Naslov
Sustainable Growth of SMEs in Croatia through Development of Entrepreneurial Skills

Autori
Ćorić, Gordana ; Katavić, Ivica ; Kopecki, Dragan

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Radovi u zbornicima skupova, cjeloviti rad (in extenso), znanstveni

Izvornik
Challenges of Europe: Growth and Competitiveness - Reversing the Trends, 9th International Conference Proceedings / Reić, Zlatan ; Šimić, Vladimir - Split : Ekonomski fakultet Sveučilišta u Splitu, 2011, 207-242

Skup
9th International Conference: "Challenges of Europe: Growth and Competitiveness - Reversing the Trends", University of Split, Faculty of Economics

Mjesto i datum
Split, Hrvatska; Bol, Hrvatska, 26.05.2011. - 28.05.2011

Vrsta sudjelovanja
Predavanje

Vrsta recenzije
Međunarodna recenzija

Ključne riječi
Entrepreneurship; Sustainability; SMEs growth; Entrepreneurial skills; Improvement

Sažetak
Entrepreneurship is one of the major generators of growth, wealth and well-being. It can be facilitated by the creation of the environment which provides impulses for both start-up and growth oriented entrepreneurs, reduces the barriers imposed to new and existing companies, and provides opportunities on how to learn from mistakes. As the importance of entrepreneurship and sustainability is increasing, growing SMEs (gazelles) in the global markets have further spurred the need to in-depth research Croatian entrepreneurs. Since entrepreneurial skills influence implementation of sustainable growth of SMEs, the entrepreneur’s success depends on the identification of crucial entrepreneurial skills for start-up businesses, as well as for helping the business to survive and grow in the early years. Although these skills can make the differences between the business success and failure, there is a substantial gap between the successfulness of the two basic approaches to entering into entrepreneurship: opportunity-based and necessity-based entrepreneurship. The first one is better represented in the developed and more successful, competitive economies, and the second in the emerging and transition economies. Due to unfavorable ratio between these two approaches in Croatia, the authors will address this issue and explore possibilities on how to improve and develop necessary set of skills of Croatian entrepreneurs. The purpose of this paper is to develop an understanding of the importance of entrepreneurial skills and its impact on sustainable SMEs growth. The challenge is to create a “learning platform” for improving entrepreneurial skills, and, as a result, to make economies and societies more entrepreneurial. The primary objectives of this paper are: (a) to identify and examine the different entrepreneurial skills for sustainable growth of SMEs in Croatia, and (b) to evaluate the quality of current companies’ performances and potential for growth. To meet these objectives, the authors have conducted a micro-level analysis, focused on the specific skill characteristics of particular entrepreneurs/managers of SMEs, which have planned growth in terms of revenues and number of employees. This analysis has provided some answers on how to assess key challenges in the area of growing, but sustainable entrepreneurship. The approach used in this paper is based on the content analysis of materials collected from 1995 to 2010 in two separate phases. While in the first phase the data was collected during the implementation of the EMED project (1995 to 1998), the second phase took place from 2003 to 2010 in order to assess the growth potential of the Croatian SMEs. The instruments that guided this analysis were Entrepreneurial Management and Executive Development (EMED) program, and the Allan Gibb’s growth model (framework for growth). The major results of this paper have indicated the Croatian entrepreneurship skill levels and gaps, as well as confirmed that entrepreneurial skills greatly affect entrepreneurs’ choice of growth strategy options. Having entrepreneurial skills does not guarantee entrepreneurial success. However, identifying the range of entrepreneurial skills, understanding the importance of these skills and their impact on sustainable growth, may lead to a potential for success.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Ekonomija

Napomena
Http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/72069938/sustainable-growth-smes-croatia-through-development-entrepreneurial-skills ; ACCESSION # 72069938

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