The creation of a country's wealth and dynamism depends upon the competitiveness of its firms and this, in turn, relies fundamentally on the capabilities of its entrepreneurs and managers.The essence of the modern firm lies in the specialization of functions. "The businessmen" that manage economic activity are, in the strictest sense, both managers and entrepreneurs, the latter in a double sense: the individual businessman (independent) and the "corporate entrepreneur" who, without participating significantly in terms of capital, controls the firm.Studying offers of business capabilities requires the differentiation between the functions of entrepreneur, manager and capitalist, although in many cases, the same person may perform all three (table 1). Table 1. Entrepreneurs, managers and capitalists ENTREPRENEUR CAPITALIST MANAGER CHARACTERIZED BY Discovers and exploits opportunities A creator who initiates and motivates the process of change Capital owner: shareholders Controlling shareholder Passive shareholder Administrates and manages resources An administrator BEHAVIOUR Accepts risks Uses intuition, is alert, explores new business Leadership, initiates new ways of acting Identifies business opportunities Creation of new Enterprise Aversion to risktaking Assesses alternatives Choice of venture assets Aversion to risktaking "Rational" decision-maker. Explotes business Creates and maintains competitive advantage Creates trust to enhance cooperation Supervision of the administrative process
The new venture decision is a crucial stage in the process of creating a new business and is influenced by a series of social, demographic, cultural and economic factors, amongst others. These factors have been the subject of several studies, though there is still no widely accepted agreement on exactly how they affect the decision to create a new enterprise. This study will provide evidence on which variables affect the new venture decision, as well as the extent of their influence based on the analysis of a sample of 7524 cases, using information obtained via the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2001 Project. At the same time, we provide evidence to show that there are differences in the way these variables affect new ventures born out of need or out of opportunity.
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