Entrepreneurship and Innovation Today

Are ethnic immigrant entrepreneurs more opportunity-sensitive?

Are ethnic immigrant entrepreneurs more opportunity-sensitive?

That's a question that's addressed in a recent paper entitled: Ethnic-immigrants in founding teams: Effects on prospector strategy and performance in new Internet ventures in the Journal of Business Venturing 23 (2008) 113-139

Abstract

"We investigated differences in strategy and performance between new USA Internet ventures with ethnic-immigrant members in the founding team and a matched set of USA Internet ventures with nonethnic- non-immigrant team members.  Results showed that new ventures with an ethnic-immigrant presence in the founding teams tended to pursue a more aggressive prospector strategy than those with non-ethnic-non-immigrant founding team members.  Still, performance of the two groups of ventures was comparable.  However, the positive effects of ethnic-immigrant presence on founding teams depended on team size and average age of the founding team members."

Ethnic-immigrant entrepreneurs showed a strong propensity to seek and pursue entrepreneurial opportunities, suggesting that the act of migrating to a new country could lead to an aggressive strategic orientation.

Opportunity Window #235 -Combining Overlapping Problem areas

From the Opportunity Clinic

Background, or why the Opportunity Clinic works.....

"Chance favors the prepared mind", so the saying goes, so it follows that if you had a repertoire of examples of different generic opportunity windows, you can use them as a templates for either 1) deliberately designing opportunity windows for your business or 2) as a checklist for scanning to spot unique opportunity scenarios when the circumstances present themselves."

.....Opportunity Window # 235-Combining Overlapping Problem areas or Problem Reciprocity

If you look hard enough or force fit random combinations, a seemingly unsolvable problem in one area can be "the solution" to an unrelated problem in a totally different area and visa-versa (reciprocity).

"A state prison in Nevada was dealing with the usual prison problems of gangs and violence inside the prison.  At the same time, the local Humane Society had a growing list of "unadoptable dogs" who, for a variety of temperament-oriented offenses, were themselves placed on Doggie Death Row.  So the prison warden and the Humane Society director got together and identified eight inmates, all lifers, who would each adopt a doomed dog for a period of rehabilitation.

Inmates have nothing if not time on their hands, and wayward dogs can take lot of retraining, so it turned out to be a great arrangement.

The dogs became highly socialized and adoptable-when their time was up one inmate said they had gotten "puppy parole"-and a second set of dogs replaced them in the slammer.  The unanticipated benefit of this program was a 40% drop off in violence at the prison.  Even the vast majority of the 700 inmates who did not personally receive a pet benefited, as everyone softened up and cuddled with the dogs.

Now there is prison reform."

Source The Next Big Thing

Can you think of other similar examples in business or where this led to a new business venture or new business model?

Share and please post them in the comments section below.

Update Feb 1, 2008 (from a LinkedIN Q&A )

"Hi Walter,

Sure I can.

For example, it's a reality that our population is getting older and older. Many elderly people feel lonely and that they are of any more use to the society.

On the other hand, in our society there are more and more people with psychological problems. They can call for free some SOS help phone lines, so they can have some help. The problem is that most of people that "work" at that SOS help phone lines, are volunteers, and there is a lack of volunteers.

If we give the proper "education" to those elderly people, that want so desperatly be of any use to the society, they can be the volunteers for those SOS help phone lines.

Can you imagine how the elderly people will feel so happy, by really helping who is in psychological pain? They can even prevent a young person from commiting suicide, etc.

Two problems, that together are the solution for each other.

Thanks and please let me know how I can help you.

Maria Spínola
Marketing Business Builder Champion"

The "Reversal" Opportunity Scenario

In many industries there is a dominant trend, which is quite visible and which most companies will jump on (opportunity window #1-the band wagon effect ) . For some, there will be a niche opportunities –identifying who or what is left behind (opportunity window #2), In some cases, we see a dramatic and sudden reversal of the dominant trend in an industry(opportunity window #3)

Rarely have I seen such a sharp reversal, as we see in the Guardian newspaper today.

The latest surgery craze: 'undo-plasty'

"Sadly, it is not a route Michael Jackson has decided to go down, but should he wish to restore some kind of normality to his face, he could visit one of the increasing number of cosmetic surgeons who specialize in what has become known as "undo-plasty". The demand for these procedures - revising botched jobs or looks that a patient is unhappy with - is increasing, with celebrities joining the queue."

full story here>>[...]

• What examples of “reversal opportunity windows” have you historically seen in your industry?

• Is it more common in services or products?

• What reversal opportunity windows can you anticipate in your industry down the road?

Update: Jan 31, 2008

Chinese dumplings poison dozens in Japan

The safety of China's food industry was called into question again today with reports that dozens of people in Japan have become ill after eating imported dumplings containing insecticide.

Schools and restaurants in Japan removed Chinese-made food from their menus and TV stations warned viewers not to eat any food imported from China. ..so what's the opportunity space here?

See here [...]

Reversal opportunity window? Who will be the first to fill the dumpling /perogy vacuum /void?

Growth of the Predictions Market-a New Core Capability for every Business

You can follow the growth of any new novel industry segment by tracking and anticipating certain benchmarks and events.

Most emerging industry segments will grow through a predictable evolutionary growth curve--eventually someone will decide to organize Industry-wide annual conferences, when there is a critical mass of both buyers and sellers in the market. As well, someone will eventually launch an industry association to corral this captive audience. (from the Opportunity Clinic-SCS 1951; University of Toronto, Certificate in Innovation and Entrepreneurship)

The Predictions Market is a case in point, where its thought leaders are in the midst of launching the Prediction Markets Industry Association (PMIA).

As this industry matures, (total accuracy is not quite there yet) this new capability will have a radical effect on every business, shifting your strategic focus and strategic thinking from not just a sense-and-respond mode, but  to an anticipate-predict-and-design mode (or cause-and-effect mode) which will require a new focus on different cognitive or thinking skills around opportunity design (sense-making) and not just opportunity search and felt needs/problem identification. This will also cause a shift from Push to Pull, or from Supply Management to Demand Management as a primary market differentiator for your company.

"Predictability" is one of the 9 key trends that EDS Fellow and Futurist Jeff Wacker  says  will drive the next big thing in information technology -"IT Everywhere" and not just in your PC from 2008-2016

Jeff anticipates: The speed of change & reduced time for response will  drive companies from a reactive sense-and-respond to a proactive "cause and effect" positioning fueled by the increase use of predictive technologies which will improve the ease and cost of companies to adapt to continuous change"                       Source: WFS.org Toronto 2006

From a Predictions Market listserve.....

The prediction markets industry is certainly growing, and I'm really happy that we've come together to develop the Prediction Markets Industry Association.  One of the other aspects about the industry is that more and more people and companies are getting into it.

I've tried to compile all of the different prediction market software packages/options into one (long) post.  The views are mine and mine alone, but hopefully if you're thinking about starting your own prediction market it will be a helpful and handy guide.  It includes established companies, new entrants, open source options, and more.

Http://blog.mercury-rac.com/2007/11/13/a-long-review-of-prediction-market-software/

Please comment on the post or contact me directly with any questions, comments, or criticism.  Thanks for your time.

Best regards, Jed

Jed D. Christiansen Managing Director Mercury Research and Consulting Ltd

Related Post: Predictive Software for the Smart Phone

Weak Signals Group on Flickr

I'm forwarding an invitation to join a weak signal group on Flickr from a colleague from Finland

...

Dear my fellow futurists!

I have just started a flickr group to collect the images of weak signals all over the world. Weak signals are something new or strange things/events existing today. They might be signs of emerging trends and tell us about the future, or then not.

You can contribute your weak signal observations to this site:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/weaksignals/

Please, comment also what do you think that your observation could mean for the future. You can also map (locate) you photo, so people will know where you have taken it.

You can also see other people's observations of weak signals in this group. Please, join this group and resend this invitation to you colleagues and other future oriented people you know!

All the best,

Elina Hiltunen

, futurist, weak signal enthusiast from

Finland

Related post see Detecting weak signals of change inside & outside your industry- Derzko's 12 tips

Companies Missing Opportunities

……from a recent McKinsey Quarterly survey

Top trends, missed opportunities

"Executives have identified a few global trends, including the increasing availability of knowledge and a social backlash against business, as most likely to affect the profitability of their companies--for better or for worse--over the next five years.  Yet relatively few respondents say that their companies have taken active steps to seize the opportunities these trends present.  Worryingly, an even smaller percentage indicates their companies have taken steps to mitigate the risks."

From "Acting on global trends: A McKinsey Global Survey," which includes the responses of 3,693 executives from around the world.

Source: McKinsey Quarterly; 2007 Issue 3, p10-11, 2p

What does your company do to identfy pending  opportunties or threats or in fact,take the lead to design  world-class  opportunity windows that are difficult to copy? 

Do you have a formal process?

If not sign up to take the Opportunity Clinic at the University of Toronto. see http://learn.utoronto.ca/Page1897.aspx

Related Post: Do you know how to spot or design new business opportunities? 07-053

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