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The link between social interaction and entrepreneurial activity has attracted considerable attention in the entrepreneurship literature. In this study, we focus on individual cultural values, shaped by interactions in the social space, as they relate to opportunity evaluation, a cornerstone of the entrepreneurial process. We test our predictions in India, a non-Western society that has sustained one of the highest rates of entrepreneurial activity in the world. Our findings suggest that value orientation of high power distance is negatively associated with opportunity evaluation whereas uncertainty avoidance, collectivism, and femininity are positively associated with opportunity evaluation.

Although research on the relationship between culture and female entrepreneurship has developed strong insights, to date limited studies have examined the country-specific factors which may account for variance in women entrepreneurs' behaviour and subsequent outcomes. Therefore, this study attempts to close this gap through taking a closer look at the country-specific cultural factors creating differences in female entrepreneurs' behaviour and business strategies within the context of Turkey and the United Kingdom. In light of previous studies examining the impact of social institutions, this chapter adopts a survey approach to examine whether the networking strategies, growth orientation, perceived impediments, lifestyle choices and business structures of well-established female entrepreneurs vary between these two different cultural environments. In total, 240 females participated in this study with 120 from each country. The macro-cultural environments within the case countries are described through the application of Hofstede's Culture Model.

This comparative study explores the relevance and applicability of the characteristics of entrepreneurs espoused in the western entrepreneurship literature to indigenous entrepreneurs. Using five South Pacific island countries as a case in point, the literature reviewed shows that culture impacts on the characteristics of entrepreneurs from these countries and accounts for differences between the characteristics of the Pacific island entrepreneurs and the characteristics found in the Western entrepreneurship literature. In the light of the influence of culture, perhaps a new list of characteristics that indigenous entrepreneurs in the South Pacific island countries would require to succeed is warranted. An integrative model of cultural dimension and characteristics of Pacific island entrepreneurs is provided. Propositions are advanced for the study of culture as a moderating influence on entrepreneurial characteristics elsewhere, especially indigenous entrepreneurs from developing countries.

NASCAR (The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing) has instituted an aggressive growth campaign. NASCAR's compelling challenge is to retain its core fan base - south-eastern US consumers - while also attracting a new upscale demographic and an international following. One targeted initiative was a three-year commitment to feature the NASCAR Busch Series at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, near Mexico City. This paper explores the assimilation of NASCAR's core product into a Hispanic subculture, observes the media's depiction of the expansion, and discusses the US fan reaction to racing in Mexico.

Research on high-growth firms (HGFs) or gazelles is expanding due to their significant contribution to job growth and economic development. However, the knowledge about the conditions and factors that set these firms on their rapid growth trajectory remains fragmented. Therefore, this chapter provides an abreast inventory of the surging gazelle studies by systematically reviewing the international gazelle growth literature and consolidating firm-level, industry-level, and macroeconomic-level growth factors and their interactions as elaborated in the studies. Based on the review of 62 international empirical studies, this chapter finds that the gazelle growth is complex and multidimensional in its scope and nature. The firm’s growth intention and entrepreneurial nature emerge as necessary but not sufficient conditions to guarantee rapid growth as it results from the impact of and interaction between various firm-level and external factors. The different growth-influencing factors are summarized using a theoretical gazelle growth model, which supports the rare and temporal nature of the gazelle growth.

This chapter develops an integrated model that encompasses four aspects: (1) face-to-face (F2F), (2) online teaching, (3) massive open online courses (MOOCs), and (4) the combination of Western, localized, and indigenous knowledge to provide blended entrepreneurship education. The model emphasizes the importance of a heutagogical approach and the institutional environment in blended entrepreneurship education. It is then applied to a start-up university to help develop students’ entrepreneurial mindset, entrepreneurial identity aspirations, and entrepreneurial skills. The model’s implications for research and entrepreneurship education are discussed.

The literature on international entrepreneurship offers two competing views on why new ventures internationalize: (a) the nature of the opportunity pulls them international or (b) the founder pushes the firm international. While these two internationalization drivers are not independent, they do represent unique causal mechanisms. Previously, the tools available to understand the entrepreneur’s disposition toward internationalization were limited. The present study uses the theoretical foundation of the international entrepreneurial orientation construct and from it develops and tests an attitudinally-based individual-level measure of disposition toward internationalization. To ensure the validity and reliability of the new measure, termed International Entrepreneurial Orientation Disposition, studies were conducted to: develop new scale items, examine their psychometric properties and construct validity, and demonstrate criterion validity. A strong measurement model is developed using structural equation modeling (CFI = 0.93, RMSEA = 0.07), and the measure is shown to be useful as a predictor of perceived international venture attractiveness.

The burgeoning population has an adverse impact on the employability prospects in the emerging economies and has triggered entrepreneurial activities to steer this predicament. The purpose of this study is to explicate the major entrepreneurial competencies that drive firm competitiveness.

Three industrial estates were selected from the two major industrial districts of eastern Uttar Pradesh, India. The study used a cross-sectional design and responses from micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) entrepreneurs were collected by employing a structured questionnaire. Structural equation modeling was applied to empirically validate the proposed hypotheses in the study.

The study discerns the enablers of firm competitiveness and pursuit of excellence. The results reveal that the need for achievement and locus of control competencies strikingly augment firm competitiveness while risk-taking capability and innovativeness competencies aggrandize pursuit of excellence competency. The study further adduces that pursuit of excellence partially mediates between the liaison of risk-taking capability and innovativeness on the one end and firm competitiveness on the other.

The study demonstrates the compelling determinants of firm competitiveness and pursuit of excellence that might embolden training institutes and banks to emphasize the identified competencies for enhancing firm competitiveness and advancing loans.

There is a paucity of literature on “pursuit of excellence” and “firm competitiveness” regarding the MSME sector in India. Therefore, the study contributes to the literature by synthesizing these constructs in an epigrammatic conceptual model. The study is distinctive because it is one of the rare studies to explore the mediating effects of the pursuit of excellence entrepreneurial competency.

The present chapter aims to provide a holistic perspective by investigating how passion types can have a role on entrepreneurs’ target of passion with the integration of Hofstede’s cultural dimensions. A conceptual framework was administered in order to build the association between passion types and targets of passion in the light of the literature by which harmonious and obsessive passions are proposed to be the determinants of different targets of entrepreneurs’ passion. Additionally, based on the extant literature, the role of culture in shaping the entrepreneurs’ target of passion is addressed by utilizing Hofstede’s cultural approach. Seven major propositions were discussed to provide a comprehensive understanding of entrepreneurial passion and targets of passion.

The intent to start an entrepreneurial venture is predisposed by certain personality traits. The study aims to analyze the impact of various identified personality traits and entrepreneurial education on entrepreneurial intentions of management students.

The data for the study were gathered from 440 students of top 5 management institutes in India. The study used a cross-sectional design and structured questionnaire based on seven-point Likert scale and was administered employing a purposive sampling method. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was utilized to validate posited hypotheses in the study.

The study discerns that apart from agreeableness dimension of personality traits, all remaining identified dimensions along with entrepreneurial education had a significant influence on entrepreneurial intentions of management students with need for achievement emerging as the most important enabler. Conscientiousness was the major dimension among big five personality traits bearing a positive influence, while neuroticism registered a negative impact on entrepreneurial intentions. In addition, results bespeak that entrepreneurial education partially mediates the effect of need for achievement, locus of control and innovativeness on entrepreneurial intentions.

The compendious model proffered in the study might be helpful for students, educators, consultants, financial institutions and policymakers in appreciating the gravity of underlying personality traits.

There is a dearth of research on big five personality traits and entrepreneurial education as enablers of entrepreneurial intentions. The study attempts to integrate big five personality traits model with dimensions of need for achievement, locus of control, innovativeness and entrepreneurial education for management students in India.