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RISK, PERSISTENCE and FOCUS: A LIFE CYCLE OF THE ENTREPRENEUR
Author(s) -
Hunter Ian
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
australian economic history review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.493
H-Index - 16
eISSN - 1467-8446
pISSN - 0004-8992
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-8446.2005.00138.x
Subject(s) - entrepreneurship , persistence (discontinuity) , colonialism , business cycle , business , family business , marketing , product life cycle management , focus (optics) , economic geography , economics , political science , engineering , macroeconomics , physics , geotechnical engineering , optics , finance , law
Adapting a life cycle model from managerial literature, conclusions are drawn about the nature of colonial entrepreneurship from a case analysis of 133 New Zealand entrepreneurs, active between 1880 and 1910. Five stages in the life cycle of the entrepreneur are investigated: preparation, embarkation, exploration, expansion and transformation. Characteristic behaviours observed include the prevalence of entrepreneurial partnerships; a propensity for commencing multiple business ventures; and persistence in the face of business failure. Strategically, the colonial entrepreneur leveraged personal skills and abilities as a modus operandi for business expansion, often relying on family ownership and family management structures.