Differentiating growing ventures from non-growth firms

Littunen, Hannu; Virtanen, Markku

doi:10.1007/s11365-006-7091-x

Cited by 27 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 43 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The importance of demographic characteristics reflects the competencies entrepreneurs required to succeed in business management. This finding is congruent with previous studies (Harada, 2003;Islam et al, 2011;Littunen & Virtanen, 2006;Unger et al, 2009a). For instance, Islam et al (2014) in a study for Bangladesh found that entrepreneurs' demographic factors such as age, gender, and education greatly influenced small-scale business success.…”

Section: Econometric Resultssupporting

confidence: 91%

“…For instance, Reynolds et al (2001) report that entrepreneurs with older ages from 25 to 45 years have higher entrepreneurial endeavors and hence are most successful than younger counterparts. Similarly, Harada (2003) and Littunen and Virtanen (2006) observe that older firm managers are endowed with rich business experience and might have gone through different phases of business challenges compared with younger entrepreneurs. Prior empirical studies have shown a positive relationship between age and business success (Kristiansen et al, 2003).…”

Section: Entrepreneur Characteristicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Effect of entrepreneur, firm, and institutional characteristics on small-scale firm performance in Ghana

2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Small-scale firms are essential contributors to employment generation and growth of many economies. In recognition of their salient role, several policy interventions have been implemented to enhance job creation functions of small-scale firms. This study examined one of these interventions, that is, promotion of small-scale firms in Sunyani municipality of Ghana by analyzing the effect of entrepreneurs, firm, and institutional characteristics on the growth of small-scale firms. A cross-sectional survey was conducted involving 200 small-scale firm operators selected through multi-stage sampling. Both descriptive and inferential analytical tools were used to analyze the data. Descriptive techniques employed included means, frequencies, and cross-tabulations. The inferential analysis included the use of multivariate multiple regression techniques that estimate a single regression model with more than one dependent variable simultaneously. The findings show three types of small-scale enterprises viz. processing (dominated by females), artisans, and service sector (dominated by males) at Sunyani municipality of Ghana. The main findings show that demographic factors (sex of operator, completion of formal education at basic school level or junior high school), institutional variables (bank investment and training services), and firm characteristics (artisan and craft industry type) conjointly and significantly influence small-scale firm performance (number of employees and sales or monthly revenue). Consequent implications for developing economies (such as Ghana) include the need for the introduction of entrepreneurship education at basic level of education in addition to the current practice where entrepreneurship education is mostly limited to tertiary institutions or undergraduate levels, and linking provision of investment services with requisite skills training and backstopping in interventions targeting small-scale firms.

show abstract

Section: Econometric Resultssupporting

confidence: 91%

Section: Entrepreneur Characteristicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of entrepreneur, firm, and institutional characteristics on small-scale firm performance in Ghana

2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Thus, one of our respondents indicated that taking a set of specialized entrepreneurship courses (and more specifically, working on a business plan) during her undergraduate education helped her "to put all the pieces [from previous business courses] together" and this came in very useful in subsequently launching a new venture. Even though entrepreneurship education, training and skills development come up as factors important for venture success, Littunen and Virtanen (2006) note more work needs to be done to understand the exact nature of the relationship between entrepreneurship education and training, especially relating to specific aspects of new venture success (e.g. mobilizing resources, managing the stages of growth, going for an IPO).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fostering entrepreneurship: impact of specialization and diversity in education

Dutta

Merenda

2010

Int Entrep Manag J

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The present research aims to enhance our understanding of how prospective entrepreneurs benefit from specialized entrepreneurship education combined with a diversified educational experience. We find intriguing evidence that depth or specialization of entrepreneurship education is not enough for wealth creation from future entrepreneurial activities. Instead, it is breadth or diversity of educational experiences that positively influences future wealth creation, in terms of both the entrepreneur's personal income as well as personal net worth. The results of the study have important implications for entrepreneurship educators and their students, researchers, policy makers, as well as nascent entrepreneurs.

show abstract

“…The majority of TEA rate in Finland consists of opportunity-driven entrepreneurship (Arenius, Autio and Kovalainen, 2003). According to Littunen and Virtanen (2006) new firms have equal chances for growth independently of their locality. The firm's location was not significant factor in describing the growth of new firms.…”

Section: Hypothesesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Entrepreneurial and Regional Growth Activity in Finland

Tohmo

Littunen

Storhammar

2010

J. Enterprising Culture

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Audretsch & Feldman (2004) argue that an agglomeration is a collection of localized firms with a common focus. As firms thrive, resources are attracted to the region. They state that, if entrepreneurship serves as a mechanism for knowledge spillovers, measures of entrepreneurial activity should be linked positively to regional growth performance. In Schumpeterian economics the engine of economic development is entrepreneurial innovation. Creative destruction makes way for new innovations and growth. In this study, we simultaneously examine the regional entrepreneurial activity and regional growth activity in Finland. A further aim of the study was to find out if entrepreneurial activity and growth activity also play a deagglomerating role. We find, first, that the indicators used are very well suited to measure the dynamic environment, especially in manufacturing, since the regions with the most dynamic environment were areas with high smallbusiness activity. Furthermore, the study indicates that growth activity should be taken into account when examining regional development by means of the concept of the dynamic environment. Secondly, we find that entrepreneurial activity and growth activity decreases regional specialization, i.e., the regions with the highest regional specialization are characterized by the lowest levels of entrepreneurial activity and growth activity. Our study confirms with Finnish data the findings of Dumais et al. (2002) that new plant births play a deagglomerating role. The results of the study indicate also that growth activity tends to act to reduce regional specialization. As a whole, the results suggest that the regional specialization is the result of a dynamic process in which the combination of plant births and growth act together.

show abstract

Differentiating growing ventures from non-growth firms

Cited by 27 publications

References 43 publications

Effect of entrepreneur, firm, and institutional characteristics on small-scale firm performance in Ghana

Effect of entrepreneur, firm, and institutional characteristics on small-scale firm performance in Ghana

Fostering entrepreneurship: impact of specialization and diversity in education

Entrepreneurial and Regional Growth Activity in Finland

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About