Given the importance of green entrepreneurs in the transition towards a sustainable society, the authors propose a framework for investigating the influences on, and motives of, green entrepreneurs. The literature on entrepreneurs generally, and approaches to classifying entrepreneurs, are reviewed with the aim of gaining useful insights for the green context. The scope for investigation encompasses all possible forms of green business, including not only those founded on the principle of sustainability but also those that are opportunistically or accidentally green. Assessing both the research on typologies of entrepreneurs generally and recent perspectives on green entrepreneurs in particular, the authors propose that green entrepreneurs are best characterised by a combination of internal motivations and external (hard and soft) structural influences. The resulting typology presented in this paper produces four 'ideal types' of green entrepreneurs: innovative opportunists, visionary champions, ethical mavericks and ad hoc enviropreneurs. Their characteristics are explored and examples provided. Recommendations are made on how the typology can contribute to further research into ways to foster green entrepreneurship and the change agent role that green entrepreneurs play in the two-way iterative relationship between firms and society.
Transition by the countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) from communism towards market economies has brought with it the introduction of Western management thinking. CEE since 1989 has been a kind of test-bed for human resource management (HRM) ± the concept that people management practice is central to the strategic direction and potential competitive advantage of the firm. This paper draws on 21 diverse company case-study experiences in Croatia to review emerging HR practices and assess the relevance of Western management models. A matrix is designed, that categorises these organisations as``sleepers'',``doers'',``thinkers'',``strivers'' or``leaders'', according to their strategic intent and their progress on policy implementation. The results suggest that subsidiaries of multinational corporations are leading the way towards HRM and other significant factors are industry sector and size of the company. There is evidence of``hijacking''of HRM amongst some Croatian companies by old style traditional forces to maintain the status quo. Young Croatian managers welcomed new HR progressive practices and identified with most of the philosophy of HRM, apart from suspicions associated with``mindset control'' aspects that they saw underpinning HRM and associated with the previous regime.
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