An empirically justified theory of successful indigenous entrepreneurship : a case study of the Osoyoos Indian Band

The Osoyoos Indian Band case study signals the beginning of a PhD research project that will take approximately three years to complete. Taken in isolation, the objectives for the Osoyoos case study are modest. We want to refine our theoretical model and improve the case study protocol before embarking on a set of 5 case studies to explore Indigenous entrepreneurship; what it is, what communities do to succeed and a generalized definition of a successful venture from an Indigenous Canadian perspective.

How should we measure indigenous entrepreneurship? A search for explanatory variables

In Canada and elsewhere around the world Indigenous Peoples are struggling to rebuild their ‘nations’ and improve the socioeconomic circumstances of their people. We are embarking on a program of research in an effort to understand this phenomenon and to inform the process. In this paper we (i) explore the approach to development being adopted by Indigenous people in Canada; (ii) conduct a preliminary literature review; (iii) identify input indicators of entrepreneurship and business development capacity, process measures of development activity and an output indicator of development effectiveness and (v) identify the information available from secondary sources relating to these indicators and the gaps in information that will have to be filled by primary research.

Social entrepreneurship and partnerships with regional and remote schools

This paper explores how notions of social entrepreneurship have inspired the author to engage in innovative partnerships with two small rural schools in Central Queensland, Australia. It explores practical ways in which to help rural schools contribute to the transformation of their schools, considering that we are now in an information-based society operating in a postmodern world where change happens quickly and continually. The paper explores the mapping of the journeys undertaken both by the schools and by the author as a university lecturer, and analyses how the concept of social entrepreneurship is used to empower schools with these changes. Two partnerships with local schools are examined in terms of helping the participants become social entrepreneurs by deploying innovative problem solving strategies that can provide ways forward to help to begin to revolutionise the regional and rural education 'industry' and in the process engage regional and rural communities.

Social entrepreneurship and experiential learning

Social enterprises and entrepreneurship are about accountability not just to commercial imperatives but to the wide range of stakeholders in a social enterprise, potentially an area of great tension. Social responsibility is about a commitment to society or community, entrepreneurship is usually understood to provide a business outlook on the enterprise - it needs to be sustainable commercially and balanced carefully.
To educate the modem or millenniallearner (born after about 19t1O and grappling with burgeoning youth needs for creative employment developmem) into developing a small to medium enterprise with a social responsibility, modem postgraduate coursework programs have looked closely at experiential learning. This provides a transformative learning through workplace-based projects and strategic business conceptuaUsing. This paper will include a case study of two postgraduate coursework units New Ventures in Creative Enterprise, and Building Creative Teams, part of a Masters in Communication/Creative Enterprise. These provide experiential learning about strategic planning for startup creative businesses, and work-based projects which build on interpersonal skills for ongoing success.

New Zealand's perfect storm of entrepreneurship and economic development

Applying a grounded-theory approach to analyzing the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) data, we attempt to explain why New Zealand exhibits only a moderate level of economic development despite its high level of entrepreneurship. By statistically analyzing why 34 other countries in the 2005 GEM dataset exhibit small deviations from the classical quadratic curvilinear relationship between entrepreneurship and economic development, we develop a better understanding of the entrepreneurial framework conditions underlying New Zealand’s large deviation from this trend line. Based on our findings from the GEM data we make policy recommendations that could aid in moving New Zealand (and other countries) closer toward the trend line and thus promote economic development.

Entrepreneurship : theory, process, practice

Covering foundations of entrepreneurship and new venture creation for the Asia-Pacific entrepreneur, this book combines a solid theoretical foundation with a practical step-by-step approach to the process of entrepreneurship.

Encouraging high expectation entrepreneurship : the implications of Australian policy practices

Recent studies have shown the important roles that new high growth firms can play in job creation and economic development. This paper reviews the positioning of present Australian government policies and programs that intend to be supportive of the development of more high growth businesses; that is those that employ greater than twenty persons. The research explores the environments of a group of new high growth Australian firms and the roles that the various identified government support initiatives have played in their development. The paper also draws on recent research on survival and growth patterns of spin-off companies generated by publicly funded research agencies to map the government support initiatives with the different stages of the high growth business life cycle. The paper reviews issues in the Australian business environment that may have affected the rate of generation of new high growth firms. Of particular relevance has been the progressive freeing up of the Australian labour market and a greater resource allocation to research commercialisation by publicly funded research providers. The analysis has finally separately considered how to produce and support more founders of such high growth firms, their future chief executive officers, the specialist consultants and other professional support people and issues related to access to finance that such firms will need. The research findings draw attention to the important role of government financial support for industry research, particularly at the point where the first product is in the market and resources are scarce. At this point support is vital both to increase the market penetration of the core product and for R&D for product customisation and increasing the product range.

Do entrepreneurship programs matter? An analysis of North American university innovation systems

Are there differences in commercialization outcomes between universities in Canada and the USA? If so, why? We first examine the commercialization performance of universities on both sides of the 49th parallel through indicators of university spinouts generated. Secondly, we measure the presence and growth in numbers of entrepreneurship centers to determine if there are any parallels or discernable patterns that may be related to spinout performance. Based upon theories that suggest entrepreneurial culture plays a significant role in the spinout process, we then test the hypothesis that entrepreneurship education programs play a significant role in determining spinout performance. Our model assumes that the level and intensity of an academic entrepreneurship program/center is a valid indicator of “entrepreneurial culture” that may impact upon a universities propensity to spinout new knowledge intensive firms. Our results find that there is indeed a correlation between intensity of entrepreneurship program and commercialization outcomes.

Connecting entrepreneurship with innovation value in university knowledge transfer

This paper conceptually links entrepreneurship and innovation through a structured and comprehensive examination of the levels of activities that may be (or should be) found within the modern university. By doing so, we believe a fertile ground for testing insightful new hypothesis will be opened for exploration. The authors explore several literatures and introduce three novel theoretical models to help examine innovation and entrepreneurship within the domain of university knowledge transfer. Predicated upon our generalized conceptual assertion that innovation is a function of new knowledge and entrepreneurial capacity, we pose four research questions: 1) what is innovation and entrepreneurship in the university context, 2) how might it be studied, fostered and evaluated, 3) how do the domains of individually driven entrepreneurship and organizational entrepreneurship interact and converge within the university innovation value creation process and 4) how does entrepreneurship ultimately impact upon innovation with respect to creating value from all areas of research and activities provided by the modern university? It is expected that the models offered will allow for both theoretical and empirical testing of these questions.