Definitions of International Entrepreneurship
International business scholars Wright and Ricks (1994) highlighted international entrepreneurship as a newly emerging research arena, and it became clear that arena included: (1) comparisons of entrepreneurial behavior in multiple countries and cultures, as well as (2) organization behavior that extends across national borders and is entrepreneurial. While these foci have remained over time, the definition of “international entrepreneurship” has moved from a very broad one, which avoided prematurely proscribing
important nascent interests (Giamartino, McDougall, & Bird, 1993), to excluding nonprofit and government organizations to be consistent with the commonly accepted definition of “international business” (McDougall & Oviatt, 1997). However, to be consistent with the interests of entrepreneurship scholars in such issues as social entrepreneurship, that exclusion was eliminated:
International entrepreneurship is a combination of innovative, proactive, and riskseeking behavior that crosses national borders and is intended to create value in organizations.(McDougall & Oviatt, 2000)
Individual, group, and organizational levels of behavior and academic study are included. Thus, international entrepreneurship has evolved from a focus on new ventures to include corporate entrepreneurship (Birkinshaw, 1997; Zahra et al., 2000; Zahra & George, 2002).
The definition of entrepreneurship, however, is a matter of continuing debate and evolution. The idea that entrepreneurship is a combination of innovative, proactive, and risk-seeking behavior finds its origins in strategic management literature (e.g., Covin & Slevin, 1989; Miller, 1983), but those are not the only entrepreneurial dimensions that scholars have identified. Lumpkin and Dess (1996) highlighted a variety of “entrepreneurial orientation” dimensions and distinguished them from the definition of entrepreneurship itself, which they equated with new entry, or the act of launching a new venture.
Venkataraman (1997) and Shane and Venkataraman (2000) maintain, however, that the creation of new organizations, while possible, is not a defining condition (cf., Gartner, 1988). Business opportunities may be sold to others, for example. Thus, they define the study of entrepreneurship as the:
examination of how, by whom, and with what effects opportunities to create future goods and services are discovered, evaluated, and exploited. (Shane & Venkataraman, 2000, p. 218)
The authors emphasize that entrepreneurship has two parts: (1) opportunities; and (2) individuals who strive to take advantage of them. We agree with these observations. Increasingly, entrepreneurship is viewed as focusing on opportunities that may be bought and sold, or they may form the foundation of new organizations. Such a focus leads us away from an emphasis on entrepreneurial orientations, which McDougall and Oviatt (2000) relied upon for their definition of international entrepreneurship. That change has the advantage of obviating the debate over how many dimensions of entrepreneurial orientation are important for definitional purposes (Lumpkin & Dess, 1996).
As with all definitions, however, Shane and Venkataraman’s (2000) definition has been criticized. Some scholars dislike their definition because it depicts opportunities as “objective phenomena” that do not require subjective creation among people influenced by their social milieu (Baker, Gedajlovic, & Lubatkin, 2003). However, we believe the issue is resolved by noting that opportunities may be enacted (Weick, 1995) as well as discovered. That is, people act and then interpret what their actions have created, and sometimes those creations are economic opportunities. Shane (2000), for example, described how eight new venture opportunities were created from different applications of a single technology. The patented technology, called three-dimensional printing, deposited multiple layers of material in a complex manner to produce a component. The proposed applications varied from creating architectural models to manufacturing pharmaceuticals. By the time Shane’s article was written, four entrepreneurial efforts resulting from those applications had failed and four companies survived. The inventors of the technology did not discover any of the eight applications, and while the entrepreneurs may have discovered the technology, it was their idiosyncratic interpretations of its capabilities that appeared to create the opportunity. While Shane (2000) terms it a process of discovery, it seems very much like what Weick (1995) describes as a process of enactment.
Thus, with an adjustment to include enactment, we believe adopting a new definition of international entrepreneurship that relies to a large extent on Shane and Venkataraman’s (2000) definition of entrepreneurship is appropriate at this time. Our definition: (1) focuses on opportunities, (2) permits but does not require the formation of new organizations, (3) allows for corporate entrepreneurship, (4) renders unnecessary a debate over how many dimensions entrepreneurial orientations include; and (5) highlights entrepreneurial activity across national borders. While definitional changes should be made only with care, we believe the current potential for improvement warrants a change. Therefore:
International entrepreneurship is the discovery, enactment, evaluation, and exploitation of opportunities—across national borders—to create future goods and services.
The phrase “across national borders” is highlighted above because it has particular meaning in this context. Actors (organizations, groups, or individuals) who discover, enact, evaluate, or exploit opportunities to create future goods or services and who cross national borders to do so are internationally entrepreneurial actors. Scholars who study those actors, how they act, and the effects of their actions are studying international entrepreneurship. So, too, are scholars who compare domestic entrepreneurial systems, cultures, and behavior across national borders. Thus, there are two branches to the study of international entrepreneurship, one focusing on the cross-national-border behavior of entrepreneurial actors, and another focusing on the cross-national-border comparison of entrepreneurs, their behavior, and the circumstances in which they are imbedded. The comparison branch is included because it has always been a part of the study of international entrepreneurship from the first special issue on the topic to appear in an academic journal (Hisrich, Honig-Haftel, McDougall, & Oviatt, 1996) to the most recent comprehensive handbook on international entrepreneurship (Dana, 2004). However, to provide focus and to keep this article to a journal-length manuscript, from this point we confine our attention to the study of cross-national-border entrepreneurial behavior.
Definitions of International Entrepreneurship
International business scholars Wright and Ricks (1994) highlighted international entrepreneurship as a newly emerging research arena, and it became clear that arena included: (1) comparisons of entrepreneurial behavior in multiple countries and cultures, as well as (2) organization behavior that extends across national borders and is entrepreneurial. While these foci have remained over time, the definition of “international entrepreneurship” has moved from a very broad one, which avoided prematurely proscribing
important nascent interests (Giamartino, McDougall, & Bird, 1993), to excluding nonprofit and government organizations to be consistent with the commonly accepted definition of “international business” (McDougall & Oviatt, 1997). However, to be consistent with the interests of entrepreneurship scholars in such issues as social entrepreneurship, that exclusion was eliminated:
International entrepreneurship is a combination of innovative, proactive, and riskseeking behavior that crosses national borders and is intended to create value in organizations.(McDougall & Oviatt, 2000)
Individual, group, and organizational levels of behavior and academic study are included. Thus, international entrepreneurship has evolved from a focus on new ventures to include corporate entrepreneurship (Birkinshaw, 1997; Zahra et al., 2000; Zahra & George, 2002).
The definition of entrepreneurship, however, is a matter of continuing debate and evolution. The idea that entrepreneurship is a combination of innovative, proactive, and risk-seeking behavior finds its origins in strategic management literature (e.g., Covin & Slevin, 1989; Miller, 1983), but those are not the only entrepreneurial dimensions that scholars have identified. Lumpkin and Dess (1996) highlighted a variety of “entrepreneurial orientation” dimensions and distinguished them from the definition of entrepreneurship itself, which they equated with new entry, or the act of launching a new venture.
Venkataraman (1997) and Shane and Venkataraman (2000) maintain, however, that the creation of new organizations, while possible, is not a defining condition (cf., Gartner, 1988). Business opportunities may be sold to others, for example. Thus, they define the study of entrepreneurship as the:
examination of how, by whom, and with what effects opportunities to create future goods and services are discovered, evaluated, and exploited. (Shane & Venkataraman, 2000, p. 218)
The authors emphasize that entrepreneurship has two parts: (1) opportunities; and (2) individuals who strive to take advantage of them. We agree with these observations. Increasingly, entrepreneurship is viewed as focusing on opportunities that may be bought and sold, or they may form the foundation of new organizations. Such a focus leads us away from an emphasis on entrepreneurial orientations, which McDougall and Oviatt (2000) relied upon for their definition of international entrepreneurship. That change has the advantage of obviating the debate over how many dimensions of entrepreneurial orientation are important for definitional purposes (Lumpkin & Dess, 1996).
As with all definitions, however, Shane and Venkataraman’s (2000) definition has been criticized. Some scholars dislike their definition because it depicts opportunities as “objective phenomena” that do not require subjective creation among people influenced by their social milieu (Baker, Gedajlovic, & Lubatkin, 2003). However, we believe the issue is resolved by noting that opportunities may be enacted (Weick, 1995) as well as discovered. That is, people act and then interpret what their actions have created, and sometimes those creations are economic opportunities. Shane (2000), for example, described how eight new venture opportunities were created from different applications of a single technology. The patented technology, called three-dimensional printing, deposited multiple layers of material in a complex manner to produce a component. The proposed applications varied from creating architectural models to manufacturing pharmaceuticals. By the time Shane’s article was written, four entrepreneurial efforts resulting from those applications had failed and four companies survived. The inventors of the technology did not discover any of the eight applications, and while the entrepreneurs may have discovered the technology, it was their idiosyncratic interpretations of its capabilities that appeared to create the opportunity. While Shane (2000) terms it a process of discovery, it seems very much like what Weick (1995) describes as a process of enactment.
Thus, with an adjustment to include enactment, we believe adopting a new definition of international entrepreneurship that relies to a large extent on Shane and Venkataraman’s (2000) definition of entrepreneurship is appropriate at this time. Our definition: (1) focuses on opportunities, (2) permits but does not require the formation of new organizations, (3) allows for corporate entrepreneurship, (4) renders unnecessary a debate over how many dimensions entrepreneurial orientations include; and (5) highlights entrepreneurial activity across national borders. While definitional changes should be made only with care, we believe the current potential for improvement warrants a change. Therefore:
International entrepreneurship is the discovery, enactment, evaluation, and exploitation of opportunities—across national borders—to create future goods and services.
The phrase “across national borders” is highlighted above because it has particular meaning in this context. Actors (organizations, groups, or individuals) who discover, enact, evaluate, or exploit opportunities to create future goods or services and who cross national borders to do so are internationally entrepreneurial actors. Scholars who study those actors, how they act, and the effects of their actions are studying international entrepreneurship. So, too, are scholars who compare domestic entrepreneurial systems, cultures, and behavior across national borders. Thus, there are two branches to the study of international entrepreneurship, one focusing on the cross-national-border behavior of entrepreneurial actors, and another focusing on the cross-national-border comparison of entrepreneurs, their behavior, and the circumstances in which they are imbedded. The comparison branch is included because it has always been a part of the study of international entrepreneurship from the first special issue on the topic to appear in an academic journal (Hisrich, Honig-Haftel, McDougall, & Oviatt, 1996) to the most recent comprehensive handbook on international entrepreneurship (Dana, 2004). However, to provide focus and to keep this article to a journal-length manuscript, from this point we confine our attention to the study of cross-national-border entrepreneurial behavior.
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