فصلنامه توسعه کارآفرینی
سال ششم شماره 1 (پیاپی 19، بهار 1392)

Considering the essential role that product development plays in fast- growing firms learning how to perform its activities can be highly valued, whereas product development activities are per se a proper context for knowledge acquisition. In this study, the narrative approach and the technique of deep and targeted interviews have been used to narrate the stories expressed by nine of the sales and marketing managers in rapid growth firms. These narrations were documented for identifying the different ways of learning. For the analysis of the narratives, the coding method was used. The results of the three-step coding indicate that the managers used 20 learning methods to perform the activities of product development. The 20 methods are categorized in the form of 4 learning sources in view of their nature to describe the following layout: learning from social interactions, learning by doing within an organization, learning from doing associated with market. The findings also show that the learning of social interaction is more versatile compared with other sources.

As an applied research, this study has used structural equations to examine the relationship between networkability, organizational learning and open innovation in order to assess the significance of relationships between variables in SMEs in the Province of Tehran. The statistical community of this study is the managers of SMEs in the Province of Tehran, but because of the vast geographical area, Tehran the proper and some of its suburban areas have been chosen. Finally, 99 samples were selected at random. The statistical methods for the research data analysis are: confirmatory factor analysis and correlation tests. The results obtained from the analysis of data show a positive significant relationship between organizational trust and knowledge acquisition in the organizational learning process. The overall results of the study indicate the importance of communication to the open innovation process in SMEs.

Though the worldwide age of nanotechnology dates back to almost half a century, it has become an influential technology in industry. Nanotechnology has become a competitive advantage with a rapid growth rate for Iran nearly for a decade. Above all, the pursuit of competitive advantage in the field of nanotechnology involves the commercialization of academic research. Based on the theoretical foundations, research background, literature reviews and the Umum Model (Umum, 2008), the author is seeking to answer the main question: what factors affect the choice of commercialization strategies of academic research of nanotechnology in Iran? This research pursues the object of application with a qualitative method. The statistical population of this research includes the experts with experiences in the field of nanotechnology and commercialization strategies of academic research. The sample consisted of 10 participants who were selected using the Snowball Method. Data collection was conducted through interviews and the validity was confirmed by experts’ opinions and necessary corrections. The data analysis method consisted of coding in three steps of initial coding, open coding and axial coding. The findings revealed the five categories of organizational, environmental, individual, institutional and technological factors in 32 dimensions which affected the choice of commercialization strategies of academic research in the field of nanotechnology.

One of the actions needed to be taken towards the growth and expansion of entrepreneurship is to provide grounds for creation of entrepreneurial culture in a community. Entrepreneurial culture is a collection of values, attitudes, norms, and behaviors which form the identities of entrepreneurs. The principal objective of this research is to investigate the effect of entrepreneurial attitude on the performance of sports managers of the Iranian Wrestling Federation. A descriptive research with a sample of 137 managers of Wrestling Federation were conducted and standard questionnaires were used as a means of collecting data and measuring the effect of four characteristics of entrepreneurial attitude)achievement, personal control, innovation, and self- esteem(on the performance of sports managers: the results of the study showed that the entrepreneurial attitude would affect the performance of the sports managers of the Iranian Wrestling Federation and based on the prioritizing of the characteristics of entrepreneurial attitude, the three factors of innovation, personal control and self-esteem affected the performance of sports managers of the Iranian Wrestling Federation while the effect of achievement was rejected.

The main purpose of this study is to survey challenges and problems of Home Business Cooperatives (HBCs). The study population of this research consists of all the HBC members in Hamedan Province in 2011-2012 (N=80), which have been thoroughly surveyed. The instrument for collecting data was a questionnaire which its validity was confirmed by a panel of experts and its reliability was established by calculating the Cronbach Alpha coefficient as estimated to be 0.77. In this research, in addition to descriptive methods of data, the factor analysis method was utilized by using KMO (0/815) and Bartlett tests (sig = 000). Based on the research results, the low Income levels and non-attendance of members in classroom are the first priorities. Accondengly, the results indicated that the problems of HBCs can be classified in five key factors: lack of government support, management problems, poor planning, economic problems and lack of creativity and entrepreneurship. Organizing the practical training programs based on the educational needs assessment of members, providing affordable facilities and raising the income levels of cooperatives are the main recommendations of this study.

The main purpose of this study was to study the barriers to nanotechnology entrepreneurship development in the Iranian agricultural sector. A descriptive- survey method was used for collecting data. The statistical population of this study consisted of 190 researchers who were working in the National Agricultural Research Institutions (N=190). Based on the Krejcie and Morgan table, a sample of 128 persons was selected using a method of simple random sampling (n=128). A questionnaire was used to collect the data. A panel of faculty members in the universities of Tehran and Zanjan established the validity of the questionnaire. A pilot study was conducted to establish the reliability of the instrument. Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the main scale of questionnaire was equal to 0.752. The results of factor analysis showed that five factors namely: infrastructural- supportive, legal, cognitive- educational, psychological and communicational explain 70.05 percent of total variances of barriers to nanotechnology entrepreneurship development in the Iranian agricultural sector.

Currently, one of the most important challenges to SMEs is financing as their managers are faced with many problems in this area. In this study the barriers to SMEs financing were identified by using Q methodology which is a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods. After literature review and conduct of interviews with 12 executive managers of SMEs, 64 barriers were identified to the SMEs which were classified by 84 participants inter alia finance managers, supply managers and executive managers of enterprises. Finally, a different perspective (subjective patterns) of the participants about barriers to financing was recognized by using Q-factor analysis. Accordingly five subjective patterns were identified that explained 79.09 percent of total variations. In the first subjective pattern, views of respondents and lack of competition between enterprises; in the second subjective pattern; lack of necessary education in entrepreneurship and business; in the third subjective pattern, lack of necessary collateral for banking facilities; in the fourth subjective pattern, limitations in foreign investment, and in the fifth subjective pattern, inadequate governmental support for small and medium enterprises, were identified as the main barriers to financing.

The main objective of this research is to investigate and assess entrepreneurship capabilities of university students in order to accredit and revise functions and missions of higher education curricula. Statistical population for this research was a group of 412 students of Kashan University, selected by means of classified sampling method during the academic year 90-91(n=5502). Data was collected using a questionnaire, (Cronbach’s alpha questionnaire) with an estimated reliability of %89. Accordingly data were analyzed using appropriate descriptive and inferential statistics. Research findings showed that there is not a significant difference among students from different colleges in terms of entrepreneurship capabilities. However there is a significant difference between male and female students in the total score’ of entrepreneurship, risk–taking and creativity components. In addition, the findings indicated that there is no significant entrepreneurial capability difference between students of the first year and fourth year which in turn is proof of deficiency in developing students’ entrepreneurial capabilities and this is reminiscent of the importance and necessity of reform and revision of current curricula in universities and higher education centers.

The educational system is one of the important trends in every society in order to develop and promote individuals’ entrepreneurial skills. The purpose of this study is the contents of vocational training textbooks of middle school program based on the entrepreneurial components. The method of this study is descriptive with the content analysis type. The population includes the contents of three volumes of vocational training books of Middle school in 2011-2012. The instrument was a content analysis form consisting of 7 main components, i.e. need for achievement, risk bearing, accountability, hardworking, tolerance for ambiguity, creativity and innovation, and internal control. To confirm the validity and formal and content reliability of the study, the views of experts in educational planning and specialists of entrepreneurship were used. Reliability is calculated by using the Holsti reliability formula. The data from content analysis were analyzed through descriptive statistics, frequency, and frequency percentage. The results showed that the highest frequency dealt with innovation and creativity, and the lowest frequency referred to the component of tolerance for ambiguity in the first, second and third grades of middle schools.

Social entrepreneurs are impassioned individuals who combine leadership, creativity, and an entrepreneurial spirit to solve social problems related to matters affecting human welfare at systemic levels. The purpose of this study which is based on qualitative approach is to form a developing social entrepreneurship model in Iran. Accordingly, social entrepreneurs want to develop innovative programs to help people who do not have venture capital or financial power or cannot exploit the social opportunity. To this end, thirteen in-depth interviews were conducted on social entrepreneurs who founded the charity organizations where interviews were based on theatrical saturation and snowball sampling. They have organizations with social goals and innovation in delivering services to stakeholders. The findings supported by the grounded theory demonstrated that family background, academic and job backgrounds, personality dimensions, experiences and general interests, religious beliefs and value oriention, and skills are causal factors.