William B. Gartner

“Who Is an Entrepreneur?” Is the Wrong Question:

Entrepreneurship is the creation of organizations. What differentiates entrepreneurs from non-entrepreneurs is that entrepreneurs create organizations, while non-entrepreneurs do not. In behavioral approaches to the study of entrepreneurship an entrepreneur is seen as a set of activities involved in organization creation, while in trait approaches an entrepreneur is a set of personality traits and characteristics. This paper argues that trait approaches have been unfruitful and that behavioral approaches will be a more productive perspective for future research in entrepreneurship.

Arriving at the high-growth firm

This study explores heterogeneity in how firms have achieved high growth. Using the population of all firms in Sweden with more than 20 employees in existence in 1996 (n= 11,748), we analyzed their development for each year of the previous 10 years (1987 to 1996). From this population of all firms in Sweden, multiple criteria were used to define a sample of high growth firms (n = 1,501). Using nineteen different measures of firm growth (such as relative and absolute sales growth, relative and absolute employee growth, organic growth versus acquisition growth, and the regularity and volatility of growth rates over the ten year period) we identified seven different types of firm growth patterns. These patterns were related to firm age and size as well as industry affiliation. Implications for research and practice are offered.

What are we talking about when we talk about entrepreneurship

Explores the primary issues and concerns that make up the field of study of entrepreneurship and identifies eight themes that characterize this field. In order to identify these themes, a serious of three questionnaires was sent to academic researchers, business leaders, and politicians, in an iterative Delphi process. The first questionnaire asked the respondents to define entrepreneurship. These definitions were then compiled and broken into ninety attributes. The second questionnaire asked the participants to rank the list of attributes. Based on these rankings, the attributes were broken into eight themes: the entrepreneur, innovation, organization creation, creating value, profit or nonprofit, growth, uniqueness, and the owner-manager. The final questionnaire asked for feedback on the eight themes. In the end, two viewpoints on entrepreneurship emerged. The first viewpoint focuses on the characteristics of entrepreneurship while the second focuses on the outcomes of entrepreneurship. Despite this work, a definition of entrepreneurship has not yet emerged. (SRD)

Exploring Start-Up Event Sequences

This research investigates which specific behaviors and the number and sequences of behaviors by nascent entrepreneurs are likely to result in the creation of a successful business. The primary objective is to answer these questions: (1) What activities were undertaken? (2) How many activities were undertaken? (3) When were these activities undertaken? Data were drawn from secondary analysis of two representative samples: 683 adult residents in Wisconsin and 1,016 adult residents in the United States. From these, 71 nascent entrepreneurs were identified and their activities tracked across two interviews. Forty-eight percent set up a business operation; over 20 percent gave up trying; and almost one third were still trying. From the analysis of results, activity profiles of the three types of nascent entrepreneurs were developed:(1) Started a business. Entrepreneurs who started a business early on undertook activities to make the business tangible; they undertook more activities; they quickly put themselves into the day-to-day process of running a business. (2) Gave up. Those who gave up starting a business discovered their initial idea would not work. (3) Still trying.Those still trying seemed not to be undertaking enough activities to determine whether to give up or start the business; they had undertaken fewer activities than those in other groups, and fewer that would make the business real to others. Concludes that kinds of activities, numbers of activities, and sequence of activities significantly affect ability of nascent entrepreneurs to create businesses.(TNM)

Acting as If: Differentiating Entrepreneurial from Organizational Behavior:

This paper suggests that entrepreneurship is the process of “emergence.” An organizational behavior perspective on entrepreneurship would focus on the process of organizational emergence. The usefulness of the emergence metaphor is explored through an exploration of two questions that are the focus of much of the research in organizational behavior: “What do persons in organizations do?” (we will explore this question by looking at research and theory on the behaviors of managers), and “Why do they do what they do?” (ditto for motivation). The paper concludes with some implications for using the idea of emergence as a way to connect theories and methodologies from organizational behavior to entrepreneurship.

A profile of new venture success and failure in an emerging industry

Abstract This study examined three types of factors: (1) the characteristics of the lead entrepreneur, (2) startup processes undertaken during the founding of the firm, and (3) firm behaviors after start-up, including management practices and strategic behaviors, associated with new venture success and failure. The research involved a field study of 26 small, young firms; 13 successful and 13 less, successful (or failed), each engaged in the distribution of fresh juices in eight metropolitan centers (about 30% of the total market) in the United States. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected through field work at each firm location. A statistical analysis of data collected in a structured questionnaire was the primary method for testing the factors. Case studies of all of the firms were developed to provide qualitative support for the quantitative findings of the study. Results from these analyses indicated significant differences between successful and unsuccessful firms in all three categories. Lead entrepreneurs in successful firms were more likely to have been raised by entrepreneurial parents, have had a broader business and more prior startup experience, and believed they had less control of their success in business, than unsuccessful entrepreneurs. Successful entrepreneurs seek to reduce risk in their businesses. They work long hours, have a personal investment in the firm, and are good communicators. Successful firms were those initiated with ambitious goals. Lead entrepreneurs had a clear broad business idea which provided the adaptive torque required to overcome adversity, confrontation, and often, a troubled financial condition. Effective startup or purchase required broad planning efforts that considered all aspects of the industry and firm. Successful firms spent more time planning (237 hours) than unsuccessful firms (85 hours). The use of outside professionals and advisors for help in solving specific problems during startup was important for success as well as the advice and information provided by other industry participants, particularly customers and suppliers. Most ventures did not have written business plans. Nearly all purchased firms failed. Buyers of competitively troubled firms were negatively displaced, generally unemployed managers who lacked broad management experience, and while often well educated, had no prior experience in purchasing a business. Successful firms were found to be more flexible, participative, and adaptive organizations. These firms had employees who could perform the work duties of others and were likely to be managed in a way that provided these workers with the flexibility to modify their jobs to adapt to changing industry and organizational conditions. Lead entrepreneurs of successful firms were likely to spend more time communicating with partners, customers, suppliers, and employees than the lead entrepreneurs of unsuccessful firms. Successful firms sought to become larger firms and embarked upon sales to broad sectors of the market. Successful firms achieved high market shares; with market shares came higher financial returns. Less successful firms were restricted to narrow market sectors consisting of smaller customers and those more difficult to service. While customer service remained an important concern, the commodity nature of fresh juices failed to support differentiation, and the narrowly focused firm was typified by high product costs and unprofitable operations.

Is There an Elephant in Entrepreneurship? Blind Assumptions in Theory Development

This article uses the six key specification decisions for entrepreneurship research (purpose, theoretical perspective, focus, level of analysis, time frame, and methodology) outlined in Low and MacMillan (1988) to explore unstated assumptions in entrepreneurship theory development. An article by Shane and Venkataraman (2000), “The Promise of Entrepreneurship as a Field of Research,” is analyzed and recommended as a model for clarity. A recommendation is made that the field of entrepreneurship needs to develop communities of scholars identified with specific research questions and issues.

Some Suggestions for Research on Entrepreneurial Traits and Characteristics

This article suggests that researchers submitting manuscripts on entrepreneurial traits and characteristics should: ground their studies in the context of previous research, articulate a specific theory about the nature of entrepreneurship and its relationship to the entrepreneur, define key ideas and variables, conscientiously identify and select samples, and use current social psychology and personality theory-based measurement instruments or provide construct validity evidence for newly constructed measures.

The Prevalence of Nascent Entrepreneurs in the United States: Evidence from the Panel Study of Entrepreneurial Dynamics

The Panel Study of Entrepreneurial Dynamics (PSED) is a national longitudinal sample of 64,622 U.S. households that were contacted to find individuals who were actively engaged in starting new businesses. The PSED includes information on: the proportion and characteristics of the adult population involved in attempts to start new businesses, the kinds of activities nascent entrepreneurs undertake during the business startup process, and the proportion and characteristics of the start-up efforts that become infant firms. Prevalence rates for nascent entrepreneurs are reported by gender and ethnicity (whites, blacks and Hispanics) on such demographic variables as: age, education, household income, and urban context.

Entrepreneurial Expectancy, Task Effort, and Performance *

Research to date has not adequately explained the role that expectancy of entrepreneurial performance based on perceived ability plays in motivating persons to persevere on an entrepreneurial task. This study investigated the entrepreneurial expectancy, effort–performance linkage via a World Wide Web–based experiment involving 179 undergraduate business students at a large midwestern university. Results indicated that the type of feedback (positive versus negative) that individuals received regarding their entrepreneurial ability (regardless of actual ability) changed expectancies regarding future business start–up, but did not alter task effort or quality of performance. Individuals receiving positive feedback about their entrepreneurial abilities had higher entrepreneurial expectancies than individuals receiving negative feedback. We also found that males had higher expectancies regardless of experimental condition than females.