Summary
Entrepreneurship B&M T/M
Lecture 1 - Introduction to Entrepreneurship
Articles
Shane & Venkataraman (2000)
Entrepreneurship = discovery and exploitation of entrepreneurial opportunities. They distinguish between
creating new activities and improving existing ones.
👉 Use when defining entrepreneurship or discussing opportunity discovery.
Kuratko, Morris & Schindehutte (2015)
Presents different schools of thought (macro vs micro) and an integrative framework combining environment,
entrepreneur, resources, concept, and organization.
👉 Use when explaining the entrepreneurial process or frameworks.
Churchill & Lewis (1983)
Five stages of small business growth: existence, survival, success, take-off, and maturity. Each stage has unique
management challenges.
👉 Use when discussing SME growth or firm life-cycle models.
Defining e’ship (1)
Shane and Venkataraman (2000): e’ship is the discovery and exploitation of ‘entrepreneurial
opportunities’
Two types of profit opportunities:
1. Entrepreneurial opportunities: to engage in new ‘activities’
2. Non-entrepreneurial opportunities: to enhance efficiency of existing ‘activities’
*Activities = goods/services, markets/customers, sources of supply, methods of production and/or
organization.
Defining e’ship (2)
Sharma and Chrisman (1999): e’ship = acts of organizational creation, renewal or innovation inside or
outside an organization.
Entrepreneurs = individuals or groups of individuals, acting independently or as part of a corporate
system, who create new organizations, or instigate renewal or innovation within an existing
organization.
= Corporate e’ship!
,(Quantitative) Definitions of SMEs
The EU definition:
Not all entrepreneurship occurs in
SMEs!
Not every SME is entrepreneurial
The role of SMEs in economies
Schumpeter (1909, Mark I): SMEs are important for ‘creative destruction’.
Schumpeter (1947, Mark II): Importance of SMEs will decrease.
Schools of thought framework:
Macro view Micro view
Environmental school of thought - Entrepreneurial trait school of thought
Financial/ capital school of thought - Venture opportunity school of thought
Displacement school of thought - Strategic formulation school of thought
Integrative framework
, Stages in entrepreneurship
Shane and Venkataraman (2000): e’ship is the discovery and exploitation of entrepreneurial
opportunities.
My addition:
Business life cycle models: core ideas
During their lifetime firms proceed through different stages. Common stages: start, growth,
maturity and decline.
Each stage has its own characteristics and organizational challenges.
The well-known model of Greiner (1972) A well-known model in small business literature:
Churchill and Lewis (1983)
Pitfalls of ‘traditional’ life cycle models
They assume that firms pass through all
stages. Yet:
o Firm age and size are not always related (cf. digital businesses).
o Not every business owner aims to grow.
They fail to capture the very early stages (inception)
They focus on annual sales, not on other factors.
They focus on internal factors; not on environmental factors (own addition)
Core characteristics of each stage
Entrepreneurship B&M T/M
Lecture 1 - Introduction to Entrepreneurship
Articles
Shane & Venkataraman (2000)
Entrepreneurship = discovery and exploitation of entrepreneurial opportunities. They distinguish between
creating new activities and improving existing ones.
👉 Use when defining entrepreneurship or discussing opportunity discovery.
Kuratko, Morris & Schindehutte (2015)
Presents different schools of thought (macro vs micro) and an integrative framework combining environment,
entrepreneur, resources, concept, and organization.
👉 Use when explaining the entrepreneurial process or frameworks.
Churchill & Lewis (1983)
Five stages of small business growth: existence, survival, success, take-off, and maturity. Each stage has unique
management challenges.
👉 Use when discussing SME growth or firm life-cycle models.
Defining e’ship (1)
Shane and Venkataraman (2000): e’ship is the discovery and exploitation of ‘entrepreneurial
opportunities’
Two types of profit opportunities:
1. Entrepreneurial opportunities: to engage in new ‘activities’
2. Non-entrepreneurial opportunities: to enhance efficiency of existing ‘activities’
*Activities = goods/services, markets/customers, sources of supply, methods of production and/or
organization.
Defining e’ship (2)
Sharma and Chrisman (1999): e’ship = acts of organizational creation, renewal or innovation inside or
outside an organization.
Entrepreneurs = individuals or groups of individuals, acting independently or as part of a corporate
system, who create new organizations, or instigate renewal or innovation within an existing
organization.
= Corporate e’ship!
,(Quantitative) Definitions of SMEs
The EU definition:
Not all entrepreneurship occurs in
SMEs!
Not every SME is entrepreneurial
The role of SMEs in economies
Schumpeter (1909, Mark I): SMEs are important for ‘creative destruction’.
Schumpeter (1947, Mark II): Importance of SMEs will decrease.
Schools of thought framework:
Macro view Micro view
Environmental school of thought - Entrepreneurial trait school of thought
Financial/ capital school of thought - Venture opportunity school of thought
Displacement school of thought - Strategic formulation school of thought
Integrative framework
, Stages in entrepreneurship
Shane and Venkataraman (2000): e’ship is the discovery and exploitation of entrepreneurial
opportunities.
My addition:
Business life cycle models: core ideas
During their lifetime firms proceed through different stages. Common stages: start, growth,
maturity and decline.
Each stage has its own characteristics and organizational challenges.
The well-known model of Greiner (1972) A well-known model in small business literature:
Churchill and Lewis (1983)
Pitfalls of ‘traditional’ life cycle models
They assume that firms pass through all
stages. Yet:
o Firm age and size are not always related (cf. digital businesses).
o Not every business owner aims to grow.
They fail to capture the very early stages (inception)
They focus on annual sales, not on other factors.
They focus on internal factors; not on environmental factors (own addition)
Core characteristics of each stage
