No abstract

This cross-cultural research project, involving the United States and Finland, explored how the entrepreneurial firm's acquisition of business processes' knowledge from interaction with incubator management positively impacts on new product development, increased technical competence, enhanced reputation and lower costs of sales to customers. In a sample of 52 firms, the study's methodology depended on single response, self-reported data. The findings suggest that the sole knowledge benefits gained by the firm, from the incubator relationship, is a perception of enhanced reputation. Also, incubator managers should focus more on assisting new technology based firms with growing the venture in the marketplace.

Purpose -The purpose of this research is to examine how entrepreneurs in new venture creations use social competence skills, such as proactive help-seeking behaviours, to acquire knowledge. Design/methodology/approach -An investigation is conducted into how entrepreneurs, in a new venture creation, acquire business and technical knowledge utilizing proactive help-seeking behaviour. Social competence is operationalised as a construct dependent on a number of psychological and behavioural factors. As such, proactive help-seeking behaviour suggests that individuals will recognise a deficiency in knowledge and actively search for possible solutions to solve the problem. However, there are social costs involved during the help-seeking process. The level of social competence skill will impact the new venture because entrepreneurs do not want to appear incompetent, inferior, or dependent on another individual or organization in the environment. Findings -It is theorised that entrepreneurs who proactively seek help will increase their acquisition of knowledge. However, individual autonomy, reputation of the help-giver, and gender of the entrepreneur will moderate entrepreneurs to proactively seek help. Originality/value -The value of the research is that it contributes to the body of literature that examines individual and firm level constructs to understand the question of why some entrepreneurs succeed while others fail. It specifically utilises the psychological construct, proactive help-seeking behaviour, with the firm level construct, resource-based view to understand firm formation and development.

This paper focuses on the positives of introducing entrepreneurship education at the primary and secondary levels of education. Specifically, its central focus deals with building children's entrepreneurial self-efficacy at a young age. Several benefits, of increasing self-efficacy at a young age, are outlined. Benefits, such as entrepreneurship training, not only train students but, it helps to prepare them for the new knowledge based economy. Further, entrepreneurship education should help increase the success and survival rates of women and minority entrepreneurs. Essential to this process, a new curriculum needs to be devised including its means of assessment. Lastly barriers to an entrepreneurship program are discussed; this includes financial, political and negative perceptions of entrepreneurship education.

This research provides an examination of high technology entrepreneurial firms and how they obtain knowledge on human resource management (HRM). Specifically, it seeks to determine the social relationship between the firm and the incubator manager and if any knowledge on HRM is acquired during this relationship. The question of how HRM can play an important role in the management of entrepreneurial behaviour in new ventures is addressed. Using a sample of 52 high technology firms based within the United States and Finland, key variables, including technological competence, reputation, relational quality and human resource management, were identified. Survey data indicated that enhanced relational quality between firms and the incubator manager increased the acquisition of human resource knowledge, thereby increasing the firm's perceived marketplace reputation and technical competence.Keywords: entrepreneurship; human resource management; knowledge management; relationship quality.Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Studdard, N. and Darby, R. (2008) 'From social capital to human resource development: a cross cultural study of the role of HRM in innovation and entrepreneurship in high technology organisations', European