Index and
Abstracts
Volume 5, Number 2
August 2000
Refereed Articles
Family Microenterprises: Strategies for Coping with
Overlapping Family and Business Demands, Nancy J. Miller, Mary
Winter, Margaret A. Fitzgerald, and Jennifer Paul
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From Unemployed to Entrepreneur: A Case Study in
Intervention, Stephen W. Osborne, Thomas W.
Falcone, and Prashanth B. Nagendra
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The Role of Adaptation in Microenterprise Development: A
Marketing Perspective, Leyland F. Pitt and
Rushieda Kannemeyer
-
Financing the Microcredit Programs of Non-Governmental
Organizations (NGOs): A Case Study, Dewan A. H. Alamgir
-
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SHORTER ARTICLES
Pre-Launch and the Acquisition of Start-up Capital by
Small Firms,
Howard E. Van Auken and Lynn Neeley
Family
Microenterprises: Strategies for Coping with Overlapping Family and
Business Demands
Nancy J.
Miller, Mary Winter, Margaret A. Fitzgerald, and Jennifer Paul
Abstract
The family owned and operated microenterprise
constitutes an alternative system of income production for many
individuals and their families. This
study addresses the overlapping fields of family and business and the
adjustment strategies that are used to manage the two when times are
hectic in either the family or the business.
First, comparisons are made between adjustment strategies used
by managers of the family businesses and managers of their households.
For 87 of the 137 family microenterprises, the business manager
also performed the role of the household manager.
Overall findings suggest a greater likelihood of family
adjustment to business needs than business adjustment to family needs
with those performing two roles less inclined or able to shift or put
off the business work to spend time with family than those performing
only one role. Additional
analyses of household and business adjustment strategy use were
conducted involving comparisons based on business size, location, and
type. Suggestions are
offered for consultants and academicians who work with and study
developing microenterprises.
Key Words: Microenterprise,
entrepreneurship, household resource management, family business
management, work-family conflict, adjustment strategies
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From
Unemployed to Entrepreneur: A Case Study in Intervention
Stephen W.
Osborne, Thomas W. Falcone, and Prashanth B. Nagendra
Abstract
A number of programs and studies have focused on
different groups of potential, but unlikely, entrepreneurs with
respect to their entrepreneurial propensities and activities.
This article summarizes the entrepreneurial
"potential," training, and success of a group of recently
unemployed workers with a wide spectrum of previous occupations and
industries. This issue of trying to create jobs for unemployed workers
has been addressed in part by a program titled the Self Employment
Assistance Program (SEAP). This
article offers an overview of the program, provides a profile of the
participants, and relates their assessment results to a number of
specific entrepreneurial /business start-up outcomes.
Hypotheses are developed and tested indicating that
entrepreneurs can in fact be developed.
However, the pre-selection process of identifying potentially
successful candidates is shown to be somewhat problematic.
Based on the success criteria mandated by the state of
Pennsylvania, this program resulted in a "success rate" of
96%. Using and "up
and running" criteria for a successful entrepreneur, a 75%
success rate was achieved. A
framework for an entrepreneurial training program based on this
experience is also presented.
Key Words: Entrepreneurship education,
self-employment, unemployment, business startup, entrepreneurial
assessment
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The
Role of Adaptation in Microenterprise Development: A Marketing
Perspective Leyland F. Pitt
and Rushieda Kannemeyer
Abstract
The entrepreneur's willingness to adapt key
marketing mix variables impacts on the performance of the venture. However, this phenomenon has not received a great deal of
research attention. This
paper explores the concept of adaptation as it applies to marketing
efforts of the start-up entrepreneur, in order to determine whether
traits commonly associated with the entrepreneurial personality are
associated with successful adaptation of one's business.
A conceptual model is developed to guide the study and results
are reported of interviews conducted with a sample of historically
disadvantaged South African entrepreneurs.
Support is provided for the conceptual model, and it is
suggested that tolerance of ambiguity and an internal locus of control
are positively related, and risk-taking is negatively associated, with
adaptation of marketing strategy.
Suggestions for further research are provided, and implications
for managers are discussed.
Key Words: Adaptation, entrepreneurial
ventures, locus of control, marketing, risk, tolerance of ambiguity
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Financing
the Microcredit Programs of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs): A
Case Study
Dewan A. H.
Alamgir
Abstract
The Palli Karma Sahayak Foundation (PKSF) is an
innovative institutional mechanism in Bangladesh for alleviating
poverty. It is a
government sponsored financial institution that provides loans to
organizations to expand outreach of successful microcredit programs
and assists to enhance organizational capacity.
PKSF is an independent institution outside the government
bureaucracy and is supervised by a Governing Body of distinguished
persons. Since inception
in 1990, it has enlisted 178 Partner Organizations (any recipient of
loans from PKSF) who in turn reached 1.48 million rural borrowers,
mostly women, with microcredit. This
remarkable growth has been possible due to PKSF's strategy of
operating through a network of Partner Organizations.
The initiative has been successful in reaching the rural poor
and in increasing their income. PKSF
and many of its Partner Organizations have already achieved financial
viability.
Key Words: Poverty alleviation,
microcredit, financial institution for MFIs, lending to institutions,
financial services for the poor, self-employment
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Pre-Launch
and the Acquisition of Start-up Capital by Small Firms
Howard E.
Van Auken and Lynn Neeley
Abstract
This paper examines the relationships between
pre-launch preparations and the acquisition of start-up capital for
small firms. Specifically,
the study investigates the relationship between pre-launch
preparations and (a) the size of initial capitalization, (b)
percentage of start-up equity in initial capital structure, (c) use of
supplemental financing and (d) difficulty of raising start-up capital.
The results show that firms that are more involved in
pre-launch preparations are launched with smaller amounts of capital,
use less equity, use more supplemental financing, and have a greater
difficulty of raising initial capital as compared to firms that show
less evidence of pre-launch preparations.
The results are useful for policymakers, consultants, and
educators who offer information on the potential use and availability
of the various alternative sources of capital to their respective
constituents. Information
on the importance of pre-launch preparations and the use of financing
alternatives can increase the efficiency of financial markets by
assisting new business owners in evaluating and developing better
financing strategies.
Key Words: Business planning, capital
acquisition, pre-launch preparations
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