Entrepreneurs: Opportunistic Decision Makers
1986; Wiley; Volume: 24; Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
0047-2778
Autores Tópico(s)Entrepreneurship Studies and Influences
ResumoENTREPRENEURS: OPPORTUNISTIC DECISION MAKERS* Our society is currently experiencing an unprecedented boom in entrepreneurial activity. Consider, for example, the recent growth in the number of business incorporations. In 1974 about 319,000 new businesses were incorporated. number grew to over 524,000 in 1979, and to about 635,000 in 1984(1)-- a nearly two-fold increase over the ten-year period. * This study was supported by a University of Idaho A. Darius Davis Free Enterprise Award. 1 Dun and Bradstreet, Inc., Monthly New Incorporations' (various issues). Of course, these new incorporations, plus other start-up proprietorships and partnerships, are not all high-technology businesses. A good number are associated with service provision, e.g., restaurants, financial services, and health care. This observation can be verified by examining the Inc. 100' firms.2 These businesses are the one hundred fastest growing (in terms of sales), publicly held small companies that are at least five years old. Although these companies are not representative of all entrepreneurial activity, they do provide some information about the most successful ventures being undertaken today. 2 C. Hartman, The 1985 Inc. 100,' Inc. (May 1985), pp. 57-67. This study focuses on the people behind new enterprises--the entrepreneurs who assume the financial risk and the responsibility for management of firms during their start-up phase. first purpose of the study is to use research from the opportunity and decision-making areas to shed light on entrepreneurial behavior and work. second purpose is to use this opportunistic decision-making framework to suggest answers for questions about the nature of entrepreneurial behavior and the fields in which entrepreneurial activity is likely to take place in the coming decades. ENTREPRENEURS AND DECISION MAKING A number of studies have examined the characteristics of individuals who begin businesses. These studies have generally focused on attitudes, abilities, or motives. One characteristic of entrepreneurs is the attitude that it is important to interact with customers to ascertain their needs, because customers produce results for a firm.3 Another typical entrepreneurial conviction is that it is desirable to be a moderate risk taker because starting a business entails risk. 3 P. F. Drucker, Entrepreneurship Is Business Enterprise,' Journal of Business Policy (1970), pp. 1-12. As for abilities, research has shown that entrepreneurs can think both intuitively and rationally. Intuitive skills are useful for creative tasks, such as idea-thinking'--the ability to generate or recognize a new idea. Rational abilities are helpful for logical, sequential tasks--work such as establishing and implementing plans necessary to develop a creative idea into a marketable good.4 4 P. D. Olson and D. A. Bosserman, of the Entrepreneurial Type,' Business Horizons (May/June 1984), pp. 53-56. When considering motives, entrepreneurs are often characterized as having a high need for achievement. Attributes associated with this description include: wanting to complete a task that involves something unique, setting moderate achievement goals, taking calculated risks, and getting concrete feedback.5 5 D. C. McClelland, Achieving Society (Princeton, N. J.: D. Van Nostrand Co., 1961), pp. 205-258. In addition to attributes such as these, it is also helpful to describe entrepreneurs as having convictions about and skills applicable to decisionmaking situations. Extrepreneurs are involved with four frequently mentioned decision process phases: identification, design, selection, and implementation.6 6 A number of articles and books have been written on this topic and related subjects. Three of the books are: H. A. Simon, New Science of Management Decision (Englewood Cliffs, N. …
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