Journal of Entrepreneurship current issue

Beyond Nongovernmental Development Action into Social Entrepreneurship

Chand, V. S. — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 04:44:48 PDT

This article presents a reflective perspective on the scope that social entrepreneurship offers to non-governmental development work in the Indian context. Beginning with the early corporate efforts to do good to society, the article outlines the history of nongovernmental action through its charity, community welfare, developmental and mobilisational and ‘post-developmentalist neo-liberal political economy’ phases. It then reviews the concept of social entrepreneurship as it has developed in Western liberal democracies where a rethinking of the welfare state has taken place. While the ideology of social entrepreneurship seems to reside naturally in the current phase, only some of its aspects seem to offer growth trajectories for non-governmental work in the near future. Though the foundations and trusts that the early business entrepreneurs established did provide the initial stratum for future non-governmental work, in recent times the charitable-philanthropic orientation of business has evolved into a socially entrepreneurial form, often involving partnerships with the third sector. For the mix of non-governmental organisations (NGOs), especially those which have political goals like empowerment and social justice, social entrepreneurship, in its strict form, seems to have little to offer. But key features of the social entrepreneurial process, namely socially entrepreneurial behaviour, and more importantly social innovation—new ways of solving social problems, resourcefulness, larger scale and wider impact and solutions that are transferable, scalable and cost-effective—are important future directions for all kinds of NGOs, including those whose primary thrust is empowerment and social justice. However, non-governmental organisations need to reaffirm the primacy of the civic in their purpose constantly—aware and positively critical of the ideological undercurrents that influence and shape their responses.

A Dynamic Model of Technology-based Opportunity Recognition

Garcia-Cabrera, A. M., Garcia-Soto, M. G. — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 04:44:48 PDT

Studies on the factors determining recognition of business opportunities are based on partial analyses of one or more of the variables that influence that process. But economic relationships between actors are conditioned by ongoing structures of social relationships. This work uses the cognitive approach and presents an integrated study of psychological and sociological variables, and of the interactions between these variables, both of which affect the opportunity recognition stage for technology businesses. The research makes use of a method based on a case study; the work provides a dynamic model in which the key interactions that explain the technology-based opportunity recognition are: (1) the interactions between entrepreneurs with complementary backgrounds, (2) the proactive management of involvement in networks, (3) the entrepreneurial-technological alertness and (4) learning and continuous evaluation.

Ownership Patterns and Ethical Practices of Small Enterprises in Kolkata

Dutta, S., Banerjee, S. — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 04:44:48 PDT

The modern business environment is characterised by increased scrutiny of ethical practices. Given the ubiquitous role of small businesses and their expanding realm in the globalised era, it is becoming imperative that these enterprises reckon with the ethical dimension of business on a much more stringent basis. The issues of business ethics, which were primarily addressing problems of large corporations, are gradually encompassing the small enterprises. The objective of this research was to scrutinise the extent to which SMEs conform to ethical norms. With the use of empirical data, we tested whether proprietorship/partnership firms in the Kolkata district of West Bengal are more inclined to indulge in unethical practices in comparison with limited companies. There is clear support for the hypothesis that proprietorship and partnership firms tend to be more ethically infractious than the limited companies.

Motivational Orientation of Assamese Entrepreneurs in the SME Sector

Khanka, S.S. — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 04:44:48 PDT

This article presents the findings of a study on entrepreneurial motivation based on a sample of 243 first-generation entrepreneurs in Assam in North-East India. The results clearly showed that the entrepreneurs were primarily motivated by the need for economic achievement, personal growth, autonomy and recognition. The desire to contribute to the community was not found to be an important reason to become an entrepreneur. No significant difference was found in the motivations of men and women entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurial motivation also changed in the light of entrepreneurial experience. The most interesting finding was dramatic changes in autonomy and power motives moving down from third rank to the last (sixth) rank pursuant to entrepreneurial experience over time, implying a change in the role of entrepreneurs from doers to implementers as their enterprises grew.

Teachers as Educational-Social Entrepreneurs: The Innovation-Social Entrepreneurship Spiral

Chand, V. S., Misra, S. — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 04:44:48 PDT

This article extends the ideas underpinning the concept of ‘social entrepreneurs’ to teachers who have created social value in the contexts of socio-economic and educational deprivation. Such teachers develop innovative practices that are tailored to their situations, in order to address issues like poor demand for education in the community; social barriers to enrolment, particularly of girls, social problems that spill into the educational domain; lack of resources for education and poor schooling environments. While the teachers do tend to form a new identity which is defined by a mix of educational and social leadership qualities, their social entre-preneurial and innovative behaviour tends to be circumscribed in its impact. A policy entrepreneurship focus that encourages diffusion processes, which are different from those of the innovation generation, allows the pooling and sharing of locally effective social entrepreneurship practices, and contributes to wider social impact.

Book Reviews

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 04:44:48 PDT