William R. Meek

Gender and entrepreneurship: a review and process model

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to review the literature on gender, and specifically, women and entrepreneurship as well as present a process model of gender and entrepreneurship to guide future research.Design/methodology/approach – Following research from Baron and Henry, the literature is organized into a process model of gender and entrepreneurship and a brief review of the research on each stage of the model is presented. Further, building on the process model, specific propositions associated with each stage that are motivated by expectancy theory are developed.Findings – Research on women and entrepreneurship has increased over the last two decades and there is much research yet to be done.Practical implications – Practical implications include that women may engage in networking activities focused on family and friends for obtaining financial resources.Social implications – Based on this review, evidence suggests societal attributions and socialization processes relative to the sexes may cr...

Commitment in Franchising: The Role of Collaborative Communication and a Franchisee's Propensity to Leave

Social exchange theory provides the basis for developing a model where collaborative communication from the franchisor relates positively to commitment, and commitment relates negatively to franchisees’ propensity to leave the relationship. We analyze data from a unique dataset of 200 franchisees and find partial support for this model; franchisor communication positively relates to one dimension of franchisee commitment, and one dimension of commitment negatively relates to propensity to leave. The study expands franchising theory by examining the franchising relationship from a social exchange perspective and by empirically demonstrating the important role commitment plays in the franchising context.

Navigating a Sea of Change: Identity Misalignment and Adaptation in Academic Entrepreneurship:

The commercialization of university–held research discoveries is increasingly seen as a promising source of revenue, and a growing number of universities are adding policies and incentives in an attempt to encourage commercialization activities. The effectiveness of these efforts is in jeopardy, however, because these changes can unintentionally create an environment ripe for misalignment between policies and incentives and university scientists’ work identity. We develop a conceptual model that suggests such changes trigger moral and hedonistic cognitive dissonance, and in reaction scientists can engage in identity adaptation via distinct pathways, leading to different levels of commercialization engagement intensity.

Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy And Firm Performance In Challenging Environments: Evidence From The Franchise Context

The purpose of the current study is to investigate the impact of the five ESE dimensions on firm performance. More specifically, we examine whether any of the five ESE dimensions are important to firm performance when the external environment is either competitively intense or technologically turbulent. This study investigated these relationships using a sample of franchisees, an important audience understudied in entrepreneurial literature. We find that the three-way interaction of competitive intensity, technological turbulence and each of ESE innovation, ESE management, and ESE financial control predicts franchisee performance. This confirms the wisdom of studying ESE as consisting of specific dimensions (as opposed to holistically) because not all ESE dimensions interact with franchisee environment in predicting performance.

GENDER DIFFERENCES IN ENTREPRENEURIAL RELATIONSHIPS WITHIN THE FRANCHISE CONTEXT

This study examines how entrepreneurial relationship variables such as trust, conflict, interpersonal justice (IJ) and satisfaction differ among a group of male and female franchisees. Results suggest differences exist between these two groups in relation to conflict, IJ and trust with their franchisor. These results are consistent with research on feminine gender roles and research that suggests female entrepreneurs are more relationship oriented throughout the entrepreneurial process. The results further make a case for the importance of empirically examining different entrepreneurial relationship variables in future research on gender and entrepreneurship, and illustrate the power of the franchising business model in breaking down potential barriers of gender discrimination for female entrepreneurs.

Venture creation persistence: overcoming stage-gate issues

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide insights into how nascent entrepreneurs persist despite outward appearances of little progress by using participant observations, and autobiographical and interview data. Design/methodology/approach Utilizing a multi-year case study, the authors use participant observation, autobiographical, and interview data to build the arguments. Findings The authors demonstrate that persistence involves overcoming stage-gate issues, and overcoming stage gates requires a flurry of activity and opportunity variation. Once stage gates are overcome, entrepreneurs experience an emergence-like event with a new flurry of activity that propels them toward the next stage gate. Doing so, the authors extend theories of entrepreneurial persistence and entrepreneurial action by suggesting that nascent entrepreneurs who are slowly making progress toward start-up may be persisting by taking small but important steps toward start-up. Originality/value This study offers detailed observations and analysis about the behaviors and activities that a nascent entrepreneur undertook during an extremely long gestation/persistence period, which ultimately ended with the successful completion of the goal.