Entrepreneurs: Nature Or Nurture?
It often is said that some people are "born" entrepreneurs.
Jim Fiet, however, thinks everyone—from the seasoned business person to the entry-level office worker—can be taught to successfully turn ideas into opportunities.
The U of L College of Business and Public Administration professor and Brown-Forman Chair of Entrepreneurship is working with colleagues to study if proper training and resources can make an entrepreneur.
"Many times case studies that are presented in class show what entrepreneurs do without taking into account that many times those ideas end up failing," Fiet says.
Too much of the teaching done in entrepreneurship courses is based on anecdotes, he says, adding that the courses rely on the alertness method, which means if entrepreneurs keep an alert eye on trends they may stumble upon a successful business strategy.
Fiet launched the Institute for Entrepreneurial Research at the college to carry out systematic, theory-based research that can be incorporated into college entrepreneurship courses. It also will help aspiring entrepreneurs improve their odds of success in creating new wealth by using proven methods rather than luck.
"By developing and testing theories in the marketplace, we can build a bridge between the business community and academic research," Fiet says.
The institute's 15 business professors work in teams and focus on six areas of entrepreneurship: discovery opportunities, industry attractiveness, marshaling resources, strategy, entrepreneurial competence and teaching methods.
Although only professors from the CBPA are involved now in the institute, Fiet says professors from other U of L colleges are welcome and encouraged to participate.
Fiet says the institute stresses interdisciplinary, collaborative study approaches not often found in current entrepreneurship research.
"It is hard for one person to be as creative as two or three people," he adds. "The team approach capitalizes on that creative energy."
Currently, institute team members are interviewing 20 "repeat entrepreneurs" in Kentucky and California who have started three or more successful businesses to find if there is something systematic in the ways that they find business ideas.
Although that research is still under way, Fiet and colleagues are finding that successful entrepreneurs use a less-structured version of the systematic approach in finding new venture ideas than that espoused by the institute.
Other institute research topics include venture capital and the transfer of faculty patents to the commercial sector.
Fiet says students in the business school's new Ph.D. in entrepreneurship, which begins next fall, will benefit by being involved directly in the institute's research.
"The Institute for Entrepreneurial Research will support the development of students in our Ph.D. program in entrepreneurship by integrating them into ongoing faculty research," Fiet explains. "This will help the students even if they do not become entrepreneurship professors."
Although the institute's research is medium- to long-range in nature, Fiet says it has been satisfying to see the results of that research.
"It takes a long time to refine our studies and to understand fully what we've found, but it is a great feeling to be a part of developing theories that help students become better business people."
