The Sociology of Entrepreneurship

© Copyrighted material to be used for course purposes only

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 Books and Readings

The following book is required reading and is available from the university bookstore:

Ethnicity and Entrepreneurship in Urban America by Light and Rosenfield

Other 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 will be assigned weekly 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 website.

Requirements

The papers will be approximately five pages in length and will integrate readings, lectures, and contemporary examples of entrepreneurship. You will have a choice of several paper topics. Prepared and active attendance is noticed and welcome. Class participation will count towards your overall grade. 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. Th 5/18

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. M 5/22

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

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

Text Book, Ch 1 & 3

PSYCH

3. T 5/23

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

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.

4. Th 5/25

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

USTRUCTURE
MSTRUCTURE

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

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

5. M 5/29

Film

Paper #1 Assigned

6. Tu 5/30

Text Book – Ch 2

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

Popular Press Presentations

7. Th 6/1

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

Text Book – Ch 15

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

8. M 6/5

Campbell and Lindberg (1990) "Property Rights and the Organization of Economic Activity" ASR 634-644
(lecture: The Role of Social and Political Structure in Creating Incubator Regions for New Investment)

Text Book – Ch 4 & 6

Time Magazine – Dole Banana

9. T 6/6

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

Text Book – Ch 11 & 12

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

Popular Press Presentations

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.

10. Th 6/8

Porter (1980) "The Structural Analysis of Industries" Competitive Strategy 3-33
(lecture: Competitive Dynamics at the Industry Level)

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

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

Text Book - Ch 16

E) Organizational Creation and Change.

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

11. M 6/12

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")
(lecture and discussion: Formal and Informal Organization and Aspects of Social Structure that Affect Adherence to Corporate Culture)

CULTURE.JM
CULTURE.DEF

Dumaine (1993) "The Work Place/Cover Story" Fortune 39-41

Barley and Kunda (1992) "Design and Devotion: Surges of Rational and Normative Ideologies of Control in Managerial Discourse" ASQ 363-399

(video: Apple as an "In Search of Excellence" corporation and the role of culture as an organizing strategy)

F) Critique of this Framework – The Case of Ethnicity

12. T 6/13

Light and Rosenfield Book

Paper #2 Assigned

13. Th 6/15

Light and Rosenfield Book

14. M 6/19

Light and Rosenfield Book

Text Book – Ch 17

15. T 6/20

Documentary

16. Th 6/22

Spill-over class

Popular Press Presentations

17. M 6/26

Thornton (1999) The Sociology of Entrepreneurship from The Annual Review of Sociology

Review and Conclusions
Course Evaluation