Soc 159 Syllabus: Spring '99

The Sociology of Entrepreneurship

Sociology 159 Fall 2000
MW 5:30-6:45 Room W9.130

Sarah Mustillo
Office Hours: W 10-11am or by appointment
Office: Soc Psych 144B
Telephone: 660-5678
E-mail: smust@acpub.duke.edu

Course Description

The goal of this course is to provide students with a survey of intellectual thought on the subject of entrepreneurship. Knowledge and application of theory are emphasized. This course considers the historical origins and current causes of entrepreneurship. The primary emphases are sociological, although entrepreneurial actors and activities are examined from psychological, political, and economic perspectives. Entrepreneurship is considered from a supply side perspective--the personal, social, and cultural characteristics of entrepreneurs--and a demand side perspective--the organizational, economic, and societal conditions that give rise to new enterprise. The course reviews entrepreneurship from various levels of analysis: the individual, organizational, industrial, organizational field, and global levels. We explore how, when, and where new businesses are likely to form and what affects their relative chance of success. The final section of the course considers the topic of organizational behavior, organizational change, and how to create an effective organization. Class sessions take the form of lectures, discussions, video, and guest speaker presentations. The course encourages analytical integration of theory and its application to understanding real world events. Students do not develop a business plan.

This course is one of the core courses in the Markets and Management certificate program. While there are no prerequisites and students may be any major, it is assumed that students are able to understand business press articles.

Required Readings

Readings for this course have been drawn from a variety of books, academic journals, and the business press. They are available on reserve at Perkins Library, both on-line and in hard copy. They can be accessed from the following web address http://www.lib.duke.edu/access/reserves with Sarah Mustillo listed as the instructor. Please contact me if you need assistance accessing the online readings. Case studies and additional readings may be assigned periodically as well.

The handouts and overheads for this course are available on the course website. I will provide the address on the first day of class, or you can follow the links through the sociology department or M&M websites.

Requirements

	In-Class Exam 1	25%
	Take-Home Exam 2	25%
	Popular Press Project	25%
	Final Exam	25%

There are two types of exams, in class multiple choice and take home essay formats. You will have a choice of which essay questions you answer. Exam questions require students to interpret and integrate insights from theoretical readings, class lectures, and guest speaker presentations. The teaching assistant participates in grading both the multiple choice and the essay exams. Sample essay exams are available for review on the course web site, click on EF159S.96

Prepared and active attendance is noticed and welcome. Student questions, comments and suggestions improve teaching and enhance learning for all.

Class Outline and Assignments

A) Definitional and Explanatory Distinctions

This section of the course will briefly introduce different perspectives for explaining entrepreneurial activity.

1. M 8/28

Introduction and overview

SYLLABUS
BKGROUND
FRAMWORK
ENTREPRE.KV
THINK

B) Supply Side Perspectives

This section of the course will examine theories of entrepreneurship that emphasize personal, social, and cultural background characteristics of entrepreneurs.

2. W 8/30

Guilder (1984) "A Patch of Sand" The Spirit of Enterprise 23-41.

3. M 9/4

Brockhaus and Horwitz (1986) "The Psychology of the Entrepreneur" in The Art and Science of Entrepreneurship 25-44

PSYCH

*Groups Assigned

4. W 9/6

DUNE Speaker – Duke University Network of Entrepreneurs, www.DUNE.duke.edu

5. M 9/11

Cultural Advantage: Micro and Macro Culture as Engines of Entrepeneurship

Weber (1930) "The Protestant Ascetism and the Spirit of Capitalism." Pp. 138-173 in Max Weber: Selections in Translations (translated by E. Matthews, edited by W. G. Runciman 1978)

WEBER
HYPOTH

6. W 9/13

Meyer (1994) "Rationalized Environments" in Institutional Environments and Organizations by W. Richard Scott and John W. Meyer

"Come Home, Little Startups," BusinessWeek, Feb 26, 1996

ENTREACT
ENTREACT.1
SYMBOL

C) Demand Side Perspectives

This section of the course examines organizational, economic, political, and societal conditions that give rise to entrepreneurial activity.

7. M 9/18

Evan Jones, Guest Speaker. Founder and former CEO of TSI Soccer. Duke Alum.

8. W 9/20

The Origin of the Large Corporation

Chandler (1992) "The Emergence of Managerial Capitalism" in The Sociology of Economic Life by Mark Granovetter and Richard Swedberg

USTRUCTURE
MSTRUCTURE

9. M 9/25

Large Corporations as Engines of Entrepreneurship

Block and MacMillan (1993) "Corporate Venturing: What is it? Why do it? What is its Track Record? in Corporate Venturing: Creating New Businesses within the Firm 13-32

Mamis (1993) "The Apple Tree" Inc. August 1993

(excerpt from In Search of Excellence video)

MFORM
MFORM.MF
FORM.UF

10. W 9/27

Markets for Companies as Engines of Entrepreneurship

A Managerial Perspective
Lazonick (1992) "Controlling the Market for Corporate Control: The Historical Significance Managerial Capitalism" in Industrial and Corporate Change 445-488.

11. M 10/2

In Class Multiple Choice Exam 1

12. W 10/4

An Organizational Field Perspective
Thornton (1995) "Accounting for Acquisition Waves: Evidence from the U.S. College Publishing Industry," in The Institutional Construction of Organizations: International and Longitudinal Studies by W. Richard Scott and Soren Christensen

MWAVE
MWAVE1
EXPAND

13. M 10/9

Markets for Capital as Engines of Entrepeneurship

Dougherty, Dennis, J. 1995. "Venturing Forth: Selective Venture Capital Funds Provide the Spur of Success to Many Young Companies."

"The Boom in IPOs," BusinessWeek, 12-18-1995

*Review Exam 1

14. W 10/11

Guest Speaker from Eli Lilly

15. M 10/16 – Fall Break

16. W 10/18

Networks and Social Capital as the Engine of Entrepreneurship

Burt (1992) Structural Holes: The Social Structure of Competition pp 8-49

17. M 10/23

Social and Political Structure as the Engine of Entrepreneurship

Campbell and Lindberg (1990) "Property Rights and the Organization of Economic Activity" ASR 634-644

Time Magazine – Dole Banana

Time Magazine – Corporate Welfare Series

18. W 10/25

Guest Speaker TBA

Take-home Exam 1 handed out. The exam is due no later than the beginning of class on M 10/30

19. M 10/30

Schoonhoven and Eisenhardt (1992) "Entrepeneurial Environments: Incubator Region Effects on the Birth of New Technology-Based Firms," in High Technology Ventures by Gomez-Mejia & M. Lawless

D) Entrepreneurship in Industries and Organizational Populations and Fields

This section of the course will consider how competition, cooperation, and technological innovation in industries affect how and where new enterprise is likely to arise and the strategies new companies employ.

20. W 11/1

Guest Speaker from Biosignia, www.BIOSIGNIA.com

21. M 11/6

Competition Perspectives: Population Ecology and Industrial Economics

Porter (1980) "The Structural Analysis of Industries" Competitive Strategy 3-33

PORTER.CF,
PORTER.BE,
PORTER.R,
PORTER.EB,
PORTER.CS,
PORTER.CF1,
PORTER.BP

22. W 11/8

Technological Innovation

Tushman and Anderson (1986) "Technological discontinuities and Organizational Environments." ASQ 31: 43 9-465.

23. M 11/13

Guest Speaker from Alphavax, www.alphavax.org

Popular Press Projects Due

E) Organizational Creation and Change.

This section of the course examines how to create an effective organization that is enduring and adaptable.

Internal Perspectives on Organizational Culture

24. W 11/15

J. Martin (1992) "Seeing Cultures from Different Points of View" Cultures in Organizations: Three Perspectives 3-21

Van Maanen and Kunda (1991) "The Smile Factory: Work at Disneyland" Reframing Organizational Culture 58-75
(video: "In Search of Excellence: the Disney Corporation")

CULTURE.JM
CULTURE.B
CULTURE.KW

25. M 11/20

Guest Speaker – Tom Nieman, Blue Devil Ventures

26. W 11/22 – Thanksgiving Break

27. M 11/27