Enterprise and Small Business Principles
The study of technical entrepreneurship
Among studies in small business the investigation of firms in new-technology fields has been growing in popularity; while many of the early studies were conducted in the US, interest in the subject has risen in Europe over the past 15-20 years. A principal reason for the growth in interest is the increasing emphasis from government development and planning agencies on new forms of enterprise. Researchers examined the influences on industrial development and at an early stage turned their spotlight onto the entrepreneurs themselves. The number of North American technical entrepreneurship investigators grew steadily; however, outside the US research in the field was still in its infancy (Watkins, 1973). The past 15-20 years have seen the burgeoning of technology-based entrepreneurial activity in Europe, exploiting existing and newly emerging technologies, accompanied by a consequent growth in interest in technical entrepreneurship.
The impetus for research comes from two contrasting directions. Academics interested in the development of new technology-based sectors have focused their attention on the firm in general and, in particular, the role of the entrepreneur in its establishment and growth. Meanwhile, local, regional and national agencies with an economic development remit are concerned to identify ways in which the environment can be improved to facilitate the emergence and growth of new firms. They wish to target resources at initiatives that will bear entrepreneurial fruit and, thus, draw on in-house and academic research to help them understand the influences on founders and identify the needs of fledgling and established technology-based businesses to maximise economic regeneration and growth.
13.4.1 Methodological approaches
Research in the field of technical entrepreneurship is still at a relatively early stage compared with its ‘big brother’ of general entrepreneurship. Even so, a wide range of methodological approaches has been employed from those based upon quantitative approaches to those founded upon qualitative principles. A number of early US studies adopted quantitative approaches using questionnaires to samples hundreds of firms (Cooper, 1973; Roberts, 1991a). They generated aggregate trends and profiles of entrepreneurial types, but provided little contextual and anecdotal information available via ‘softer’ methodologies. The approach was used owing to the study of the high - technology industry being relatively advanced; aggregate entrepreneurship data were interpreted in the context of a broad understanding of the sectors concerned. Perhaps the most comprehensive research database on technology-based firms and their founders is that developed by Roberts. During well over a quarter of a century of research, he has conducted numerous studies of spin-off activity, particularly around Boston and MIT (Roberts, 1991b). This approach contrasts with that of Bygrave (1988) who advocates that an understanding of the entrepreneurial process will be found in the descriptive background of the entrepreneur. The use of qualitative techniques, such as participant observation and in-depth personal interviews, allows the generation of a more multi-dimensional view of the start-up and subsequent development of the organisation, the role of the founder within the process, and the influence of internal and external factors and actors.
European researchers have employed approaches ranging from large sample to case methodologies. Jones-Evans (1996a) suggests that research on the background of entrepreneurs should be largely exploratory but does not advocate the use of quantitative or quantitative approaches in isolation. Following quantitative survey work by in-depth exploratory interviews with a small number of survey participants can prove a powerful combination. Different approaches addressing similar themes sometimes yield contrasting results. Chandler (1996) used quantitative interviews to focus on the skills and degree of similarity between the founder’s previous work and his new firm while Jones - Evans (1996a) favoured the softer, in-depth case approach for his research. Using a particular approach may influence the result: for example Cooper (1973) compares results of brief questionnaires and in-depth interviews. In the brief questionnaire a large number of respondents claimed socially acceptable ‘pull’ motives, such as ‘desire for independence’ as the reason for establishing their business; in interviews a large number cited push factors such as redundancy or serious unhappiness in their previous employment. No approach is optimal; it is necessary to understand the research aims and to design an appropriate methodology.
The sharp increase in the number of studies of new technology-based firms poses problems for researchers. Firms are receiving increasing numbers of ‘invitations’ to contribute to studies through the completion of questionnaires and participation in interviews and, while many managers wish to help, even the most tolerant find it increasingly difficult to respond positively to all requests. The firms most affected are those appearing in directories of organisations in specific sectors or in particular locations, such as science parks; they are ‘sitting ducks’ for researchers. In designing programmes and methodological approaches focusing on new technology-based sectors it is important to consider such wider issues and to be aware of potential ‘research fatigue’.
The field of technical entrepreneurship technology-based firm research is highly dynamic; the rate of technological change is increasing, new sectors are emerging and as the costs of research and development (R&D) escalate firms are adopting innovative strategies. Large firms are developing partnerships, often with small firms whose specialist input complements their capabilities and resources, and the skills required on the part of technical entrepreneurs and their firms to work in this more corporate mode are changing. Given that there is still much to find out about the technical entrepreneur and the entrepreneurial process there is scope for purely quantitative and qualitative studies, and for those exhibiting a hybrid methodology, where trends identified using quantitative techniques are explored through softer, qualitative approaches. Having briefly considered the background to current technical entrepreneurship research, the following discussion considers what studies have revealed about this key economic actor.
