Entrepreneurs in Japan and Silicon Valley: A study of perceived differences
通过问卷调查测量日本和硅谷企业家与大型企业经理的感知差异，发现两地企业家创业精神的最低门槛相同，但类型不同，且高增长企业家的感知差异处于特定范围。
This paper presents the preliminary and presently speculative conclusions of a psychological study of entrepreneurial phenomena in Japan and Silicon Valley. A questionnaire was developed to identify two major ways in which entrepreneurs were different from average managers of large corporations. First, the entrepreneurs' perceived difference between themselves and managers was measured to create a Personal Difference Index (PDI). Second, the entrepreneurs' perceived difference between their firms and a typical large firm was measured to develop a Corporate Difference Index (CDI). Our primary finding is that U.S. high-tech and Japanese entrepreneurs have the same minimum hurdle degree of entrepreneurial spirit. Both U.S. and Japaneses entrepreneurs require a certain minimum personal and corporate difference to overcome the obstacles to becoming an entrepreneur. However, the types of entrepreneurs in Japan and Silicon Valley are different. We also found that entrepreneurs with higher growth firms fell within a certain range of PDI's and GDI's. Entrepreneurs or entrepreneurial firms that were too similar or too different from corporate counterparts tended to fail or to remain small. This report presents the preliminary and presently speculative conclusions from a study of the characteristics of entrepreneurs in Japan and Silicon Valley. As a result of this study, we hope to understand better the following: • What are the universal characteristics of entrepreneurs?