makers) could be to find the local entrepreneur. With modest and proper support at the beginning of their ventures they can create new histories of success, like the one described here.
Although Venkataraman (2004) shows some concerns about the risk that non-technological entrepreneurship could inherit and the deficiencies of what he calls ‘weak entrepreneurial force’, and fail to promote a sustainable transformation process in the regions, we suggest that this process could be accomplished in two stages. In the first stage, the one depicted in our case study, the entrepreneurship in mature industrial sectors would be sufficient to move the region from a traditional and inefficient economic base to an industrial and a nationally, and eventually globally, integrated one, and in this process create the conditions for the intangible factors to emerge. In a second stage the industries in the region’s cluster would have their techno- logical content improved and complemented by other more technological based industries. This process is already taking place in the Brazilian fur- niture cluster studied here. Linked with the furniture industries, other industries are being attracted or locally developed, such as equipment, logistics and, more recently, design.
Finally, we are aware of the limitations imposed by the methodology used in this research, especially in terms of generalization. Since we choose to study a case of a traditional industry that can be found in many other regions in Brazil, or in many other countries, it would be necessary to repli- cate similar studies in order to the check the stability, reliability and gener- alization of the conclusions reported here. We challenge our colleagues interested in the field of entrepreneurship to do so.
Acs, Z.J., D.B. Audretsch, P. Braunerhjelm and B. Carlson (2005a), ‘Growth and entrepreneurship: an empirical assessment’, Max Planck Institute of Economics, discussion paper on entrepreneurship, growth and public policy, no. 3205, Max Plank Institute of Economics, Jena, Germany.
Acs, Z.J., D.B. Audretsch, P. Braunerhjelm and B. Carlson (2005b), ‘The missing link: the knowledge filter and entrepreneurship in endogenous growth’, discus- sion paper on entrepreneurship, growth and public policy, no. 0805, Max Plank Institute of Economics, Jena, Germany.
Aloulou, W. and A. Fayolle (2005), ‘A conceptual approach of entrepreneurial orien- tation within a small business context’,Journal of Enterprising Culture,13(1), 21–45.
Alsos, G.A. and V. Kaikkonen (2004), ‘Opportunities and prior knowledge: a study of experienced entrepreneurs,Frontiers of Entrepreneurship Research, Wellesley, MA: Babson College.
Ardichivili, A., R. Cardozo and S. Ray (2003), ‘A theory of entrepreneurial oppor- tunity identification and development’,Journal of Business Venturing,28, 105–23.
Audretsch, D.B. and M. Fritsch (2002), ‘Growth regimes over time and space’, Regional Studies,36(2), 113–24.
Audretsch, D.B. and M. Keilbach (2004), ‘Entrepreneurship capital and economic performance’, discussion paper on entrepreneurship, growth and public policy, no. 0104, Max Planck Institute of Economics, Jena, Germany.
Audretsch, D.B. and R. Thurik (2004), ‘A model of the entrepreneurial economy’, discussion paper on entrepreneurship, growth and public policy, no. 1204, Max Planck Institute of Economics, Jena, Germany.
Audretsch, D.B., M. Carree and A.R. Thurik (2001), ‘Does entrepreneurship reduce unemployment?’, discussion paper no. TI 2001-074/3, Tinbergen Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Baptista, R., V. Escária and P. Madruga (2005), ‘Entrepreneurship, regional devel- opment and job creation: the case of Portugal’, discussion paper on entrepre- neurship, growth and public policy, no. 0605, Max Planck Institute of Economics, Jena, Germany.
Brown, T.E., P. Davidsson and J. Wiklund (2001), ‘An operationalization of Stevenson’s conceptualization of entrepreneurship as opportunity-based firm behavior’,Strategic Management Journal,22, 953–68.
Carland, J.W., F. Hoy, W.R. Boulton and J.A.C. Carland (1984), ‘Differentiating entrepreneurs from small business owners: a conceptualization’, Academy of Management Review,9(1), 354–9.
Carree, M., A. Van Stel, R. Thurik and S. Wennekers (2000), ‘Business ownership and economic growth in 23 OECD countries’, discussion paper no. TI 2000-01/3, Tinbergen Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Chiasson, M. and C. Saunders (2005), ‘Reconciling diverse approaches to opportunity research using the structuration theory’,Journal of Business Venturing,20, 747–67.
Christensen, C.M. (1997), The Innovator’s Dilemma, Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.
Cooper, A.C. and W.C. Dunkelberg (1986), ‘Entrepreneurship and paths to busi- ness ownership’,Strategic Management Journal,7(1), 53–68.
Covin, J.G. and D.P. Slevin (1989), ‘Strategic management of small firms in hostile and benign environments’,Strategic Management Journal,10(1), 75–87.
Covin, J.G., K.M. Green and D.P. Slevin (2006), ‘Strategic process effects on the entrepreneurial orientation-sales growth rate relationship’, Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, January, 7–81.
and firm performance: tests of contingency and configurational models’, Strategic Management Journal,18 (9), 677–95.
Ding, H.B. and P. Abetti (2001), ‘The entrepreneurial success of Taiwan: lessons for rapidly industrializing countries’, in M.D. Foo and P. Phan (eds),Proceedings of the Conference on Technological Entrepreneurship in the Emerging Regions of the New Millennium, June, Singapore: National University of Singapore, pp. 73–89.
Dosi, G. (1988), ‘The nature of the innovative process’, in G. Dosi, C. Freeman, R. Nelson, G. Silverberg and L. Soete (eds),Technical Change and Economic Theory, London and New York: Pinter Publishers, pp. 221–38.
Dutta, D.K. and Mary M. Crossan (2005), ‘The nature of entrepreneurial oppor- tunities: understanding the process using the 4I organizational learning frame- work’,Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, July, 425–49.
Eisenhardt, K.M. and C.B. Schoonhoven (1990), ‘Organizational growth: linking founding team, strategy, environment, and growth among U.S. semiconductor ventures, 1978–1988’,Administrative Science Quarterly,35, 504–29.
Fritsch, M. and P. Muller (2004), ‘Regional growth regimes revisited: the case of West Germany’, discussion paper on entrepreneurship, growth and public policy, no. 0404, Max Planck Institute of Economics, Jena, Germany.
Grilo, I. and R. Thurik (2005), ‘Entrepreneurial engagement levels in the European Union’, discussion paper no. 2905, Max Planck Institute of Economics, Jena, Germany.
Hayek, Friedrich (1984), Individualism and Economic Order, Chichago, IL:
University of Chicago Press.
Hitt, M.A., R.D. Ireland, S.M. Camp and D.L. Sexton (2001), ‘Strategic entrepre- neurship: entrepreneurial strategies for wealth creation’,Strategic Management Journal,22, 479–91.
Hornaday, J.A. and J. Aboud (1971), ‘Characteristics of successful entrepreneurs’, Personnel Psychology,24(2), 141–53.
Kirzner, Israel (1973),Competition and Entrepreneurship, Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
Kunkel, J.H. (1971), ‘Values and behavior in economic development’, in Peter Kilby (ed.), Entrepreneurship and Economic Development, New York: Free Press, pp. 151–80.
Lichtenstein, B.B., K.J. Dooley and G.T. Lumpkin (2006), ‘Measuring emergence in the dynamics of new venture creation’,Journal of Business Venturing,21, 153–75.
Lumpkin, G.T. and G.G. Dess (1996), ‘Clarifying the entrepreneurial orientation construct and linking it to performance’,Academy of Management Review,21 (1), 135–72.
Lumpkin, G.T. and B.B. Lichtenstein (2005), ‘The role of organizational learning in the opportunity-recognition process’,Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, July, 451–72.
Lucas, R.E. (1988), ‘On the mechanics of economic development’, Journal of Monetary Economics,22, 3–39.
March, J.G. (1982), ‘The technology of foolishness’, in J.G. March and J.P. Olsen (eds), Ambiguity and Choice in Organizations, Bergen, Norway: Universitetesforlaget, pp. 69–81.
McClelland, D.C. (1967),The Achieving Society, New York: Free Press.
Miller, D. (1983), ‘The correlates of entrepreneurship in three types of firms’, Management Science,29(7), 770–91.
Miller, D. and P.H. Friesen (1982), ‘The longitudinal analysis of organizations: a methodological perspective’,Management Science,28 (9), September, 1013–34.
Miner, J.B. (1996),The Four Routes to Entrepreneurial Success, San Francisco, CA:
Barrett-Koehler Publishers.
Mintzberg, H. (1994),The Rise and Fall of Strategic Planning, New York: Free Press.
O’Gorman, C. and M. Kautonen (2001), ‘Policies for new prosperity: promoting new agglomerations of knowledge intensive industries’, in M.D Foo and P. Phan (eds), Proceedings of the Conference on Technological Entrepreneurship in the Emerging Regions of the New Millennium, June, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
Park, S. and Z.T. Bae (2004), ‘New venture strategies in a developing country: iden- tifying a typology and examining growth patterns through case studies’,Journal of Business Venturing,19, 81–105.
Pettigrew, A.M. (1973),The Politics of Organizational Decision-Making, London:
Tavistock.
Romer, P.M. (1994), ‘The origins of endogenous growth’, Journal of Economic Perspectives,8 (1), 3–22.
Sarason, Y., T. Dean and J.F. Dillard (2006), ‘Entrepreneurship as the nexus of indi- vidual and opportunity: a structuration view’,Journal of Business Venturing,21, 286–305.
Sarasvathy, Saras D. (2001), ‘Causation and effectuation: toward a theoretical shift from economic inevitability to entrepreneurial contingency’, Academy of Management Review,26(2), 243–63.
Sarasvathy, Saras D. (2004), ‘Making it happen: beyond theories of the firm to the- ories offirm design’,Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, Winter, 519–31.
Saxenian, A. (1994), Regional Advantage, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Schumpeter, Joseph A. (1934),The Theory of Economic Development, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Schollhammer, H. (1982), ‘Internal corporate entrepreneurship’, in C.A. Kent, D.L.
Sexton and K.H. Vesper (eds), Encyclopedia of Entrepreneurship, Englewood Chiffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, pp. 209–23.
Shane, S. and S. Venkataraman (2000), ‘The promise of entrepreneurship as a field or research’,Academy of Management Review,25(1), 217–26.
Shepherd, D.A. and D.R. DeTienne (2005), ‘Prior knowledge, potential financial reward, and opportunity identification’,Entrepreneurship, Theory and Practice, January, pp. 91–112.
Solow, R. (1956), ‘A contribution to the theory of economic growth’,Quarterly Journal of Economics,70, 65–94.
Timmons, J.A. (1989), The Entrepreneurial Mind, Andover, UK: Brick House Publishing Company.
Van de Ven, A.H. and Rhonda M. Engleman (2004), ‘Event- and outcome-driven explanations of entrepreneurship’,Journal of Business Venturing,19, 343–58.
Van Stel, A. and D.J. Storey (2004), ‘The link between births and job creation: is there a Upas Tree effect?’, discussion paper on entrepreneurship, growth and public policy, no. 3304, Max Planck Institute of Economics, Jena, Germany.
Van Stel, A., M. Carree and R. Thurik (2004), ‘The effect of entrepreneurship on national economic growth: an analysis using the GEM database’, discussion paper on entrepreneurship, growth and public policy, no. 3404, Max Planck Institute of Economics, Jena, Germany.
ity on national economic growth’, discussion paper on entrepreneurship, growth and public policy, no. 0405, Max Planck Institute of Economics, Jena, Germany.
Van Stel, M., R. Thurik, David Storey and S. Wennekers (2005b), ‘From nascent to actual entrepreneurship: the effect of entry barriers’, discussion paper on entre- preneurship, growth and public policy, no. 3505, Max Planck Institute of Economics, Jena, Germany.
Venkataraman, S. (1997), ‘The distinctive domain of entrepreneurship research’, in J. Katz (ed.),Advances in Entrepreneurship, Firm Emergence and Growth, vol. 3, Greenwich, CT: JAI Press, pp. 119–38.
Venkataraman, S. (2004), ‘Regional transformation through technological entre- preneurship’,Journal of Business Venturing,19, 153–67.
Vesper, K.H. (1979), ‘Commentary’, in D.E. Schendel and C.W. Hofer (eds), Strategic Management, Boston, MA: Little, Brown, pp. 332–8.
Weick, K.E. (1979),The Social Psychology of Organizing, Reading, MA: Addison- Wesley.
Wennekers, S., A. Van Stel, R. Thurik and P. Reynolds (2005), ‘Nascent entrepre- neurship and the level of economic development’, discussion paper on entre- preneurship, growth and public policy, no. 1405, Max Planck Institute of Economics, Jena, Germany.
Wiklund, J. and D. Shepherd (2005), ‘Entrepreneurial orientation and small busi- ness performance: a configurational approach’,Journal of Business Venturing,20, 71–91.
Zahra, S.A. and J.G. Covin (1995), ‘Contextual Influences on the corporate entrepreneurship-performance relationship: a longitudinal analysis’,Journal of Business Venturing,10, 43–58.