Ethics of Business Managers vs. Entrepreneurs
Branko Bucar and Robert D. Hisrich
Abstract
Especially in today's hyper-competitive global economy, it is
important to understand the ethical attitudes and standards of
entrepreneurs and managers both in the U.S. and abroad. This study of
ethical attitudes and standards is grounded in stakeholder theory and,
more specifically, the theory of property. One hundred and sixty-five
entrepreneurs and one hundred twenty-eight managers were surveyed
using a detached measuring instrument containing binary response
questions, scenarios, and comprehensive demographic information. The
study confirmed expectations derived from the theory of property
rights and indicated that substantive differences exist between
entrepreneurs and managers in the United States with respect to their
ethical attitudes. The higher ethical attitudes of entrepreneurs were
anticipated due to their higher equity stakes and the higher risks
assumed.
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Finance and Small and Medium-Sized
Enterprise in Developing Countries
Paul Cook
Abstract
The paper examines the research on finance and the small and
medium-sized enterprise sector on developing countries. The paper
argues that theoretical insights into this field have largely been
confined to studies undertaken in the US and UK. In developing
countries research on both the supply and demand for finance in
relation to SMEs has been empirically-based and has been pre-occupied
with gathering information on the characteristics of SMEs and lending
institutions rather than on testing theoretical proportions that would
improve our understanding of the relationship between finance and SMEs.
A research agenda is outlined.
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Life Cycles of New Venture Organizations:
Different Factors Affecting Performance
David Flynn and Andrew M. Forman
Abstract
The behavior of venture capitalists (VCs) and their affiliated new
venture organizations (NVOs) is investigated in the context of the
life cycle construct by assessing the differences that exist for firms
that invest earlier versus later in the organizational life cycle.
Previously it has been posited that in the post-investment
relationship between the venture capitalist and the new venture or-ganization,
the technical core is generally supplied by the NVO
entrepreneur/scientist. These technocrats (versus managers), however,
often ignore the administrative needs of the firm. There-fore, the
venture capitalist often may fulfill the firm's administrative needs
through information processing, recruitment, and other strategic
decision methods. Furthermore, it is argued that the venture
capitalists and NVO in tandem affect performance in different ways
depending on the stage of investment by the VC. Data supplied by a
random sample of 76 VCs support the con-tention that demographic,
environmental, information processing, structural, and decision
mak-ing variables affect performance differently depending on whether
the VC invests in an early or later stage of an organization's life
cycle.
Key Words:
venture capitalists, technical and administrative core, information
processing, structure, decision making.
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The Microcredit Challenge: A Survey of Programs
in California
Gary Painter and Shui-Yan Tang
Abstract
Microcredit has increasingly been viewed by policy makers in the US
as an important instrument for fighting poverty and promoting economic
development in disadvantaged communities. Existing literature on the
subject has been based mostly on experiences of a few cases. This
article reports the result of a survey that examines a broader array
of microcredit programs in California. The survey indicates that
microcredit programs occupy a market niche distinct from other
alternative loan programs in terms of loan characteristics and various
operational features. At the same time, the number of clients served
by the programs is currently very limited and none of the programs are
close to attaining financial self-sustainability.
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Mainstreaming Informal Financial Institutions
Hans Dieter Seibel
Abstract
Informal financial institutions (IFIs), among them the ubiquitous
rotating savings and credit associations, are of ancient origin. Owned
and self-managed by local people, poor and non-poor, they are
self-help organizations which mobilize their own resources, cover
their costs and finance their growth from their profits. With the
expansion of the money economy, they have spread into new areas and
grown in numbers, size and diversity; but ultimately, most have
remained restricted in size, outreach and duration. Are they best left
alone, or should they be helped to upgrade their operations and
integrate into the wider financial market? Under conducive policy
conditions, some have spontaneously taken the opportunity of evolving
into semiformal or formal microfinance institutions (MFIs). This has
usually yielded great benefits in terms of financial deepening,
sustainability and outreach. Donors may build on these indigenous
foundations and provide support for various options of institutional
development, among them: incentives-driven mainstreaming through
networking; encouraging the establishment of new IFIs in areas devoid
of financial services; linking IFIs/MFIs to banks; strengthening NGOs
as promoters of good practices; and, in a nonrepressive policy
environment, promoting appropriate legal forms, prudential regulation
and delegated supervision.
Keywords:
Microfinance, Microcredit, Microsavings, Informal finance,
Self-help groups, RoSCAs - rotating savings and credit associations,
Rotating work associations, Indigenous institutions (or: Institutions,
indigenous), Financial Service Associations (FSAs), Linkage
banking/Linking banks and self-help groups, Regulation and supervision
