The impact of personal and environmental factors on entrepreneurship

Diploma Thesis from the year 2005 in the subject Business economics - Company formation, Business Plans, grade: very good 'A', Aachen University of Applied Sciences (School of Management; George Mason University ), language: English, abstract: In dependence on the definition of entrepreneurship as the 'creation of a new enterprise' as suggested by Low & MacMillan (1988: 141), this paper focuses on factors influencing the individual, or a group of individuals to start a new company. An extensive review of the literature suggests that the decision to create a new venture is influenced by a number of variables that are examined in this paper. First, the role of the individual in the venture creation process will be portrayed. It is found that personal factors are directly related to the venture creation decision. Second, as the individual faces several unforeseen challenges when deciding to start up a new business, environmental support plays a crucial role in compensating for the inherent risks of starting a new business. Thirdly, the role of culture will be appraised by showing that culture can have both a direct and a moderating effect on the individual's role in the creation decision process. The final part of the paper will integrate these three described factors into a new theoretical framework. It will be shown that the creation to start a new business depends on the individual, environmental support and the overarching culture. In addition, this new framework will introduce an individual's self-efficacy, motivation, and networking activities as necessary and critical components of the venture creation process. Based on empirical evidence from prior research it will be illustrated that networking plays a fundamental part in the venture creation decision process and that it follows a similar pattern across different cultures.