72 Entrepreneurship and the entrepreneurial system
Value creation, through the shape it takes, becomes part of the individuals who define themselves in relation to it. It plays a predominant role in the life of the individual (activity, objectives, means, social status, etc.) and is likely to modify his or her characteristics (know-how, values, attitudes, etc.), so we have:
value creationindividual
I wish to make two observations here. First of all, I would like to clarify what I mean by: ‘The shape that value creation takes, a company for instance, is the individual’s “thing”.’ For Mintzberg (1991) entrepreneurial strategy implies that individuals impose their vision on a whole organisation. Crozier and Friedberg (1977) distinguish four different sources of power, originating in various sources of uncertainty within the organisation: a specific competence; the control of the relations with the environment; control of communication and information; and authority and rules. Founders of new ventures ex nihilo, generally possess these four sources of power. They have, at least at the beginning of the creation process, total control over the project they are trying to set up: their project is their ‘thing’. However, in the dialogic, individuals go on to create a new venture (an open system) that will be modified by its environment, and individuals likewise will be transformed by their project. Secondly, I would like to comment upon the changes in individuals resulting from their value creation project. For Martinet (1990), the political and strategic dimensions interact in a conflicting context in which the actors’ productions are indissolubly linked to the ‘production’ of their own identity. However, what also characterises these dimensions is calculation, reason, or at least the rationalisation of the struggles.
A graded approach to the field
This dialogic we have just explained is essential to a real understanding of the situation of a new innovative company manager/founder/owner during the start-up phase. This dialogic can be graded according to the situation. The individual responsible for the creation and development of a new innovative activity within an existing company, who coordinates rather than manages a team, under the watchful supervision of the manager/head of the company, is on the extreme fringe of