Types of Entrepreneur and Strategic Level Goal Setting

Abstract

Vesa Routamaa and Jukka Vesalainen are with the University of Vaasa, Finland. Their paper reports on the findings of an empirical study which aimed to find out what kind of entrepreneurs are best able to react to the management problems caused by the growth of firms. It was found that the manager type of entrepreneur was growth oriented but risk avoiding in comparison with the classical entrepreneur. Differences were found in goal setting which, against the background of the growth orientation of the entrepreneurs, could be interpreted to lead either to controlled or uncontrolled growth. The results indicated that even the manager type of entrepreneur at his best could not attain such a firm hold as a professional manager. To be an entrepreneur and a managing director did not always go together.

The strategic orientation of owner‐managers of small ventures

“…The entrepreneur is characterised principally by innovative behaviour and will employ strategic management practice in the business (Burns and Dewhurst, 1996). Routamaa and Vesalainen (1986/87) cited evidence suggesting that the managerial type of entrepreneur to be growth oriented but distinctly risk averse in comparison with the so-called classical entrepreneur. Moreover, they highlighted differences in the goal setting (i.e.…”

Strategien, KMU und Umfeld. Handlungsmuster und Strategiegenese in kleinen und mittleren Unternehmen.

“…sich deshalb eher als "formales Prinzip der Entscheidungslogik" (Wiswede 1995: 28) mit logischen und normativen Konsequenzen denn als Erklärung tatsächlichen Verhaltens beschreiben. Auch wurde in empirischen KMU-Studien eine Vielzahl unternehmerischer Zielsetzungen -abhängig von Faktoren wie dem familiären Umfeld des Unternehmers oder der Persönlichkeit des Unternehmers -nachgewiesen Reid et al 1999;Kuratko et al 1998;Routamaa, Vesalainen 1987). Diese sind nicht ausschließlich monetärer Art, sondern beispielsweise familienbezogen (Zukunftssicherung, Weiterführung eines Familienbetriebes) und/oder personengebunden (Einkommenssicherung, persönliches Wachstum, Autonomie) und lassen sich deshalb mit der Annahme des Gewinnmaximierungsverhaltens der rationalen Theorie nur schwer in Einklang bringen.…”

A typology of technology‐based entrepreneurs

“…Therefore, with increasing evidence of the relative failure of behaviour-based models as indicators of entrepreneurial behaviour, the use of typologies as means of examining different types of entrepreneur has gained increasing favour in entrepreneurship research (Gibb and Ritchie, 1981;Routamaa and Vesalainen, 1987;Smith, 1967;Stanworth and Curran, 1976). As Davidsson (1988, p. 89) stated: "a useful typology of entrepreneurs has a potential of high theoretical -and therefore also practical -value.…”

“…1. However, it must be noted that, while the majority of studies have perceived the process of entrepreneurship to be synonymous with the owner-management of a small business (Gasse and d'Amboise, 1981;Hofer and Sandberg, 1987;Routamaa and Vesalainen, 1987), others argue that entrepreneurship can exist in alternative types of organizations. For example, there has been recent interest in entrepreneurial behaviour in larger organizations, either in the form of "corporate venturing" (Fast, 1978;Kanter, 1983), or "intrapreneurship" (Pinchot, 1986).…”