The Entrepreneurial Process

The entrepreneurial process provided a theoretical framework for the study. Kourilsky's research provided a theoretical framework in which to view the critical components of effective entrepreneurial leadership for charter school founders in order to more fully understand entrepreneurial leadership and its relation to the successful founding of charter schools (Kourilsky, 1998). Sarason's research findings from 1972 provided an additional framework that allows for the understanding of predictable challenges that charter school founders face in their attempts to implement charter school reform and open new schools (Sarason, 1998). A synthesis of these theorists' work provided a theoretical lens for this study. To begin the understanding of the theoretical framework, an introduction to entrepreneurship is provided. The entrepreneurial process as a theoretical framework for the study and application of the framework follows this discussion.

The word entrepreneur is derived from the French word entreprende, which means, "to undertake." Kourilsky (1990) defined entrepreneurship as a natural ability to generate divergent ideas and to integrate those ideas with resources and processes to make things happen in a unique way. Low and MacMillan (1988) suggested that the act of entrepreneurship should be defined as the creation of new enterprise. According to Kataraman (1997), entrepren

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the issues. This chapter provides the following methodology used for the study: research questions; study design and rationale; sample selection; sample descriptions; instrumentation and data collection; data analysis; dissemination of findings; and summary and conclusions. Research Questions Based on the review of the literature and theories of new venture creation and entrepreneurial leadership that provided a theoretical framework for the investigation, the following research questions were used to guide this study: 1. In what ways do charter school founders demonstrate observable characteristics of entrepreneurial behavior during the development phase? 2. Does the founders' demonstrated entrepreneurial behavior play a significant role in an authorizer's decision to grant a charter? Study Design and Rationale A multiple-case, cross-comparative case study research design was used for this study. The case study methodology was chosen since it provides the researcher with a unique opportunity to examine a contemporary phenomenon within its real-life context (Yin, 1994). This method is particularly well suited to the study of a dynamic process influenced by multiple contextual factors such as charter school development.

Category: Business - T