploit the richness of resources in their environment that are aligned with their entrepreneurial strategy is crucial to the subsequent performance of their firms. The impact of being a family business, however, was not shown to be a critical factor in the performance of women-led firms. While much work remains, these findings give scholars and policy makers a better understanding of the critical resources, opportunities and strategies that can influence the growth and performance of female led family firms within transitional economies. Study limitations and future research opportunities are discussed.

Women-owned family businesses in transitional economies: key influences on firm innovativeness and sustainability

This research presents an examination of familial influence on strategic entrepreneurial behaviors within a transitional economic context. Utilizing a large sample of women-led family businesses, the study investigates the relationships between risk-taking propensity, entrepreneurial intensity, and opportunity recognition of the entrepreneur and the innovative orientation of the firm and sustainability. A model of the influences on innovativeness and sustainability in family firms is developed, and the potential contribution of the present study is the identification of constructs that facilitate these strategic outcomes and behaviors that drive growth. The degree to which family firms can create new products, services, and processes that add value to their marketplace can strongly influence their sustainability, especially in an emerging economy.

Comparison of perceived barriers to entrepreneurship in Eastern and Western European countries

This qualitative study among 591 business students from four European countries investigated cross-country differences in the kind of barriers people perceive to business start-up. In line with institutional theory, the most important perceived barriers in all countries related to regulative structures (lack of money) and cognitive conditions (lack of skills). Normative structures, defined as national culture, did not explain cross-country differences in perceived risk as start-up barrier. In Norway and The Netherlands, students reported risk perceptions more often than in Romania and Russia, whereas the latter countries are known to be more uncertainty avoidant. These results aid in developing a theory of entrepreneurial barriers, which could be used to extend current entrepreneurial intentions theories in order to predict actual start-up behaviour better. Concerning practical implications, results indicate that business start-up can be stimulated through improving regulative and cognitive institutional structures, but national differences need to be taken into account.

Entrepreneurial intentions in post-Soviet economies

In the present paper, we apply the theory of planned behaviour and personal initiative taking literature to explore the entrepreneurial intentions of 266 female and 161 male respondents in Russia and Ukraine. Our findings show that the intensity of entrepreneurial intentions reported by Ukrainian students is higher than those reported by their Russian counterparts. We also find that men have higher entrepreneurial intentions then women in these countries. At the same time, gender moderates the relationship between perceived behavioural control and intentions, but not between attitude or subjective norms and intentions. We also find that personal initiative taking does not add to the explanation of entrepreneurial intentions above the variables in the theory of planned behaviour model. We discuss the possible reasons for these findings and their implications for future research.

Entrepreneurship and Sustainability in Nature-based Tourism: The Role of Institutional Profiles in Northern Norway and Northwest Russia

Abstract This study focuses on sustainable business development in protected areas in northern Norway and northwest Russia. We used an institutional profile model with three dimensions—regulatory, cognitive, and normative—to study the countries’ institutional profiles. Qualitative interviews were conducted with tourism operators, non-government organizations, and local, regional, and national authorities in the environment and tourism sectors. Our findings reveal that regulation of protected areas, legislation, and government programmes play an important part in the development of sustainable nature-based tourism in both countries. In addition, cognitive and normative aspects are important, particularly in relation to competencies and skills of entrepreneurs and authorities, education, development of business concepts, and nature protection. These findings are used to suggest implications for policy-makers and practitioners.

Action-Based Education in Academic Entrepreneurship: A New Role of the Student?

The scope of entrepreneurship programs offered by academia has expanded significantly in many areas around Europe, Asia, North America, Australia, and New Zealand (Gartner and Vesper 1994). With reference to the theory of planned behavior and the literature on entrepreneurship education, research has confirmed that students taking entrepreneurship programs increase their competencies and strengthen their intention towards self-employment (Fayolle et al. 2006; Mwasalwiba 2010; Sanches 2010). In examining the literature, more economic oriented studies with ex ante and ex post survey responses find that students learn about their entrepreneurial aptitude through entrepreneurship education (von Graevenitz 2010). Based on previous research, Dutta et al. (2011) conclude that specialized entrepreneurship education has a significant positive impact on the likelihood of future venture creation. However, a diverse and broad-based educational experience seems to make a critical difference in terms of the entrepreneurs’ personal income and net worth. Thus, the former facilitates venture creation, whereas the latter adds to entrepreneurial success. Further, it has been noted that academic entrepreneurship is regarded as an experience or outcome, rather than a clearly defined role (Jain et al. 2009). Interestingly, in research on entrepreneurial universities (83 studies in all) revealing organizational designs that enhance commercialization of university innovations, a focus on entrepreneurial education is totally missing. The term academic entrepreneurship has been treated as a task academics can perform, but not as a role in itself (Jain et al. 2009). Thus, a blank spot in previous literature is knowledge on how the new action-based entrepreneurship programs offered by universities affect the role of students (Foss and Lozano 2012; Ollila and Williams-Middleton 2011; Rasmussen and Sorheim 2006).

Simulation and Optimization in Collaborative Ship Design: Innovative Approach

The paper presents software for simulation and optimization elaborated by a Norwegian firm. This tool is applied by an international corporation which consists of ship designers, suppliers of equipment, and R&D suppliers during their collaborating projects with shipowners. This tool allows a better coordination between participants of the design process situated in different countries, simulation of vessel behaviour in different weather conditions, and cost control. This tool can also be applied in other industries, for example, car design.