Abstract
In this chapter, the authors focus on exploring characteristics of the entrepreneur, a central agent of creativity and innovation in society. As an engine of the economy, entrepreneurship contributes to job creation and to gross national product. Entrepreneurship counteracts inefficiencies in the economic system. The authors recognise entrepreneurship’s relevance and importance in modern economies and societies. First, the authors review literature on key entrepreneurial activity and performance success factors. Then, they present entrepreneurs’ subjective views of success from a qualitative study with 243 entrepreneurs. Creativity and innovativeness seem to be the lifeblood of entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurs explore new ideas, discover, evaluate and exploit business opportunities. They translate inventions into businesses. This chapter illustrates the impact of creativity and innovativeness on business creation and business performance.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Ardichvili, A., Cardozo, R., & Ray, S. (2003). A theory of entrepreneurial opportunity identification and development. Journal of Business Venturing, 18, 105–123.
Audretsch, D., Van der Horst, R., Kwaak, T., & Thurik, R. (2009). First section of the annual report on EU small and medium-sized enterprises. Zoetermeer, the Netherlands: EIM Business & Policy Research.
Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. New York: Freeman.
Baron, R. A. (2007). Entrepreneurship: A process perspective. In J. R. Baum, M. Frese, & R. A. Baron (Eds.), The psychology of entrepreneurship (pp. 19–40). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Barrick, M. R., Mount, M. K., & Judge, T. A. (2001). The FFM personality dimensions and job performance: Meta-analysis of meta-analyses. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 9, 9–30.
Baum, J. R., Frese, M., Baron, R. A., & Katz, J. A. (2007). Entrepreneurship as an area of psychology study: An introduction. In J. R. Baum, M. Frese, & R. A. Baron (Eds.), The psychology of entrepreneurship (pp. 1–18). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Baumol, W. J. (1990). Entrepreneurship: Productive, unproductive, and destructive. Journal of Political Economy, 98, 893–921.
Birch, D. (1979). The job generation process. Cambridge, MA: MIT.
Birley, S. (1986). The role of new firms: Birth, deaths and job generation. Strategic Management Journal, 86, 361–376.
Birley, S., & Westhead, P. (1994). A taxonomy of business start-up reasons and their impact on firm growth and size. Journal of Business Venturing, 9, 7–31.
Bjerke, B. (2007). Understanding entrepreneurship. Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar.
Blaug, R. (2000). Blind hierarchism and radical organizational forms. New Political Science, 22, 379–396.
Bosma, N., Acs, Z. J., Autio, E., Coduras, A., & Levie, J. (2009). Global entrepreneurship monitor: 2008 executive report. London/Babson Park, MA: London Business School/Babson College.
Brüderl, J., Preisendörfer, P., & Baumann, A. (1991). Determinanten der Überlebenschancen neugegründeter Kleinbetriebe. Mitteilungen aus der Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung, 1, 91–100.
Brüderl, J., Preisendörfer, P., & Ziegler, R. (1992). Survival chances of newly founded business organizations. American Sociological Review, 57, 227–242.
Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Technologie (BMWi). (2008). Politik für den Mittelstand [Policy for SME]. Retrieved November 20, 2008, from http://www.bmwi.de/BMWi/Navigation/mittelstand,did=468.html
Carland, J. W., Hoy, F., Boulton, W. R., & Carland, J. A. (1984). Differentiating entrepreneurs from small business owners: A conceptualization. The Academy of Management Review, 9, 354–359.
Carree, M. A., & Thurik, A. R. (2003). The impact of entrepreneurship on economic growth. In Z. J. Acs & D. B. Audretsch (Eds.), Handbook of entrepreneurship research (pp. 437–471). Boston, MA: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Chandler, G. N., & Hanks, S. H. (1993). Measuring the performance of emerging businesses: A validation study. Journal of Business Venturing, 8, 391–408.
Cieslik, J. (2006). Przedsiebiorczosc dla ambitnych. Jak uruchomic wlasny biznes [Entrepreneurship for the ambitious. How to run your own business]. Warszawa, Poland: Wyd. Akademickie i Profesjonalne.
Cipolla, C. M. (1981). Before the industrial revolution: European society and economy, 1000–1700 (2nd ed.). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Collins, C. J., Hanges, P. J., & Locke, E. A. (2004). The relationship of achievement motivation to entrepreneurial behaviour: A meta-analysis. Human Performance, 17, 95–117.
Costa, P. T., & McCrae, R. R. (1988). From catalog to classification: Murray’s needs and the five-factor model. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 55, 258–265.
Cromie, S. (1987). Motivations of aspiring male and female entrepreneurs. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 8, 251–261.
Cudowska, A. (2004). Ksztaltowanie tworczych orientacji zyciowych w procesie edukacji. [Shaping creative life orientation in the educational process]. Bydgoszcz, Poland: Trans Humana.
Davidsson, P. (2005). Researching entrepreneurship. New York: Springer.
Davidsson, P., & Wiklund, J. (2000). Conceptual and methodological challenges in the study of firm growth. In D. Sexton & H. Landström (Eds.), Blackwell’s handbook of entrepreneurship (pp. 26–44). Oxford, MA: Blackwell.
De Tienne, D. R., Shepherd, D. A., & De Castro, J. O. (2008). The fallacy of “only the strong survive”: The effects of extrinsic motivation on the persistence decisions for under-performing firms. Journal of Business Venturing, 23, 528–546.
Dej, D. (2010). Defining and measuring entrepreneurial success. In M. Lukes & M. Laguna (Eds.), Entrepreneurship: A psychological approach (pp. 89–102). Prague, Czech Republic: Oeconomica.
Dej, D., Sztuba, J., & Stephan, U. (2010). Geschlechtsspezifische Unterschiede in der Bewertung von Unternehmenserfolg [Gender specific differences in evaluation of entrepreneurial success]. In Berufsverband Deutscher Psychologinnen und Psychologen (Eds.), Psychologische Expertise für Erfolgreiches Unternehmertum in Deutschland (pp. 47–56). Berlin, Germany: Deutscher Psychologen Verlag.
Drucker, P. F. (1993). Innovation and entrepreneurship. New York: Harper Business.
European Commission. (2003). Green paper: Entrepreneurship in Europe. Retrieved November 03, 2008, from http://europa.eu.int/comm/enterprise/entrepreneurship/green_paper/index.html
Frese, M. (2008). Psychologie des Unternehmertums [Psychology of entrepreneurship]. 7th Congress of Psychology, Fellbach, April 28–30, 2008. Retrieved February 03, 2011, from http://www.uni-giessen.biz/content/downloads/talks/2008/bdp_kongress_april08_vortrag_frese.pdf
Gartner, W. B. (1989). “Who is an entrepreneur?” is the wrong question. Entrepreneurship Theory & Practice, 13, 47–68.
Glazer, N., & Moynihan, D. P. (1963). Beyond the melting pot. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Goebel, P. (1991). Kreativität und kreative Persönlichkeiten – eine Untersuchung über erfolgreiche Unternehmensgründer. Zeitschrift für psychosomatische Medizin, 37, 146–156.
Goffee, R., & Scase, R. (1983). Business ownership and women’s subordination: A preliminary study of female proprietors. The Sociological Review, 31, 625–647.
Green, S. G., Welsh, M. A., & Dehler, G. E. (2003). Advocacy, performance, and threshold influences on decisions to terminate new product development. Academy of Management Journal, 46, 419–434.
Henrekson, M. (2005). Entrepreneurship: A weak link in the welfare state? Industrial and Corporate Change, 14, 437–467.
Hisrich, R. D. (1990). Entrepreneurship/intrapreneurship. American Psychologists, 45, 209–222.
Hisrich, R. D., & Brush, C. (1984). The woman entrepreneur: Management skills and business problems. Journal of Small Business Management, 22, 30–37.
Hisrich, R. D., & Brush, C. (1985). The woman entrepreneur: Characteristics and prescriptions for success. Boston: Lexington Books.
Hisrich, R. D., & Peters, M. P. (1989). Entrepreneurship. Homewood, IL: BPI/Irwin.
Isaksen, S. G. (1987). Frontiers of creativity research. Buffalo, NY: Bearly Limited.
Kay, J. (1996). Podstawy sukcesu firmy [Company success factors]. Warszawa, Poland: Panstwowe Wydawnictwo Ekonomiczne.
Kirzner, I. M. (1973). Competition and entrepreneurship. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Knight, F. (1921). Risk, uncertainty, and profit. New York: Augustus Kelly.
Krueger, N. F., Reilly, M. D., & Carsrud, A. L. (2000). Competing models of entrepreneurial intentions. Journal of Business Venturing, 15, 411–432.
Larson, R. W. (2000). Toward a psychology of positive youth development. American Psychologists, 1, 170–183.
Lazonick, W. (1991). Business organization and the myth of the market economy. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Littunen, H. (2000). Entrepreneurship and the characteristics of the entrepreneurial personality. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour & Research, 6, 295–309.
Low, M. B., & MacMillan, I. C. (1988). Entrepreneurship: Past research and future challenges. Journal of Management, 14, 139–161.
Luchsinger, V., & Bagby, D. R. (1987). Entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship: Behaviours, comparisons and contrasts. SAM Advanced Management Journal, 52, 10–13.
Lumpkin, G. T. (2007). Intrapreneurship and innovation. In R. Baum, M. Frese, & R. Baron (Eds.), The psychology of entrepreneurship (pp. 237–263). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Lumpkin, G. T., & Dess, G. G. (1996). Clarifying the entrepreneurial orientation construct and linking it to performance. Academy of Management Review, 21, 135–173.
Markman, G. D., Baron, R. A., & Balkin, D. B. (2005). Are perseverance and self-efficacy costless? Assessing entrepreneurs’ regretful thinking. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 26, 1–19.
Mayring, P. (2003). Qualitative Inhaltsanalyse. Grundlagen und Techniken (8th ed.). Weinheim, Germany: Beltz.
McClelland, D. C. (1976). The achieving society. New York: Irvington.
Morrison, A., & Johnston, B. (2003). Personal creativity for entrepreneurship: Teaching and learning strategies. Active Learning in Higher Education, 4, 145–158.
Moser, K., & Schuler, H. (1999). Die Heterogenität der Kriterien unternehmerischen Erfolgs. In K. Moser, B. Batinic, & J. Zempel (Eds.), Unternehmerisch erfolgreiches Handeln (pp. 31–42). Göttingen, Germany: Verlag für Angewandte Psychologie.
Murphy, G. B., Trailer, J. W., & Hill, R. C. (1996). Measuring performance in entrepreneurship research. Journal of Business Research, 36, 15–23.
Nyström, H. (1993). Creativity and entrepreneurship. Creativity and Innovation Management, 2, 237–242.
Observatory of European SMEs. (2004). SMEs in Europe 2003. Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities.
Patchen, M. (1965). Some questionnaire measures of employee motivation and morale. Ann Arbor, MI: Institute of Social Research, University of Michigan.
Picot, G., & Dupuy, R. (1998). Job creation by company size class: The magnitude, concentration and persistence of job gains and losses in Canada. Small Business Economics, 10, 117–139.
Porter, M. E. (1990). The competitive advantages of nations. New York: The Free Press.
Porter, M., Sachs, D. J., & McArthur, J. W. (2002). Executive summary: Competitiveness and stages of economic development. In M. Porter, J. D. Sachs, P. K. Cornelius, J. W. McArthur, & K. Schwab (Eds.), The global competitiveness report 2001–2002 (pp. 16–25). New York: Oxford University Press.
Rauch, A., & Frese, M. (1998). Was wissen wir über die Psychologie erfolgreichen Unternehmertums? – Ein Literaturüberblick. In M. Frese (Eds.), Erfolgreiche Unternehmensgründer. Psychologische Analysen und praktische Anleitungen für Unternehmer in Ost- und Westdeutschland (pp. 5–34). Göttingen, Germany: Verlag für Angewandte Psychologie.
Rauch, A., & Frese, M. (2000). Psychological approaches to entrepreneurial success: A general model and an overview of findings. International Review of Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 15, 101–141.
Rauch, A., & Frese, M. (2007). Let’s put the person back into entrepreneurship research: A meta-analysis on the relationship between business owners’ personality traits, business creation and success. European Journal of Work & Organizational Psychology, 16, 353–385.
Rauch, A., Wiklund, J., Lumpkin, G., & Frese, M. (2009). Entrepreneurial orientation and business performance: Cumulative empirical evidence. Entrepreneurship: Theory & Practice, 33, 761–787.
Reynolds, P. D., Bygrave, W. D., & Autio, E. (2004). Global entrepreneurship monitor: 2003 executive report. Babson Park,MA/London/Kansas City, MO: Babson College/London Business School/Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.
Ritchie, J., Eversley, J., & Gibb, A. (1982). Aspirations and motivations of would-be entrepreneurs. In T. Webb, T. Quince, & D. Watkins (Eds.), Small business research: The development of entrepreneurs (pp. 47–59). Aldershot, UK: Gower.
Romer, P. M. (1990). Endogenous technological change. Journal of Political Economy, 98, 71–102.
Rotter, J. B. (1966). Generalized expectancies for internal versus external control of reinforcement. Psychological Monographs, 80, 1–28.
Runco, M. A. (2005). Creative giftedness. In R. J. Sternberg & J. E. Davidson (Eds.), Conceptions of giftedness (pp. 327–342). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Scheinberg, S., & MacMillan, I. C. (1988). An 11 country study of motivations to start a business. In B. Kirchoff, W. Long, W. McMullan, K. H. Vesper, & W. Wetzel (Eds.), Frontiers of entrepreneurship research (pp. 669–687). Wellesley, MA: Babson College.
Schenk, R. (1998). Beurteilung des Unternehmenserfolges. In M. Frese (Ed.), Erfolgreiche Unternehmensgründer (pp. 59–82). Goettingen, Germany: Verlag für Angewandte Psychologie.
Schmitt-Rodermund, E., & Vondracek, F. (2002). Occupational dreams, choices and aspirations: Adolescents’ entrepreneurial prospects and orientations. Journal of Adolescence, 25, 65–78.
Schumpeter, J. A. (1934). Theorie der wirtschaftlichen Entwicklung (4th ed.). Berlin, Germany: Duncker & Humblot.
Shane, S., Kolvereid, L., & Westhead, P. (1991). An exploratory examination of the reasons leading to new firm formation across country and gender. Journal of Business Venturing, 6, 431–446.
Shane, S., & Venkataraman, S. (2000). The promise of entrepreneurship as a field of research. Academy of Management Review, 25, 217–226.
Shavinina, L. V. (2006). Micro-social factors in the development of entrepreneurial giftedness: The case of Richard Branson. High Ability Studies, 17, 225–235.
Shavinina, L. V. (2008). On entrepreneurial giftedness. In L. V. Shavinina (Ed.), The international handbook on giftedness. Dordrecht, the Netherlands: Springer Science & Business Media.
Sternberg, R. J. (2004). Successful intelligence as a basis for entrepreneurship. Journal of Business Venturing, 19, 189–201.
Sternberg, R. J. (2005). The WICS-Model of giftedness. In R. J. Sternberg & J. E. Davidson (Eds.), Conceptions of giftedness (pp. S. 327–S. 342). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Sternberg, R. J., & Lubart, T. H. I. S. (1995). Defying the crowd: Cultivating creativity in a culture of conformity. New York: Free Press.
Stewart, W. H., & Roth, P. L. (2004). Data-quality affects meta-analytic conclusions: A response to Miner and Raju (2004) concerning entrepreneurial risk propensity. Journal of Applied Psychology, 89, 14–21.
Stopford, J. M., & Baden-Fuller, C. (1994). Creating corporate entrepreneurship. Strategic Management Journal, 15, 521–536.
Strauss, A., & Corbin, J. (1990). Basics of qualitative research: Grounded theory procedures and techniques. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Strzalecki, A. (2003). Psychologia tworczosci. Miedzy tradycja a ponowoczesnoscia [Psychology of creativity. Between the tradition and postmodernity]. Warszawa,Poland: Wydawnictwo UKSW.
Strzalecki, A. (2007). Tworcza przedsiebiorczosc i zarzadzanie. Wyniki nowych badan psychologicznych [Creative entrepreneurship and management. Results of a new psychological study]. Prakseologia, 147, 163–188.
Tan, A. (2003). Student teachers’ perceptions of teacher behaviors for fostering creativity: A perspective on the academically low achievers (EM3 students). Korean Journal of Thinking & Problem Solving, 13, 59–71.
Taussig, F. W. (1915). Principles of economics (Rev. ed.). New York: Macmillan.
Van Praag, C. M., & Versloot, P. H. (2007). What is the value of entrepreneurship? A review of recent research. Small Business Economics, 29, 351–382.
Verheugen, G. (2006). Die neue KMU-Definition. Benutzerhandbuch und Mustererklärung. Unternehmen und Industrie. Europäische Kommission. Amt für Veröffentlichungen. Retrieved January 05, 2011, from http://www.austrian-standards.at/fileadmin/AS/KMU/sme_user_guide_de.pdf
Wang, Y., Watkins, D., Harris, N., & Spicer, K. (2004). The relationship between succession issues and business performance: Evidence from UK family SMEs. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour & Research, 10, 59–84.
Ward, T. (2004). Cognition, creativity, and entrepreneurship. Journal of Business Venturing, 19, 173–188.
Wegge, J., Jeppesen, H.-J., Weber, W. G., Pearce, C. L., Silvia, S. A., Pundt, A., Jonsson, T., Wolf, S., Wassenaar, C. L., Unterrainer, C., & Piecha, A. (2010). Promoting work motivation in organizations: Should employee involvement in organizational leadership become a new tool in the organizational psychologists’ kit? Journal of Personnel Psychology, 9, 154–171.
Wennekers, S., & Thurik, R. (1999). Linking entrepreneurship and economic growth. Small Business Economics, 13, 27–55.
Zhao, H., & Seibert, S. E. (2006). The big five personality dimensions and entrepreneurial status: A meta-analytical review. Journal of Applied Psychology, 91, 259–271.
Zimmerer, T. W., & Scarborough, M. N. (2002). Essentials of entrepreneurship and small business management (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media Singapore
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Dej, D., Shemla, M., Wegge, J. (2013). Entrepreneurs’ Creativity and Innovation: A Key to Performance. In: Tan, AG. (eds) Creativity, Talent and Excellence. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-4021-93-7_10
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-4021-93-7_10
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-4021-92-0
Online ISBN: 978-981-4021-93-7
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawEducation (R0)