The Influence of Cultural Factors in Attitudes towards Start-ups

Bachelor Thesis from the year 2017 in the subject Business economics - Company formation, Business Plans, grade: 1,7, Justus-Liebig-University Giessen (Anglistik), language: English, abstract: This thesis examines the effect of cultural factors on entrepreneurship in different eco-systems including attitudes and the role of journalism. The object of this thesis is an exemplary examination of the question in a national context, whether and to what extent cultural dimensions influence individual's propensity to found a start-up. The entrepreneurial activities in Germany and the United States differ from each other which is also reasoned by different value systems and attitudes. Indications of rather an individualist or collectivist and rather a risk-averse or risk-affine attitude towards start-ups and its foundation will be focused upon. Building on Hofstede's research on cultural dimensions, newspaper and blog articles from the United States and Germany dealing with start-up foundations and the attitude of the respective society on start-ups including the founders' views will be analyzed. Since all cultural dimensions are intercorrelated, quantifying the effects of how much single cultural dimensions influence start-up foundations while excluding the influence of other dimensions is difficult. Therefore, the thesis does not examine the effects of the above mentioned two cultural dimensions isolated from other cultural factors, but it sets a focus on those two dimensions by analyzing statements and ideas published in newspaper and blog articles that deal with founders and start-ups.