Index and Abstracts
Volume 9, Number 1
April 2004

Refereed Articles

Promoting Hispanic Entrepreneurship in Chicago Marta Tienda and Rebecca Raijman

Exploring Business Information Networks of Small Retailers in Rural Communities Barbara J. Frazier and Linda S. Niehm

Impact of the 8(a) Program on Minority Firm Development: An Exploratory Study Raymond D. Smith, Pat Robertson-Saunders and Phillip Fanara Jr.

Understanding Self Perceptions of Business Performance: An Examination of Black American Entrepreneurs Colbert Rhodes and John S. Butler.

Achieving Rapid Growth: Revisiting the Managerial Capacity Problem Bruce R. Barringer and Foard Jones

Promoting Hispanic Immigrant Entrepreneurship in Chicago

Marta Tienda and Rebecca Raijman

Abstract

This article examines the evolution of Hispanic immigrant entrepreneurship in Chicago during the 1980s and 1990s - a period where the ethnographical composition of the population changed appreciably and minority businesses grew rapidly. The Census of Business Owners shows rapid growth in the number of businesses, but a shrinking share of total sales generated by minority Hispanic owned businesses. Using a survey of business owners in Little village a Hispanic immigrant community in Chicago the authors investigated the relatively weaker economic position of Hispanic businesses by examining the pathways to business ownership; the sources of start-up capital and the role of institutional and informal resources in business start-ups. Comparisons with Koreans, Asians and non Hispanic whites illustrates the sources of Hispanic business precariousness.

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Exploring Business Information Networks of Small Retailers in Rural Communities

Barbara J. Frazier and Linda S. Niehm

Abstract

This article examines the networking activities of successful independant retailers operating in rural communities in the United States. The study uses data from semi structured interviews with 24 small retailers to discover how the participants perceptions of distinct informal networks including Advisor, Merchant, Grapevine, Inspiration and Expert networks. The image resulting from the study is one of the socially active and competent individuals, who engage in multiple interactions within a wide variety of networks. The ability to engage others in social discourse appears to be an important asset in building and using proactive networks. The structural, relational and social capital characteristics and competitive value of each network is discussed. Propositions for further research are also presented.

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Impact of the 8(a) Program on Minority Firm Development: An Exploratory Study

Raymond D. Smith, Pat Roberson- Saunders and Phillip Fanara, Jr.

Abstract

The US Small Business Administration's 8(a) business development program was established to provide assistance in promoting the viability and long term survival prospects of ventures owned by socially and economically disadvantaged person's. Yet since the inception of the program in 1968 there has been a virtual dearth of reseach to determine the extent to which involvement in the program contributes to a firms success. The results of this exploratory study of New York based 8(a) firms indicate that both the development and growth are positively associated with the legnth of participation of firms in the 8(a) program.oh[top]

Understanding Self-Perceptions of Business Performance: An Examination of Black American Entrepreneurs

Abstract

Aconceptual model of small business performance is developed to show the determinants of subjective indications of business success and lucrativeness, using a sample of Black American business entrepreneurs. A framework is constructed for an investigation of how socioeconomic environmental factors as family background, support from the community, assistance from family and friends, and the characteristics of individual strategic decision making that involved seeking capital, acquiring information external to the community, organizational membership, attracting customers of other ethnicities, providing better service and adopting unique products and services contributed to self-perceptions of business success and a belief that being in business is more lucrative than working for wages. This is an initial step toward a theory of Black American small business performance. This approach allows us to utilize the literature on small business as well as the rich literature on race and ethnic enterprises. In this study an entrepreneur is defined as person who presently operates a small business he or she started.

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Achieving Rapid Growth Revisiting the Managerial Capacity Problem

Bruce R. Barringer and Foard Jones

Abstract

The managerial capacity problem argues that a firm’s ability to grow is directly related to its ability to add managerial capacity to administer the growth. The extent to which organizational practices and policies can lessen the managerial capacity problem is tested through a qualitative comparison of 50 rapid-growth to 50 normal and slow-growth firms. Results indicate that rapid-growth firms differ from normal and slow-growth firms in a number of key areas in regard to the management techniques that they employ to lessen the impact of the managerial capacity problem and enhance firm growth.