start-up sustainability in germany
TRANSCRIPT
Innsbruck, September 2018
Master Thesis
Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of
Master of Science (MSc)
in Organization Studies
University of Innsbruck School of Management
Submitted to the Department of Organization and Learning
Supervisor: Univ.-Prof. Mag. Mag. Dr. Leonhard Dobusch
Submitted by:
Maria Elisa Legelli
01606455
START-UP SUSTAINABILITY IN GERMANY STORIES FROM THE PERIPHERY
AFFIDAVIT
I hereby declare that this master thesis has been written only by the undersigned and
without any assistance from third parties.
Furthermore, I confirm that no sources have been used in the preparation of this thesis
other than those indicated in the thesis itself.
This master thesis has heretofore not been submitted or published elsewhere, neither
in its present form, nor in a similar version.
_________________________________
(Place, Date, Signature
III
Abstract
In times of global warming and climate change sustainability is a well-known topic throughout
the world’s media. Although the need for changing economic policy to focus more on
sustainability policies in business, the process of changing something towards sustainability is
slow. The exercise of sustainable entrepreneurship is an opportunity to both focus on
sustainability and entrepreneurship issues. The main concept is corporate sustainability, which
focuses on three aspects of sustainability: ecological, economic and social. These three
aspects are assumed by me being impossible at the same time. To understand what
sustainable entrepreneurship is about, first one needs to know two concepts in the field of
entrepreneurship, and second: deepen the knowledge about sustainability in economics.
The first concept in entrepreneurship theory is the entrepreneur (personality) approach, which
highlights the challenges entrepreneurs must deal with and the necessary attributes an
entrepreneur needs. The second concept focuses on the relation of innovation and
entrepreneurship, in which Schumpeter’s theory about creative destruction plays a role and
the importance and influence of education and universities on innovation. Currently start-ups
are emerging all over the world, and in Germany start-up hubs as in Berlin or Munich occur.
Presently the number of start-ups, which are located at the periphery, increases, as the
example of the Innovationsquartier of Murnau, a start-up centre at the periphery of Munich,
shows. To obtain information about how start-up sustainability is constructed at the periphery
of the start-up discourse in Germany, several qualitative research methods are applied. The
structured literature review about entrepreneurship in Germany shows that entrepreneurial
activity in Germany is an opportunity because of the positive job situation in Germany.
Regionally different entrepreneurial attributes can influence the success of a start-up, and the
state can also have a positive impact on start-ups. The newly developed interview technique
trilemma interview, which deals with a trilemma-scenario regarding start-up sustainability, is
applied to obtain information about the Innovationsquartier Murnau, this being a start-up centre
located at the periphery of the city Munich in Germany.
Market-expertise, experience and education have an impact on the start-up and founder
activity at the Innovationsquartier Murnau. Contrary to the assumed trilemma scenario, one
can find all three sustainability aspects at the Innovationsquartier Murnau. The municipality,
locational factors and the periphery location have a positive impact on the businesses at the
Innovationsquartier and support the sustainability focus.
Keywords: periphery, start-ups, entrepreneurship, sustainability, sustainable
entrepreneurship, start-up sustainability, municipality
IV |
Contents
List of Abbreviations ..................................................................................................................... V
List of Figures .............................................................................................................................. VI
1. Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 7
2. Theory ................................................................................................................................ 11
2.1 Entrepreneurship ........................................................................................................................ 11
2.1.1 Basics of Entrepreneurship Theory ...................................................................................... 12
2.1.2 The Relation of Entrepreneurship and Innovation ............................................................... 14
2.1.3 The Entrepreneur (Personality) Approach ........................................................................... 19
2.1.4 Latent Entrepreneurship ...................................................................................................... 25
2.2 Sustainability and Entrepreneurship ........................................................................................... 27
2.2.1 Sustainability: An overview .................................................................................................. 27
2.2.2 Sustainable Entrepreneurship .............................................................................................. 30
2.2.3 Corporate Sustainability ....................................................................................................... 33
3. Entrepreneurship in Germany ............................................................................................. 37
3.1 Method: Literature Review ......................................................................................................... 37
3.2 Concepts and Proposals .............................................................................................................. 39
4. Methods ............................................................................................................................. 43
4.1 Case Selection: The Innovationsquartier in Murnau .................................................................. 43
4.2 Data Collection ............................................................................................................................ 43
4.2.1 Observation Analysis ............................................................................................................ 44
4.2.2 The Trilemma Interview ....................................................................................................... 45
4.3 Data Analysis ............................................................................................................................... 49
5. Results ................................................................................................................................ 56
6. Discussion ........................................................................................................................... 72
7. Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 80
8. References .......................................................................................................................... 82
Appendix A: Literature Review Matrix ........................................................................................ 87
Appendix B: Interview Guideline ................................................................................................. 88
Appendix C: Trilemma Scenario .................................................................................................. 89
Appendix D: Data Analysis Method ............................................................................................. 90
V |
List of Abbreviations
Abbreviation Full Form
start-up company start-up
CSR corporate social responsibility
CS corporate sustainability
IQ IQ Murnau
Innovationsquartier Murnau
LMU Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich
VI |
List of Figures
Figure 1: A Dynamic Theory of an Entrepreneur…………….………………………….24
Figure 2: Trinity of Sustainability……………………………………………………….....34
Figure 3: Systematic Review Process……………………………………………………38
7 I
1. Introduction
Company start-ups (start-ups) are very important in today’s business world. One can describe
start-ups as companies which have recently been founded, have a high potential for growth and
an innovative business idea (Gruenderszene Lexikon 2018). Currently start-ups arise which are
aimed at finding solutions for the world’s environmental and social problems (Muhammed
2016). This means that in the entrepreneurship field, especially for start-ups, it occurs that they
focus more and more on sustainability in their businesses, as they are driven by commitment
and passion to do something which helps to lower the level of air pollution, waste, and so on
(Muhammed 2016, Binder 2013). Also in Germany, one can find many start-ups, mostly located
in big cities such as Munich, Berlin or Hamburg (Zoeckler 2017, Munich Startup 2018). In the
field of entrepreneurship, networking is very important, therefore employees working in start-
ups are expected to increase their range of networks (Braun et al. 2017). Currently a
countermovement is happening, which means that more and more start-ups are being
established in the countryside, for example at the market (town) Murnau, which is located at
the periphery of Munich and has approximately 12.000 residents (Murnau am Staffelsee 2018,
Seiler 2017). One can describe periphery as a region, which is economically passive and
represents a contrary to an economic centre, such as, for example, Munich (Siepermann 2018).
Sustainability issues are of great importance today, especially because of climate change,
globalization and the increase of international businesses (Binder 2013). Because established
firms are lacking in the implementation of innovation and new technologies, which support
sustainability issues, some people see start-ups as another possibility to quickly implement
sustainability issues in today’s business world (Spulber 2009). Doing business, whether
nationally or internationally, has an impact on both the nation and the world (Binder 2013).
Therefore, Binder (2013) suggests a broader perspective on the impact one’s business could
have on the world. In the literature, the combination of sustainability issues and
entrepreneurship is called sustainable entrepreneurship, but because it is a quite new concept,
it is still developing (Kraus et al. 2018).
If one compares small and large sized firms, one can see that small size firms, for example start-
ups, may have the advantage of being independent, not yet too established and therefore may
be able to change things easier (Spencer et al. 2008, Spulber 2009). Small or new businesses
such as start-ups have a different starting position, can use the presently existing information
and could change something from the outset (Baumol 1968, Spulber 2009).
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In my point of view, start-ups located at the periphery have a different working culture and
therefore different capacities available. It may therefore be easier to implement sustainability
issues at the periphery at first, and spread the ideas later, for example to the cities and economic
centres nearby. Thus, the aim of this thesis is to analyse how start-up sustainability is
constructed at the periphery of the start-up discourse in Germany. The case selection
Innovationsquartier Murnau represents a start-up location at the periphery, because the area
around it is economical passive, is located close to the border to Austria, and represents a
contrary to the economic centre Munich, which is 80 km away (Seiler 2017). Therefore, I
assume that this case selection is at the periphery of the start-up discourse in Germany. Hajer
& Versteeg (2005) describe discourse as an ensemble of ideas, concepts, and categories. By
developing and describing them, meaning is given to social and physical phenomenon. This is
(re)produced through and identifiable set of practices (Hajer & Versteeg 2005).
Understanding the current start-up scene in Germany, as well in general requires knowledge
regarding what entrepreneurship is about and how the situation presently is in the field of
entrepreneurship worldwide. Schumpeter’s concept of the significance of innovation for
successful entrepreneurship is still important today (Spencer et al. 2008). Also, the entrepreneur
as a person influences the entrepreneurship field, because different attributes seem to be
necessary to be successful as an entrepreneur (Baumol 2005, Spulber 2009). As previously
mentioned, sustainability is receiving more attention in the business world, especially because
many start-ups are focusing on sustainability issues in their businesses (Muhammed 2016,
Zoeckler 2017). In the field of sustainability and sustainable entrepreneurship, ecological bias
also exists (Kraus et al. 2018, Binder 2013). However, sustainability includes three aspects in
total: ecological, economic and social, which can be interlinked according to Binder (2013).
For example, focusing on the ecological aspect of sustainability by reducing the amount of
waste can positively influence the economical aspect, which can result in a linear growth of the
company by reducing waste costs (Binder 2013). However, with view to the start-up daily life,
I assume that a so-called trilemma exists regarding these three sustainability aspects, which is
explained later.
As previously mentioned, the number of start-ups in Germany is increasing, as one can see on
the example at Munich (Munich Startup 2018). In addition to that, it is a fact that many start-
ups in Germany as well as in other countries worldwide focus on sustainability issues
((Muhammed 2016, Zoeckler 2017). As a result, the concept of sustainable entrepreneurship in
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Germany is an interesting field of research, especially when focusing on start-ups located at the
periphery in general, or at the periphery of cities for example.
As previously mentioned, the Innovationsquartier Murnau is the case selection for this thesis
and is located at the periphery. This start-up centre is a municipal project in the countryside and
is explained in detail later in this thesis. Based on the case selection Innovationsquartier Murnau,
I want to derive statements and implications about sustainable entrepreneurship by having a
look at start-ups located at the periphery of a city and its influence and significance in the
business world. In my point of view, start-ups located at the periphery are more likely to focus
on sustainability issues and have other capacities available to do so. By doing so, these start-
ups can shape the region’s business world and economy and may also have an influence on the
city nearby. I will illustrate how sustainability is constructed in the daily life and activities of
start-ups by also having a look at what significance regional factors have, such as local firms
and the municipal council/municipality of Murnau. In my thesis, I only apply qualitative
methods, the main methods are observation analysis, the trilemma interview I have developed,
which is explained later, and a critical discourse analysis according to Gee (2014).
To answer the question of how start-up sustainability is constructed at the periphery of the start-
up discourse in Germany, first I present an overview of what entrepreneurship is about and what
is important in that field. After that, I illustrate two main concepts in the field of
entrepreneurship. The first concept is dealing with the aspect of innovation in the field of
entrepreneurship and is mostly focusing on Schumpeter’s and Baumol’s assumptions about it.
The second concept I illustrate highlights the entrepreneur approach, also called personal
approach, where the entrepreneur’s personal attributes, the tasks of an entrepreneur and possible
development possibilities play a role. This concept is mainly based on the work by Spulber
(2009) and Baumol. The chapter about theories in the field of entrepreneurship is concluded
with a brief look on the current situation of potential entrepreneurship worldwide.
After focusing on entrepreneurship, theories and concepts related to sustainability are of
importance for my thesis as well. Following the introduction of a summary of what
sustainability is about, I describe the concept of sustainable entrepreneurship and thereby also
focus on the bias that may arise regarding this topic and which aspects are of importance here.
The illustration of the concept of corporate sustainability, which belongs to sustainable
entrepreneurship, concludes this chapter about sustainability in economy.
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To get an idea of the current situation in Germany, I apply the method of a structured literature
review (Tranfield et al. 2003) to present current concepts and proposals related to
entrepreneurial activity in Germany.
The next chapter is about the methods I used for receiving concrete results regarding start-up
sustainability located at the periphery. I decided to apply two methods for the data collection
and one method for the data analysis, which are all are qualitative. For the collection of the data
I did an observation analysis at the Innovationsquartier Murnau and conducted interviews with
persons who are involved with this local start-up project. The interview technique I applied is
called trilemma interview, which is a new interview type created by myself and explained in
this thesis. To get results out of the data I did a critical discourse analysis according to Gee
(2014), to see which aspects of sustainability one can find at the Innovationsquartier Murnau,
which players are of importance in the start-up field, especially the role of the municipality
regarding start-up activities and sustainability.
This is then followed by a final discussion, which connects all the previously mentioned parts
of the thesis and tries to answer the question of how start-up sustainability is constructed at the
periphery of the start-up discourse in Germany. Furthermore, I have a look at the role of politics
in the field of start-up sustainability and illustrate why sustainability can bee seen as important
for start-ups. However, not all sustainability aspects are manageable for start-ups and it might
cause a problematic situation for start-ups if they focus on sustainability from the beginning. In
the thesis, I also focus on the questions on how start-ups can deal with sustainability aspects
when being located at the periphery and what understanding of sustainability is present there.
There are several aspects that influence the success and survival of start-ups, which I also want
to work out by doing the data collection and analysis. The overview about current
entrepreneurship concepts and proposals in Germany should help to clarify the obtained results.
In conclusion, according to the results about the case selection Innovationsquartier Murnau, I
derive concrete proposals on how to be successful as a start-up at the periphery and what
practical impact that could have on the whole start-up scene in Germany, being able to focus
on sustainability from the beginning and how the municipality can support this.
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2. Theory 2.1 Entrepreneurship
The first thing I noticed when having a look at the existing entrepreneurship literature, is that
an entrepreneur is mostly described in the masculine form, for example Baumol (1968) is doing
so. In my Master’s Thesis I do not deal with gender issues regarding entrepreneurship. I only
use the masculine form if it is a direct quotation, which means in that case the masculine form
must be the neutral phrase.
Nowadays it is widely stated, for example in newspapers, to describe entrepreneurship as
innovative and profit oriented. However, Baumol (1990) highlights that there are actually
different roles of entrepreneurship. As one can see here, entrepreneurship can be productive, as
well as unproductive or destructive. This shows that different perceptions of entrepreneurship
exist, which are, however, not famous in the daily life of people. Therefore, it is necessary to
have a closer look on what entrepreneurship is about. Volkmann et al. (2010) have compared
different definitions of entrepreneurship. They come up with some characteristics most
entrepreneurship concepts include, which are: “Identification and exploitation of
entrepreneurial opportunities, Innovation and novelty, Securing of resources and formation of
an enterprise/ an organization, Profit-orientation taking into account reasonable risks and
uncertainties.” (Volkmann et al. 2010: 4). However, as mentioned previously, there are also
other characteristics of entrepreneurship, such as non-profit orientation, which is explained
more detailed later in this thesis. Another important point is that entrepreneurship takes place
both in institutions of the private economy and in state institutions such as universities. As a
result, entrepreneurship isn’t limited exclusively to the for-profit-sector, as students and
research at universities also play a role in the field of entrepreneurship. Universities are also
part of the economy. (Volkmann et al. 2010)
One interesting fact that I also want to mention at the outset is that entrepreneurs aren’t
mentioned in microeconomics. This is because “firms are already given exogenously, so that
no entrepreneur is needed to establish them.” (Spulber 2009: 156). Here one can see that the
entrepreneur seems to have no important function anymore when the firm has been established
already. Also, in the neoclassical theory the entrepreneur isn’t of importance: “Neoclassical
economics is silent on entrepreneurs because they serve no purpose, because the firms are
confined to production.” (Spulber 2009: 157). The question now is whether this statement
means that the entrepreneurs seem to have no important meaning for the business reality.
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Here one can see that the opinions regarding entrepreneurship theory, for example about the
concept of entrepreneurs, are diverse.
In the following I briefly explain the origins of entrepreneurship theory and the main basic
assumptions of it. After this I focus on two main approaches in the entrepreneurship literature.
The first one focuses on innovation as being the central point of entrepreneurship, where
Schumpeter’s theory of creative destruction is an important element and Baumol’s theory about
the importance of education for innovative entrepreneurship. The second one is the entrepreneur
(personality) approach, where I mainly illustrate Baumol’s and Spulber’s understanding of an
entrepreneur and highlight the role of an entrepreneur in the field of entrepreneurship. The
chapter about entrepreneurship theory is concluded with a short subchapter about latent
entrepreneurship, where I briefly illustrate the entrepreneurial activity and potential worldwide.
2.1.1 Basics of Entrepreneurship Theory
The first time the term entrepreneur appeared in written form was in a text written by Cantillon
(1755), namely Essai sur la nature du commerce en général (Newschool 2018, Rusu et al.
2012). Cantillon describes the entrepreneur as “a person who purchases products at known
prices and later resells them on the market at prices not known, bringing stability to the market
system.” (Rusu et al. 2012: 5371). Uncertainty is part of this definition, wherefrom one can
derive the following assumption, which is still existing in today’s business world: One of the
main tasks in the field of entrepreneurship is in taking risks to be successful. (Rusu et al. 2012)
Nowadays in academia and in the press both entrepreneurship and entrepreneur have become
popular terms and are used in different contexts. In addition to that, entrepreneurial activity is
seen as necessary for economic growth, which means in detail: “Entrepreneurs and
entrepreneurial activity improve competitiveness, create jobs, stimulate the economy, and
create new wealth.” (Spencer et al. 2008: 10). Although the terms entrepreneurship and
entrepreneur are also equally used very often, I want to separate them into two approaches in
the following. In my point of view entrepreneurship is the general and impersonal term and has
therefore a broader perspective on the field. On the contrary focusing on the entrepreneur means
to highlight certain attributes which are necessary to be successful as an entrepreneur. This is a
different approach, as it focuses mostly on personal/individual characteristics. (Spencer et al.
2008)
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When talking about entrepreneurship, the terms self-employment, firm and start-up are often
mentioned. Therefore, I start this part of my work by explaining important wordings in the field
of entrepreneurship.
Regarding entrepreneurial activity, self-employment can be described as the simplest form of
entrepreneurship. Blanchflower et al. (2001) highlights that a self-employed man or woman
manages the growth and development of a small business up to a medium size one. People who
are self-employed “have made a job for themselves, and often for others. […] Self-employment
also has the advantage that it can be defined fairly consistently across countries.” (Blanchflower
et al. 2001: 681). I agree with Blanchflower et al. (2001) who say it is beneficial that self-
employment has roughly the same meaning all over the world. This makes it easier to talk about
the phenomenon of self-employment. On the contrary, the meaning of entrepreneurship and
start-ups might differ across nations, which is discussed later in this thesis.
Volkmann et al. (2010) define start-ups as an area where entrepreneurial creativity and
opportunity discovery take place. In my opinion, the business founding from the legal point of
view is included in the start-up management process. However, “a clear differentiation between
start-up management and growth management is still lacking.” (Volkmann et al. 2010: 15). This
means that the differentiation between start-up management and growth management is blurred.
Growth management starts early on and is influencing the development phase of young
enterprises. One can see here that it is difficult to clearly define start-ups. There exist other
dimensions which influence the start-up definitions, namely the question whether it is an
imitative or innovative start-up, growth-oriented or just a small business, and until then it is a
young enterprise. I agree with Volkmann et al. (2010) who define a young enterprise as being
younger than three year and haven’t yet been cash flow positive. However, it occurs that young
enterprises which are older than three years still have the start-up status. Later in this thesis I
again focus on this aspect when I talk about the situation in Germany and about the situation at
the Innovationsquartier Murnau, which is the case selection of my empirical work.
(Volkmann et al. 2010)
A firm is “a transaction institution whose objectives are distinct from those of its owners.”
(Spulber 2009: 153). Spulber (2009) sees the entrepreneur as a being a consumer who then
establishes a firm. In the beginning the objectives of the newly started firm do not differ from
the entrepreneur’s ones. As a result, it is advisable to call the newly started enterprise a start-
up, because an “entrepreneur creates the start-up enterprise as a means of establishing a firm.”
(Spulber 2009: 153). If the firm has been established successfully, the entrepreneur will become
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the owner of the firm. Spulber (2009) calls this way of understanding firms and entrepreneurs
The Dynamic Theory of an Entrepreneur, which consists of two phases. The first one is about
the individual consumer who can decide whether he or she wants to become an entrepreneur.
The second is about the process of establishing a firm which is influenced by the entrepreneur’s
decisions. Later I illustrate this dynamic process of entrepreneurs in more detail. In this thesis
I especially focus on the start-up understanding of Spulber (2009) who describes the start-up as
being a not established firm, where the entrepreneur still isn’t the owner of the firm. What is
important here is the fact that, according to Spulber, start-up describes only a newly established
firm. Whether the founder of this start-up have developed a completely new product, or have
just modified an already existing one, is both included in this definition. One can see here that
the definition of self-employment and start-up have similarities. According to Volkmann et al.
(2010), the demarcation between entrepreneurship and start-ups is blurred. As a result, it
happens that the wordings entrepreneurship and start-up, including self-employment, are used
for the same phenomena, for example in daily newspapers. (Spulber 2009, Volkmann et al.
2010)
It is commonly understood that to be a successful entrepreneur, one needs to have a well-
functioning business plan. However, entrepreneurship is not only about designing a good
business idea and have a well-working financial situation, it is also about “the projection and
maintenance of the organization so that the activity may continue to take place.” (Rusu et al.
2012: 5371). Therefore, not only a good product, but also the entrepreneur’s personal attributes
and skills influence the success of the newly established firm. Thus, it is necessary, for example,
to also focus on the entrepreneur himself/herself to understand what is needed to survive as a
start-up.
2.1.2 The Relation of Entrepreneurship and Innovation
One important aspect of economic development is innovation. When talking about
entrepreneurship theory, many authors describe innovation as central point of entrepreneurship
(Rusu et al. 2012). An important and large part of innovation are scientific inventions, which
mostly take place in industries at first and are later, for example, machines, supplied to
agriculture by industries (Sylos-Labini 1992).
When talking about innovation in the economy, it is necessary to distinguish between large and
small firms, because the capacities regarding innovation differ between the different sizes of
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the firms. In the past, “Schumpeter, as well as other economists, neglected the essential
connections between small and large firms.” (Sylos-Labini 1992: 55). Therefore, it is necessary
to highlight the advantages and disadvantages of the different firm sizes when talking about
innovation.
Sylos-Labini summarizes a concept of Schumpeter, which focuses on the role innovation in
large firms in comparison to small firms:
“According to Schumpeter, under conditions of competitive capitalism, inventions as a
rule are the products of individual inventors and innovations are carried out by small
firms; under conditions of big business-or ‘trustified’- capitalism, inventions are more
and more often the product of research bureaus of large-scale firms and innovations, as
a rule, are carried out by the same firms.” (Sylos-Labini 1992: 58).
As one can read above, Schumpeter describes the importance of small firms for innovation and
innovative actions (Sylos-Labini 1992). However, the large firms have more capacity to
implement innovations. As a result, one can say that both small and large firms are needed to
make an innovation successful. This means that having a look at start-up centers such as Silicon
Valley, it is helpful to have small and new firms located next to large and already established
firms (Geibel & Manickam 2016). There has been undertaken a lot of research about the
positive effects of start-up centers, which are often located in big cities such as Berlin (Zoeckler
2017). However, I think that start-ups located at the periphery of cities can find locational
advantages, which are helpful for their success. This is illustrated later in this thesis.
According to Schumpeter, innovation should be implemented by small or start-up firms, which
are independent, to produce creative destruction that results in fair wealth redistribution (Sylos-
Labini 1992, Spencer et al. 2008, Kurz 1992). In his point of view innovation is the key element
which is needed for threatening the capitalist system, because only if new firms bring
innovation to the existing market, large firms especially are challenged by creative destruction,
which leads to wealth redistribution. Schumpeter has a rather pessimistic view on the future of
the capitalist system. He focuses on the small and independent firm as driver of innovation, so
that “large firms that dominated the existing market begin to lose market share to the new,
independent entrepreneur’s innovations.” (Spencer et al. 2008: 11). As a result, “the
entrepreneurial firm emerges as dominant in the markets” (Spencer et al. 2008: 11), which could
cause a redistribution of wealth among the large and small companies. This is not to say that
innovation is only implemented by small or new firms. On the contrary, Schumpeter mentions
“that innovations by large firms would result in similar effects on the growth of the company
16 |
as those by entrepreneurs in new firms.” (Spencer et al. 2008: 12). However, Schumpeter
highlights that innovation by large firms just leads to an increase of the large firm’s wealth
(Kurz 1992, Spencer et al. 2008). As a result, distribution of wealth happens only if small and
newly formed, independent firms accomplish innovation. The innovative activity, which
Schumpeter describes as creative destruction, is driven by innovation that is discontinuous,
radically different and creates entirely new structures of markets (Kurz 1992). This innovation
process might cause customer resistance to change of behavior, however, which must be
overcome by all firms. (Spencer et al. 2008)
The interesting question now is whether entrepreneurs need to open a new firm, to make the
invention commercial for example, or whether employment by an established firm is a
successful way by replacement of its existing processes and products. What occurs is that it
might be necessary to open a new firm “for innovation if existing firms do not correctly judge
the economic value of the invention.” (Spulber 2009: 183). Another problem that might occur
is that “established firms lack the knowledge to employ the invention.” (Spulber 2009: 183).
An entrepreneur, who is competing with an established firm, would be able to displace an
already existing firm, for example if “the winner obtains an exclusive monopoly patent and
enters the market” (Spulber 2009: 184). It may be the case that big companies are now working
together with start-ups, which are also funded by them, because “entrepreneurs introduce
innovations that compete with the existing products or the innovations of established firms.”
(Spulber 2009: 185). In addition to that, spin-offs are also a possibility, which means for
example that an employee who has discovered significant inventions, is now running his/her
start-up. Here specific inventions are leading to the funding of start-ups. (Spulber 2009)
There exists a difference between the innovation which only takes place to create technical
advances and the one which is realized by the innovative entrepreneur who “is the inventive
individual who is responsible for true technological breakthroughs.” (Baumol 2005: 35).
Education is of importance when talking about innovation and entrepreneurship. One could say
that basic knowledge, such as technical competences, is helpful to be innovative. But if the
innovation is not taking place in the technical field, is education needed to be a successful and
an innovative entrepreneur? Could it be possible that too much knowledge and education is
hindering breakthrough ideas? Thinking out of the box is something which helps to be creative
and to have new ideas, but especially in the technical field it isn’t possible to realize any idea
without knowing the existing mathematic and technical algorithms and rules. (Baumol 2005)
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Also, in other fields an entrepreneur should always keep in mind the existing laws, regulations,
market conditions, production and financing possibilities, which in my point of view are basic
knowledge and skills every entrepreneur should have (Fuerlinger et al. 2015).
To sum it up, specific knowledge might be necessary to be a successful entrepreneur, but not
in every product field. An interesting idea here is to think about the role the society and
education system of each country can play, because education can influence the behaviour of
future entrepreneurs (Baumol 2005, Fuerlinger et al. 2015). If for example sustainability is an
important part in the school education, and therefore part of the daily life, one could argue that
this could lead to more sustainable entrepreneurship. The question now is what education would
be ideal to be able to be an innovative entrepreneur? On the one side, Baumol (2005) highlights
that one of the most important instruments of an entrepreneur is the exercise of imagination,
but this can be hindered by rigorous education. On the other side there is always a minimum of
education needed to be able to understand the ongoing processes you must deal with as an
entrepreneur. As technology is developing very fast, one could say that the required skills
needed to be an innovative entrepreneur, are also changing. In the innovation process there are
also other important players who can influence it, namely the universities and government
agencies, especially local government agencies. By Baumol (2005) these two players are
described as contributing to technological progresses and not focusing on profit. He argues that
the universities task is to create for the prospective entrepreneurs “a program that avoids the
inculcation of standardized and unimaginative ways of thinking.” (Baumol 2005: 52). An
inexperienced founder of a new firm must deal with a lot of problems and difficult tasks from
the beginning for sure, if he or she is lacking elementary knowledge, such as dangers of different
financing processes or environmental regulations (Baumol 2005). I agree with Baumol (2005)
who emphasizes that both inventors and founders of new enterprises need guidance and help to
avoid difficulties and crisis. Here not only universities can help by providing a useful education
programme for future entrepreneurs, but also the local government agencies have the possibility
to support via special funding supplies and local networking programmes. Baumol (2005)
talked with several major firms about the educational requirements they have for employees
working in the field of innovation. He found out that only persons with higher academic degrees
and advanced technical trainings got a job in the Research & Development field. I must mention
here that the educational performance differs in every country, therefore it is difficult to explain
exactly what for example advanced knowledge means, because this can be different in every
country. Being independent as an innovator or entrepreneur is also influencing the results in the
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innovation process. This means that “the independent innovator and the independent
entrepreneur have tended to account for most of the fundamentally novel innovations.” (Baumol
2005: 36). Furthermore, Baumol (2005) mentions that probably most of the revolutionary ideas
in the last decades had been realized and provided by entrepreneurs who were independent and
working within small-business enterprises. I want to add here that in my point of view small-
business enterprises can be described as businesses with fewer than 500 employees. Joseph
Schumpeter wrote about the economic analysis of innovation and entrepreneurship (Sylos-
Labini 1992, Schumpeter 1934). He had a rather pessimistic view on the entrepreneurs’ future,
because he predicted that big firms would more focus on routinized innovation which could
result in making the entrepreneur meaningless (Sylos-Labini 1992). However, I agree with
Baumol who argued that the entrepreneur’s role “continues to play a critical part in the growth
process, and there is no reason to expect that role to disappear.” (Baumol 2005: 41). But,
because the modern economy is very complex and competitive, the entrepreneur needs partners
to be successful in the marketplace. Another important task of innovative activities, especially
within large enterprises, is preventing surprises and keeping risks to a minimum. Baumol (2005)
highlights that in large business organizations a rather conservative process is inherent, which
needs risk control and secure predictions. This results in a tendency to avoid inventions that are
revolutionary breakthroughs. One of Baumol’s hypothesis is “that small enterprises tend to
produce a disproportionate share of inventions that are heterodox breakthroughs.” (Baumol
2005: 44).
It looks like small enterprises are the most important driver of innovative activities that lead to
breakthroughs and not only to advancement of existing products (Sylos-Labini 1992). In large
firms the type of innovation is specialized in a different field, mostly in improving the user-
friendliness of products and the discovering of new product uses (Baumol 2005). However,
large firms have also been successful in making contributions to technological processes.
Because within large firms routinized innovative activities take place, especially small
improvements are realized. Baumol (2005) argues that “each small improvement may be
relatively unspectacular, added together, they can become significant indeed.” (Baumol 2005:
45). To sum this up, large firms are unlikely to focus on risky innovative activities which results
in mostly small developments, but because they have other possibilities to finance innovative
activities, they can invest more money in innovation. The sum of the mostly small
improvements can result, when added together, in a rather large overall improvement (Baumol
2005).
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Concluding, one can see the importance of innovation in the field of entrepreneurship for both
small and large firms, and for newly established firms, to be a successful firm in the long term.
Education and funding by the government can help to have more innovative entrepreneurship,
which is nowadays necessary to be able to deal with new circumstances such as decline of
resources and climate change issues.
2.1.3 The Entrepreneur (Personality) Approach
When talking about entrepreneurship, it is necessary to have a closer look on what an
entrepreneur is about and who wants to be an entrepreneur. In literature there exists the
personality approach in the field of entrepreneurship (Obschonka et al. 2013), but I prefer to
call it the entrepreneur approach. In the previous chapter the relationship of innovation and
entrepreneurship is explained, where also the entrepreneur is of importance. However, the focus
in the previous chapter is on innovation. In the following I illustrate the different aspects of an
entrepreneur, such as a possible entrepreneur’s development.
The classical theory of the entrepreneur was especially influenced by Joseph Schumpeter, Frank
Knight, Richard Cantillon and Jean-Baptiste Say and includes literature “that spans over two
and a half centuries.” (Spulber 2009: 186). In former times the understanding of the
entrepreneur’s role wasn’t separated from the firm’s activities. According to Spulber (2009) the
classical theory is lacking a definite distinction between the firm and the entrepreneur; the
entrepreneur also transforms into a manager and owner. What is important to know here is the
fact that because of the modern firm development a distinction between the enterprise and the
entrepreneur is necessary, which means that the profit of the new enterprise and the
entrepreneur’s profit aren’t the same. One can conclude that within classical economics the
entrepreneur and the firm are one. (Spulber 2009)
The type of industry, whether it is retail, finance or farming for example, doesn’t matter, the
entrepreneur is able to establish an enterprise anywhere. What influences the new firm are the
methods or technologies the entrepreneur is using. One the one hand, if traditional methods are
used by the entrepreneur, the newly established firm is influenced by this and can be, for
example, just a little corner coffee shop. On the other hand, if new technology is used, the firm
includes elements we don’t know yet and has the power to generate a completely new type of
industry, too. (Spulber 2009)
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The understanding of the entrepreneur’s profit is also of importance when having a look on the
classical theory of the entrepreneur. In contrast to the situation today, “in the classical theory
of the entrepreneur, uncertainty is an essential part of the definition of the entrepreneur.”
(Spulber 2009: 189).
According to Cantillon (1755), “the entrepreneur is defined both by the specific functions he
performs and by the presence of uncertainty.” (Spulber 2009: 187).
For a long time, the entrepreneur has been important and having “a heavy responsibility for the
vitality of the free enterprise society.” (Baumol 1968: 64). But, also different opinions and
perspectives on entrepreneurs existed early on. For example, Schumpeter sees the entrepreneur
as being someone infused with life and assigned “to him a specific area of activity to any extent
commensurate with his acknowledged importance.” (Baumol 1968: 64). As one can see here,
there is a different understanding of what kind of person an entrepreneur should be. In the
following I describe the entrepreneur’s attributes and tasks, which is followed by a comparison
of the entrepreneur’s role with the one of the managers. In addition to that, I briefly explain a
possible entrepreneur’s development.
Spulber (2009) translated the Cantillon’s (1755) Essai sur la nature du commerce en général
and had summarized the most important implications for entrepreneurs he could derive from
his translation. Going back to 18th century, Cantillon (1775) distinguished between different
types of economic agents, which includes the land-owner, the entrepreneur and the employed
person. Also, Volkmann et al. (2010) summarized and translated Cantillon’s work Essai sur la
nature du commerce en général (1775) and summarized the three economic agents as follows:
“The land-owner who is financially independent (,) The entrepreneur who carries out the
exchange of goods at his/her own risk and (,) The person who is employed and has a fixed
income.” (Volkmann et al. 2010: 6). Volkmann et al. highlights that, according to Cantillon, it
is typical for entrepreneurs to act profit-oriented and to be ready for taking economic risks. The
question now is whether these three economic agents still exist in today’s economy. To answer
this question, one must consider where he or she is, because for example the economic situation
in Germany is different than the one in the USA (Geibel & Manickam 2016). In my point of
view the three still exist but the percentage, the definition and the situation of all of them have
changed. However, I think that the characteristics of the employed person hasn’t changed that
much. Later, when looking at the case selection Innovationsquartier Murnau, I also look on the
entrepreneur’s attributes one can find there. One can conclude that the way of thinking is an
important aspect when talking about entrepreneurs. Volkmann et al. (2010) list 10 attributes
21 |
which describe how entrepreneurial thinking is: Hopeful thinking, melioristic thinking, holistic
thinking, action-oriented/team-oriented, enabling leadership, emancipatory thinking,
social/ethical thinking, creatively heuristic thinking, utopian thinking and connective problem-
solving. (This list is derived from Volkmann et al. 2010)
In addition to that, creativity techniques can influence the entrepreneur’s thinking. The good
aspect here is that creativity techniques can be learned and practiced by the entrepreneurs. If
the entrepreneurs have the possibility to work together with a coach and creativity techniques
are part of the sessions, “entrepreneurship training should be directed at training both divergent
and convergent thinking.” (Ahmetoglu et. al. 2017: 159). Here one can see that the entrepreneur
should be able to switch between different ways of thinking, depending on the situation he/she
is dealing with. A coach or mentor could support the entrepreneur in the beginning. As an
entrepreneur it might be advantageous to be in a start-up hub such as Silicon Valley, to be able
to learn from each other and share experiences. However, the large number of entrepreneurs in
centres such as Silicon Valley can have a negative impact because of the competition, and little
communication possibilities because of the number of entrepreneurs. Start-ups and start-up
centres at the periphery of cities have the advantage that the number of entrepreneurs is
manageable, which leads to more possibilities to establish relationships among each other. In
addition to this, one can say that it is more important to learn by experience, which also includes
making mistakes and occasionally failure. Therefore, one of the entrepreneur’s attributes is
being able to deal with the different ways of thinking and to learn by experience.
In the economy entrepreneurs are of importance because they play a central role and are makers
of the firm, namely first movers. In the following one can see a simple, but influenceable
sequence of events: An entrepreneur establishes a firm, the firm then operates within markets
and an “entrepreneur engages in transactions that are needed to establish firms. In turn, firms
create and operate markets and organizations.” (Spulber 2009: 151). Here one can see that the
entrepreneurs actions engage with a lot of power and bring responsibilities. In my point of view
the entrepreneur needs to be a person who overlooks everything at a glance and is always aware
of his/her potential influence in the economy, especially the market. Spulber (2009) describes
attributes of an entrepreneur which are critical and therefore important for the success,
especially in the beginning of the start-up enterprise: “The many personal attributes of
entrepreneurs that are critical include preferences, income, wealth, judgment, knowledge,
ability, ideas, and opportunity costs.” (Spulber 2009: 152). From this you can see that not only
having a good idea is counting in the beginning, but also the entrepreneur’s financial situation
22 |
and background. Knowledge and wealth, one can easily increase, but preference is difficult to
change and influence. I therefore assume that the success of start-up enterprises and
entrepreneurs can only partly be influenced, for example by increasing the financial situation
with the help of investors. Another important aspect about entrepreneurs is that, according to
Spulber (2009) an “entrepreneur establishes a firm to accomplish an economic objective.”
(Spulber 2009: 154). In my point of view this economy-based understanding of an entrepreneur
has been dominant during the previous years. Nowadays, however, it seems that the
entrepreneur’s incentives are changing, and not only economic objectives are counting anymore.
Things such as sustainability and changing something in the society are also now important in
the field of entrepreneurship. (Spulber 2009)
According to Spulber (2009), there is an ongoing competition between the entrepreneurs-which
results in: “Only the most efficient entrepreneurs will choose to establish firms.” (Spulber 2009:
227). But what does it mean to be an efficient entrepreneur? In my point of view not only the
economic efficiency counts for the entrepreneurs, especially for entrepreneurs who deal with
start-up enterprises. I argue that for entrepreneurs another form of efficiency also counts,
namely the efficiency in terms of sustainability. In the beginning it is necessary that the
entrepreneur deals with the costs of establishing a firm and can plan in advance, therefore
financial efficiency is of importance. The entrepreneur is in trouble, when it is becoming more
expensive to establish a firm. Here the local government agencies can play an important role in
making it much easier for entrepreneurs to establish a firm. This is discussed at a later part of
this thesis.
Baumol (2005) illustrates that in large enterprises “there is little of the free-wheeling,
imaginative, and risk-taking approach that characterizes the entrepreneur.” (Baumol 2005: 42).
The reason for this opinion is the fact that in large enterprises entrepreneurs should focus on
inventing things that reduce the risks to a minimum. Therefore, it is usual that the management
predicts which products the laboratories or the entrepreneur should discover. This in turn means
that a free exercise of entrepreneurship is unlikely. It is thus necessary that independent
entrepreneurs exist as well, who will play a vital role in today’s business world. (Baumol 2005)
When talking about entrepreneurship, it is also important to have a closer look at the tasks an
entrepreneur must undertake. Here one must also understand that the existing rules in one
country, namely the laws and regulations, influence and maybe change the entrepreneur’s
positions and actions (Fuerlinger et al. 2015). If it is allowed in the country, it may happen that
the entrepreneur is rather unproductive or even destructive if it helps to reach other goals such
23 |
as tax evasion or avoidance. One further example for the unproductive form of entrepreneurship
is rent-seeking via takeovers. As a result, the legislative situation, namely the legal suit in any
country has an impact on the performance of the entrepreneur and the tasks which are
undertaken. (Baumol 1990)
Baumol (1968) describes the entrepreneur as being responsible for having and locating new
ideas and ultimately realizing them. This includes having certain leadership skills, such as
inspiring and being a leader. In addition to this, the entrepreneur “is the individual who
exercises what in the business literature is called ‘leadership.’ And it is he who is virtually
absent from received theory of the firm.” (Baumol 1968: 65). Here one can see that it is
necessary for an entrepreneur not to be completely involved in the firm to have a more external
and new perspective on the ongoing affairs of the company. When having a look at the ongoing
process, using specific economic models, such as the neoclassical firm, can be helpful.
Nowadays founding your own company or starting your own business isn’t so difficult as it has
been in former times. More and more people want to escape from prescribed job positions and
focus more on a well-working work-life-balance, which includes a higher level of freedom and
independency. But when starting your own business, you have to particularly focus on your
budget and, therefore, the amount of staff which can be hired is limited. This means that the
perception of the manager’s position within any newly started-business now seems to be very
close to the entrepreneur position. Later in this thesis the challenges of start-ups in Germany
are illustrated, with a focus on the tasks which must be undertaken to successfully run your own
start-up, as well as in terms of sustainability. This means that an understanding of the different
tasks of a manager and entrepreneur is important in the field of start-ups. (Baumol 1968,
Baumol 1990, Baumol 2005, Spulber 2009)
According to Spulber (2009) the incentives of managers and entrepreneurs are different because
of the differing tasks they must undertake. The manager works for a firm which has already
been established and the success and continuation of the existing business are of importance.
On the contrary, the entrepreneur is trying to build an organization and therefore can work
without dependencies. In details this means that the entrepreneur also has the power to define
the new firm. One could say that the manager seems to be a person that have little power to
actively create and influence the performance of the firm. Instead, the manager finds
himself/herself more or less within an existing hierarchy, often with bureaucratic structures,
where fulfilling the prescribed tasks is the job they have to perform. (Spulber 2009)
24 |
The incentives of entrepreneurs and managers also differ. One can describe the entrepreneur as
acting “to maximize his return, whereas the manager often responds to incentives designed by
owners of the firm.” (Spulber 2009: 185).
Baumol (2005) argues that for a large firm’s management it is not unusual “to determine what
new products and processes the laboratories should next seek to discover.” (Baumol 2005: 42).
Here you can see that within large firms it can happen that managers who don’t have the
expertise or experience in inventing new products predict and determine the innovation process
and therefore try to control and guide the entrepreneurs. In that case power relations play an
important role in the implementation of innovative activities. If the management puts too much
pressure on the entrepreneurs and tries to exert too much control, it may be that the entrepreneur
leaves the firm to start his/her own business.
As mentioned before, by using specific economic models, and if the problem is well-defined
and optimum analysis takes place, the entrepreneur doesn’t play a role in the process of solution
finding. (Baumol 2005). To sum this up, it looks like the role of an entrepreneur is not of
importance in the firm models and seems to be separated from the firm’s daily business.
Nature reveals The consumer The entrepreneur
the consumer’s decides to become becomes an
type an entrepreneur owner
I_______________________________________I______________________________________I_____
0 1 2
The entrepreneur The firm is
creates a startup established and
the foundational
shift occurs
Figure 1: A Dynamic Theory of an Entrepreneur, Source: Spulber 2009, p.153.
Spulber (2009) illustrates A Dynamic Theory of an Entrepreneur (see Figure 1) which has as a
starting point (=0) and that shows the different nature of the consumer types of people.
25 |
When there is the situation where a consumer wants to become an entrepreneur, point 1 is
reached in the graph. As a result, a new firm, a so-called start-up, is created by the entrepreneur.
After a while, if the start-up survives, the entrepreneur should become the owner. This has the
consequence that point 2 (see graph 1) is achieved, which then means that this firm can be seen
as being established and therefore the foundational shift occurs. According to Spulber (2009)
the foundational shift describes the moment of change where the role of the individual shifts
from entrepreneur to owner. Before this shift, one must know that a start-up enterprise can’t be
seen as a fully formed firm yet. Consequently, the objectives of an entrepreneur can’t be
separated from those of the start-up enterprise. The importance in this dynamic understanding
of becoming an entrepreneur is the fact that every consumer independently decides whether he
or she wants to become an entrepreneur or not. Therefore, it also is important to see everyone
as an individual that “chooses to become an entrepreneur only if he expects that establishing a
firm improves economic efficiency relative to competing alternatives.” (Spulber 2009: 152).
In conclusion, the entrepreneur needs to fulfil differing roles and also has to deal with changing
circumstances. This means that he or she should be able to use different ways of thinking,
depending on the given situation. Creativity is an important attribute of the entrepreneur, but
this alone is useless unless the entrepreneur has a relatively secured financial backing. Long-
term efficiency is also important for the entrepreneurs to be able to plan. However, depending
on the size and age of the firm, it may be required that the entrepreneur focuses on inventions
which minimize the existing risks. A further factor is that entrepreneurs do not always possess
fine qualities, for example it may be that he or she is only acting as profit-oriented. If one
compares managers with entrepreneurs, one can quickly realize that they have different tasks
to undertake and have to deal with different incentives. Because the characteristics of an
entrepreneur are diverse and vary dependent on the situation, with this subchapter I take a closer
look at the entrepreneur’s reality and therefore distinguish it from the general entrepreneurship
theory.
2.1.4 Latent Entrepreneurship
After illustrating selected aspects of entrepreneurship theory, I briefly want to illustrate how
entrepreneurship is represented across nations worldwide. In this chapter I refer to the paper of
Blanchflower et al. (2001), who produces three findings regarding latent entrepreneurship
across nations:
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“First, large numbers of people in in the industrial countries say they would prefer to be
self-employed. […] Second, for individuals the probability of preferring to be self-
employed is strongly decreasing with age, while the probability of being self-employed
is strongly increasing with age. Third, we show that self-employed individuals have
noticeably higher job satisfaction than the employed, so people’s expressed wish to run
their business cannot easily written off as mistaken.” (Blanchflower et. al. 2001: 680).
Blanchflower et. al (2001) highlight that the origin and location of self-employed persons plays
a role. This means, that in countries such as the USA or Norway, which are leading industrial
nations, self-employment is widespread. Consequently, in non-industrial countries the amount
of self-employed appears to be small.
One of the survey’s findings, presented in Blanchflower et al. (2001), is that in emerging
industries, such as Poland, the percentage of self-employed people is higher than in advanced
(regarding industrial situation) countries such as Japan. Another interesting finding of this
survey is: “Young people are apparently particularly constrained to be workers rather than
running their own business.” (Blanchflower et al. 2001: 686). Here one can also see that the age
group of self-employed people is significant, as the survey of Blanchflower et al. (2001) shows:
“As a person becomes older it becomes easier to break into entrepreneurship.” (Blanchflower
et al. 2001: 686). In my point of view, entrepreneurship nowadays is often described in the
media with attributes, such as young or innovative. As this survey shows and later my data
analysis, there is a difference between the theoretical assumption and the entrepreneurship
reality.
Blanchflower et al. (2001) conclude that there are many potential entrepreneurs out there,
especially in the industrialised nations. But because of the shortage of capital most of these stay
in a wage-paid job, although they would prefer to be self-employed. When there are many
potential entrepreneurs, one can also derive that at the periphery of cities, such as Munich,
potential entrepreneurs exist who may not use their full potential because of the network and
infrastructure disadvantage they have to deal with at the periphery, especially at the periphery
of cities. It could therefore be an interesting idea to initiate start-up projects at the periphery
instead of concentrating them only in start-up hubs such as Silicon Valley or Berlin in Germany
(Geibel & Manickam 2016).
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2.2 Sustainability and Entrepreneurship
2.2.1 Sustainability: An overview
Sustainability is an aspect which also influences our daily life practice. This means that, and
based on my own experience, it is understood by most of the people in Europe and I assume in
other countries worldwide, too. Looking at countries worldwide, it appears that the
understanding of sustainability may differ based on different daily life realities (Binder 2013).
If one tries to summarize what sustainability means, it may be that the individual person will
struggle. For example, to produce sustainably sounds positive, because sustainability is
commonly known as something which is good and positive (Binder 2013). Therefore,
everything linked to sustainability seems to be good- but what does it mean and what are the
causes of the sustainability problem? To understand what sustainability is, it is helpful to have
a look at the current ecosystems worldwide: “Economic activity takes place within, and is part
of, the system which is the earth and its atmosphere.” (Perman et al. 2011: 17). Furthermore,
our world “contains a complex, and interrelated set of ecosystems that are currently exhibiting
signs of fragility.” (Perman et al. 2011: 16) What one can understand here is the
interdependence of environment/ecosystems and the economy (Perman et al. 2011). Incidents,
such as the financial crisis of 2007/2008, also had a severe impact on the global financial system
and subsequently led to a transformation process of it: “One main driver of the turbulence was
the dominating objective of securing fast profits with high leverage, neglecting sustainability”
(Kraus et al. 2018: 1). In that context sustainability is more connected to the economical
dimension such as permanent demand of growth, which, as a further step however has an impact
on the environment (Kraus et al. 2018). For example, because of the difficult financial situation,
a company needs to produce cheaper and therefore maybe needs to exploit resources (Perman
et al. 2011).
In addition to that one must know that “the world’s resource base is limited” (Perman et al.
2011: 16). As a result, one can question “whether the global economic system can continue to
grow without undermining the natural systems which are its ultimate foundation.” (Perman et
al. 2011:16). This means that the use of resources and the continuous demand for growth create
a situation where the current ecosystems worldwide, including the humans, face a problematic
situation: Resources are declining, which cause economic problems, and the fast growth of the
economic system affects negatively the natural and social environment, for example by
producing too much garbage and polluting the sea and the groundwater (Perman et al. 2011).
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What is also linked to the sustainability problem is the alleviating poverty initiative (Perman et
al. 2011). It is necessary “to identify growth processes that could allow continually rising living
standards” (Perman et al. 2011: 50), without damaging the existing ecosystems.
In my point of view the wordings sustainability and sustainable give the related objects a
positive meaning, but there is also the danger of window dressing, if it can’t be explained what
they mean in that context. When trying to define sustainability in the field of economics, it helps
to use the aspect of sustainable development to get a better understanding of it: “Sustainable
development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the
ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” (WCED 1987: 8).
The following quote represents the common and current view on sustainable development:
“Future-oriented management means that we have to leave future generations a globally intact
ecological, social and economic system. The one cannot be achieved without the others.”
(Nachhaltigkeitsrat 2018).
In the German language sustainability means Nachhaltigkeit, which includes a long-term-
orientation. Later in this thesis I have a closer look at sustainability in the start-up field in
Germany. It is also necessary therefore to understand the meaning of sustainability, and
Nachhaltigkeit in particular, in Germany. Based on my own experience, it happens often that
Nachhaltigkeit is misunderstood. People use Nachhaltigkeit as a synonym for Dauerhaftigkeit,
which means permanence in English. Thus, a detailed illustration of sustainability in economics
is needed to be able to define a definite and future-oriented action target. What is also
misleading in this context is the term responsibility, which in my point of view is strongly
interlinked with social and societal dimensions. But sustainability is more complex, which is
illustrated later in this thesis. (Binder 2013)
Based on my experience, I assume the meaning of sustainability is commonly known
throughout most European countries. Thus, in my thesis I especially focus on the understanding
of sustainability in Europe, and Germany in particular, as the case selection of this thesis is on
Germany. By doing so I want to avoid generalizations, but this doesn’t mean that there is no
sustainability understanding outside of Europe. Coming back to the sustainability position in
Europe, I understand that the situation was different in the past, for example focusing on growth
was one of the main values (Van Marrewijk 2003). Things like charity and stewardship existed
but focusing on sustainability and making it part of the whole organizational structure was rare
(Van Marrewijk 2003). In my point of view sustainability is now present in today’s business
world, especially in Europe. It isn’t that unusual anymore to introduce sustainability as an
29 |
organization’s value (Binder 2013). In that context, it is interesting to see who is responsible
for the societal value creation, which also influences the organizational ones:
“Once it was the government elite that stated the societal values, later business leaders
added theirs. Along with the process of democratization, representatives of the civil
society have increasingly been introducing ‘common’ values and norms and acting upon
them to make the government and business respond to these values. We see moving
panels, changing circumstances and new existential problems arousing various
members in society to act and transform into value systems and corresponding
institutional arrangements.” (Van Marrewijk 2003: 100).
According to this quote, one can see that also society influences the organizational value
creation. Because we live in a very digitalized world it is very easy to share opinions about
important societal values and foster the value creation (Binder 2013). In Germany I would say
sustainability is developing right now as a societal value. This is generally, because bio-
supermarkets or supermarket chains focus on having lots of bio-products such as Dm. These
already now exist, and the number is constantly increasing (Binder 2013). Buying bio-products
is in my point of view interlinked to sustainability, as the production of bio-products doesn’t
allow for example the use of toxics. To summarise, one reason for the presence of sustainability
in today’s business world is the fact that in many societies sustainability has become a necessary
value (Binder 2013).
Another reason for this is that organizations generally have to deal with changing circumstances
such as the decreasing access to resources and have to find an adequate response to it (Van
Marrewijk 2003). This is also an element of the evolution process:
“Challenged by changing circumstances and provoked by new opportunities,
individuals, organizations and societies develop adequate solutions that might be new
sublimations, creating synergy and adding value at a higher level of complexity.” (Van
Marrewijk 2003: 99).
Here one can also see that the basic principle of change and evolution plays a role. These both
influence the individuals and corporations. Things such as the introduction of new laws and
regulations by the politicians can influence an organizations situation. However, climate change
(which can hardly be changed or influenced in another direction) can also do so (Van Marrewijk
2003). Once companies and organizations find themselves in a new situation, they “develop
new values, new strategies and policies and new institutional arrangements that support their
functioning in areas that were once left to others, redefining their roles” (Van Marrewijk 2003:
101).
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One famous concept to solve societal problems and which is also interlinked to sustainability,
is Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). However, if one wants to focus not only on social
aspects, but also on sustainable development and sustainability, the concept of Corporate
Sustainability (CS) is recommendable. In the following I initially present the chances and limits
of sustainable entrepreneurship in general. After that I illustrate the similarities and differences
of CSR and CS, which are both concepts of sustainable entrepreneurship, and especially focus
on the advantages of using CS (Van Marrewijk 2003).
2.2.2 Sustainable Entrepreneurship
Regarding the current economic and ecological circumstances, the importance of sustainability,
and thus of sustainable entrepreneurship, is increasing. The concept of sustainable
entrepreneurship “itself is still developing.” (Kraus et al. 2018: 2). In comparison to the
entrepreneurship theories, which “are based on discovering and exploiting economic
opportunities” (Kraus et al. 2018: 2), sustainable entrepreneurship focuses on “the
transformation of society towards more environmental, social, and economic equilibrium
through sustainable entrepreneurial orientation (SEO).” (Kraus et al. 2018: 2). A specification
for sustainable entrepreneurship is ecological entrepreneurship, which is a concept that focuses
on “minimizing a firms’ exploitation of the natural environment, generating benefits for future
societal and economic needs in the process.” (Kraus et al. 2018: 2). This shows that, as the name
suggests, ecological entrepreneurship mainly focuses on the ecological and environmental part.
On the contrary, sustainable entrepreneurship can be “defined as the need to integrate
environmental, social, sustainable, and economic activities.” (Kraus et al. 2018: 3). This means
for example focusing on social integration and ceasing the exploitation of natural resources.
(Kraus et al. 2018)
When talking about sustainable entrepreneurship, an interesting aspect is to have a look at the
important player of the financial system: “The financial system consists not only of investors,
but also of entrepreneurs, who choose to run their companies.” (Kraus et al. 2018: 1-2). A lot
of research has been undertaken already about the investors’ view on sustainability, but the
entrepreneurial perspective has been little explored (Kraus et al. 2018). Also, in the field of
sustainable entrepreneurship innovation plays an important role and “is a driving force for the
establishment and integration of formalized sustainable practices.” (Kraus et al. 2018: 9).
Another important aspect of sustainable entrepreneurship is the long-term-orientation and the
fact that it includes a high-risk propensity (Kraus et al. 2018). Though a sustainability market
31 |
exists, “customers are not translating their sustainable desires into purchases frequently enough”
(Kraus et al. 2018: 9). As a result, it appears to be relatively risky for entrepreneurs to focus on
sustainability, which means that “entrepreneurs are required to and are taking moderate or
calculated risks, despite sustainable entrepreneurs being long-term oriented and risk-averse”
(Kraus et al. 2018: 9). Newly established firms/start-ups especially need to focus on surviving
in the market at the beginning, which means that a well-planed business plan focusing on profit
and growth is of importance (Schaltegger et al. 2016). It can be unprofitable for start-ups to
deal with sustainability issues in the beginning if it includes high-risk propensity and might
cause financial deficits. However, start-ups located at the periphery could have an advantage in
dealing with sustainability issues because it may be that the local sustainability market is
already well developed. As a result, it may be that a locally high demand for sustainably
produced products already exists and which could help start-ups to survive in the market and to
grow, even if focusing on sustainability from the outset (Kraus et al. 2018). For start-ups it may
be advantageous to be located at the periphery because of the cheaper renting and producing
costs. Later this is analysed by means of the case selection Innovationsquartier Murnau, which
is located at the periphery of Munich.
Because established firms often do not have the knowledge and resources to engage new
innovations (Spulber 2009), for example it may be the duty of newly started businesses to focus
more on sustainability and to try implementing this from the outset. It is well understood that
“contextual factors are deemed as having an important influence on the success of firms.”
(Kraus et al. 2018: 10). In this context, one must know that globally “the striving for and the
achievement of sustainable development is fostered by (supra-) national as well as local
governments.” (Kraus et al. 2018: 10). Hence, the municipality can play a relevant role, too.
Both mass market players and niche market players need to “integrate sustainability principles
as a core aspect into their business model.” (Schaltegger et al. 2016: 265). The term mass
market focuses on the market entirety, such as transactions in a chosen market (Schaltegger et
al. 2016). On the contrary, niche market just focuses on a small part/niche in a market, such as
a small part of transactions in a given market. (Schaltegger et al. 2016). Regarding the business
models, differences occur between the mass market players and niche market ones. Thus, both
types of market player face different challenges in integrated sustainability-related contents in
their business plan (Schaltegger et al. 2016). As a company of any size, to be able contribute to
sustainable development, it is necessary “that the core of business, and thus the underlying
business model, is sustainability-oriented.” (Schaltegger et al. 2016: 266). In detail this means
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that the infrastructure of the business is based on “principles of sustainable supply chain
management” (Schaltegger et al. 2016: 267). In addition to this, “the customer interface must
enable close relationships with customers and other stakeholders to be able to take
responsibility for production and consumption system” (Schaltegger et al. 2016: 267). Here
again it may be advantageous for the start-ups to be located at the periphery of cities or at the
periphery in general, which means that they have direct connections to the local consumer and
therefore it may be easier to integrate sustainability in the overall business plan.
Being realistic, “market innovations driving sustainable development do not occur by accident
but have to be created by leaders who put them at the core of their business models.”
(Schaltegger et al. 2016: 268). Looking at newly-established firms and start-ups, it may be the
case that the entrepreneur is the owner of the new firm and has also to fulfil the manager’s
position (Schaltegger et al. 2016). In that case it may be easier to integrate sustainability in the
business plan because of the short decision-making process. Current research shows that “small
innovators in their garages or labs are the starting point for sustainability-driven market changes”
(Schaltegger et al. 2016: 270). This then puts pressure on large companies to change their
policies and direction to become more sustainable.
Much is written about sustainable entrepreneurship, although it is interesting to have a look at
the alternative, namely unsustainable entrepreneurship, and determine as to what this all is
about. According to Schaltegger (2012), unsustainable entrepreneurship means that a company
of any size is causing more damage than values. In this context value is a broad term which
includes societal, ecological and economic issues. This phenomenon of unsustainability can be
discussed by means of direct effects of entrepreneurial activities such as corruption or the
amount of harmful emissions produced into the environment. (Schaltegger 2012)
However, one can say that it is more helpful to develop a sustainability concept to generate
concrete actions which support sustainability than to focus on reducing the level of
unsustainability. In my point of view trying to lower the level of unsustainability sounds
negative and has a less motivating effect to create any action. Schaltegger (2012) mentions that
being a company which focuses on sustainability means that this company has creatively
destroyed unsustainable economical and societal structures and has therefore an exemplary
function for other players in the economic system. Imagining the sustainable company is located
at the periphery of a city, and the local customers like the sustainability focus of the company,
the idea might spread to other companies which are located near to the sustainable one. What
could also influence the sustainability focus of a company is the network. If a company within
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a certain network decides to change its policy to focus more on sustainability issues, other
members of the network may be influenced by this and start to also be active in the sustainability
market. (Schaltegger 2012)
Being voluntary is also important when focusing on sustainable entrepreneurship. Schaltegger
(2012) describes The Business Case for Sustainability, which focuses on targeted sustainability
measures. Ideally, by voluntary consideration of ecological and social issues, the company who
is implementing this business plan will also receive positive economic results. At the starting
point and, where we are right now, in my point of view, it may be helpful to have legal
requirements related to sustainability which companies need to fulfil. But laws and other
regulations shouldn’t be the driving force for more sustainable entrepreneurship (Binder 2013),
I believe more can be done if it happens voluntarily. However, regulations regarding
sustainability within companies may help to draw attention to the significance of sustainable
action. What also must be mentioned here is that sustainable entrepreneurship should ideally be
both optimizing existing processes and destroying current structures. This means that the
concept of creative destruction according to Schumpeter could work in the field of sustainable
entrepreneurship. For example, unsustainable products can be the starting point for an
entrepreneur to create new, more sustainable products and make the old ones unattractive.
(Schaltegger 2012)
In conclusion, sustainable entrepreneurship is a concept which has already been given an
important place in today’s business world and academic research. However, current research
and business practice is still lacking the entrepreneurial perspective (Schaltegger 2012). For
this reason, in the following I present the definite concept of sustainable entrepreneurship,
namely the concept of corporate sustainability. Furthermore, I highlight the opportunities for
entrepreneurial activities, especially of newly-established firms, to contribute to this concept.
2.2.3 Corporate Sustainability
The situation in the past was that sustainability only dealt with environmental issues and CSR,
focused on social aspects such as human rights (Binder 2013). Today people use CS and CSR
as synonyms (Van Marrewijk 2003). However, there is a hierarchical relationship between CSR
and CS. One can describe CSR as relating “to phenomena such as transparency, stakeholder
dialogue and sustainability reporting” (Van Marrewijk 2003: 102). On the contrary CS “focuses
on value creation, environmental management, environmental friendly production systems,
human capital management” (Van Marrewijk 2003: 102). Binder (2013) critizes the use of CSR
34 |
in Germany, because in her point of view this approach only focuses on social responsibility
and not on sustainability within its three aspects.
CS contains the three aspects of sustainability, which are environmental, economic and social
(Binder 2013, Van Marrewijk 2003). Therefore, CS can be described as the ultimate goal, where
CSR is just an intermediate state (Binder 2013; Figure 2).
Figure 2: Trinity of Sustainability, Source: Own representation based on Binder 2013, p. 23.
Since the 1990’s the Triple Bottom Line Model is the most famous sustainability model and is
still used worldwide today (Lexikon der Nachhaltigkeit 2018). It consists of three columns,
namely ecology, economy and social issues (Van Marrewijk 2003), and is similar to the model
shown in Figure 2. The difficulty here isn’t the definition of sustainability, but the application
of the model, especially in companies. If you take as an example the aspect economy, you on
the one hand must deal with the demand for continuous growth, whereas on the other hand,
when focusing on sustainability, with reduction (Binder 2013). Social sustainability in the field
of entrepreneurship focuses on the human and societal aspects, such as offering stable wages,
participation possibilities in the decision-making process or internships for school pupils
(Binder 2013). Reducing the amount of waste or plastic is an example for ecological
sustainability (Binder 2013). What one can see her is that there are certain fields of tension,
which may be hindering the implementation of sustainability aspects (Binder 2013, Van
Marrewijk 2003). When looking at this sustainability model, the question arises as to whether
Corporate
Sustainability
Eco
logy
Soci
al Is
sues
Eco
no
my
35 |
it is possible to focus on economy, ecology and social issues at the same time. The three
columns of this model have the same status and importance and should illustrate the balance
required between the three (Binder 2013, Van Marrewijk 2003). In reality economical is more
dominant (Binder 2013). It may also be possible that it is a trilemma, which means that now
three contrary things, which belong to the same group, can’t happen at the same time and might
hinder each other. (Binder 2013)
Later in thesis when it comes to the collection of data this trilemma scenario plays an important
role.
Another aspect which influences the implementation of this sustainability model is the
worldwide difference regarding culture, values and social aspects (Schaltegger et al. 2016).
Some companies have subsidiaries worldwide, which means that people from different
nationalities work within the same company. Often it is the case that a company has one specific
organizational design, therefore focuses on certain values, which are the same worldwide and
independent of local differences. Nevertheless, for example, it may happen that the company is
obliged to implement social sustainability in one country, because there are certain laws in that
country which protect human rights, but in other countries it isn’t necessary (Binder 2013). As
a result, the social aspects aren’t the same at the company’s subsidiaries, in this case also the
sustainability policy. The interesting question in this topic is whether sustainability is an
important aspect for people worldwide or only in specific areas/countries. Binder (2013)
mentions her impression that worldwide consequences of actions, which are not sustainable,
are frightening. However, changes of these are only possible on a local level, where people
must face the consequences in reality and therefore have a higher motivation to change the
circumstances (Binder 2013). Why should companies and new enterprises such as start-ups
focus on sustainability? Why is it necessary to do more than just following the rules and fulfil
the role within the economy? These are two difficult questions, which can’t be answered easily.
Nevertheless, there are lots of advantages for companies and start-ups to focus on sustainability.
(Binder 2013)
But how can one start to implement sustainability elements in the company? Several
sustainability indices exist such as Advanced Sustainability Performance Indices (ASPI) or Dow
Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI). Another possibility is to hire a sustainability-agency such as
Sustainalytics (www.sustainalytics.com/de) or Sustainable Asset Management (SAM;
www.sam-group.de). Both possibilities include the use of sustainability reports, which focus
the Guidelines for Sustainability Measurement, published by Global Reporting Initiative (GRI).
36 |
These guideline indicators contain the three aspects of the previously mentioned sustainability
model: ecology, economy and social. The use and implementation of standards/audits such as
DIN EN ISO 14001 is another possibility for sustainability implementation at companies and
start-ups. This is an international standard in the field of environment management. Institutions
such as TÜV or Dekra certify the company’s environment management system. (Binder 2013)
The main problem regarding all these possibilities for sustainability implementation is that the
use of one of these is still voluntary, as, for example there is no pressure by law to do so.
However, based on my experience, the societal pressure for companies and start-ups to focus
on sustainability elements is rising worldwide. There is however still a problem that it is hard
to control, whether as published sustainability aspects and actions on the company’s website
for example are carried out or whether it is just window-dressing or greenwashing. What is
meant here is that it could be that a company uses the sustainability report just for marketing
issues but is not acting in accordance with it. What also matters in this context is that within
organizations (of any kind) it can be one single person who decides to focus on sustainability,
independently of the other manager’s and colleague’s opinions. (Binder 2013)
The current position shows that, even if CS produces better financial results and performances,
only a small percentage of the firms worldwide are implanting it (Van Marrewijk 2003). To
change this situation and to reach a higher application rate of CS a supporting value system and
framework is needed (Schaltegger et al. 2016). In my point of view the field of entrepreneurship,
where a lot of new things are created and developed, is a potential field for implementing
sustainability aspects.
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3. Entrepreneurship in Germany
In former times the image of the entrepreneur in Germany wasn’t a very positive one. Nowadays
the perception of entrepreneurs is changing, which can be explained as follows: “This
rediscovery of the entrepreneur as a key player and model in society runs more-or-less parallel
to the boom in new enterprise formation and stock-markets of Western Europe.” (Volkmann et
al. 2010: 1). At the end of the 20th century, entrepreneurship started to become important in
German-speaking countries, but only as a research and teaching discipline at universities. In
that time the first professorships and first chairs related to this subject were established.
(Volkmann et al. 2010)
3.1 Method: Literature Review
I have chosen literature review as a method, because by this method I can create a firm
foundation for the proceeding case selection analysis. In the following I present the results of
the literature review I have undertaken about entrepreneurship in Germany, whereby I generally
focus on the start-up scene. Within this chapter I “conduct a thorough literature review and then
propose a conceptual model that synthesizes and extends existing research.” (Webster &
Watson 2002: 14). To avoid bias, the literature review method I have used is based on the
systematic review process according to Tranfield et al. (2003). The systematic review process
consists of several steps, which are briefly explained in the following.
At first one needs to do an identification of search terms and keywords, in which the literature
search is based upon. After this a certain search strategy must be developed. This means that
you list the different sources where you conduct your literature search. Regarding my topic, I
both focused on ranked and non-ranked journals as my topic is quite new and specific. In this
sense, also the electronic databases used must be mentioned, which in my work is Google
Scholar. What also influences the article selection is the access to the articles. I have only
chosen articles which were free of charge or accessible via my university. The third step is to
generate a list of the usable literature, whereby it also should be explained why certain articles
are excluded. This I present in the following. (Tranfield et al. 2003; also see figure 3)
38 |
Elimination of articles Analysis of abstracts
which do not refer to
Germany as case selection
Figure 3: Systematic Review Process; Own representation based on Kraus et al. (2018), p. 5.
As a first step I used the keywords Entrepreneurship Germany and Entrepreneurship in
Germany, the pregiven time frame were the years from 2013-2018, and I only selected articles
written in English. My decision to only select articles published in English was to be able to
demonstrate a more internationally view on the situation in Germany or the content presented
in a way which is addressing mainly an international audience. The first scanning process of
the articles, also depending on the access to them, resulted in five articles which all had
Germany as case selection, where written in English and published between the years 2013-
2018 (see figure 3). After reading all the five articles, I had to delete one article from the list
because the content of this article was too data based, too specific in its results and focused
mainly on the countries of the USA and Denmark. As a result, four articles became part of the
final literature list.
As second step I used the keywords Start-up activity Germany, Start-up activity in Germany
and Start-up Germany. Here the pregiven time frame was 2016-2018 as I wanted to obtain
information about the current status-quo of the start-up scene and activity in Germany, and
again, I only selected articles which were written in English. The first scanning process of the
articles, again also depending on the article access, resulted in two articles (similar process as
shown in figure 3). After reading both articles, only one article fits to the pregiven criteria, that
Germany needs to be case selection in the article, and that it is of the period from 2016 to 2018.
Online database
search:
Google Scholar
2013-2018/ English
Keywords: Entrepreneurship
Germany,
Entrepreneurship
in Germany
5
Articles 4
Articles
39 |
In conclusion, the literature list for the structured literature review I prepared consisted of five
articles.
Because a literature review is based on concepts, I have created a concept matrix where I listed
the articles on the vertical axis, the developed/found concepts on the horizontal axis (Webster
& Watson 2002; also see Appendix A). After completing the reading process, I have compared
and discussed the identified concepts and proposals and subsequently summarized them. In the
following I present the developed concepts.
3.2 Concepts and Proposals
The first concept I want to present deals with the relation of entrepreneurship and personality,
taking regional facts and differences into account. The expectation of Obschonka et al. (2013)
is that across regions, the entrepreneurship-prone personality structure is different and varies
systematically. As a result, “regional differences in an entrepreneurship-prone personality
profile may be an important ingredient for regional entrepreneurship.” (Obschonka et al. 2013:
39). The understanding of what an entrepreneur is about plays an important role in this concept.
This also goes back to the Joseph Schumpeter (1934) who illustrates that an entrepreneur is a
special personality, therefore has specific characteristics, for example being able to deal with
risks. In addition to this, an entrepreneur needs to undertake different tasks, for example
acquiring customers, inspiring investors, dealing with the finances and dealing with periods of
failure and uncertainty (Schumpeter 1934, Obschonka et al. 2013).
Research has already been undertaken about the meanings of regional differences regarding
personality, and “past research indicates meaningful regional differences in personality.”
(Obschonka et al. 2013: 13). Germany is one case selection for the research carried out by
Obschonka et al. (2013). Regarding “the rank ordered state-level scores for the
entrepreneurship-prone personality profile across Germany (without Saarland and Rhineland-
Palatinate)” (Obschonka et al. 2013: 29), Hamburg and Berlin are at the top of the list. However,
Saxony and Brandenburg, which are both located in the former Eastern part of Germany, are
ranked as lowest. To summarise, regarding the entrepreneurship activities and personalities,
there are differences between the various States in Germany. The impact of the region on the
entrepreneurship activities and the influence of locational factors is shaping the entrepreneurial
personality. Obschonka et al. (2013) conclude their article with the result that they have found
“meaningful geographical variation in the U.S., Germany, and in the UK, as indicated by the
40 |
robust aggregate-level correlations between the trait profile and entrepreneurial activity.”
(Obschonka et al. 2013: 35). (Obschonke et al. 2013)
The second concept, which has an impact on the current start-up scene in Germany, is the
influence of the unemployment rate on the quota of entrepreneurial entries. In Germany, the
unemployment rate has “a counter-cyclical influence on entry rates into entrepreneurship.”
(Fritsch et al. 2013: 28). In reality this is an asymmetric effect, as the “unemployment rates
below the long-term trend lead to lower levels of new business formation while unemployment
above the trend has no significant ‘push’ effect.” (Fritsch et al. 2013: 28). One can therefore
conclude that in Germany, the unemployment rate doesn’t necessarily have a positive effect on
the amount of entrepreneurial entries. This also means that being unemploymed isn’t a common
incentive for becoming self-occupied or an entrepreneur. The article by Fritsch et al. (2013),
which illustrates this result, has been published in 2013, therefore one could argue that the
situation in Germany might have since changed. However, there is currently no other article
published that deals with the same topic and assumptions. (Fritsch et al. 2013)
Based upon the research undertaken by Fuerlinger et al. (2015), one can say that the role of the
state in the German ecosystems is of importance in universities. The current situation in the
German job market is favourable, which “is responsible for a trend away from necessity
entrepreneurship towards opportunity entrepreneurship.” (Fuerlinger et al. 2015: 19). The
German government takes this trend into account and “aims to support spin-off creation out of
research institutions and especially universities.” (Fuerlinger et al. 2015: 19). To give the
universities more autonomy in strategy setting, the University Freedom Law exists, but, several
issues remain at the state level. The state also has an important role in the innovation ecosystem.
For a lot of young companies, state-sponsored technologies and early stage-financing are
beneficial, which can also be the basis for their new services and products. (Fuerlinger et al.
2015).
Regarding the importance of the state in the field of entrepreneurship, the situation in Germany
is different than in the USA for example. For the German government, “the social security of
the population is a main focus of government action.” (Fuerlinger et al. 2015: 11). As a result,
one can say that in the economy the German state was always very present and dominant, “as
industry was often state-owned or closely guided by the state.” (Fuerlinger et al: 2015: 11).
What is interesting to note here is that according to Fuerlinger et al. (2015), European countries
can generally be described by little failure tolerance, and with regards to bankruptcy, serious
social stigma is attached. As result, what one can see here is that the state has an impact on the
41 |
start-up scene in Germany. Because the job situation in Germany has changed, there is no need
anymore to start your business to earn money, as now it is just an opportunity. At the
universities in Germany, the state is still very dominant and influenceable. To increase the
number of start-ups in Germany, which has an impact on the German economy, “experts stress
the importance of promoting entrepreneurship among young and highly educated people and to
shift their attention towards entrepreneurship education at the university level.” (Fuerlinger et
al. 2015: 15). One can say here that increasing the level of tolerance towards failure seems
necessary, too. As a supportive part, the state is important for the start-up field in Germany,
however, it is advisable to give more autonomy to the universities in Germany. (Fuerlinger et
al. 2015)
As previously described, the politics of the state are of importance in the start-up field. What
fits with this hypothesis is the influence of the German politics in establishing an entrepreneurial
culture in Germany. Fritsch & Wyrwich (2014) carried out a detailed analysis about the history
of entrepreneurship in Germany and the current status quo. They found “that the historical level
of self-employment and current employment change reveals that the informal institution of a
culture of entrepreneurship is persistent.” (Fritsch& Wyrwich 2014: 21). This results in the
assumption that implementing a regional entrepreneurial culture “can be viewed as an
investment in a kind of capital stock that can have long-lasting positive effects.” (Fritsch &
Wyrwich 2014: 21). But how can one undertake this? It is a difficult question, because it may
take some time to establish an entrepreneurial culture. In addition to this, “it might be more
effective to foster a positive entrepreneurial climate first” (Fritsch & Wyrwich 2014: 22), than
to bring new business formations to regions that lack entrepreneurial culture. To summarise,
the state has an impact on the entrepreneurial culture in regions and can support the introduction
and fostering of a regional entrepreneurial climate. What may also help here is that politics in
Germany can influence the institutional framework in a way which is friendly for
entrepreneurship, for example by fine tuning bankruptcy laws to the needs of start-ups. The
regional entrepreneurship culture is “an important regional factor that drives not only the level
of new business formation, but also its effects on growth.” (Fritsch & Wyrwich 2014: 22).
(Fritsch & Wyrwich 2014)
The final concept I illustrate here in this subchapter about entrepreneurship in Germany is the
one by Geibel & Manickam (2016) who describe German start-ups as being too much product-
oriented and having no people oriented working culture. Furthermore, an effective support
system for start-ups is missing in Germany. Geibel & Manickam (2016) use the Cologne region
42 |
in Germany as case example which should represent the situation in Germany as a whole, “due
its importance as an entrepreneurial hub alongside Berlin, London, Amsterdam and other cities
in Europe” (Geibel & Manickam 2016: 67). They found that in comparison to US start-ups,
which mainly focus on work culture, employees and co-founder, for start-ups in Germany their
marketing strategy and their product are of utmost importance. As a result, one can describe US
start-ups as people oriented, however, German start-ups are more focused on their ideas and
products. What is interesting here is the fact that most successful start-up centres can be found
in Silicon Valley, Boston or New York which all have close relations with highly ranked
universities such as Harvard University or Stanford University. Because of this proximity to
young and international talents at these top universities, it is easy for US start-ups to get access
to talents from all over the world. Geibel & Manickam (2016) illustrate, by applying the case
of the Cologne region, that for German start-ups it is more beneficial to be located close to top
universities to be able to have better access to young and international talents who may be
helpful for the start-ups. This is largely, because of their high skills and knowledge. In addition
to this, they mention German start-ups are lacking a people-oriented working culture and
atmosphere, therefore they should look to develop this as well. The main problem I see here is
that the results of research about the Cologne region in Germany might not be transferable to
other regions in Germany. Nevertheless, it may be a useful concept for German-start-ups to
follow the example of US start-ups and focus more on their employees and their ties to top-
universities in Germany to try to be able to obtain the best talents for their businesses. (Geibel
& Manickam 2016)
In conclusion, all previously presented concepts and proposals include information about what
can be undertaken in the German start-up field to increase the number of start-ups and
entrepreneurial entries. Two concepts highlight the significance of universities for the start-ups
in Germany. The state is an important factor for the success of start-ups and can also support
the establishment of an entrepreneurial culture by changing the law more in favour of the needs
of start-ups. The unemployment rate seems to have no positive impact on the start-up activity
in Germany. However, this may change in times of crisis, such as a financial crisis situation.
Personal attributes of an entrepreneur also influence the start-up activity and can be regionally
limited.
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4. Methods 4.1 Case Selection: The Innovationsquartier in Murnau
The Innovationsquartier Murnau (IQ/ IQ Murnau) is an example of a regional start-up project,
which was opened in May 2017. The market Murnau, therefore the IQ, is located around 80
km away from Munich, close to the Bavarian Alps. As a result, one can say that the IQ Murnau
is at the periphery of the city Munich. To avoid confusion, I describe Murnau as town in the
following. However, the correct term is market, which is a German idiosyncrasy. The IQ is
located at the periphery, because Murnau and its surroundings are a contrary to the centre
Munich and an economical passive region, located close to the Austrian border. A big problem
of the town Murnau is the loss of the younger people because of the few job vacancies in this
region. The local government wants to counteract this moving away of the young people and
to make the town Murnau more interesting again for businesses and start-ups. Therefore, the
municipality decided to reuse a vacant community hospital and to establish an innovation center
and Maker Lab there. Both offices and co-working spaces can be rented for reasonable rates.
The Maker Lab is on the ground floor of the Innovationsquartier Murnau and provides different
machines such as 3 D printer or laser cutter. It is required to join the association of the Maker
Lab for a small amount of money to be able to use for example the 3D printer. Because of this
Maker Lab a lot of start-ups can produce their products much cheaper and secure their existence
by doing so. With this project the municipality of Murnau tries to give the younger population
an opportunity to be able to remain in Murnau and to run their own business there. Currently
there are already 40 start-ups, which are of different areas of expertise, and also classical
businesses such as goldsmiths are renting offices there. (Seiler 2017)
4.2 Data Collection
In my work I apply qualitative methods, both for the data collection and data analysis. The Data
Collection consists of two different methods, namely the observation analysis and the trilemma
interview, which are both qualitative research methods. What I want to mention here is that the
initial part of the trilemma interview is a simplified version of a problem-centered interview. In
the following I briefly illustrate the qualitative research methods I have used for my work.
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4.2.1 Observation Analysis
There are different ways to undertake an observation analysis. I carried out an ideal-typical
observation analysis according to Berger (2010), because of the helpful instructions Berger
(2010) is providing. An ideal-typical qualitative observation analysis is unstructured, actively
participating and open. To obtain a better understanding of how such an observation can look,
the previous described characteristics of the applied observation analysis are briefly explained
in the following. (Berger 2010)
To conduct an unstructured observation, only a rough guideline is prepared. This means that a
few hypotheses are developed in advance and prior to the observation, but no precise schemata
are prepared. Because the case selection I have chosen, the Innovationsquartier Murnau (IQ
Murnau), has a lot to do with people I have decided to actively participate during the
observation. Berger (2010) highlights that when active observation is applied by the researcher,
he or she has a specific role in the observed field. As a result, he or she has become a part of
the observed field. In detail this means I take an active role when visiting the
Innovationsquartier and participating in events and daily life business there. My key contact
person has been Mr. Ulrich Bittlinger, the representative of the business development. He
introduced me to the members of IQ Murnau as the master student who wants to see what’s
going on every day at the IQ Murnau and who is working there. Therefore, I describe the role I
have taken on as a student, who wants to learn something about the IQ Murnau and the people
working there. As a result, I found that the people at the IQ Murnau voluntarily looked for a
dialogue with me and in turn showed me around. From this it can be deduced that I undertook
an open observation, as everybody was informed about me and my Master’s Thesis project.
(Berger 2010)
Berger (2010) divides the observation analysis into five phases, which I have reassembled into
three phases, and these are illustrated in the following.
The initial one is the field access, for which one needs a key contact person. In my situation this
was Mr. Ulrich Bittlinger, who introduced me to the people who work at the IQ Murnau,
explained the project to me, and informed me about important appointments and meetings at
the IQ Murnau. The second one is the data collection, which means conducting the observation
and the exit of the observed field. The third phase is the follow-up work, where one can write
reports about the observation carried out. In my case afterwards I wrote down all my
impressions, in key points and whole sentences. I also added self-reflection parts to the
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impressions I had written down. In total I produced 14 DIN A4 pages, which are completed
and filled with my observation analysis. (Berger 2010)
What one must also understand here is the fact that because I am participating in the field I want
to look at, it may have an impact on the observed situations and people who are involved in it.
I tried to be as objective as possible when carrying out the observation and not to intercede. But
one main problem here is the lack of distance to the research object. Very often I found myself
in a one-to-one situation when undertaking the observation. As a result, very often I or the other
person had the feeling in being forced to hold a dialogue, which means that several times the
situation of a mini-interview occurred unplanned, for example at the open-house day at the IQ
Murnau. In total, over the period of three months, I spent circa one day ever two weeks at the
IQ Murnau. (Berger 2010)
Concluding, I have decided to conduct a short observation analysis, to get an overview of what
the IQ Murnau is about and how events could look like there. If I had just undertaken this
observation analysis, I would have had to spend much more time at the IQ to get more precise
results. However, because I conducted six interviews with people who work at the IQ Murnau
or are responsible for it, I think it is possible to only carry out a short observation analysis to
quickly get a different perspective on the case selection. (Berger 2010)
4.2.2 The Trilemma Interview
As I have mentioned previously, the initial part of the trilemma interview is a simplified and
shortened version of the problem-centered interview, which is also a qualitative research
method. The problem-centered interview can be described as roughly structured and based on
prepared guidelines (Berger 2010). This interview technique focuses on a relevant societal
questioning, which the interviewer has found out by research in advance (Berger 2010). By
doing research beforehand, I came up with two topic blocks for the problem-centered interview,
namely the meaning of the Innovationsquartier Murnau for the area around it and for the start-
up field, and the topic of sustainable entrepreneurship. I prepared a few sub questions and
hypothesis for each topic block, to prepare and warm up the interviewee for the main part of
the interview, the trilemma interview. In my point of view conducting only the trilemma
interview is too abstract and might challenge the interviewee too much, because he/she has no
understanding of the main topic at all. However, there is the danger of influencing the
interviewee’s opinion, therefore it is necessary that the interviewer is well prepared and tries,
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by asking comprehension questions, to summarize the interviewee’s answers to avoid
misunderstandings of the topic. Here, I would stress, it is a difficult task being the interviewer,
therefore, experience is advantageous to successfully conduct this newly developed interview
technique. Conducting the problem-centred interview can also help to clarify the understanding
of the topic and to avoid misunderstandings. Therefore, I think it is a good idea to start with a
problem-centered interview to give the interviewee the chance to understand the two topics the
trilemma interview is based on. The overall focus of the interview is on the trilemma interview,
which means that more time is used for that part.
Usually at the beginning of a problem-centered interview the interviewed person must name
his/her personal details and state whether he/she wants to be anonymized (Berger 2010). I have
decided to change this and to do this at the end of the interview, because I think the personal
data query can be clearly seen as the end of the conversation.
I have invented a new interview technique, the trilemma interview, which can be described as
a further development of the dilemma interview according to Kohlberg. One can define the
dilemma interview as an interview type where the interviewee is challenged and confronted
with prepared moral dilemmas (Wirtschaftslexikon 2018). Because the dilemma interview is
still little used in research, there aren’t that many papers which explain the method. Another
problem that occurs when researching literature for this kind of interview technique, is that one
realizes that the dilemma interview technique seems to be used only in the field of
school/children research. Kohlberg came up with a “cognitive-developmental theory of moral
judgement.” (Colby et al. 1983: 1). In addition to this, the following aspects influence the status
and implementation of moral judgement: Age, socio-economic status, IQ, education. Kohlberg
assumed that there are several stages of moral judgement one can reach. He also assumed that
when confronting a person with a dilemma, “factor analyses by dilemma and moral issue
showed a single general moral stage factor.” (Colby et al. 1983: 1). In detail this means that the
“cognitive-developmental account of moral judgement” (Colby et al. 1983: 1) consists of six
stages one can go through. In my point of view this means that by applying the method of the
dilemma interview, one can also get information about the moral stage of the person being
interviewed, namely his/her way of thinking. (Colby et al. 1983)
As I have previously mentioned, the dilemma interview technique is based on the interview
technique developed by Kohlberg (Colby et al. 1983). However, the dilemma interview
technique, which today is applied by researches, has developed from the critique about
Kohlberg’s dilemma interview. This means by critically reflecting on Kohlberg’s research about
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moral judgement development, the dilemma interview has subsequently been created by
Heinrich (2006).
According to Heinrich (2006), the structure of a dilemma interview nowadays consists of
balancing between theoretical framing, focusing the topic on certain aspects and providing a
large scope for subjective interpretation. What’s important here is that the interview must be
centred on the dilemma. To be able to do this, one needs to create a scenario, which serves as
the basis for the topical-centred interview. The goal of this created scenario is to clearly
illustrate the paradox of the two persons/actors, who are part of the scenario. If it is a dilemma
interview, there are two contradictory actors involved in the scenario. (Heinrich 2006)
The setting of the interview also must be comfortable to avoid intimidating the interviewee
from the outset. Furthermore, the person who is conducting the interview, should highlight that
there is no exact solution possible, because here the subjective opinion and the argumentation
is of importance. Therefore, there is no right or wrong regarding the answers. One can see here
that the interviewer is challenged a lot, as he or she needs to spontaneously create counter
questions to the answers received from the interviewee. The interviewer’s goal is to provoke
the interviewee into a statement. (Heinrich 2006)
The overall aim of applying the dilemma interview technique is on the one hand to collect
subjective statements on the chosen topic and created scenario. On the other hand, one also gets
an idea of the underlying structural conditions which may have influenced the statement and
content received. (Heinrich 2006)
As previously mentioned in the chapter about sustainability and entrepreneurship, there is one
main concept in this field, the concept of corporate sustainability. This concept consists of three
dimensions, which specify the area of sustainability: ecological, economical and social.
By doing research about this sustainability concept, I have the impression that as a company or
a start-up there are several possibilities to focus on one dimension of it. For example, on the
ecological sustainability, but not on all three at the same time. As a result, I assume that there
is a trilemma in the field of sustainability concepts and implementation of it. I call it trilemma,
because it is a situation whereby three aspects and points of view are inconsistent. A trilemma
is a further development of the known dilemma. I have created a fictitious scenario, where three
actors are speaking and representing one dimension of the previously described concept of
corporate sustainability. To avoid gender biases, I have designed two versions of this fictitious
scenario, one for female interview partners and one for male interview partners. If I have a
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female interview partner, just female actors are representing one of the dimensions. If I have a
male interview partner, just male actors are used. In detail, Martin and Miriam are representing
the ecological sustainability, Lukas and Lisa the economical one, and Philipp and Pia the social
one. All actors work for the fictive start-up FeelGoodLife. The main product of this start-up is
a foldable coffee mug. For three years the start-up has been offering with product on the market,
and for two years they have been in the black financially. The coffee mugs of this start-up are
foldable and leakproof, which mean that they fit into almost any bag. By using these foldable
coffee mugs, the coffee consumer can reduce their consumption of paper cups. The overall aim
of the founding team of the start-up FeelGoodLife is to make important daily life products and
elements more sustainable by focused product development.
Before beginning to talk about the trilemma situation, each interview partner had some time to
read the trilemma scenario and the statement of each representative of a sustainability aspect.
What’s important here is that only the names of the representatives were mentioned on the paper,
not the aspect they were representing. I decided to hide the sustainability aspect each person is
representing to avoid ecological sustainability bias. According to Binder (2013) many people
have a strong ecological sustainability bias and forget about the other sustainability aspects. I
attempted therefore to illustrate each sustainability dimension equally whilst letting the actor
speak about his/her statement, but not giving it a certain title.
The first question I always asked is that the interview participant must decide which statement
he or she agrees and why. After this I started to challenge the interview participant’s opinion,
highlight the trilemma scenario and ask for possible cooperations between the three different
actors.
To sum it up, one can say that the newly developed trilemma interview consists of three parts,
namely a short problem-centered interview, the trilemma interview (main part) and the personal
data query.
After explaining the applied interview technique, I want to mention that all the interviews were
conducted in German, were documented by recording with a dictation machine and a
smartphone and were transcribed. The applied material and guideline for the interview,
including the trilemma scenario, can be found in Appendix B and C of this thesis. In total six
interviews were held, with 5 men and 1 woman. It was planned to have an equal distribution of
men/women as interview partners, but because of schedule and contact difficulties this
composition of interview participants took place as described. In the following I briefly
introduce the six interview partners I had. All of them dispense with anonymity.
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The first interview I carried out was with Mr. Bittlinger, who is the representative of the
business development department of the town of Murnau and is responsible for the organization
and development of the IQ Murnau. He is 43 years old and living close to the town of Murnau.
As mentioned several times previously, Mr. Bittlinger has been my key contact for the data
collection at the IQ Murnau.
After this I talked with Ms. Hornauer, who is a fashion designer and is renting a room at the IQ
Murnau. Currently she is building up an in-house textile production team together with other
people working at the IQ Murnau. She is 44 years old and living close to Murnau.
The next interview was conducted by me with Mr. Feldmeier, who also is a fashion designer
and head of the Beetfield start-up located at the IQ Murnau. He is 31 years old and living close
to Murnau.
I also had the chance to interview Mr. Beuting, who is the Mayor of the town Murnau, co-
founder of the IQ Murnau and together with the municipal council and Mr. Bittlinger
responsible for the IQ Murnau. He is 50 years old and living in Murnau.
The fifth interview I did was with Mr. Langer, who is self-employed, renting a room at the IQ
and producing synthesizer. He is 52 years old and living in Murnau.
With Mr. Horschig I conducted the sixth interview. He is head of the company Sozialagentur
Oberbayern, which is located at the IQ Murnau. He is 43 years old and living in Murnau.
To summarise, half of the interview participants are living directly in Murnau, the other half
close to Murnau. The interview participants are aged between 31 and 52 and all of them have a
reference to the IQ Murnau.
4.3 Data Analysis
The research design I have chosen for the data analysis is the critical discourse analysis
according to Gee (2014). I have decided to use this type of discourse analysis, because the goal
of this approach is to describe and critically reflect on the issues which are mentioned in the
discourse I focus on, such as content linked to social or political issues. Some people have even
gone so far as to say that “all discourse analysis needs to be critical, not because discourse
analysts are or need to be political, but because language itself is […] political.” (Gee 2014: 9).
In addition to that, the language the people use worldwide to sustain and build their world,
institutions and cultures is always politically influenced. Using this method of discourse
analysis helps to discover the current issues and problems in certain fields, locally or worldwide.
(Gee 2014)
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In the critical discourse analysis I conduct, both the deductive and inductive approach are used.
For the analysis of the written form of the observation and for the one of the transcribed
trilemma interviews I use the same method. The following framing categories of the discourse
analysis are fixed: Connections, Politics and Practices, which are taken from the critical
discourse analysis by Gee (2014). The concept of this discourse analysis is described in the
following.
As Gee (2014) recommends, in the discourse analysis I focus on the recipient orientation. The
whos and whats are the central elements of the analysis according to Gee (2014). He describes
the who as “socially-situated identity, the ‘kind of person’ one is seeking to be and enact here
and now.” (Gee 2014: 47). In addition to that a what is seen as “a socially-situated practice or
activity that the utterance helps to constitute or carry out.” (Gee 2014: 47). What is important
here is the fact that “not just individuals, but also institutions, through the ‘anonymous’ texts
and products they circulate, can author or issue ‘utterances’.” (Gee 2014: 48). Furthermore, the
who and what can hardly be separated: “You are who you are partly through what you are doing
and what you are doing is partly recognized for what it is by who is doing it.” (Gee 2014: 48).
As a result, Gee (2014) suggest to always focus on the who-doing-what aspect when
undertaking the discourse analysis.
All the time, when one writes or speaks, he or she is building several areas of reality, which
Gee (2014) calls building tasks of language. Gee (2014) developed seven building tasks, but in
my thesis, I only focus on three of them, namely connections, politics and practices, which are
in my point of view the central categories when doing research about start-ups located at the
periphery. All three categories are important aspects in the entrepreneurship and sustainability
field.
The first category I briefly want to illustrate is connection. Building connections is something
we do every day, because “we use language to render certain things connected or relevant (or
not) to other things” (Gee 2014: 35). If things seem to be connected too strongly to each other,
it is also possible to use language to weaken this link (Gee 2014). Here possible discourse
questions could be: “How does this piece of language connect or disconnect things; how it
makes one thing relevant or irrelevant to another?” (Gee 2014: 35).
The second category I use is politics, which Gee (2014) also describes as the distribution of
social goods. By using language, one can convey a specific perspective on what social good
can look like, which means that they share an opinion on what is acceptable, good or normal.
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This perspective on social goods can count for the whole society or just a part of it. To ask for
content related to politics, one can use the following questions: “What perspective on social
goods is this piece of language communicating? What is taken to be ‘normal’, ‘right’, ‘good’?”
(Gee 2014: 34-35). (Gee 2014)
The category practices, which is the third one I apply, Gee (2014) describes as activities. The
category practice means “socially recognized and institutionally or culturally supported
endeavor that usually involves sequencing or combining actions in certain specified ways.”
(Gee 2014: 32). The people enact practice by saying or doing something and communicate this
with language. As a result, one can say that using language means to constitute practices.
However, if these practices are new and unknown, they would have no meaning. How can new
practices be generated then? It occurs often that “new practices are variants of the old ones,
ones people have changed or transformed for new purposes.” (Gee 2014: 33). In addition to
that, the context is also influencing the shaping and generating of practices. In my point of
view personal attributes of the persons undertaking the activities also have an impact on the
generating of practices. The discourse analysis question for this category could be: “What
practice (activity) or practices (activities) is this piece of language being used to enact (i.e., get
others to recognize as going on)?” (Gee 2014: 32). (Gee 2014)
As I have previously mentioned, for both the analysis of the written form of the observation
analysis and of the transcribed interviews I use the same approach. In detail, I have created one
excel workbook including both the transcribed interviews and observation analysis. Each
category represents one excel sheet. There are six columns for the six interview I conducted
and one column for the observation analysis. As a result, each excel sheet consists of the same
number of columns, namely seven, for the transcribed interviews and the observation analysis.
The work process of coding is important for my data analysis. I call the assignment of codes to
text segments coding, as it is used in MAXQDA, a software for qualitative and mixed methods
research (MAXQDA 2018).
On the one hand I apply the deductive approach, because the categories for the analysis are
given and are the framework of the analysis and the following elaboration. Each category is
aimed at containing several codes which are illustrating the different aspects of the category.
On the other hand, for the creation of the codes I apply the inductive approach, which is
according to Newsome (2016) observational and theoretical, because “inductions are based on
real observations.” (Newsome 2016: 18). What is important here is the fact that “unlike
deductions, inductions cannot be deterministic.” (Newsome 2016: 159), because the “induction
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is a proposition suggested by an individual observation.” (Newsome 2016: 159). It would be
possible to deduct codes from the given categories and then try to assign the resultant contents
to the deducted codes. However, in my point of view this is limiting the findings and provides
no deeper insights in the entrepreneurship and sustainability field of my case selection. Because
“logical deductions from categorial propositions are always deterministic” (Newsome 2016:
158), only applying the deductive approach is limiting the field and specifying the possible
outcome of the analysis. One could argue that because I apply the deductive approach for the
selection of the categories, the coding is both deductive and inductive, because of the given
categories the possible field of codes is narrowed down. In addition to this, the codes I have
generated by analyzing one interview may be used for the other interviews as well. In practice,
I use one excel sheet for each category, which means that I use the same excel sheet for every
interview or the observation analysis. For example, I have coded interview 1 and different codes
can be found now in category 1. When I start coding interview 2, I already know the codes of
interview 1. Therefore, it may happen that I come up with the same codes as in interview 1 or
create new ones. This means that the codes are both inductive and deductive, because the
knowledge of the already generated codes may influence the analysis of the other material. As
a result, the discourse analysis I conduct both apply the deductive and inductive approach.
Because the interviews were conducted in German and the observation analysis was undertaken
in German as well, the codes were written in German and later translated into English. I want
to note here that is was easier for the work progress to do the coding in German. However, the
translation of the codes into English includes the danger of losing the exact meaning of the code.
To avoid any translation gap, I mention both the German code and the English translation for
it and later only the German code.
The critical discourse I conduct is based on the explanation by Gee (2014) who describes certain
tasks which must be done and pregiven categories which are to be used for the analysis. As I
have developed a new interview technique, the trilemma interview, which consists of the
combination of a problem-centered interview and a further developed dilemma interview, I
have created a fourth category that I apply for the discourse analysis. Based on the research
about entrepreneurship and sustainability, I have devised with the idea that there may exist a
trilemma in the sustainability field. As a result, one could argue that the topic sustainability is
one main element of the interviews I conducted. I decided therefore to add a fourth, being my
own developed category to the discourse analysis categories I apply and call it sustainability.
One can see this fourth category as a further development of the category connection describe
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by Gee (2014). The questions that I apply for asking in this category are: How does this piece
of language connect or disconnect things to sustainability (Gee 2014)? What is correct in the
field of sustainability (Gee 2014)? One special feature of this sustainability category is the fact
that I apply five pregiven codes for the analysis: Soziale Nachhaltigkeit/Social sustainability;
Ökologische Nachhaltigkeit/ecological sustainability; Ökonomische Nachhatltigkeit/economic
sustainability; Definition Nachhaltigkeit/definition of sustainability; Nachhaltigkeit im
IQ/sustainability at the IQ; (Binder 2013). The reason for adding five pregiven codes to the
newly developed category is the fact that the trilemma interview focuses on an assumed
trilemma in the sustainability field (see description of the trilemma interview, chapter 4.2). As
previously described, I apply the deductive approach, because the fourth category is derived
from the research I did about entrepreneurship and sustainability and use three given codes for
the analysis. As the interviews I carried out are based on a guideline and the trilemma-interview,
one could argue that several other codes are pre-given. These codes are: Konzept IQ/IQ concept,
Eigenschaften Start-up/Characterisics of start-ups, Eigenschaften Gründer/characteristics of
founder.
However, I also apply the inductive approach, because the other codes (excluding the three
pregiven codes) are generated when doing the analysis. To be able to get good results it is
advisable to use the same method for the analysis of the conducted interviews and observations.
Therefore, I apply the same critical discourse method, including the same four categories, for
analysis of both the interview transcripts and written down observation.
In conclusion, one can say that by looking at the fourth category I apply, it is clearly illustrated
that I both apply the deductive and inductive approach when doing the critical discourse
analysis. In my point of view, it has been necessary to create the fourth category sustainability,
to be able to get precise results of the analysis of the interviews and observations undertaken.
When doing a discourse analysis, this doesn’t mean that one is describing a given status quo
which isn’t changing. On the contrary, “Discourses have no discrete boundaries because people
are always, in history, creating new Discourses, changing old ones, and contesting and pushing
the boundaries of Discourses.” (Gee 2014: 55). Language is always developing; therefore, the
discourse is also doing so. As a result, “Discourses are always defined in relationships of
complicity and contestation with other Discourses, and so they change when other Discourses
in a society emerge or die.” (Gee 2014: 56). This understanding of discourses has an impact on
the results of my data analysis, because it means that I illustrate a discourse according to the
framework I have designed and the information I gained by the coding. However, the critical
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discourse analysis I conduct doesn’t consist of claims to absoluteness and can be changed and
challenged any time. As only selected texts, which are small, were used for the discourse
analysis, in my point of view the discourse analysis I conducted should be called a simplified
critical discourse analysis. (Gee 2014)
The codes, including the three pregiven ones, are in German, because all used documents are
written in German. Afterwards, when having a look on the results, I translated the codes into
English. The codes are listed in a table (Excel sheet) below the category these belong to. On the
horizontal axis one can find the different sources (interviews/observation), on the vertical axis
the generated codes (see Appendix D). For example, when one interview partner A is talking
about different development possibilities, this content belongs to the code development
possibilities (row 1) and to interview Partner A (column 1). As previously mentioned, for each
category I use one Excel sheet (see Appendix D). Therefore, the number of codes in each
category vary.
I want to also mention that within my thesis I focus on undertaking a qualitative research. This
means that the results aren’t measured by quantitative methods, though it would be possible to
do so, for example by counting the frequency of the codes. However, because of the short-term
nature of the observation analysis I did and the limited number of interviews I was able to
undertake, I can’t make general statements about the topic. Furthermore, it may be the case that
the status quo at the IQ Murnau has already changed in another direction than it was when I
collected the data. As a result, I prefer applying the qualitative research methods in the chosen
case and topic. The codes I generated are content-focused. Syntax, type of words, and so on,
are not part of my analysis.
Doing a discourse analysis does not mean that one is reflecting reality in a simple way. However,
one can argue that a discourse analysis is valid, but “some analyses are more or less valid than
others. Furthermore, validity is never ‘once and for all’. All analysis is open to further
discussion and dispute” (Gee 2014: 141). One main characteristic of a discourse analysis is to
have a look at how language “at a given time and place, is used to engage in the seven building
blocks tasks” (Gee 2014: 140). As previously mentioned, I have decided to use only three of
the seven building blocks and categories described by Gee (2014) and have come up with a
forth building block/category, namely sustainability. (Gee 2014)
One can describe the discourse analysis as an interpretation, as it focuses on people in specific
contexts. By applying the discourse analysis as a method, one tries to interpret the interpretive
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work done by people in one of these specific contexts, which illustrates that it is “an
interpretation of an interpretation” (Gee 2014: 141). This should not mean that one who
undertakes this discourse analysis is showing his/her opinion on something or is only applying
the subjective approach. In addition to this a discourse analysis cannot be described as correct
or true. The validity of the discourse analysis is socially generated and may work in one context
but is not applicable in other ones. (Gee 2014).
The aim of this discourse analysis is to describe how sustainability and sustainable
entrepreneurship is represented at the IQ Murnau. In addition to this, I want to illustrate how
the IQ Murnau is seen and described by the people who are involved in it to learn more about
the characteristics of such a project. The observation analysis I have conducted helps also in
applying a different perspective on it, a perspective of a person who isn’t involved in the project.
Furthermore, by applying this discourse analysis, I describe the potentials and difficulties of
start-ups located at the periphery and the significance of start-ups and entrepreneurship for the
implementation of sustainability aspects in both the economy and society. The context in which
the discourse analysis takes place is the one of the IQ. In detail, the context I refer to consists
of the interview participants I had and the people who were present when I carried out the
observation analysis.
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5. Results
Due to the amount of codes generated by me, I have decided to group the codes within each
category, if it is possible. As I only want to focus on the content the codes are related with, I try
to collect codes which are similar in content, to make the presentation of the results more
understandable. I do not name the groups. It is just a tool to help with the illustration of the
results. In detail, for example in the category connections, the codes
Unabhängikgeit/independence and Vereinbarkeit mit der Familie/compatibility with family
represent one group and include similar issues as being able to work independently as well as
freely managing family and work. When I introduce a new code, first I mention the German
wording and add the English translation. Later, if I use the code again, I only apply the German
name of the code. In addition to this, it doesn’t matter whether the code or content is from the
interviews or the observation analysis. Also, who said what isn’t of importance here because of
the limited number of representatives for each social group such as politician, founder and so
on. I try to show a tendency one can find at the IQ and the different opinions and actions of the
persons involved in that project. As a result, I cannot explain every code in each category, but
try to describe the ones, which in my point of view are difficult to understand or too broad.
In the following I illustrate the results of the previously prescribed data analysis which I planned
to undertake. At first, I show all the codes within each of the four categories. Later, I compare
the codes of the different categories and highlight similarities and differences between the
categories and relevant codes. It may be the case that one code is used in several categories.
This phenomenon is also described and explained. All the content which is illustrated in the
following is based on the transcribed interviews/observation analysis, an example for the data
analysis is shown in Appendix D.
The first category I have a look on is connections which includes codes that illustrate what is
by language relevant or irrelevant (Gee 2014), mainly regarding the topics IQ, entrepreneurship
and sustainability in general, and sustainable entrepreneurship. The codes IQ-Gemeinde
Murnau/IQ-municipality Murnau, IQ-München/IQ-Munich, IQ-Region/IQ-region and Da
Sein/Being Here represent one group within this category and highlight the impact of the IQ on
the surroundings of the IQ. Here it is important to note the fact that the IQ does not only has an
impact on the society at Murnau and the close surroundings, but also on Munich which is circa
80 km away (Seiler 2017). Only one negative aspect of the IQ is mentioned, the rest is all
positive. The negative aspect is that as a founder/start-up one must deal with the problem of
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having too many different directions to choose from to acquire customers. This is, because not
only Munich is close to Murnau, also Innsbruck in Tyrol isn’t that far away either. For example,
some of the renter/founder located at the IQ mention that they like the short distance of Murnau
to Munich, which makes it possible to also have projects in Munich for several days and weeks
of the year. Currently a textile production is built up by several founder/start-ups located at the
IQ. The aim of this project is to create new jobs for people living in the region. This also has
an impact on the relation of IQ and the region/Murnau. Another aspect which is important is
being present at the IQ, at the daily life practices there. If a renter/founder is not present
regularly at the IQ, there is no possibility to rent a room there. However, there exists no definite
definition as to what being present regularly exactly means, whether it is one day per week or
per month, or something else.
The codes Standortvorteile Murnau/locational advantages of Murnau and Lokale
Währung/local currency formed one group because of the focus on local potential. These two
are in the category connections, because they deal with the topic of what is relevant/irrelevant
when talking about the IQ and similar themes. Interview partners both from politics and the
start-up field mention the beautiful view one has of the Alps whilst at the IQ. Furthermore,
Murnau is seen as an attractive location. Also, the idea exists of the creation of a separate local
currency which can be used within the IQ instead of just paying money for offered services
such as website support, and so on.
Looking more on the business aspect, the codes Kurze Wege (Kommunikation)/short ways
(communication) and Kundennähe/customer proximity deal with that topic regarding what is
relevant here. When doing observation at the IQ, founders at the IQ highlighted that when
talking with visitors and customers, the opportunity to have a talk face-to face with them is
advantageous compared to communicating with them on the telephone or by internet. In detail,
the IQ is described as a place that offers space for conversation and discussion with all important
players in the economy in and around Murnau. Furthermore, because there are many people
working in the IQ who deal with different topics, there also exists opportunity of finding help
just next door in the IQ because of the short distance and open-door mentality practised there.
Also relevant in this context is the moral aspect, which the codes Guter Wille/goodwill,
Engagement/engagement and Menschlichkeit/humanity have as a similarity. The code Guter
Wille describes the incentive for running a start-up as being not focused on earning money, but
on changing something. It can also mean to try and to combine ecological and economic
cooperation. This means that it doesn’t need to be more expensive to produce ecologically.
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According to some renters at the IQ, instead of focusing on power, control and fear, humanity
should be the most important element at the IQ.
The codes Geist von Zusammenwirken/Spirit of interaction, Social Connecting/social
connecting, Gemeinsame Vereinbarung für alle im IQ/collective agreement for all at the IQ,
Partnerschaftlichkeit/partnership and Offenheit/openness are relevant for the daily business at
the IQ Murnau and have the communality as familiarity. The interview partners mention
different things regarding the code Geist von Zusammenwirken. For example, they suggest that
only people who want to work on something together and not just working by themselves
separately are at the IQ. Also, a renter representative group has created a tenant’s association
to represent the opinion of the tenants at the IQ when it comes to a discussion with the
politicians who are involved in the IQ project. The code Offenheit stands for openness of the
people at the IQ when it comes to a conversation, whether it is about their work, the situation
at the IQ or the political situation at Murnau.
As previously mentioned, the codes Unabhängigkeit and Vereinbarkeit mit Familie both
include the preference to manage the work-life balance independently. However, the code
Unabhängigkeit focuses on different aspects of independence. During the observation analysis
it was mentioned by several people who were at the IQ that they would prefer to have an IQ
which is independent from the politicians and municipal council. Also, the economical aspect
is part of this code, because in one interview with a founder it is stated that the overall goal of
this start-up is to be able to produce everything, the whole product, at the IQ.
Working with the category connection, which is aimed in general at answering the question
about what is relevant and irrelevant, also knowledge appears to be important in the field of
entrepreneurship and at the IQ. The codes Blickwinkel des Konsumenten/customer’s perspective,
Information/information, Marktkenntnis/market knowledge and Marketing/marketing has the
need for knowledge about specific elements and in general as similarity. One interview
participant highlights the code Blickwinkel des Konsumenten, because the interviewee thinks
that the customer strives to believe in the product and firm/start-up presentation. Therefore, it
is important to know what the customer sees as belief in this regard. Together in the observation
analysis and the interviews the people living in Munich are mentioned as potential customer at
the town Murnau and the IQ. As one interview partner describes it, the inhabitants from Munich
enjoy visiting the town of Murnau because of its closeness to the mountains and the lake
Staffelsee. Whilst there they love to buy local and sustainable products in Murnau. The codes
Marktkenntis and Marketing has in common that both are only working well when the
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founder/start-ups know which market they want to enter, or whether they must create a new
market. The example of the sustainability market is mentioned in one of the interviews. If there
is just a small sustainability market, it seems to be difficult to enter this market with a
sustainable product, as the customer number may be too little to survive as a start-up. The
marketing strategy, as it is said in the interviews, must be based on the market expertise.
Without market expertise, it is likely to fail.
The codes Konkurrenz//competition and Abgeschiedenheit/isolation focus on contrasting
aspects. One of the interview partners mentions a competition within the IQ, which means in
detail that some parts within the IQ are well developed already, and some aren’t. As a result, it
appears to exist that a competition, whether it is big or small, between the founder/renter at the
IQ, takes place. However, in the observation analysis one can see that whilst being at the IQ, it
is always very quiet and empty especially on the upper floors. Some doors are open, some aren’t.
As a visitor, one could have the impression that because of the quiet atmosphere at the IQ, there
is no competition at all.
The IQ is based on a concept, the code Konzept IQ/IQ concept is deducted from the interview
guideline, therefore it is in every interview transcript. The code IQ Selbstpräsentation/IQ self-
presentation has similarities with the code Konzept IQ but is derived from the observation
analysis and therefore focuses on the visitor’s impression of the IQ. As written in the
observation analysis, the IQ presents itself as not being designed for visitors. This is mainly due
to very few signs making it hard to navigate within the IQ, especially on the upper floors. The
code Konzept IQ includes content such as a concept of culture-and creativity business, working
together with firms located in the region, always changing and developing, being paid by the
tax payer, and not being forever.
What is also relevant at the IQ and for the involved persons as well, is the aspect age, which
means that the code Alter/age is also a key element when looking at sustainable
entrepreneurship and the situation at the IQ. In one of the interviews, the interviewee describes
the IQ as a place for young people who want to try out self-employment and to obtain help from
people located at the IQ, for example in writing business plans. But also, the opposite is
mentioned, and older people are at the IQ as well, mainly because they no longer want to work
as employee for a company, because of the mobbing against older people they had to face there.
Another incentive, which is linked to age, is that some founder at the IQ want to work
sustainably and produce sustainably. As this wasn’t possible in their old job, they quit and
started their own business to overcome the economical thinking and start something new.
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Second, the codes in the category politics are represented in the following. The question to ask
for this category and to generate codes focuses on what is communicated as ‘normal’, ‘correct’
and ‘false’. A perspective on social goods is also part of this category. (Gee 2014).
What’s special in this category is that a group of codes focuses on a specific person, Ulrich
Bittlinger, who is representative of the business development at the town Murnau. This group
consists of the codes Hr. Ulrich Bittlinger/Mr. Ulrich Bittlinger, Uli Bittlinger als Zentraler
Knotenpunkt/Uli Bittlinger as central node, One-Man-Show/one-man-show and Persönliche
Probleme/personal problems. All codes have as a central element Mr. Bittlinger, both in the
interviews and the observation analysis. Some of the founders I had an interview with mention
the name Mr. Bittlinger when it comes to the realization of their ideas, for example the building
up of the textile production at the IQ. The office of Mr. Bittlinger is at the entrance floor of the
IQ, which means in practice that every visitor or renter at the IQ must pass by Mr. Bittlinger’s
office. Because the IQ building was a hospital in former times, Mr. Bittlinger’s office is now in
the rooms which was the front desk in former times. It has therefore a central position in the
building. In the observation analysis one can see that some of the founders/renters at the IQ
have personal problems with Mr. Bittlinger, which may cause conflicts between the renters at
the IQ because the renters have a different relationship with Mr. Bittlinger. Currently Mr.
Bittlinger has the only power in deciding whether a founder/start-up/renter at the IQ can stay
or need to leave the IQ. If one has an idea and Mr. Bittlinger likes it, it is probably realized. Mr.
Bittlinger is my key contact at the IQ. Here I want to mention that the situation at the IQ may
have changed already, for example concerning the decision-making power of Mr. Bittlinger.
What is presented here is a snapshot of the situation when I carried out my data collection.
What fits to some extent to the previously described group of codes are the following ones:
Abmachungen/agreements, Leader/leader and Generalschlüssel/master key. In some of the
interviews, it is mentioned that Mr. Bittlinger has the master key for all the rooms at the IQ.
Furthermore, as one can see in the observation analysis, Mr. Bittlinger is the only one who
decides on who can stay at the IQ or get a room, which is one characteristics of leadership.
Agreements with Mr. Bittlinger are loose, this means that being on time isn’t common practice
at the IQ, as it is mentioned in the observation analysis.
The codes IQ Familiy/IQ family and IQ Community/IQ community are almost the same. The
renters at the IQ call themselves IQ family and welcome you with ‘Willkommen in der IQ
Family/Welcome to the IQ family’. The code IQ community includes the aspect that there exists
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an unspoken role distribution in meetings of the renter. In the observation analysis these
meetings seem to be organized, as it is in a community which consists of different members.
Whether it is a start-up or a company, there is a difference between the meaning of the codes
Insolvenz/bankruptcy and Scheitern/failure. Failing can be both positive and negative, it
depends whether it is a start-up or a company. As a start-up one can fail, that’s ok, because one
can get experiences through that. However, when it is a company, there is no failing, only
bankruptcy is possible.
According to some of the interviews, the codes Kündigung/termination and
Dauermieter/permanent tenant are seen as good/ok at the IQ. According to one of the
interviews, being a permanent tenant is only possible if the product and service one offers is a
so-called basic-service every start-up or founder needs, for example website technologies.
However, in reality, the situation is different. For artists, as an example, it may be the case that
they must leave after three years, because the opinion exists that artists can then work
somewhere else. Also, terminations are taking place at the IQ, voluntarily and non-voluntarily.
Branches are of importance when having a look on what is ‘correct’ or ‘good’ at the IQ and in
the field of sustainable entrepreneurship. The codes Branchenvielfalt/variety of industries,
Branchenhierarchie/hierachy of industries and Standortfaktoren Murnau/Region/location
factors of Murnau/region have in common that they all highlight the importance and influence
of specific industries. At the IQ, as already mentioned in the code Konzept IQ, the focus is set
on the culture-and creativity industries, as politicians are saying, too. Those who do not belong
to this specific kind of business, for him/her it is difficult to rent a room at the IQ Murnau. The
co-working space at the IQ represents an area where people who are also working in other fields
can find a place to stay at the IQ. What sounds contradictory, is the fact that currently the head
of the business development is directly addressing people from specific industries such as SEO-
Management (SEO= Search Engine Optimization) or Content Management to work at the IQ.
The question which arises here is whether these two industries belong to the aforementioned
culture-and creativity-businesses which ought to be at the IQ. This is a point of discussion
within the people involved in the IQ project and working there. For some of the renters at the
IQ the location factors of Murnau aren’t that important anymore.
In the category politics, the two codes Eigenschaften Start-up/start-up characteristics and
Eigenschaften Gründer/founder characteristics are also deducted from the interview guideline.
The inductive created code Eigenschaften Junge Unternehmer/characteristics of a young
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entrepreneur fits to these two codes, because all three codes include specific aspects as to how
a founder, young enterprise or start-up should be like. As a result, all of the interview
participants have a specific idea in mind as to how at least two of them should be. In the
interviews, some people describe the start-up and founder as something similar, some see
differences. If these two aren’t the same, the following are attributes for start-ups and founder.
Start-ups consist of several people, who are young and dynamic, have innovative ideas,
everything is new for them and to fail as a start-up is widely accepted. Founder, sometimes
described by the interview partners as entrepreneurs (‚Existenzgründer‘), have planned their
business seriously, but can be young as well. There is a difference whether the founder is
working at the periphery of a big city, in the countryside or in a city. Founders of different
industries are located in the countryside and the digital industry seems to be rare there. Young
enterprises or companies have the characteristic that they haven’t come up with a new idea,
product or service, they have just started a business with an already known
business/service/product and further developed this business.
In the category politics, political codes also play a role. The codes Wirtschaftsförderung auf
kommnaler Ebene/business development on the municipal level, Start-up-und
Gründerförderung auf höheren politischen Ebenen/promotion of start-ups and founder on
higher political/state level, Gemeinderat und Politik in Murnau/municipal council and politics
in Murnau and Mietervertretung/tenant association shape the daily life business of start-ups
and founder in Murnau and at the IQ. The tenant association’s tasks are to represent the opinion
of the tenants of rooms at the IQ and to actively decide on the further development of the IQ.
As a result, the tenant association is described as a counterpart to the municipal council of
Murnau who is, together with the mayor of Murnau and the head of the business development,
responsible for the IQ project. The municipal council may change when there is a new election,
therefore the interests and decisions of it, also about the IQ at Murnau, may also change as well,
depending on the elections which take place every six years. It is mentioned in the interviews,
that the concept and development of the IQ Murnau strongly depends on the politics/politicians
of Murnau. In one of the interviews, regarding the municipal promotion of start-ups, the task of
Mr. Bittlinger, who is responsible for the expansion opportunities of start-ups located at the IQ,
is mentioned. If a start-up/business at the IQ needs more space, Mr. Bittlinger supports them to
find a new place for the start-up somewhere else in the region. Some of the start-ups located at
the IQ wish to obtain more support from the German state for their work, because in Germany,
the state financially supports students during their studies.
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Because there are various people involved in the IQ, it isn’t surprising that regarding what is
‘correct’ or ‘good’, especially when looking at sustainable entrepreneurship, the codes
Fairness/fairness and Mehrwert/added value appear. The added value for both the IQ and the
surroundings is understood by this.
The code Unisex/unisex is represented by the fact that all the toilets at the IQ are for both men
and women, which shapes the daily life practices at the IQ. The code Landleben/life on the
countryside is also an element of the daily life practices
A common good at the IQ is the MakerLab, therefore in the category politics the code
MakerLab/MakerLab occurs. Both visitors and renter/people working at the IQ see the history
of the building as common good as well, which leads to the code Geschichte/history.
As it is present in society, the interviewees also highlight the differences between the
entrepreneur and the employee, therefore the codes Der erfolgreiche Unternehmer/the
successful entrepreneur and Der Angestellte/the employee are part of the category politics. The
interviewed persons describe the employee as having a work routine and having to follow
specific pregiven rules, but also having free time. The successful entrepreneur ideally has both
a good idea and a good business plan, needs passion and has no strict distinction of work and
private life. What is interesting here, is the fact that only the positive code Der erfolgreiche
Unternehmer occurs, but not the negative one.
The third category practices includes codes that describe and illustrate activities and practices
which are enacted (Gee 2014), at the IQ Murnau and, related to that, in the field of sustainable
entrepreneurship. The codes Netzwerk/network. Städtisches Netzwork/urban network,
Ländliches Netzwerk/rural network and Synergien/synergies includes aspects of teamwork,
conversations on a regular basis and different constellations of cooperation, depending on the
location. The network one can find at the IQ the interview partners describe as being a socially
sustainable one, they see the IQ as a potential centre for labour and business issues in the region.
Synergies are possible at the IQ because of the different industries, especially at the co-
workings spaces, one can find at the IQ. Currently there are already many people working
together who run their business at the IQ. The idea is that the more people are working together,
the more benefit for each of them is created. If one compares the urban network with the rural
one, different advantages and disadvantages of each network occur. The rural network, such as
the IQ, has the advantage that it provides shorter ways of communication, fast contact
possibilities and growing capacities, especially for businesses at the IQ. On the opposite side,
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the urban network, which one can find for example in Munich, has the benefit of having more
people involved in it, which means that there is more offer for workshops, conferences, and so
on. However, disadvantages of an urban network are the time-consuming communication and
the overload of contacts and communication opportunities. The rural network’s disadvantage is
the strong and long-term relation between the members who know each other for a long time
already and prefer each other. As a result, it might be the case that acting discretely or hiding
information isn’t possible, for example at the IQ, where also politicians are involved in the
project.
The codes Erfolgsdruck/pressure for success and Effiziens/efficiency shape the daily life at the
IQ and influence the entrepreneurship practices. One of the interviewees highlights that the
municipal council of Murnau who is also in charge of the IQ, has as overall topic the renters’
monetary profit. As a result, one can say that it seems that Murnau’s municipal council focuses
on monetary issues in its practices, having the tax payers’ interests in mind. Since February
2018, target agreement discussion with all of the renters take place at the IQ. The representative
of the business development, Mr. Bittlinger, holds the talks with every tenant at the IQ Murnau.
As a result, efficiency is also of importance for the start-ups, founder and entrepreneurs at the
IQ Murnau, because there are different stakeholders who are involved in the IQ project, such
as the politicians. However, some of the interview partners mention that because of the special
organizational form of the IQ, where the politicians have an important impact on the project,
there is also the benefit of having more time to develop as a start-up and founder. The politics,
for example the municipal council of Murnau, has a more stable basis for investments than for
example large companies. Regarding the code Effizienz, the overall goal of the start-ups and
founder located at the IQ should be to focus on long-term oriented business and on short-term
benefits, this aspect is highlighted in two of the interviews.
The codes Kontinuierliche Weiterentwicklung/continuous development,
Entwicklungsförderung/development promotion, Coaching-System/coaching-system and
Digitalisierung/digitalization illustrate the importance of development. Both in the observation
analysis and the interviews the cheap rental fee at the IQ is one of the driving forces to start a
business at the IQ. The interviewees describe the IQ as a place which creates space for
development, creativity and to try something. However, some of the interview partners mention
that they prefer a common, overall goal at the IQ all the people who are running their business
there are striving for.
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As it has previously been mentioned, the codes Zusammenarbeit Wirtschaft-Poltik/cooperation
of politics and economy and Standortfaktoren Mrunau/locational factors of Murnau influence
the practices at the IQ. In that context, as the interview participants describe it in the interviews,
the locational factors of Murnau are the manageable size and rurality of the municipality
Murnau, the history of Murnau and the potential for space.
Having a look on the start-up and founder reality, the codes Schwierigkeiten in der
Anfangsphase/problems in the starting period, Gründungen/foundations and
Eigeninitiative/self-initiative relate to practices, which take place at the IQ. One owner of a
start-up describes in the interview that sale is the most important and most difficult thing a start-
up needs to do, especially at the outset. It can depend on the location where new companies are
built up. One of the interview partners highlights that on the rural area more companies related
to classical businesses such as caretaking are established. On-the spot production is seen as
helpful for young start-ups, as well as not listening to all the advice given in at the outset by
experienced people. As one can read in the observation analysis, self-initiative at the IQ is
needed, because the head of the business development, Mr. Bittlinger, is from time to time
difficult to contact.
In the category practices, the codes Authentizität/authenticity, Ganzheitlichkeit/holistic nature
and Außenwirkung/external impact have in common a pre-given concept that influences the
daily life practices at the IQ, and the practices in the field of sustainable entrepreneurship, that
are realized at the IQ. Two of the interview partners highlight the fact of the consumer’s
perspective when looking at the product. If it is a sustainable product, it is essential that both
the whole process of producing this product and the situation for the employees at this firm is
sustainable, especially regarding economical and ecological issues.
Even if they sound paradox, the codes Strategie/strategy, Lockerheit/looseness and
Fluktuation/turnover relate to practices which ideally should happen at the same time at the IQ,
and in sustainable enterprises. In the observation analysis, looseness describes the loose
handling of appointments and tasks. Currently the IQ is full, therefore a turnover rate is
recommendable to be able to focus on a certain strategy and to use different potential.
In June an open-house day took place at the IQ, therefore there is also a code IQ-Besucher/IQ-
visitor. As one can read it in the observation analysis, the majority of the visitors are over 45
years old, from the surroundings and Munich, and male. Here I want to note that the situation
may be different at other events/days at the IQ.
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The fourth and last category sustainability is derived from the research about sustainability and
Gee’s seven category connection (Binder 2013, Gee 2014). It focuses on aspects which are
related to sustainability.
In comparison to the other codes, which are inductively created, the following five codes are
deducted from the research and interview guideline: Definition Nachhaltigkeit/sustainability
definition, Ökonomische Nachhaltigkeit/economical Sustainability, Ökologische
Nachhaltigkeit/ecological sustainability, Soziale Nachhaltigkeit/social sustainability and
Nachhaltigkeit – IQ/Sustainability-IQ. In the interviews, they describe sustainability as
producing something without damaging or influencing something negatively, focusing on more
than just the short run profit and to be 100% sure about what one is doing.
Regarding the ecological sustainability, the interviewees have contrary opinions, for some of
them the ecological sustainability is the most important thing to focus on, for others it is the
economical sustainability or the social sustainability. There is no consensus about what the most
important sustainability aspect is, it depends on different circumstances and variables. The
persons who see ecological sustainability in first place argue that this ecological aspect has been
ignored too long and needs more awareness. For them, nature is the most important thing we
have on earth, and the resources are limited and rapidly declining. In addition to that, focusing
on ecological sustainability, may influence positively the economical aspects such as growth
and profit. For example, reducing water pollution can positively influence the marketing
strategy of a firm. For some of the interview partner, founder and start-up, the sustainability
aspect is the foundation of their whole business and influences every strategy or decision. In
contrast, one interview partner sees the economical sustainability as the most important,
because without efficiency of the business, continuous and linear growth, it may be difficult to
survive as a start-up or firm, especially at the outset. An interview participant who prefers
ecological sustainability mentions that his focus is on the ecological aspect, however, he
understands that the economical aspect is the main driver for success and permanence of the
business. One interview partner recommends that start-ups focus on economical sustainability,
which includes a long-term-orientation, to survive in the market. More precisely, without
focusing on sustainability, there is no start-up who will survive longer than a short-term or will
develop and establish itself in the market. As mentioned in the interviews, economical
sustainability includes the aspect of continuous paying of wages, a stable number of employees
and payment of taxes on a regular basis. Social sustainability is the favourite of one interview
partners because for this person, according to the human rights and the law in Germany, there
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is a defined responsibility to do something when he or she owns something. In detail, if for
example someone owns a firm, he or she possesses something, namely a firm and has enough
capacity to give something back to the society by for example offering internships for young
persons to give them a vision. Others think that the social aspect of sustainability is too
expensive. Therefore, only a firm/start-up/founder whose business is performing well can focus
on this aspect. In one of the interviews it is also mentioned that in the short-term profit and
growth of the start-up are important, but in the long run also the social investment, because
more employees may be needed, for example experts in the technological field. As a result, one
interview partner suggests starting to invest in youth promotion by offering internships or
workshops for children and teenagers to make specific job fields more attractive to them.
At the IQ, one can find sustainability aspects, because all the interview participants highlight
that the main focus of the people running their business at the IQ is not on earning money. What
needs to be mentioned here is that only small firms, start-ups and founder are located at the IQ.
In the observation analysis, many people describe the IQ as something that should sustainably
support Murnau’s economic success. As a result, there is sustainability at the IQ in Murnau,
however, sustainability is not a prescribed concept for the IQ. In several interviews the
interviewees describe the IQ as having people who have sustainability aspects in mind and
influence each other, however, sustainability is a more or less unplanned side effect of the
concept of the IQ.
The code Parallelentwicklung/parallel development describes a point which one interview
partner highlights as striving for in the implementation of sustainability. If in parallel society is
dealing more with sustainability issues, it is easier to introduce sustainable products to the
market, especially when a sustainability market is established.
The group of the codes Mehrwert/added value and Moral/morality show that in the category
sustainability the emotional part and personal part is also of importance.
Next, self-perception and perception by others plays a role at the IQ, which show the codes
Image/image, White-Washing/white-Washing and Politische Ignoranz/political ignorance.
Several interview participants describe the problem that if one sustainability aspect is
implemented, then other aspects may be influenced negatively. Furthermore, one of the
interviewees wishes to have more support by the politicians to prohibit actions such as
producing too much garbage.
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Also within the category sustainability, codes which have interventions as being similar occur,
namely the codes Strategie/strategy, Kompromiss/compromise and Maßnahmen für die
Akquirierung von Arbeitskräften/steps for the employment of workforce. What fits to this group
is the code Regionalität/regionality, as it describes the place of action. One interview partner
suggests that as compromise related to sustainability, one can develop step by step into the right
direction, to gradually include more and more sustainable elements. The code Maßnahme für
die Akquirierung von Arbeitskräften describes one example an interview partner illustrates. If
a company needs more workforce and decides, for example, to buy e-bikes for all of its
employees, this looks like a sustainability intervention, but is really only an action designed to
obtain more workforce.
This knowledge and information are important at the IQ, especially when dealing with the
sustainability category shown in the codes Medien/media and
Information/Bildung/information/education. The interview partners highlight that in
comparison to their own childhood, there is much more knowledge about sustainability issues
today. However, they criticize that people are only doing something to implement sustainability
aspects when the media is presenting it as, for example, trendy.
Another point of perception, which illustrate the codes Markt/market,
Bedarfsanpassung/demand adaption, Blickwinkel des Konsumenten/customer’s perspective
and Ressources/resources are of relevance at the IQ particularly when talking about sustainable
entrepreneurship. According to one of the interviews, if you have a sustainable product, but
there is nothing such as a sustainability market with customers who want to buy sustainable
products, it is difficult to sell this product. Therefore, based on the information of the interview,
it is advisable to have the customer’s perspective in mind. The code Ressourcen, which I derive
from one of the interviews, describes the human being as an important resource in the business
world, because according to this person the number of employees with expertise is declining.
The code Bedarfsanpassung focuses on a similar aspect. Here the early preparation of the young
generation for highly demanded jobs in the region around Murnau is illustrated by two interview
partners. This can take place for example at the MakerLab at the IQ by offering workshops for
children and kids.
The aspects of sustainable entrepreneurship share the codes Erfolgreiches
Unternehmen/successful company, Nachhaltige Unternehmensgründung/sustainable
entrepreneurship and Nachhaltiges Unternehmen/sustainable company. One interview partner
describes sustainable entrepreneurship as focusing on work-life balance since the outset and on
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implementing creativity, and not focusing on earning much money. Related to the
characteristics of a sustainable firm, the interview partners have different opinions, for example
again focusing on work-life balance or on long-term orientation. To be a successful company,
one interview participant suggests implementing all three sustainability aspects, namely
ecological, economic and social, and not deal with everything alone by having partners.
The codes Wachstum/growth and Qualität vor Kosten/quality first, costs second deal with
aspects of the business plan. As one interview participant tells, in former times as a customer
one preferred the cheapest product, but today the situation seems to be changing. Regarding
growth, again different opinions exist within the interview partner. One describes growth in the
field of entrepreneurship as something which is organic, just happening, and not planned.
Another includes current demand within the growing aspect of start-ups as well as the need for
employees.
The personal development and gaining of experiences take some time, therefore the age of the
firm/company/start-up is of relevance at the IQ and in the field of sustainable entrepreneurship,
as the code Alter/age highlights.
Two attributes of a current entrepreneur are mentioned by some of the interview partners, as
the codes Macher/maker and Teilen/sharing show. In their point of view, young people
nowadays are likely to just do something and have more access to information. In addition to
this, there exists the spirit of sharing, which one can also find at the IQ. This means that within
a start-up/firm, if there is profit, it is shared with the employees so that everybody is then happy.
What is also relevant within the topic of sustainable entrepreneurship, and this fits into the
category sustainability, is the code Angestellter-Nachhaltigkeit/employee-sustainability, which
includes the aspect, as mentioned by one founder at the IQ, that as an employee, it is difficult
to realize and implement sustainability issues.
After presenting the codes of each of the four categories and explaining it to avoid
misunderstandings, I briefly compare the coding result of each category and show which codes
appear several times in different categories.
The code Information/Bildung occurs both in the category connections and sustainability. As a
result, one could argue that the expertise and knowledge in entrepreneurship and sustainability
topics is of importance in the actions, both at the IQ or in the business world in general
(according to interviews and observation analysis). Information and education can be acquired
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by the entrepreneurs, which means that personal attributes also play a role in that context. What
fits to this assumption is the code Alter which includes the aspects experience and development.
This code also occurs in the categories sustainability and connections. The age of the
entrepreneur is a personal attribute he or she has and cannot be influenced. However, the
number of experiences he or she has is actively and passively influenceable. Actively
influencing one’s knowledge and experiences means for example joining information events,
whereas passively influencing means having an unplanned experience, for example by
incidence, or obtaining new knowledge. The code Angestellter, which is in the categories
sustainability and politics, shows the difference between the working realities of an employee
and a self-employed person. In the context of sustainability issues, also the experience in being
an employee and trying to deal with sustainability, are important. What relate to the codes Alter
and Information are the codes Blickwinkel des Konsumenten and Marktkenntnis, which both
focus on the importance of having expertise in markets and in customer’s needs and
acquirements. These are also in the same two categories as the previously mentioned codes. As
previously referred to, also the inhabitants of Munich are potential customers for shops and
businesses in the town of Murnau and at the IQ. Again, these two codes illustrate aspects which
can actively and passively be changed and are part of one’s personal attributes. However, what
is hard to change, is the existing market, which means that if there is for example only a small
sustainability market, it is difficult to have enough customers and earn enough money if only
selling sustainability products.
The code Erfolgreiches Unternehmen is both in the category sustainability and politics, which
shows that at the IQ, it is required to be successful as a start-up or company, but also in the field
of sustainability issues this plays a role. In addition to that, the code Mehrwert is present in the
same two categories. Therefore, the added value of the action for all the players involved in the
field is of importance.
Locational factors play a role for the start-ups and founder located at the IQ, such as being
located at the periphery of Munich. This is illustrated by the code Standortfaktoren Murnau,
which is in the categories practices and politics.
In conclusion, what one can see here is that both personal attributes of the entrepreneur,
locational factors and circumstances influence the daily life routines of start-ups, business and
founders located at the IQ. Also, when dealing with sustainability issues in the field of
entrepreneurship, for example as it is happening at the IQ, personal attributes such as expertise
and information can influence the whole process. Looking at the codes in each of the categories,
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personal attributes of the entrepreneur are always of importance, especially in the categories
sustainability and politics. On the one hand, one can see this as an advantage, because the
personal attributes are changeable faster than abstract variables. On the other hand, if the
process is dependent on the entrepreneur’s personality, which follows other rules than written
down ones, the potential outcome might be unclear if these attributes change quickly, maybe
ignoring existing agreements. However, other stakeholders such as the municipal council, the
Mayor of Murnau, currently Mr. Beuting, and the representative of the business development,
Mr. Bittlinger, are also of importance in the whole processes at the IQ. This I describe as a
supervisory body of the business taking place at the IQ. However, again these different
stakeholders are subject to other interests, which may quickly change, for example due to new
elections taking place in the town Murnau. The codes related to the different stakeholders are
mainly in the categories connections and politics. Looking at the categories sustainability and
politics, it appears that the surroundings and circumstances of the IQ shape the process taking
place there. Therefore, in my point of view both the personal attributes of the entrepreneurs as
well as the circumstances of the start-up and business location influence the field of sustainable
entrepreneurship, as the case example IQ shows. However, if the strongest stakeholder is the
local government, as I think it is at the IQ Murnau, this has a serious impact on the
entrepreneurial activities, as the previously shown results demonstrate. Nevertheless, the
periphery aspects also play a role in the activities of the businesses located at the IQ and in
Murnau.
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6. Discussion
After presenting the results of the collected and analysed Data, I now merge and compare these
with the content from the previously described theories, concepts and proposals. The overall
goal of this thesis is to analyse how start-up sustainability is constructed at the periphery of the
start-up discourse in Germany. I am aware that the presentation of content, the data analysis
and the results in the following can be influenced by subjective perceptions. However, by
applying different research methods in this Thesis I try to be as objective as possible.
Nowadays one can observe a non-profit orientation in the field of entrepreneurship, as both the
entrepreneurship theory (Volkmann et al. 2010) and the results of the data which has been
collected and analysed (see chapter 4 and 5) clarify it. This shows that other incentives are of
importance for entrepreneurs, especially for start-ups. One could argue here that this can be
seen as a necessary condition for sustainability, as investing in sustainability aspects may not
lead to monetary return from the outset (see results in chapter 5). However, this is just a short-
term perspective. In taking a look at the long-term return, the situation may be totally different.
As it is daily life practice at the IQ Murnau, seeing people as an important factor in the success
of the firm and start-up totally changes the business realities and working culture. Therefore,
for all the start-ups and founders at the IQ it is necessary to plan long-term and include
sustainability aspects such as strengthening the local network or undertaking projects with the
younger generation to prepare them for future jobs or offer internships. It’s interesting here to
note the fact that sustainability hasn’t been planned as central element at the IQ, as the
representative of the business development Mr. Bittlinger highlights it. However, one can find
all three sustainability aspects at the IQ, namely the ecological, economic and social one (see
results/chapter 5). To summarise, in comparison to the literature, long-term planning is strictly
required at the IQ. This, in turn, automatically leads to the implication of sustainability aspects.
Nevertheless, at the IQ, as the interview partners mention it and the observation analysis shows,
the social and ecological aspect of sustainability are seen as most important, whereas the
economic one is seen as a means to an end.
As it is the situation in most European countries as well as in Germany, a low tolerance towards
failure exists (Fuerlinger et al. 2015). This is also present at the IQ Murnau, for example the
codes Erfolgsdruck und Erfolgreiches Unternehmen include this aspect. However, when
looking at the daily life practices at the IQ, key aspects such as humanity, partnership, goodwill
and team-spirit are central elements that shape the working atmosphere and business activities.
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According to Volkmann et al. (2010), being team-oriented, social/ethical and holistic thinking
are important attributes an entrepreneur should have. Looking at the IQ, one can see that the
people working here also see these as important, especially teamwork and social focus. This
leads to the second discovery, that German start-ups need to focus more on people-oriented
businesses, such it is the situation in the USA, to be successful and to survive, as Geibel &
Manickam (2016) recommend it. Within the IQ, one can see that this is already happening there.
Having a good business plan is also necessary for the entrepreneurs at the IQ, however, being
team-oriented, working together and sharing ideas is more important for all the people involved
in the IQ project. As one can however see it in the results of the observation analysis and the
interviews, the pressure to make a profit out of the IQ exists, because the IQ is financed by the
tax payers. The question now is whether it will stay like that or change in the future, which in
turns means that the pressure to earn money will increase at the IQ.
According to Blanchflower et al. (2001), there are many potential entrepreneurs out there, who
currently prefer to be an employee. What fits with this position is the fact that in Germany
entrepreneurship is only an opportunity due to the positive situation within the job market
(Fuerlinger et al. 2015). This means there is no pressure to start your own business due to being
unemployed or an unsatisfactory job market in Germany. However, the work-life balance and
the wish to escape the restricted employee life to change something and do something good are
incentives for experienced people to start their own business. The results of the data collection
and analysis regarding the situation at the IQ verifies this finding. Although the interview
partners describe start-ups and the IQ as place for young, innovative and dynamic persons, the
reality at the IQ shows this to be different. One result of my data analysis is that rather older
(assumed average age being 40 at the time of my analysis) and experienced founders and start-
up owners are at the IQ. Experienced means that they have already been employed or self-
employed for a longer period and have a lot of expertise now within the field where they are
running their business. Their main incentives for being an entrepreneur are that they want to
have a better work-life balance to be their own boss and do something good. For example, share
their profits with their employees, help other founders and start-up owners at the IQ, create jobs
and work together with local firms and schools.
As Baumol (2005), Fuerlinger et al. (2015) and Geibel & Manickam (2016) illustrate it,
education and relations between entrepreneurship and university play an important role in
becoming a successful entrepreneur who is also able to focus on sustainability aspects.
The example of US start-ups clarifies this. These focus on a strong connection with close-by
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elite universities such as Harvard University or Stanford University to have a direct access to
an international talent pool (Geibel & Manickam 2016). However, when looking at the situation
at the IQ which is located at the periphery in general, and at the periphery of Munich, no
relationship between the IQ and the universities in Munich exists. This is largely because
industry diversity is important for the IQ and is in opinion necessary for the IQ to develop a
cooperation with top local universities. For example the Ludwig-Maximilians-University of
Munich (LMU) would enable access to a young and international talent pool. This may help in
increasing the number and spread of demanded industries at the IQ, for example the digital
industry, or the diversity of branches at the co-working spaces at the IQ. In the field of
sustainable entrepreneurship, access to current information and knowledge is important to be
able to implement sustainability aspects. For example by using new technologies which in turn
reduce water pollution (Binder 2013). As the results of the data analysis also show, at the IQ
the people highlight the importance of knowledge and information access, especially about the
production processes. Currently the representative of the business development of Murnau, Mr.
Bittlinger, and some of the founders and enters at the IQ are together building up a local textile
production. The overall goal is to create new jobs and to undertake the whole production process
at the IQ. This, in turn, will enable them to control everything and focus on different aspects
which are related to sustainability, such as fair working conditions and recovery of fabric
remnants. In my opinion, a partnership and cooperation with the LMU could support the IQ
project, and could give the students the opportunity to see the daily life reality of entrepreneurs
and also make this career path more attractive.
Local factors and differences play a role in the field of entrepreneurship, as the situation of
German entrepreneurship shows. Personal attributes of an entrepreneur may be regionally
influenced (Obschonka et al. 2013). Looking at the situation at the IQ at Murnau, in my point
of view this hypothesis is proved as all of the interview partners show a similar way of thinking,
as per the codes Mehrwert, Da Sein, IQ Family and Landleben. For all the interview participants,
both renters at the IQ and political representatives, being present at the IQ and in the region, are
of importance, ideally having already lived for a long time in the region around Murnau.
Furthermore, the interview partners see it as advantageous to be located at the periphery of
Munich, because they prefer to have customers nearby. These customers can also be located in
Munich due to the periphery distance. By having customers who are physically nearby, quicker
ways of communication appear and because of the shorter distance from the customer, face-to-
face talks occur more often, which the interview partners describe as advantageous.
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To be successful here, in my opinion it is necessary to know the region and culture around
Murnau, as more things are done on the spot. This is an interesting movement, because by
acting locally and focusing on local customer, it is easier for the entrepreneurs to implement
sustainability issues. Sustainability includes three aspects, social, ecological and economic ones,
as the Triple-Bottom-Line Model shows it (Van Marrewijk 2003). I think that focusing on local
customers, on local partnership and shorter ways of communication includes all three
sustainability aspects, however, two of them are more dominant. If an entrepreneur of a newly
established firms works regionally, it means that he or she has an overview of the area of action
and starts on a small scale. As a result, the new firm’s growth rate is calculable, because mostly
regional variables play a role, which are well known or easier to find out due to shorter ways
of communication. One could argue that the growth rate is limited, if one only focuses on the
region. Economical sustainability means for example to have a linear growth rate (Binder 2013).
Looking at the example of the IQ at Murnau, one knows that this is located at the periphery of
Munich. As a result, not only the region around Murnau, the close surroundings are also an
important local market, but Munich as one of the largest cities in Germany is a very nearby
market as well. This means that there is enough opportunity to grow, especially if the start-up
or newly established firms focus on changing something and not on just earning more and more
money, as the interview partners prove this. To summarise this finding, if start-ups have a linear
growth rate, but want to act locally, there is enough customer opportunity as Munich is also
nearby as stated above. If there is more profit, these start-ups and firms are likely to focus on
sharing rather than just getting richer. This means that more jobs are then created bringing wage
guarantees, which is also an element of social sustainability. Because of the shorter ways of
communication and distance, shorter transportation means occur, which in return reduces air
pollution. By producing everything locally, the focus is on local resources, which are easier to
obtain. If a start-up or firm produces everything locally, the whole production process is more
likely to be designed to limit the waste production and pollution. Due to everybody being
involved, customer as well as producer, they can experience less negative implications on site.
The codes Ganzheitlichkeit and Authentizität highlight the importance of being transparent as
a start-up or new firm and that at the IQ focusing on holism and local aspects are dominant.
Therefore, the IQ is in my point of view an example for a start-up centre where all three aspects
of sustainability are manageable early on. One could argue that at the outset the economical
sustainability aspect is more important for a start-up. However, step-by-step the other two
aspects are manageable too, if the local focus is continued, as the interview participates
highlight it.
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Spulber (2009) describes A Dynamic Theory of an Entrepreneur (see figure 1), where the
starting point is a consumer who is by nature a potential entrepreneur. This means that not every
consumer can become an entrepreneur, just some of them. A consumer buys things, often
consistently and repeatedly (Spulber 2009). Thus, in some cases a consumer has a market
expertise regarding one product he or she wants to buy, at least to compare prices, quality, and
so on. Spulber (2009) describes in this theory that a former consumer decides to start a new
firm or start-up and tries, and if the new firm or start-up is established, he or she is the new
owner. What one can see here is that market expertise and knowledge about the product and
potential customers is very important in the field of entrepreneurship. As the results of the data
analysis show, at the IQ, market expertise and understanding of the potential customer is of
importance, as the codes Marktkenntnis and Blickwinkel des Konsumenten verify.
Taking the example of sustainability products, if there is a consumer who likes to buy
sustainable products and decides to create his own start-up which sells a sustainable product,
he or she assumes that there is already a sustainability market or at least the beginning of it.
Having been a consumer of sustainable products, the new entrepreneur knows the consumer’s
perspective already and can therefore better plan long-term oriented because of already having
more knowledge of the important variables in the sustainability market. This can decrease the
risk of failure. Looking at the situation at the IQ, the results of the data show that the start-ups
and founders at the IQ partly are consumers of sustainable products, but also have the
contrasting experience as former employees in textile production. As some of the interview
partners illustrate, and the observation analysis shows, having a healthy living standard and
working reality is the most important thing at the IQ and thereby for all the people involved in
it. As they are a family, as the code IQ family illustrates, being a good team and having a good
partnership are the basis for the daily life at the IQ. The code Guter Wille describes the basic
attitude of the tenants at the IQ, which then influences the whole working atmosphere and
reality. This leads to the finding that at the IQ, the people working there use sustainability
processes as the basic setting for their businesses and daily life activities, even if this isn’t
addressed consciously. An interesting fact here is that not only ecological sustainability aspects
such as waste reduction exist at the IQ, but also economic elements such as the desire to share
the profits with others and pay stable wages, as well as undertaking local projects with the
various schools, as this is something which fits to their basic philosophy. The questions which
arise in this context are whether the representative of the business development and the
municipal council, who are responsible for the project, have directly attracted people who have
this way of thinking, or whether is has been just a parallel step-by-step development which
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leads all renters at the IQ in this direction. Nevertheless, as the code Konzept IQ includes, the
concept of the IQ is work-in-progress and still developing, without clear direction. Therefore,
one could argue that all the people involved in the IQ project lead the whole project and business
realities in that direction, namely to focus more on all three sustainability aspects, the ecological,
economical and social. Binder (2013) mentions that an ecological sustainability bias is
widespread. In my opinion the situation at the IQ is different, all three sustainability aspects co-
exist, however, the ecological aspect is addressed more directly and consciously.
The periphery aspect is also significant for sustainable entrepreneurship, as the case example
of the IQ illustrates. The IQ is located at the periphery, because Murnau and its surroundings
are a contrary to the centre Munich and an economical passive region, located close to the
Austrian border. As I have mentioned several times already, the code Blickwinkel des
Konsumenten, the consumer focus, is seen as important at the IQ. Due to Murnau being only
80 km away from Munich (Seiler 2017), and situated close to the mountains, people from
Munich enjoy visiting Murnau, as the representative of the business development of Murnau
highlights. This means that potential customer for the IQ are also people from Munich.
According to the observation analysis and interviews, visitors from Munich enjoy buying local
and sustainable products at Murnau, therefore it is recommendable for the IQ to focus on local
and sustainable products. However, in my thesis this statement about people from Munich and
their consumption behaviour is only taken from the collected data, which is limited. Therefore,
it would be necessary to prove whether this can really be taken as a general statement. It is also
possible for tenants of the IQ to undertake projects in Munich, for a limited time, as some
interview partners describe it as a location factor of Murnau. In comparison to the start-up
situation of an economic centre such as Munich (Munich Startup 2018), the number of start-
ups in Murnau is manageable. This makes it easier for start-ups and new firms in Murnau to
build up a network and share expertise due to the short distance to one another and the
manageable amount. If special expertise is wanted by the founders/start-ups in Murnau, Munich
is also not too far away to also include experts from there in the network. This leads to the
finding that it is an advantage for Murnau to be located at the periphery of Munich because of
the potential customers from Munich and the nearby expertise opportunities.
The state and the politics in Germany also have the opportunity to support the entrepreneurship
activities in Germany, for example by fine tuning the law towards start-up needs (Fritsch &
Wyrwich 2014). Although this could be very helpful for the start-ups, it takes a long time until
something is decided upon and subsequently changed by the government. Therefore, support
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by the municipality, which results in local projects and standards, has the capacity to quickly
change something, as the example of the IQ demonstrates. Due to the cheap rental fees at the
IQ, it is easy for start-ups to build up something, because in the difficult starting period they
can save money and completely focus on their work.
In the literature it is stated that both mass market player and niche market player are important
for the success of sustainable entrepreneurship (Schaltegger et al. 2016). Firms, which focus on
a niche-market-product, such as start-ups may in the beginning, have the possibility to focus
more on sustainability. The number of consumers who buy this niche product is manageable
and it is easier to have personal contact with the customer (Schaltegger et al. 2016). If the start-
up focusses on sustainability, regardless of the aspect (economic, ecological, social) of it, it is
easier for the start-up to directly advise the consumer about the importance of sustainability or
the advantages of applying sustainability policies. If this is a success, which means for example
more and more consumers buy this niche product, it may be the case that the start-up is growing
and becoming more well known. Thus, other mass market players could then be persuaded to
change something in the same direction as well due to the success of the start-up. As a result,
one can say that innovation, for example in form of implementing sustainability aspects, on a
small scale have the power to change the market and take a lead to create change within larger
firms. I believe that most businesses located at the IQ are more niche market player. Due to
Munich being nearby, where also large firms are located, the start-ups and firms can create
changes in the business and economy within the vicinity of the Munich area. Being a small
enterprise in comparison to the ones in Munich, is an advantage because of the short distance
to other enterprises, as one can see it at the IQ. What happens there is that spontaneous
entrepreneurs are working together and creating something new at the IQ, as the codes Geist
von Zusammenwirken and MakerLab highlight it. As a result, innovation takes place at the IQ,
also innovation in the field of sustainable entrepreneurship, as the building up of the local textile
production at the IQ shows.
In conclusion, all the findings presented in this discussion illustrate several convincing
advantages for start-ups to be located at the periphery, as the example of the IQ Murnau
highlights it. In terms of sustainability aspects, the periphery position also has a positive impact
on the implementation of sustainable entrepreneurship, of the concept of corporate
sustainability with its three dimensions. The example of the IQ shows that the sustainability
trilemma doesn’t exist, because entrepreneurs at the IQ are aware of all three aspects of
sustainability in their daily businesses. Also, synergies are possible between two sustainability
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aspects, for example the economic and social ones in terms of wage stability and linear growth.
However, for start-ups located at the IQ, at first it is necessary to survive and to fulfil the target
agreements and specifications given by the municipal council. This means that economic
sustainability seems to be more important at the outset and, in general, for the success of the
firm. The interesting fact now is that at the IQ, all three sustainability aspects exist in the daily
life practices. The social aspect exists because they offer internships for school pupils for
example or voluntarily organize workshops for teenagers at the IQ. In addition to this, by
attempting to focus on local consumers, producing locally and preferring to communicate face-
to-face than via e-mail, ecological sustainability also exists. Of course, some start-ups and
founders at the IQ focus more on ecological sustainability for example. However, all of them
focus on at least one sustainability aspect and not on short-term-oriented business and profit
orientation. This leads to the final statement that instead of having a sustainability trilemma in
the start-up field, tested by the case of the IQ Murnau, a sustainability trio exists and is a central
element of sustainable entrepreneurship. Although start-ups need to focus on surviving in the
beginning, all three sustainability aspects are in fact possible, if the surroundings of the start-
up focus on sustainability as well. Then this can be the central element of the businesses without
requiring too much investment in it. In my point of view, the IQ Murnau is a case example,
which perfectly fits to the topic within start-up sustainability and neglects the previously
assumed trilemma scenario in the field of sustainable entrepreneurship. The periphery location
of the IQ automatically leads to a working culture that focuses on different policies than the
entrepreneurs in the city can do, due to being located in the countryside. This also has an impact
on the entrepreneur’s personal attributes, such as focusing on consumer contact and seeing
goodwill as one of the most important attributes. To summarise this, the case IQ Murnau
illustrates that start-ups and founders located at the periphery of a city are more likely to focus
on sustainability aspects and policies in their businesses, mainly due to the impact of the
surroundings and the stable support offered by the municipality.
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7. Conclusion
In the previous chapters I illustrate a specific perspective on entrepreneurship in relation to
sustainability aspects and policies. Personal attributes of an entrepreneur as well as innovation
are important aspects when connecting entrepreneurship with sustainability concepts. The
concept which connects sustainability with entrepreneurship issues is called sustainable
entrepreneurship, the main concept of it being CS, including the Triple-Bottom-Line Model. A
structured literature review about entrepreneurship in Germany results in several proposals,
which are the background for the empirical work. The newly developed interview technique,
the trilemma interview and an observation analysis are qualitative methods I apply to analyse
the situation at the IQ in Murnau regarding entrepreneurship and sustainability. The aspect
which is also of importance in this analysis is the periphery location of the IQ Murnau. My
thesis results in several findings, that answer the question how start-up sustainability is
constructed at the periphery of the start-up discourse in Germany.
As mentioned in the beginning, in my thesis I don’t deal with gender issues in the field of
entrepreneurship. It is an interesting aspect therefore to have a look at the current gender
distribution in the field of entrepreneurship in Germany. In addition to this, it may be possible
that in having the gender distribution in mind, this also has an impact on the exercise of
sustainable entrepreneurship. In my point of view the age of the entrepreneurs in Germany is
an interesting variable to look at, which is a suggestion for another possible research project.
The importance of education for the exercise of sustainable entrepreneurship is one of the
important findings of my research. Observing the influence education can have on the exercise,
is also an idea for a research project, especially when including long-term observations.
In my thesis I apply different methods and I have also developed a new interview technique,
the trilemma interview. Due to focusing on a detailed data collection and data analysis, only a
limited number of interviews and observation analysis was possible. In my opinion the topic of
my thesis is suitable for a Dissertation, because there are many opportunities to deepen the
research about the chosen topic and collect more data, to be able to derive a general statement
about the status quo at the IQ Murnau and about the perception of it for example in the nearby
city of Munich. It may be helpful to compare the results of the research about the IQ with similar
projects in other parts of Germany, or in other countries as well. By applying different
qualitative methods in this thesis, I try to be as objective as possible. Another idea to suggestion
could be to combine qualitative and quantitative methods in this field of research.
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The financing needs of start-ups is another research topic where the Innovationsquartier
Murnau could serve as case example. In addition to that, it would then again be interesting to
have a look at other start-up projects in Germany and compare them with the
Innovationsquartier regarding provisioning of financial support. A long-term study could fit to
this research field. As one can see on the example of the Innovationsquartier Murnau, start-up
centres are quickly developing and influenceable by various circumstances, such as the political
situation.
Presently start-ups are emerging all over the world. It is therefore necessary to do more research
about present entrepreneurial activities, to learn more about the chances and limits of this
economic phenomenon.
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Appendix A: Literature Review Matrix
Draft
Concept 1/
Entrepreneurship-
prone
personalities in a
regional
perspective
Concept 2/
Concept 3/
Concept 4/
Concept 5/
Article 1
Obschonka
et al. 2013
- p.5:
comparison
of USA, UK
and
Germany,
because they
are three
major post-
industrial
driven
economies
- p.13: past
research
indicates
meaningful
regional
differences in
personality
- …..
- …..
Article 2 .
Article 3
Article 4
Article 5
88 |
Appendix B: Interview Guideline
Problemzentriertes Interview ( vgl Berger)
• stark strukturiert/Leitfaden
• Orientierung (im Vorfeld) an einer relevanten gesellschaftlichen Fragestellung
• Beginn: Standardisierter Kurzfragebogen (soziodemographische Daten,
Einstieg ins Gespräch)
• Leitfaden: Themenblöcke, immer beginnend mit einer Einstiegsfrage
Themenblöcke
Eigene Definition des Innvoationsquartier
Eigene Motivation: Warum bin ich im Innovationsquartier?
Idealvorstellung des Innovationsquartier: Was wäre, wenn…
Thema Nachhaltigkeit im Innovationsquartier (sozial, ökologisch, ökonomisch)
Thema Start-up Sustainability: Wie definiert? Welche wichtigen Eckpunkte?
Thema Sustainability in der Wirtschaft- welche Rolle spield es?
Trilemma Szenario
• Baisert auf Idee eines Dilemma-Interviews, in der Wirtschaftssoziologie:
Interviewform, die - theoretisch in der Nachfolge von J. Piaget und L.
Kohlberg - die Befragten mit Darstellungen von moralischen Dilemmata
konfrontiert (wirtschaftslexikon 2018)
• Trilemma in der Thematik Nachhaltigeit:
Nachhaltigkeit: Ökologisch vs. Ökonomisch vs. Sozial
Kombination/Durchführung
• Zunächst Durchführung des Problemzentrierten Interviews
• Anschließend: Konfrontation mit 3 Akteuren, die je einen Standpunkt des
Trilemmas in der Thematik Nachhaltigkeit darstellen:
Ökologisch vs. Ökonomisch vs. Sozial (vgl. Ursula Binder, 2013)
• Interviewpartner/in muss sich für einen Standpunkt entscheiden und
argumentieren warum die Entscheidung darauf viel
• Evtl als Abschluss: Frage danach, welche Standpunkte evtl synergetisch sein
können, welche nicht? dh. welche zusammenagieren können, welche nicht?
89 |
Appendix C: Trilemma Scenario
Das Trilemma: Start-up Sustainability
Im Folgenden sprechen nun drei (fiktive) Akteure, die alle in demselben Start-up tätig sind
und eine unterschiedliche Auffassung von Nachhaltigkeit in ihrem Start-up haben. Das Start-
up trägt den Namen FeelGoodLife. Das Hauptprodukt des Start-ups sind faltbare
Kaffeebecher. Das Start-up ist mit diesem Produkt seit 3 Jahren auf dem Markt und schreibt
bereits seit zwei Jahren schwarze Zahlen. Die Kaffeebecher des Start-ups sind faltbar und
auslaufsicher, sodass sie in jede Tasche passen und somit den Papierbecherkonsum bei einem
„Coffee-to-go“ reduzieren sollen. Das Ziel des Gründungsteams des Start-ups ist es, im
Alltag wichtige Elemente wie z.B. den „Coffee-to-go“ durch gezielte Produktentwicklung
nachhaltiger zu machen.
1) Martin/Miriam
Bei der Herstellung des faltbaren Kaffeebechers achten wir darauf, dass so wenig Material
wie möglich weggeworfen wird, sondern für andere Produkte in unserem Sortiment verwendet
werden kann. Da wir uns der Wichtigkeit von Wasser bewusst sind, haben wir eine schonende
Produktionstechnik entwickelt, die das Wasser weniger verschmutzt. Die Materialien, aus
denen der Kaffeebecher besteht, sind frei von Chemikalien und Plastik. Da unser Hauptfokus
auf dem deutschen Markt liegt, werden unsere Produkte an einem Standort in
Mitteldeutschland produziert, sodass die Transportwege für den Verkauf gering gehalten
werden können.
2) Lukas/Luisa
Um die Umsatzzahlen stabil zu halten und die Zukunft unseres Start-ups zu sichern, achten
wir auf ein lineares Wachstum der Produktionsstückzahlen. Das beinhaltet auch, mögliche
Schwankungen der Produktionszahlen, die das lineare Wachstum stören können, so
geringfügig wie möglich zu halten, um z.B. nicht plötzlich einen höheren Verbrauch an
Ressourcen zu haben wie eigentlich geplant. Es ist uns wichtig, dauerhaft auf dieselbe
Qualität und Menge der Ressourcen zurückgreifen zu können, die für die Produktion z.B. des
Kaffeebechers notwendig sind. Daher versuchen wir, soviel an Ressourcen wie möglich aus
der Region nahe dem Produktionsstandort zu bekommen, um auch z.B. das Risiko bezüglich
der Anlieferung der Materialien zu verringern. Ein langer Transportweg von Materialien ist
meiner Ansicht nach nicht nur risikoreich, sondern auch mit höheren Kosten verbunden. Je
günstiger wir das Produkt produzieren können, desto besser ist es um die Zukunft des Start-
ups bestellt.
3) Philipp/Pia
Uns ist es wichtig, die Region rund um den Produktionsstandort zu stärken, daher versuchen
wir verstärkt Arbeitskräfte aus der Region zu bekommen und sind auch offen für
Quereinsteiger in verschiedenen Arbeitsbereichen. Da unsere Produkte, wie z.B. der
Kaffeebecher, den Alltag der Menschen positiv verändern und verbessern sollen, ist uns auch
die Zusammenarbeit mit Jugendlichen ein großes Anliegen. Daher bieten wir eine Vielzahl an
Praktika an, unter anderem auch Schülerpraktika. Jedes Jahr veranstalten wir auch einen
Tag der offenen Tür, bei dem unser Start-up besichtigt werden kann und auch ein spannendes
Rahmenprogramm geboten ist.
90 |
Appendix D: Data Analysis Method
Draft: category Practices
Draft: Category Connections
Draft: Category Politics
Building block: Practicessee Gee p. 33f: What practice (activity) or practices (activites) is tis piece of lanuage being used to enact
(i.e., get others to recognize as going on)?
List of Codes found in chosen texts
Code Observation Analysis Interview I/Mr. Bittlinger Interview II/Ms. Hornauer Interview III/Mr. Beetfield Interview IV/Mr. Beuting Interview V/Mr. Langer Interview VI/Mr. Horschig
Building block: Connectionssee Gee, p. 35: How does this peace of language connect or disconnect things; how does it make one thing relvant or irrelevant to another?
List of Codes found in chosen texts
Code Observation Analysis Interview I/Mr. Bittlinger Interview II/Ms. Hornauer Interview III/Mr. Beetfield Interview IV/Mr. Beuting Interview V/Mr. Langer Interview VI/Mr. Horschig
Building block: Politicssee Gee p. 34: What perspective on social goods is this piece of language communicating
(i.e. what is being communicated as to what is taken to be "normal", "right", "good", "correct", etc.?
List of Codes found in chosen texts
Code Observation Analysis Interview I/Mr. Bittlinger Interview II/Ms. Hornauer Interview III/Mr. Beetfield Interview IV/Mr. Beuting Interview V/Mr. Langer Interview VI/Mr. Horschig
91 |
Draft: Category Sustainability
Analysis Example: Category Sustainability
Building block: Sustainability(Own idea; further development of Gee's category 'connection') How does this peace of language connect or disconnect things to sustainability? What is correct in the field of sustainability?
Difference here: 3 pregiven (1-3)codes according to research done before; see chapter about sustainabilty; order of sustainability parts are the same as the one used in the trilemma szenario
List of Codes found in chosen texts
CodeObservation
AnalysisInterview I/Mr. Bittlinger Interview II/Ms. Hornauer Interview III/Mr. Beetfield Interview IV/Mr. Beuting Interview V/Mr. Langer Interview VI/Mr. Horschig
CodeObservation
AnalysisInterview I/Mr. Bittlinger Interview II/Ms. Hornauer Interview III/Mr. Beetfield
Ökologische Nachhaltigkeit (1)
S.12: Ökologische
Nachhaltigkeit, wie z.B.
Wassereinsparungen/wenige
r Verschmutzung, lassen sich
gut aus Marketingsicht
verkaufen
S.6: Die Ökologische
Nachhaltigkeit geht immer
unter, daher ist sie mir
besonders in meiner
Gründungsposition sehr
wichtig.
S.4: Ich finde die
ökologische Nachhaltigkeit
am wichtigsten, weil die
Natur das Allerwichtigste ist.
Wenn wir irgendwann in
dem ganzen Zeug ersaufen,
dem ganzen Plastik, dann
kann man auch nicht mehr
ökonomisch oder sozial sein.
S.12: Die Ökologische
Nachhaltigkeit ist bei mir
nicht hoch ausgeprägt. Die
Ökologische Nachhaltigket
bietet für den ökonomischen
Teil sehr viele wichtige
Hinweise.
S.8: Ich halte die Ökologische
Nachhaltigkeit für sehr
wichtig, da ich denke, dass
die Ressourcen irgendwann
zu Ende sind.
S.13: Der Ökologische Teil
wird mehr und mehr
beinhalten, allerdings setzt
das auch immer eine
Parallelentwicklung der
Gesellschaft voraus.
S.8: Ich habe einen Bericht
ber die Einmal-Waschen und
Wegwerf Firmen, dh.Fast
Fashion Firmen wie Primark
etc gelesen, irgendwann
erstickt der Globus an dem
Müll.