A Conceptual Framework for Describing Online Entrepreneurship

Introduction Current research in entrepreneurship tends to focus on or prove the notion that entrepreneurs are different from non-entrepreneurs (1) or that entrepreneurial firms are different from non-entrepreneurial firms. (2) In these studies, the basic assumption is that all entrepreneurs and their new ventures are homogenous. The focus of this paper is on differences between brick-and-mortar entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs who conduct ventures completely online. Differences between these two may be greater than the differences between entrepreneurs and non-entrepreneurs and those between entrepreneurial firms and non-entrepreneurial firms, as discovered in the studies mentioned earlier. Once we identify and recognize that online entrepreneurs are different from regular entrepreneurs, it becomes necessary to find a way to classify those online ventures. The meaning of entrepreneurship and its measurement has been discussed in several studies. (3) Determinants of entrepreneurship have been the focus of several studies covering a wide range of theories and explanations (Brock and Evans, 1989; Gavron, Cowling, Holtham and Westall, 1998; OECD, 1998; Blanchflower, 2000, 2004; Verheul, Wennekers and Thurik, 2002; Arenius and Minniti, 2005). Entrepreneurship has been found to be a significant factor in economic development of countries ((Baumol, 1990; Wennekers and Thurik, 1999; Carree and Thurik, 2003, 2006; Acs et al., 2005). The extent of entrepreneurship has been found to vary systematically across countries and across time (Rees and Shah, 1986; Wit and Van Winden, 1989; Blanchflower and Meyer, 1994; Blanchflower, 2000, 2004). However, similar research on "online entrepreneurship" is sparse, even though the coverage of "online" entrepreneurship is truly global. Interest in international entrepreneurship has increased rapidly over the past decade (Brush, 1993, 1995; Hitt and Bartkus, 1997; Hisrich et al., 1995). Scholars have observed the close theoretical link between entrepreneurship and international business (IB) research (Hisrich et al., 1994; McDougall and Oviatt, 2000). However, a conceptual framework for analyzing "online entrepreneurship" has yet to be developed formally in the field of online entrepreneurship. It is this gap that this paper purports to fill. The conceptual framework that is developed in this paper will provide a way of analyzing past research studies. Each study can be broken down into types of individuals, organizations, environment of internet and processes that were studied. This paper will not seek to answer questions such as how online ventures are started or provide theoretical models of online entrepreneurship. Instead, it will provide a different perspective on the online entrepreneur; a shift that will emphasize the complexities and variations involved in online entrepreneurship. The goal of coming up with a framework is not to smooth differences between entrepreneurship and online entrepreneurship and come up with typical properties of a typical entrepreneur. The goal is to identify specific variables that describe how online entrepreneurship is created, in order that meaningful contrasts and comparisons among new ventures can be made. Growth of Online Entrepreneurship The internet-based commerce has been stealing billions of dollars away from traditional retail outlets, and is becoming a significant component of global sales of a growing enterprise. Once we acknowledge that online entrepreneurship is becoming more and more significant in today's business world, it then becomes necessary to find a framework for systematically discovering and evaluating the similarities and differences among new online ventures. The population of entrepreneurs may be homogenous but the subset of "online" entrepreneurs within the entrepreneurial universe must be further analyzed so that entrepreneurial research can produce meaningful results. …