Entrepreneurship Strategies in a Portuguese and in a Polish Region

In the present paper we will consider strategies of innovation, risk and proactivity as entre/ intrapreneurship strategies. This study was done in a Portuguese and in a Polish region. In Portugal the region was Vale do Sousa, located in the northern Portugal. The Polish region was Lublin Voivodeship and it is situated in the south-eastern part of the country. The study focused on Industrial and Construction sectors. In order to get a valid sample, a group of 251 firms were analysed in Portugal, and 215 in Poland. However, the minimum sample size in Poland should be 323. Since this is a work in progress, we are aiming for this number of questionnaires. Each strategy was analysed individually for both regions and the results pointed to a lack of culture of entrepreneurship in firms’ management. Only Proactivity presented a positive result in firms’ management. Polish firms tend to be more innovative and more risk takers, while in proactivity Portuguese ones present a slightly higher result. Combining the strategy results, it was possible to identify that 61.2% of Portuguese firms present a low level of entrepreneurship, while 60% of Polish firms present a moderate level. Considering intrapreneurship good levels, while Portugal account for 5.2% this figure is 19.1% in Poland.

Entrepreneurship Strategies in Family and Non-family Businesses

The goal of the present paper is to analyse the classic entrepreneurship strategies (Innovation, Risk and Proactivity) in small and medium-sized businesses. However as presented in the title, the study will go further by comparing the results of those strategies in familiar and nonfamiliar businesses. This study was carried on in construction and industry sectors, in the region of Vale do Sousa, in the north of Portugal. In order to classify businesses as familiar or non-familiar types two criterion were adopted: (1) Management Control, (2) Family Employability. On the opposite to some studies that present a larger percentage of familiar businesses in national and European entrepreneurial fabric, the criterion used leaded to a larger number of non-familiar businesses (53%). The results showed that in general SMEs in this region are not following entrepreneurship strategies. Analysing the entire sample without a separation of businesses by nature (familiar/non-familiar) only proactivity showed to be more present in the managerial decisions. There is a lack of innovation and risk culture. Comparing the groups only on proactivity tests was possible to verify some differences. It was concluded that non-familiar businesses are more proactive than familiar ones. Between those groups there are no statistical differences on the means of the variables innovation and risk. At the same time some tests were conducted to test the differences on the variable entrepreneurship. The results were similar to innovation and risk strategies: There are no significant differences on entrepreneurship between these groups of businesses.

Os Gestores, as empresas, e as estratégias empreendedoras: O caso das empresas industriais e da construção na região do Vale do Sousa

In the present paper, entrepreneurship strategies and its relations with managers and management are analysed in order to evaluate who are the real entrepreneurs. This study was done in a region of northern Portugal (Vale do Sousa) and focus on Industrial and Construction sectors. The region is composed of six concelhos in some of which it is possible to identify some industrial districts. In order to get a valid sample, a group of 251 firms were analysed. The results present a high level of risk aversion and some findings that go with literature on innovation, such as higher levels of education lead to more innovative managers, or young managers are more innovative. It was concluded, that those managers that were able to search and explore opportunities in the past, present better levels of entrepreneurship in their firms.

Orientação empreendedora das PME angolanas

O objetivo fundamental deste estudo é analisar a orientação empreendedora das micro, pequenas e médias empresas (MPME) no município de Cazengo, província do Kwanza Norte, em Angola. Para o desenvolvimento deste estudo utilizamos a abordagem quantitativa, combinando a análise documental com a estatística, tendo os dados sido recolhidos através um inquérito por questionário aplicado às MPME sediadas no município referido. O estudo revelou que as empresas possuem razoável orientação empreendedora, apresentando resultados positivos ao nível da inovação, onde a valorização da I&D, liderança tecnológica e inovação é moderada, e da proatividade, em que as empresas iniciam na mesma proporção ações por elas levadas a cabo e ações iniciadas pela concorrência, e negativos ao nível da assunção do risco, em que as empresas têm uma preferência por projetos de baixo risco, com rendibilidades normais e certas.