Do Entrepreneurs and Managers Spend Their Time Differently?

CONTACTS:
Brooke Envick
Professor of Free Enterprise
St. Mary's University
San Antonio, TX
210-431-4267
[email protected]

Rob Leibold
St. Mary's University, news office
210-436-3327
[email protected]

Do Entrepreneurs and Managers Spend Their Time Differently?

What do entrepreneurs do in running their own businesses? And how does this differ from what business managers do? These questions are answered in an ongoing study by Brooke Envick, professor in free enterprise at St. Mary's University in San Antonio, Texas.

For example, while managers spend very little time on customer service (handling complaints, selling a product, quoting prices) or on work-related tasks (stocking shelves, cleaning and filing), these activities fill more than a third of an entrepreneur's day. Conversely, managers spend twice as much time networking than do the more self-reliant entrepreneurs.

Her study also has some interesting findings about female entrepreneurs. Women who start their own businesses spend significantly more time than their male counterparts on such activities as controlling (working on the budget, monitoring inventory); internal communication (attending meetings, checking phone messages); human resource management (training and motivating employees); and work-related tasks (repairing equipment, pricing merchandise).

Envick's students shadowed 132 entrepreneurs in Lincoln, Nebraska, observing their daily business activities. (Each entrepreneur in the study started the business and was still operating it at least seven years later.) Envick, who teaches entrepreneurial studies at St. Mary's, conducted her research with Fred Luthans, professor of management at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

The initial study, "Identifying the Activities of Entrepreneur-Managers" was the showcase paper at the 2nd Annual Academy of Entrepreneurship Conference last fall. Currently, Envick is working with students to observe entrepreneurs in San Antonio to determine any cross- regional differences. She plans to do a related study in Latin America in the spring of 1998.

To speak with Brooke Envick about her research, call her at 210-431-4267, or send her an e-mail message at [email protected]. Or contact Rob Leibold in the St. Mary's University news office at 210-436-3327 or at [email protected].