Page 115 - 1-Entrepreneurship and Local Economic Development by Norman Walzer (z-lib.org)

104 Thomas S. Lyons, Gregg A. Lichtenstein, and Nailya Kutzhanova

portfolios, savings, and so on. Owning a business is also an asset, not just
because the income it produces can lead to savings and investment, but be-
cause it can be passed along intergenerationally. In this light, it becomes
clear that the ability to develop a business asset, when taken collectively
across many individuals, can contribute to community economic develop-
ment in significant ways.
Yet, much of what is done in the realm of entrepreneurship assistance for
economic development purposes focuses on providing resources, financial
or technical (e.g., providing financial capital, handing off information or
knowledge, and related issues). These are transactional exchanges that do
little to build an entrepreneur’s capacity to develop and sustain a business
asset in the long run. What is required is a set of long-term, highly interac-
tive relationships capable of transforming an entrepreneur’s skills. In this
way, the probability of success, as has been defined, is greatly enhanced.

WHY “OLD SCHOOL” THINKING ON
ENTREPRENEURSHIP SUCCESS IS LIMITED

For many years, it was widely accepted that entrepreneurs who enjoyed suc-
cess were people with innate characteristics or traits that permitted them to
function effectively in the world of business creation (Greenberg and Sex-
ton 1988; Huefner and Hunt 1994; Kassicieh, Padosevich, and Banbury
1997; Schumpeter 1991). This personality or trait perspective on entrepre-
neurship probably has been the most recognized theory of entrepreneur-
ship success. Though it has received a fair amount of criticism, it still influ-
ences the entrepreneurship research agenda and policymaking in this arena.
Because these characteristics are inherited, it is believed, entrepreneurship
research can only observe and study this special type of people but do noth-
ing to increase their supply.
The research agenda of the personality perspective scholars is guided by
attempts to find and describe the unique characteristics that distinguish en-
trepreneurs as part of a special talent group; however, the large number of
studies on entrepreneurial attributes has failed to produce a consistent de-
scription of an entrepreneur’s personal characteristics (Bhide 2000; Shaver
and Scott 1991). While some traits described seemed to be typical for most
entrepreneurs (e.g., a need for achievement), the other characteristics can
only be applied to a specific study group or to very few individuals.
The personality trait research has yielded diverse results. Some authors
have argued that a high need for achievement is a distinct characteristic of
entrepreneurs (Begley and Boyd 1986; Hornaday and Aboud 1971;
McClelland et al. 1953; Rauch and Frese 2000). Others suggest that the
most important quality is an internal locus of control (Brockhaus 1982),