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Entrepreneurial Behavior: Firm Organizing Processes

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Handbook of Entrepreneurship Research

Abstract

The purpose of this chapter is to offer some ideas and evidence about the processes of organization formation. We look at the founding of independent for-profit businesses for insights into the nature of organization formation, in general, realizing that other kinds of organizations, such as voluntary organizations, non-profit organizations, and governmental organizations, may be founded in different ways (Aldrich & Reuf, 2006; Gartner, 1993; Gartner & Gatewood, 1993; Scott, 1997). The focus of research on entrepreneurial behavior is about exploring “how” various activities undertaken by individuals emerge into organizations. Entrepreneurial behavior is a type of organizational behavior (Bird, 1989). Entrepreneurial behavior involves the activities of individuals who are associated with creating new organizations rather than the activities of individuals who are involved with maintaining or changing the operations of on-going established organizations (Gartner et al., 1992; Gartner & Starr, 1993). This chapter does not attempt to investigate the factors and causes that might lead to the initiation of organization formation activities. Discussions of theory and evidence about “why” organizations are likely to be formed have been addressed by a number of scholars (Aldrich & Reuf, 2006; Kirchhoff, 1994; Reynolds, 1992; Reynolds & White, 1997; Reynolds et al., 2000; Schoonhoven & Romanelli, 2001; Storey, 1994), and were also the subject of two special issues of Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice (1992, 1993).

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Notes

  1. 1.

    This section on planning was excerpted from Gartner, William B. and Jianwen (Jon) Liao (2007). Pre-venture planning. In C. Moutray (Ed.) The Small Business Economy for Data Year 2006: Report to the President. Washington, DC: U. S. Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy, pp. 212–264 (Note: That this excerpt is with permission of the author, since this is a government publication, the author holds the copyright for any reprinting of the content.)

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Correspondence to William B. Gartner .

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Gartner, W.B., Carter, N.M., Reynolds, P.D. (2010). Entrepreneurial Behavior: Firm Organizing Processes. In: Acs, Z., Audretsch, D. (eds) Handbook of Entrepreneurship Research. International Handbook Series on Entrepreneurship, vol 5. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1191-9_5

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