Mark Pruett
Focused on decisions.
Publications
Filter by type:
North American Society for Intelligence History, 2023 conference, U. Calgary
Abstract:
As a young man, he experienced the Russian Revolution, imprisonment, and coercion by Soviet
counterintelligence. He moved to Switzerland and then London, the city in which he spent years
working as a professional journalist, befriending and interviewing people ranging from military
trainees to ministers, playwrights to publishers, gathering information on everything from garden
parties to labor unions to foreign policy. He wrote four books and hundreds of articles, was
watched by intelligence agencies in multiple countries, and eventually was deported by Britain as
a spy who wrote secret reports read by Adolf Hitler.
No one remembers him, but now his story is being uncovered. It raises tantalizing questions
about known and unknown historical events, and poses opportunities for further research.
Want to improve education? Address self-efficacy, intrinsic motives and barriers, and faculty perceptions
Entrepreneurship education research shows that women and men often differ in entrepreneurial attitudes, motives, barriers, circumstances, and actions. Drawing on such research, we explore the role of intrinsic, internal, psychological dimensions. First, female students often report lower entrepreneurial self-efficacy, and are less likely to report entrepreneurial aspirations and intentions. Second, intrinsic motives and barriers, not extrinsic ones, play a significant role in the entrepreneurial aspirations of women. Third, evidence suggests that faculty often do not share the same perceptions as female students of issues related to entrepreneurship.
By strengthening curricula and programs to address intrinsic, internal, psychological factors may bring positive outcomes—more successful support for entrepreneurial interest among women students, more effective education, and students with stronger psychological attributes beneficial for entrepreneurship. We offer an unusual and intriguing place to look for inspiration—the character and confidence-building techniques of military academies.
North American Society for Intelligence History, 2022 annual meeting
What can we learn when we mix three ingredients rarely found in the same bowl—intelligence
history, business concepts, and postage stamps? What can we learn about the mindset of an
intelligence organization which offers the world, and itself, an outsized portion of falsehood?
What price does an organization pay when it cannot separate its own facts from fiction?
The paper takes an unusual approach to explore Soviet/Russian state security. Perspectives from
business research about strategic management and decision-making processes are applied to the
complex world of postage stamps. The approach can be used beyond this specific setting—stamps
are sources of information, and they provide an effective anchor for research.
Material from Russian archives and other sources shows that an astonishing number of post-Soviet
postage stamps—about two hundred—have direct or indirect links to state security and intelligence.
This paper discusses a subset—three sets of Russian stamps which commemorate seventeen people
in counterintelligence and military intelligence: a 2002 set of Cheka/OGPU/NKVD agents, a 2018
set of SMERSH agents, and a 2022 set of former KGB counterintelligence chiefs.
Paper originally presented at BAMDE 10th annual conference, 2019. Proceedings in press 2020.
This book is about disinformation, the long-run managerial/institutional consequences of near-term choices, and about fear.
Knowing history is necessary for good decisions, but how stories are told shapes our beliefs and views. If the stories are deceptive, and if enough of them are told, then we risk losing any real understanding of the past, of who we are, of what the world means.
The book is important not only for intelligence analysts, government officials, international business executives, news reporters and scholars, but for everyone who appreciates history and wants a fresh way of learning about places and people.
Putin’s Boys is not about the distant past—it illuminates a fearful and fearsome century. See how the Soviet police state moves into our present with two decades of Putin’s governance.
The book is a warning light revealing dangerous weaknesses—suspicion and self-deception. It calculates in blunt terms the staggering price already paid.
The first-ever entrepreneurship study of Afghan students
Abstract
We have conducted the first-ever study of female and male Afghan university students about entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship education. Students at this new university in Afghanistan provided data on their intentions, entrepreneurial disposition, perceptions about the university role, and their beliefs about barriers and motives to entrepreneurship.
On the one hand, we find significant differences between women and men in disposition and intentions, with women having lower levels of disposition and intentions. On the other hand, the two groups display remarkably similar views of the importance of numerous entrepreneurship motives and barriers. They also feel the same about the positive university support of their entrepreneurship interests.
In other words, although young Afghan women and men appear to feel different about themselves and their plans, they hold relatively similar views on the reasons for entrepreneurship, the impediments to entrepreneurship, and the potential of university education and support to foster entrepreneurship in both sexes.
Develops hypotheses relating the core competencies of a firm, strategy, and financial health.
Paper presented by co-author at IABE Winter Conference, Las Vegas 2018.
2018 Emerald Literati Award for Highly Commended Paper
The first study of its kind shows that college professors underestimate students’ consistent interest in entrepreneurship.
Abstract
A new approach in entrepreneurship education. This paper compares faculty and student perceptions and beliefs about entrepreneurship motives and barriers and student aspirations. Data on 3,037 students and faculty in the USA, China, India, Turkey, Belgium, and Spain, focuses on perceptions of entrepreneurship motives and barriers. We find significant faculty-student differences in views of entrepreneurship motives and barriers, university environments, and student aspirations.
An especially important finding is that, across six countries with widely varying cultures, economies, and entrepreneurial environments, students consistently see themselves as more entrepreneurial than the faculty perceive.
A major implication of the study is that entrepreneruship urricula need to be assessed in terms of their impact on the self-confidence, risk aversion, and entrepreneurial disposition of students.
How do students in this war-torn country view entrepreneurship, and what does it mean for the country’s future?
When may the act of stereotyping actually be useful?
Abstract
How do a student’s sex and culture influence his or her entrepreneurial intentions and attitudes?
The findings of this study have dramatic implications for entrepreneurship education.
Women might make better entrepreneurs: They value independence + creativity more than men, and focus more on practical issues like financing.
Abstract
We assess gender differences in 1526 nascent entrepreneurs (college students) across four countries to test a model of entrepreneurial intentions incorporating gen-der, culture, and perceptions about entrepreneurship motives and barriers. In contrast to prior research on surviving entrepreneurs, we study people who may be at the very beginning of entrepreneurial careers.
The model proves significant—we find support for hypotheses regarding the impact of gender, culture, and perceptions of motives and barriers. There are substantial differences between men and women. Culture affects students’ intentions, women have lower levels of entrepreneurial intentions, motives generally have a positive influence on intentions, barriers have a negative influence, men appear more influenced by mo-tives, and women appear more influenced by barriers.
The results in China provide interesting exceptions in the analyses and suggest directions for future research specific to that country. As a whole, the study results suggest directions for future research on entrepreneurial intentions. We also discuss implications of the study for entrepreneurship education.
We model entrepreneurial intentions and perceptions.
This study incorporates three primary perspectives used in international comparisons of entrepreneurial intentions—culture, economic conditions and education—in a study of attitudes toward entrepreneurship. Using samples drawn from two countries with distinctly different cultures, economies and education—Turkey and the United States—we develop and test hypotheses regarding the impact of these factors on entrepreneurial intentions and on perceptions of motives and barriers regarding entrepreneurship. For motive and barriers, we discuss and distinguish between intrinsic and extrinsic factors. We observe a number of significant differences between the two sample groups and significant relationships between explanatory factors, intentions and motives and barriers. We discuss the implications of the study for entrepreneurship education and for future research.
Stockholder/stakeholder models to improve decision-making in universities
ABSTRACT
Business schools teach stockholder and stakeholder perspectives for ethical decision-making, but what are the implications of those perspectives for the management of business schools themselves? From the stockholder perspective, faculty are agents in an organization financed by two types of principals—private donors and governments—with goals based on education’s social and economic benefits. The essay addresses the stockholder perspective’s issues of open and free competition, deception and fraud, and the role of required or desirable objectives. Some business school competition is open and free yet some is not. Deception and fraud do not appear significant. Objectives not specified by the principal may be required or desirable in pursuing educational objectives. Next, the stakeholder perspective suggests further parallels between business and academia. Three market failures—externalities, moral hazards, and monopoly power—are readily found in academia. Decisions do not incorporate all costs, there are numerous moral hazards, and monopoly power may arise.
Presented paper at regional conference.
Workshops for hundreds of start-ups: Years of multi-stage workshops on risks and methods, with one-on-one mentoring by business owners, improved success and discouraged weak projects.
Abstract
Using data collected from participants in an entrepreneurship education workshop series, the author examined the series’ impact and tested a model of entrepreneurial intentions incorporating social and psychological factors. He found that entrepreneurial disposition and workshop participation significantly influenced intentions, exposure to role models and the strength of family support did not significantly influence intentions and, in contrast to previous research, there was no significant difference between men and women regarding interest in entrepreneurship. The author also reports on participants’ perceptions of program effectiveness and the status of their ventures.
Royalties and profit-sharing: This first comprehensive theory of profit-sharing + royalties, and how relationships evolve over time, meshes hundreds of studies.
Abstract
Many entrepreneurs enter long-term relationships such as franchising, an important area of entrepreneurship research. However, franchising is but one version of an underlying organizational form—long-term share relationships—in which both principals and agents receive variable returns. Using two major streams of research that have long remained largely separate from one another—franchising and sharecropping—we build an integrative model of the determinants of share relationships, apply an evolutionary perspective to show how incentives may change, develop explanations for longstanding theoretical conflicts, and generate a fresh set of research propositions.
Abstract
Should entrepreneurship education be the same in every country or should it be adapted to each context? In addition to answering this question, it appears to be important to identify the concerns students have regarding their entrepreneurship education programs, so as to strengthen their perceptions of feasibility and desirability of an entrepreneurial career. In this article we examine whether differences exist among American, Asian and European students in terms of entrepreneurial intentions and dispositions, as well as motivations and perceived barriers for business startup. Results indicate that entrepreneurial disposition and intentions differ by country but that students across countries are motivated and/or discouraged by similar variables. However, our results indicate that the levels of sensitivity to each motivator and barrier differ by country. Our results support the argument made by past researches that cultural differences should be taken into consideration when developing entrepreneurship education programs.
Le concept d’auto-efficacité entrepreneuriale (AEE) apparaît aujourd’hui comme un élément fondamental influençant l’intention entrepreneuriale (Wilson et al., 2009 ; Krueger, 2007). Pour de Bruin et al. (2007), l’AEE est particulièrement intéressante pour mieux comprendre les différences en termes d’intention entrepreneuriale entre les hommes et les femmes. Sur base de la théorie de l’AEE, cette communication a pour objectif d’analyser d’une part, s’il existe des différences d’AEE entre des étudiants d’origines différentes et, d’autre part, analyser si l’influence de l’AEE, selon le sexe et le pays de l’étudiant, sur l’intention entrepreneuriale est homogène. Pour ce faire, nous avons constitué un échantillon de près de 900 étudiants américains, asiatiques et européens. Nos résultats montrent, d’une part, qu’il existe, selon le pays, des différences significatives en termes d’AEE et d’intention entre les étudiants et que l’effet de l’AEE sur l’intention peut être, selon le pays, plus important chez les femmes que chez les hommes. D’autre part, l’existence de différences intra-groupes, en termes d’AEE et d’intention entrepreneuriale est également soulevée.
Why do so many companies fail? For long life, look to nature’s organizations — make group health + survival the primary mission, act on that mission + focus on attracting, retaining + developing members.
Abstract
Young Chinese entrepreneurs are distinctly independent-minded, but far more concerned about risk + family reaction than students in other countries.
Abstract
Purpose– In order to extend the literature on predicting entrepreneurial intentions this study aims to test a model incorporating cultural, social, and psychological factors.
Design/methodology/approach– The paper surveyed over 1,000 students at universities in the USA, Spain, and China.
Findings– Across cultures, university students share generally similar views on motivations and barriers to entrepreneurship, but with some interesting differences. Further, while cultural and social dimensions explain only a small portion of intentions, psychological self‐efficacy (disposition) is an important predictor.
Research limitations/implications– The study was restricted to university students. It generated focused conclusions and recommendations, but these may not be more widely generalizable. The study suggests directions for continued work on the relationship between cultural and psychological factors in entrepreneurship.
Practical implications– Entrepreneurship education may serve students better by increasing its focus on creativity and confidence‐building. Further, curricula should be adapted to specific cultures – for example, a unique dilemma faced by Chinese students is discussed in detail.
Originality/value– Performing a cross‐cultural comparison made it possible to add fresh insight to debates over the antecedents of entrepreneurship. It also uncovered some important topics for further discussion and research.
We collected data on student and faculty attitudes toward entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship education. In addition to noting a difference between students and faculty in perceptions of students’ occupational aspirations, we discuss the significance of interest among non-business students. The study suggests a significant opportunity to formally expand entrepreneurship-related education beyond the business school.
Presented paper, ASU Ethics Series, February 2008.
New R&D beats “fixing” old designs: We move the learning curve from the production process into the product innovation process.
How can we model and document the impact of experience in product innovation? We use data on the innovation and production histories of 294 product platforms to explore experience‐based learning. We extend learning curve concepts from their traditional domain – the production process – into the product innovation process to build and test a richer, quantitative model of learning. The results suggest that learning occurs differently in the innovation process than in production. They also suggest that how and where a firm learns depend in part on the complexity of product components and sub‐systems. Finally, we discuss the competitive implications for product innovation.
Keywords: product innovation; learning curve; quality;
Entrepreneurial share relationships: Initial and evolutionary determinants. Pruett, M., & Winter, G. Presented paper at International Council for Small Business (ISCB) World Conference, Halifax, Canada 2008.
Presented paper at Academy of International Business-Southeast Conference, St. Petersburg, FL 2008.
Presented paper at International Council for Small Business (ICSB) World Conference, Halifax, Canada 2008.
Presented paper.
Book version of article in dominant design / technology commercialization / innovation literature which made an early distinction between direct and indirect network externalities, and how network externalities influence strategic choice.
Presented teaching case in workshop at North American Case Research Association, Cape Cod, 2005
Presented paper at NCEC annual meeting.
Protecting trade secrets: Laws, violations + how to identify/protect trade secrets when employees leave
Abstract
The article examines the trade secret violation problems associated with the desire of migrating employees to use their knowledge in their new position and suggest options available to firms to solve these conflicts. As early as 1988, an unpublished study by the National Institute of Justice of 150 large high technology firms surveyed believed that they had been victims of trade secret theft. In 2001, seven then-current and former executives of Cadence Design Systems Inc. agreed to plead no contest to misappropriating the computer code of Cadence for use in the products of Avant! Corp., the new firm they founded. These three forms of legal protection–patents, copyrights and trademarks–usually require the firm to register the intellectual property with the government and to provide public disclosure. When employees leave, they mentally take all the knowledge they have developed or used during their time with the firm. In the U.S., trade secret law is now a combination of state and federal law. Some countries have no trade secret laws at all–Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador and Venezuela are examples of such countries. Examples of technological and physical protection of information include the use of roving guards, computer passwords, passkeys, identification badges, biological identification checkpoints and even intra-facility positioning systems.
Keywords
- trade secrets;
- intellectual property;
- trade secret theft;
Paper presented by co-author Ken Kovach at SMA meeting. Later version published in LLJ.
Southern Management Association, 2003.
How to commercialize inventions: We outline commercialization strategies for inventions that require new infrastructure, complementary goods, or many users.
Abstract
Keywords
- network externalities;
- appropriability;
- high-technology start-ups;
Presented paper at America Online/Center for Innovative Technology Common Ground research conference, Herndon, VA 2002.
Paper presented by second author Hun Lee at Strategic Management Society, Paris 2002.
Presented paper at Strategic Management Society, San Francisco 2001.
Presented paper at Strategic Management Society, Vancouver 2000.
Use quality to drive executive thinking: This forward-looking article was at the leading edge of a world-wide, decade-long wave of executive-oriented articles linking executive decisions about strategic management with principles, practices + tools about quality from production + marketing.
Abstract
There is a variety of perspectives on quality, but that each of those perspectives contributes to an integrative, systemic view of what it means to manage for quality. That systemic view raises certain key issues about the way we think of the strategic management process, issues which merit renewed scrutiny in the light of quality management.
Paper presented by second author Pandian, J. at International Research Conference on Quality Management, Melbourne Australia 1996.
Re-orienting competitive strategy with a “double-diamond” model of strategy (competences, customers, competitors + environment) + change (goals/policies, culture, leadership + structure/systems).
The ability to define and guide the activities which turn the inputs to a business into outputs is the essence of management. At one extreme, these activities are manageable on a day-to-day basis, with managers responding to problems and minor changes in operating conditions; this is operations management. At the other extreme are management decisions that will launch the firm on a trajectory that is expected to continue for a number of years. The long-term character of these decisions is what makes them ‘strategic’. The notion of a firm’s distinctive or core competence (Prahalad & Hamel, 1990) is used here as the anchor to develop an analytical framework–the strategic “double diamond”–that can provide a useful structure for considering fundamental strategic issues about competition.
Your choices matter more than your environment: Failure may depend more on a company’s own strategic choices than on industry strength.
Abstract
This paper compares the failure of 73 firms that declared bankruptcy from 1980 to 1986 with the behavior of 73 matching firms that had not failed over the same period. We contrast the relative importance of environmental stress, measured by industry growth/decline, with organizational response, measured by asset and debt growth/decline. Firm effects dominate industry effects in explaining failure. Four distinctive business failure pathways based on firm and industry growth patterns are described. In particular, we conclude that debt-funded, forced-growth strategies create a high risk of failure regardless of industry growth rate.
Business groupthink in strategies + beliefs: Firms with similar assets + strategies tend to hold similar views + may uniformly resist adapting to industry change.
Abstract
This paper provides an overview of strategic groups research and argues that it should be linked more closely to questions central to strategic management. Particularly fruitful directions for future research include industry evolution, competitive and industry dynamics, and linkages to resource‐based theories. Specific observations and suggestions are made about the content and method of strategic groups research. These are illustrated by reference to empirical studies of the pharmaceutical industry and the food processing industry.
Making your version succeed: We outline competitive strategies for inventions which face competition from incompatible alternatives.
Abstract
Researchers in technology and innovation, organization research, and product standardization in economics have noted that innovations may become the dominant designs in their product classes for reasons that may have little to do with design. The emergence process for dominant designs has typically been viewed as a black box process involving a sophisticated interaction of technological and non‐technological factors. This paper shifts the discussion to a strategic perspective. It argues that firms can frame the emergence process and can systematically manage elements of it in the pursuit of competitive advantage from innovation. An analytical framework is developed and discussed, with particular emphasis on the roles of certain external conditions, non‐technological forces, and complementary assets, as well as the implications for R&D strategists and for future research. Four distinctive examples illustrate different aspects of the framework’s utility.
It is proper that a discipline, whether nascent or mature, should take stock of its progress once in a while, and strategic management is no exception.
Presented paper at Strategic Management Society, Chicago 1993.
