entrepreneurial culture: being or telling? · •enhancing the innovative abilities of employees,...

ENTREPRENEURIAL CULTURE: BEING OR TELLING?

University of Milano-BicoccaLaura Mariani and Ginevra Villa

15 November 2018 SMARTUP Final Conference #SMARTUP

15 November 2018 SMARTUP Final Conference 2

Organizational culture «a central, underlying system of shared values, assumptions, and behaviours that permeates an entire organization or national context» (Schein, 1996)

Entrepreneurship«a process centrally concerned with the notion of opportunity, its recognition, discovery and/or creation…where opportunity is defined as the creation of new value to society in part or in

whole» (Schendel and Hitt, 2007)

Entrepreneurial culture

Organizational culture supportive for entrepreneurship behaviours

A definition

Underexplored field:• lack of conceptual clarity; • small accumulation of knowledge in this area; • lack of methods for measuring it;• little exploration of the relationship between the entrepreneurial

culture and firms’ organizational context;• unclear the level of entrepreneurial culture within individual firms.


Entrepreneurial culture: setting the context


Macro perspective:… at system level: “system of shared values in a particular society that embraces and supports entrepreneurship” (Ireland, Tihanyi

and Webb, 2008)Meso perspective: … at organizational level: «new ideas and

creativity are expected, risk-taking is encouraged, failure is tolerated, learning is

promoted, product, process and administrative innovations are championed,

and continuous change is viewed as a conveyor of opportunities” (Ireland et al,

2003) Micro perspective:… at the individual level: «composite of personal

values, managerial skills, experiences and behaviours that characterize the entrepreneur in term of spirit of

initiative, risk-taking, innovative capacity and management of firms’ relation with the economic

environment» (Mingussi and Passaro, 200)

Entrepreneurial culture…


Macro perspective:… at system level: “system of shared values in a particular society that embraces and supports entrepreneurship” (Ireland, Tihanyi

and Webb, 2008)Meso perspective: … at organizational level: «new ideas and

creativity are expected, risk-taking is encouraged, failure is tolerated, learning is

promoted, product, process and administrative innovations are championed,

and continuous change is viewed as a conveyor of opportunities” (Ireland et al,

2003) Micro perspective:… at the individual level: «composite of personal

values, managerial skills, experiences and behaviours that characterize the entrepreneur in term of spirit of

initiative, risk-taking, innovative capacity and management of firms’ relation with the economic

environment» (Mingussi and Passaro, 200)


Entrepreneurial culture is a powerful force within organizations:• enhancing the innovative abilities of employees,• fuelling a desire for firm survival, • providing permission to fail and try again • encouraging a broad array of new ideas, experimentation, and creativity, • developing organizational learning abilities and a focus on markets,• finally, improving performance for both firms and public administrations.

Sources: Hornsby, Kuratko, & Montagno, 1999; Sundaramurthy and Kreiner, 2008; Merrifield, 1987; Bradley et al, 2011; Hult, Snow, & Destan, 2003; Flamholtz, 2001; Moghaddama, Khorakianb and Maharatic, 2015.

… underexplored but important:

The empirical work

The purpose of the pilot study is to investigate: the concept of entrepreneurial culture (EC), its dimensions and main

outcomes, through individual perceptions; storytelling as a potential tool for sharing and diffusing

entrepreneurial culture within and outside the company.So as to:

gain a first impression of EC perception among different categories (Student/Entrepreneurs to be; Entrepreneurs; Employees);modify/integrate the survey for the assessment on a big sample.


Wong’s dimensions of Entrepreneurial culture


Organizationalenthusiasm

Stakeholder Alignment

Learning & Development Support

Opportunity DrivenChange

Cohesiveness

Source: Wong, 2014

The frame for the survey

(Modified) Wong’s dimensions of Entrepreneurial culture



Learning & Development Support


Cohesiveness

The frame for the survey

Communication (throughstorytelling)

Organizationalenthusiasm

Method 1/2

• Online survey administered in October 2018• Semi-structured questionnaire• 3 sections: Entrepreneurial Culture; Storytelling; Personal characteristics.• 14 questions, including both closed and open questions. • For closed questions, Likert scales from 1 to 5 (where, 1=completely

disagree; and 5=completely agree)


• Five dimensions of Entrepreneurial Culture (Wong, 2014):1. Organizational enthusiasm – 5 Items (e.g. “In the organization, people are passionate about the

organization’s mission”)2. Stakeholeder Alignment – 5 Items (e.g. “In the organization, people are actively concerned with

building relationships with the organization’s stakeholders”3. Cohesiveness – 5 Items (e.g. “In the organization, people support one another”)4. Learning & Development Support,– 5 Items (e.g. “In the organization, people are actively

concerned with improving their skills and abilities at work”)5. Opportunity Driven Change – 5 Items (e.g. “In the organization, people are open to changes in

their work routine”)

• Storytelling as a tool trough which entrepreneurial culture is perpetuated and promoted


Method 1/2

Sample 1/2

• 76 survey participants among entrepreneurs, startuppers and students(46 Smartup students)

• 30 Entrepreneurs and startuppers• 26 Completed questionnaires

• Response rate=34%


Male;54.2%

Female; 45.8%

GENDER<25;

16.7%

25-29;29.2%

30-35; 45.8%

>35; 8.3%

AGE

Finland; 8.3% Gambia;

4.2%Germany; 8.3%

Greece; 8.3%

Italy; 50%

Mongolia; 4.2%

Nigeria; 4.2%

Tunisia; 8.3%

COUNTRYSMARTUP_

Student; 25%

Employee; 45.8%

Entrepreneur; 29.2%

OCCUPATION

Sample 2/2

Entrepreneurial culture and relevant dimensions


4.06

3.78

4.03

3.89

3.83

3.60

3.65

3.70

3.75

3.80

3.85

3.90

3.95

4.00

4.05

4.10

0.000.501.001.502.002.503.003.504.004.50

OrganizationalEnthusiasm


CohesivenessLearning&DevelopmentOpportunities


Student Employee Entrepreneur

To what extent the following characteristics and attributes could be related to an “organizational culture” that is oriented to stimulate, promote and sustain entrepreneurship and innovation?

Entrepreneurial culturein context


To what extent the following characteristics and attributes actually represent your company/organization?

3.80

3.69 3.68

3.41

3.66

3.20

3.30

3.40

3.50

3.60

3.70

3.80

3.90

0.000.501.001.502.002.503.003.504.004.50



CohesivenessLearning&Development Opportunities


Employee Entrepreneur

The employees’ point of view: rethoric vs reality


3.003.103.203.303.403.503.603.703.803.904.00



CohesivenessLearning&DevelopmentOpportunities


EC_Relevance EC_Reality

Benefits of Entrepreneurial Culture

Barriers to Entrepreneurial Culture

3.87

3.74

3.57

3.43

3.20

3.30

3.40

3.50

3.60

3.70

3.80

3.90

4.00

Cultural resistance ofemployees

Lack of specific knowledgeand skills amongentrepreneurs

Lack of time and resourcesthat can be devoted tothese kind of initiatives

Culture at national leveldoes not favor economic

initiative andentrepreneurship

OTHER BARRIERSManagerial

«Lack of openness at the management level»«Lack of leadership support»

«The management has to be willing to create an entrepreneural culture»

«Technically know how of managers»«Managers have to be trained to allow and

manage innovation»Individual

«Lack of courage and initiative»«Lack of empathy to other people»

«Coservative mind»«Lack of patience»

Structural«Rigidity of organizational structure»

And what about «Storytelling»?

The Every Day Calendar

The ability to craft a sequence of facts and events (HISTORY) into a NARRATIVE (STORY) is a powerful SENSE MAKING tool.By emotionally connecting with an audience STORYTELLING contributes to create a sense of PURPOSE, moving people to take action.


http://drive.google.com/file/d/1OfpNMIVDXZcbYGjs-NgaOw9c8lrKoIbL/view

State-of-the-art of «storytelling»

STORYTELLING benefits are acknowledged by entrepreneurs and employee, even though STORYTELLING doesn’t seem to be used as a Strategic Tool within the Organizations.

“STORYTELLING is a traditional means of passing on wisdom and culture”.APPLICATIONS:Knowledge Sharing, Creating Meaning, Simplify Complexity, Develop Trust & Commitment, Connect, Coping with Change, Moving People to Action, Learning, Create a Vision

Stories work differently with different audiences in and around the organization.

Which stakeholder among investors, employee and consumers can be more engaged by storytelling? Why?

Which stakeholders? And Why?

Customers

Investors

Employee

87,5%

93,7%

68,7%

• “PERSUADE investors to believe in the same purspose”• Investors want to see how you tell your story and what you are going to do”

• «Investors care about numbers»• “Stories can inspire TRUST AND CONFIDENCE within investors”• “With a good story, investors are more likely TO RELATE & IMAGINE how they can

be a part of it”

• “Storytelling will ENGAGE and MOTIVATE the employees”• “Employees can be inspired and challenged by the story”• “It helps create UNITY, IDENTITY AND COMMON VALUES”.• “Stories can help SHARING VALUES AND MISSION of the company”

• “Storytelling will PERSUADE consumer to buy the product/service”• «Buy a nice story»• “Ordinary people love hearing stories”• “We remember stories better than information or facts”• “Customers need to RELATE to a product in order to be interested”• “Customers want to identify themselves”• “Increase the perceived value of a product/service”

Benefits of storytelling for entrepreneurial initiatives

Benefits seem to be more significant with INTERNAL STAKEHOLDERS in order to create a SENSE of PURPOSEand IDENTITY (here the importance seems to be more related to the past -identity- than to the future -vision-).

Storytelling not to PERSUADE consumers to buy a product or an Investor to invest in a company, but toENGAGE and CONNECT with Consumers (Trust, Recognition and Relationship).

Conclusion


How did the Story end?

entrepreneurial culture: being or telling? · •enhancing the innovative abilities of employees,...

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