Author : Amina OMRANE

It is proposed that entrepreneurship as a process is largely affected, not only by cognitive factors, but also by social tools. Particularly, it is suggested that entrepreneurs’ social skills play a dual role. On the one hand, pre-seed-stage entrepreneurs need social skills in order to develop their social networks. On the other hand, these social skills may help entrepreneurs to gain access to essential resources. In this research, a basic framework of a successful entrepreneurial pre-seed-stage (consisting of two elements: social skills and social networks), is proposed. The conceptual model is empirically tested using a database of 64 Tunisian entrepreneurs operating in the high-technology field. The results show that specific social competencies, relevant to the pre-seed-stage of a venture creation process, have a significant and positive impact on entrepreneurs’ social networks encompassing strong, affective and redundant ties.
The findings assist entrepreneurs operating in the high technology sector to understand the dynamic process by which social determinants may interfere and contribute to the trigger’s prosperity.

Keywords: Entrepreneurship, Social skills, Social networks, Social Perspective etc.

Article published in International Journal of Current  Engineering  and Technology, Vol.3,No.5(Dec- 2013)