Archives
What Constitutes Successful Entreprenenurship?
An Analysis of Recent Australasian Awards Experiences
Kate Kearins
Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand
Belinda Luke
School of Accountancy, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane QLD
Patricia Corner
Faculty of Business, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand
Abstract
Theory about what constitutes entrepreneurial success is explored using case studies of the 2003 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award winners for Australia and New Zealand. Findings suggest the need to more equally emphasize what theory presents as elements of successful entrepreneurship, and importantly, incorporate ethics as a key dimension. Further, the analysis offers insight into how business awards processes in general might be conducted.
Entrepreneurship has long been considered an important economic activity. The past twenty years has witnessed an explosion of research into entrepreneurs and their actions (Venkatarman 1997; Hannafey 2003) with considerable emphasis on the elements that constitute successful entrepreneurship.
However, there has been little empirical work substantiating these elements or exploring the extent to which they appear to be considered when judgments are made about entrepreneurial success. Additionally, some entrepreneurs that are judged successful, such as Monty Fu who won an entrepreneur of the year award in the United States, are later shown to be unsuccessful along a number of elements.
It may be that some elements are more emphasized when judging entrepreneurial endeavours, than are others. For these reasons, the current paper focuses on the construction of successful entrepreneurship. It addresses the following research questions: Are there some elements of entrepreneurship that appear to be more emphasized than are others when judgements are made about successful entrepreneurs? Would recourse to theory help decide successful entrepreneurship?
References
Ackroyd S and Fleetwood S (2000) Realist perspectives on organisation and management, Routledge, London.
Anglican Media (2004) Philanthropist named Entrepreneur of the Year 2003 - Opportunity International http://www.anglicanmedia.com.au/news/archives/003024.php.
Barth F (1969) Ethnic groups and boundaries, Oslo: Universiteforlarget.
Baumol WJ (1990) Entrepreneurship: Productive, unproductive and destructive, Journal of Political Economy 98(5) pp. 893-921.
Bhaskar R (1987) Scientific realism and human emancipation, Verso, London.
Bhaskar R (1989) The possibility of naturalism: A philosophical critique of the contemporary human sciences, Harvester Wheatsheaf.: London.
Chapple I (2003a March 5) Goodbye mortgage, hello international success, The New Zealand Herald.
Chapple I (2003b October 9) From layoffs to Entrepreneur of the Year, The New Zealand Herald.
Cornwall J and Naughton M (2003) Who is the good entrepreneur? An exploration within the Catholic social tradition, Journal of Business Ethics 44(1) pp. 61-75.
Drucker PF (1985) Innovation and entrepreneurship: Practice and principles, Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann: Amsterdam.
Dunne T, Roberts M and Samuelson L (1988) Patterns of firm entry and exit in US manufacturing industries, Rand Journal of Economics 19, pp. 495-515.
Eckhardt JT and Shane SA (2003) Opportunities and entrepreneurship. Journal of Management 29(3) pp. 333-349.
Elkington J (1997) Cannibals with forks: The triple bottom line of 21st century business, Capstone, London.
Ernst and Young (2003a) Seeking the next Entrepreneur of the Year http://www/eu/com/global.nsf/US/EDCS_Entrepreneur_of_the_Year [Accessed 5 April 2004].
Ernst and Young (2003b) Entrepreneur of the Year: Frequently asked questions http://www.ey.com/global/content.nsf/Australia/Entrepreneur_of_the_Year [Accessed 8 April 2004].
Ernst and Young (2004c) Entrepreneur of the Year http://www.ey.com/global/content.nsf/New_Zealand/Entrepreneur_of_the_Year [Accessed 13 January 2004].
Ernst and Young (2004d) Ernst and Young's Entrepreneur of the Year program, now in over 35 countries. http://www.ey.com/global.nsf/lnternationallEGCEntrepreneur_of_the_Year [Accessed 5 April 2004].
Ernst and Young (2004e) About Ernst and Young http://www.ey.com/global/content.nsf/Intemational/About_EY [Accessed 15 April 2004].
Ennst and Young (2004f) She's in the business of winning. http://www.ey.com/global/content.nsf/New_Zealand/Entrepreneur_of_the_Year/Overall_winner_2003 [Accessed 13 January 2004].
Emst and Young (2004g) 2003 Entrepreneur of the Year heads organisation that creates a new job every 60 seconds http://www.ey.com/global/content.nsf/Australia/news_release [Accessed 16 January 2004].
Etzioni A (1987) Entrepreneurship, adaptation and legitimation: A macro-behavioral perspective, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organisation 8, pp. 175-189.
Fleetwood S (1999) Critical realism in economics: Development and debate, Routledge, London.
Fleetwood S (2005 forthcoming) Re-thinking labour markets: A critical realist- socioeconomic perspective. Capital and Class.
Gartner WB (1988) Who is an entrepreneur? is the wrong question, American Journal of Small Business 12(4) pp. 11-32.
Ginsberg A and Buchholtz A (1989) Are entrepreneurs a breed apart? A look at the evidence, Journal of General Management 15(2) pp. 32-40.
Gould LC (1969) Juvenile entrepreneurs, American Journal of Sociology 15(2) pp. 32-40.
Hamel G and Prahalad CK (1994) Competing for the future, Harvard Business School Press, Boston, MA.
Hannafey FT (2003) Entrepreneurship and ethics: A literature review, Journal of Business Ethics 46, pp. 99-110.
Hawley F (1901) Reply to the final objections to the risk theory of profit, Quarterly Journal of Economics 15, p. 603.
Horwood A (2003 January 14) From jobless to providing job hopes for thousands, The New Zealand Herald.
Johnson M, O'Sullivan F and NZPA (2003 November 6) Chinese demand action on schools, The New Zealand Herald.
Kaplan RS and Norton DP (1992 January-February) The balanced scorecard - Measures that drive performance, Harvard Business Review, pp. 71-79.
Kirchhoff BA (1991) Entrepreneurs' contribution to economics, Entrepreneurship, Theory and Practice 16, pp. 93-112.
Knight FH (1921) Risk, uncertainty and profit, Chicago University Press, Chicago.
Kurlantzik J (2003) Liar, liar, Entrepreneur 31(10) pp. 68-71.
Longenecker JG, McKinney JA and Moore CW (1988) Egoism and independence: Entrepreneurial ethics, Organizational Dynamics 16, pp. 64-72.
McClelland DC (1961) The achieving society, Van Nostrand, Princeton, NJ.
Menger C (1892) On the origins of money, http://cepa.newschool.edu/het [Accessed 15 March 2004]
Mill JS (1848) Principles of political economy with some of their applications to social philosophy, John W Parker, London.
Mitton DG (1989) The complete entrepreneur, Entrepreneurship, Theory and Practice 13(3) pp. 9-20.
Opportunity International (2003) Annual Report 2002.
Opportunity International (2004a) Annual Report 2005: Highlights http://www.opportunity.org.au/article/articleview/208/1/6 [Accessed 7 April 2004]
Opportunity International (2004b) Our story - Detail http://www.opportunity.org.au/article/articlestatic/6/1/6 [Accessed 7 April 2004]
Opportunity International (2004c) How we help http://www.opportunity.org.au/article/articlestatic/98/1/29 [Accessed 15 April 2004]
O'Sullivan F and Perrot A (2003 December 22) Loss of Chinese students rocks $1.7b education industry, The New Zealand Herald.
Perrott A, Dearnaley M and Watkin T (2003 November 8) Where it all went wrong for Carich, The New Zealand Herald.
Rumelt RP (1987) Theory, strategy and entrepreneurship, in DJ Teece (ed) The competitive challenge, Harper and Row, New York, pp. 137-158.
Sarasvathy D, Simon H, and Lave L (1998) Perceiving and managing business risks: Differences between entrepreneurs and bankers, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization 33(3) pp. 9-20.
Schumpteter JA (1934) The theory of economic development, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.
Shane S (2003) A general theory of entrepreneurship: The individual-opportunity nexus, Edward Elgar, Northampton, MA.
Shane S and Venkataraman S (2000) The promise of entrepreneurship as a field of research, Academy of Management Review 25(1) pp. 217-226.
Shapero A (1975) The displaces, uncomfortable entrepreneur, Psychology Today 9(6) pp. 83-88.
Sinoski K (2003 December 10) Rush to restore NZ's damaged reputation, The Independent.
Tyndale P (2004) Don't look back: The David Bussau story, Allen and Unwin, Crows Nest, NSW.
Torbit M and Chapple I (2003 October 30) Thousands locked out of schools, The New Zealand Herald.
Venkataraman S (1997) The distinctive domain of entrepreneurship research: An editor's perspective, in J Katz and R Brockhaus (eds) Advances in entrepreneurship: Firm emergence and growth 3, JAI Press, Greenwich CT, pp. 119-138.
Warren A (2003 December 12) Ethics plan for private tuition, The Press.
Yin RK (2003) Case study research: Design and methods, Sage, London.
eContent Home
