فصلنامه توسعه کارآفرینی
سال دوم شماره 1 (پیاپی 3، بهار 1388)

Entrepreneurship is an emergent field in the recent decades which has been accompanied by very important efforts towards recognition of the grounds for its development. This research is conducted through a mixed method of questionnaire and interviews. The target group consists of students from the University of Tehran, and Shahid Beheshti as well as the Sharif University of Technology who have managed to start up businesses. The respondents believe in a strong inherent value system while they are trying to reinforce it and showing their adherence to religious principles. The findings indicate that owing to some intermediary variables, religious beliefs can indirectly impact the business venture. On the other hand, most of the Islamic teachings and Qoranic traditions which address economic issues largely evidence the religious tendency and association with entrepreneurship and new business startups.

This article survey is the theoretical literature about entrepreneurship, governmental entrepreneurship, corporate intrapreneurship and entrepreneurship dimensions and then explores a primary model from contextual field for experiment in the public sector organizations.In this study, three questionnaires are designed to measure individual and organizational elements accompanied by entrepreneurship dimensions. To obtain adequate assurance about the information accuracy, all questionnaires should have reliability and validity. Upon gathering information, we focused on analyzing on these factors: eight organizational factors, seven individual factors and five dimensional factors. The research results show that many factors may affect entrepreneurship. The canonical correlation in the study suggests two models for measuring entrepreneurship in public sector organizations. Also regression analysis explored some linear functions as dependent and independent variables in five alternatives. Among the individual elements: achievement, self-confidence, organizational commitment, negotiation skills are significant and among the entrepreneurial dimensions: the main constructs of entrepreneurship risk-taking, proactiveness, autonomy and tendency to reform are noteworthy. Accordingly customer-oriented factors, flexible structure, working culture, strategic control, management support and idea acceptance system are affecting entrepreneurship.

This study aims to explain the major skills, instructional objectives, best teaching and learning methods and appropriate timetable to implement entrepreneurship curriculum in the field of education. There are two categories of statistical population: the first sample includes 117 master students (27 males and 90 females) at University of Tehran during the semester 2006, 2007. The second sample includes a group of 40 experts selected from among university professors, top entrepreneurs and practitioners.The research is conducted through a mixed quantitative and qualitative method. First sampling has been carried out by using the descriptive and survey method whereas second sampling employs a qualitative method. The information gathered from questionnaires indicated the Alpha Cronbach of 88/31 for students and 88/69 for experts respectively. The analysis has been made in view of the percentage, frequency and Pearson Correlation. The findings demonstrate that the respondents, preferences and priorities in connection with curriculum development in the field of education include: Contact of research projects, introduction to business plans, introduction to occupations in related discipline, business rules and regulations, financial skills, marketing technique, concepts of innovation, creativity and related issues.

Each year a great number of nascent entrepreneurs embark on startups, but a few of them manage to create a sustainable enterprise. They often cease efforts when they confront obstacles. This study makes a great attempt to deal with the barriers in the way of the nascent entrepreneurs who are taking courses to acquire entrepreneurial knowledge and business skills in Tehran. The findings indicate that limitation s such as cultural and attitudinal (mean: 3.7), educational (mean: 3.66), supports and infrastructural (mean: 3.64), operating business environment (mean: 3.38), legal and administrative (mean: 3.41) and financial (mean: 3.42) respectively are the key impediment to business startups. However, personal reservations (mean: 3.08) will not be classified as big problems. The critical point here is that nascent entrepreneurs endowed with stronger entrepreneurial characteristics, tend more to start up businesses notwithstanding their perception of such problems. In reality, the adjusting role of the "entrepreneurial personality traits" in proportion to the impact of barriers on tendency towards starting up new businesses is the major scientific achievement of the present research.

Why, when and how are some people more capable of recognizing opportunities while others lack such ability? This is a key question to pose in the field of entrepreneurship and opportunity recognition. The answer to this question can open up a new window before researchers. The aim of this research is to examine the factors that are effective in determining opportunities among entrepreneurs. To achieve this goal, we use the model suggested by Bany Ovoroa (2003). In doing so, after distribution of questionnaires among 279 to entrepreneurs in the Third National Festival of Entrepreneurship we have analyzed 92 of questionnaires. For analysis, firstly we have examined the reliability of theoretical model via data gathering from statistic population by Lisrel software. The results show that the model can be used for population. The next phase of analysis is made by correlation test. The results show that there is a significant relationship between entrepreneurial alertness, personal characteristics of entrepreneur, social networks, primary knowledge and thrust forces, and identifying entrepreneurship opportunities. This survey can be used to develop potential entrepreneurs in different fields to gain ability to determine the key elements of opportunity recognitions.

In recent years, entrepreneurship in IT industry has been viewed as a prime factor of economic development. Since opportunity recognition is a critical step in entrepreneurship, identification of effectual factors in opportunity recognition is of great significance. The main objective of this study is to examine the effects of individual and social factors in opportunity recognition in IT industry. In this research, eight hypotheses were presented and the effects of independent variables (prior knowledge, self-efficacy, systematic search, weak ties, strong ties, mentors and information flow) on dependent variables (opportunity recognition) were tested. The statistical population and sample include 230 and 142 entrepreneurs respectively in IT industry in the city of Tehran. The data collection instrument was questionnaire and research method was descriptive and correlational research. Cronbachs alpha and content were made to test reliability and validity. The results indicated that independent variables (like knowledge, self-efficacy and mentors) had direct positive effects on opportunity recognition but other variables did not have any effect on opportunity recognition. By comparing relative influence of strong and weak ties on opportunity recognition, weak ties will be more positively associated with opportunity recognition than strong forms.

A limited series of studies on capital structure have been conducted on small-to-medium size enterprises (SMEs). Recent family-bases business literature suggests that these processes are influenced by firm owners’ attitudes toward the utility of debt as a form of financing. Other factors like culture, entrepreneurial characteristics, and prior experiences may also be involved. This study intends to present a model for family business financing and in view of the research conducted by Claudio A.Romono et al. This survey deals with textile and oil industries in Tehran. Almost 78 family businesses in textile industry and 80 family businesses in oil industry were identified. A sample of 88 firms from the two industries was investigated in our study. If findings suggest that the firm size, family control, business planning, and business objectives are significantly associated with debt.