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    Establishing a business in Aotearoa New Zealand : cultural, human and social capital resources of intentional immigrant entrepreneurs : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2013) Cruickshank, Prudence Anne
    There is a well-established literature on immigrant entrepreneurs and this thesis seeks to add to this understanding by focussing on the strategies and pathways of a particular group of business immigrants. This thesis contends that intentional well-resourced (IWR) immigrants be understood as a distinct category within immigrant scholarship. Their distinctiveness is directly linked to their intentions to start a business immediately on arrival, and the adequacy and utilisation of their human, cultural and social capital which is critical to their success. This thesis contributes to, and extends, the knowledge of the particular dimensions of human, cultural and social capital significant to IWR immigrant entrepreneurs? success. IWR immigrant entrepreneurs are associated here with New Zealand?s conditional Long Term Business Visa (LTBV) which leads to residence as an entrepreneur. Semi-structured interviews captured the business establishment experiences and trajectories of a regionally scattered sample of LTBV holders. Notwithstanding the participants? diverse cultural backgrounds, geographical locations or types of business, the iterative analytical process revealed distinct patterns of human, cultural and social capital usage at each stage of the LTBV. The time constrained requirements of the LTBV intensified the focused application of IWR immigrants? resources, which in turn provided an opportunity to examine the functions and dimensions of human, cultural and social capital which proved essential for entrepreneurial success. The development and effects of migration policies are complex and enduring. This thesis informs immigration policy makers of the effectiveness of the LTBV in achieving the government?s business recruitment and policy aspirations. The focus here is on a relatively small but distinctive group of skilled immigrants who provide a case study of immigrant entrepreneurship. .
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    Self-determination and entrepreneurship : personal values as intrinsic motivators of entrepreneurial behaviour : a thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy of Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2010) Kirkley, William Walton
    The study of entrepreneurs has often led to conflicting views about what motivates an individual to engage in entrepreneurship. The historic focus on the traits and characteristics of specific individuals perceived by others to be entrepreneurs, has yielded results that are, at best, speculative and difficult to substantiate. This study has taken a different approach by isolating entrepreneurial behaviour and examining its antecedent components. Specifically, the study sought to discover the internal loci of causality that motivate an individual to engage in entrepreneurial behaviour. The study was based on an inductive and interpretive research design within a constructivist paradigm. A small quantitative survey was conducted initially to screen an appropriate sample, the results of which were later used as an aide memoire during indepth interviews, with thirty New Zealand entrepreneurs. The bulk of the data sourced in this study originated through the interview process. These focused specifically on the meaning individuals attributed to certain fundamental values associated with entrepreneurial behaviour. The resulting narrative was subjected to discourse analysis and categorised into relevant themes. Four fundamental values are believed to be critical to entrepreneurial behaviour, namely, independence, creativity, ambition and daring. These values were expressed as psychological needs and act as intrinsic motivation for entrepreneurial behaviour. Only twenty three percent of the sample (7 out of 30), however, could demonstrate consistent motivation through these four principles. The balance of the participants acknowledged the importance of these four principles to entrepreneurial behaviour. However, the majority admitted that there had been a shift in their behaviour toward management, which placed more emphasis on independence and ambition in the value-set. Creativity and daring were accorded much lesser attention as the individual focused on growing their business. This shift in emphasis in the value-set is perceived to be one cause for the episodic and inconsistent occurrence of entrepreneurial behaviour amongst New Zealand business people.
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    Success and risk factors in the pre-startup phase
    (Springer, 2006) Van Gelderen, Marco; Thurik, Roy; Bosma, Niels
    Why does one person actually succeed in starting a business, while a second person gives up? In order to answer this question, a sample of 517 nascent entrepreneurs (people in the process of setting up a business) was followed over a three-year period. After this period, it was established that 195 efforts were successful and that 115 startup efforts were abandoned. Our research focuses on estimating the relative importance of a variety of approaches and variables in explaining pre-startup success. These influences are organized in terms of Gartner's (1985) framework of new venture creation. This framework suggests that start-up efforts differ in terms of the characteristics of the individual(s) who start the venture, the organization that they create, the environment surrounding the new venture, and the process by which the new venture is started. Logistic regression analyses are run for the sample as a whole as well as for subgroups within the sample, namely for those with high ambition vs. low ambition and for those with substantial vs. limited experience. The results point to the importance of perceived risk of the market as a predictor of getting started vs. abandoning the startup effort.