An inquiry into the cultural differences of entrepreneurs and nonentrepreneurs in the former communist nations of Russia, Ukraine, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, the Czech Republic, Poland, Armenia, Uzbekistan, Bulgaria, and Kyrgyzstan

This study was concerned with examining any differences between the cultural value characteristics of entrepreneurs and factory workers in Russia, Ukraine, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Czech Republic, Armenia, Uzbekistan, Bulgaria, and Kyrgyzstan, and whether these differences were similar to those found in other nations.; A literature review suggested that entrepreneurs and workers within the same country would have different characteristics: The factors of Individualism, Power Distance, Masculinity, and Long-Term Orientation would be greater for entrepreneurs than for factory workers, and Uncertainty Avoidance would be less for entrepreneurs.; Based upon entrepreneurial theory, the general hypothesis was that entrepreneurs would display different cultural characteristics than factory workers, representing nonentrepreneurs. The cultural value orientation was operationalized through Hofstede's Value Survey Module 1994, which that measures Individualism, Power Distance, Masculinity, Long-Term Orientation, and Uncertainty Avoidance.; Using Hofstede's instrument, 3,363 factory workers and 3,024 vendor-entrepreneurs were surveyed from 11 countries to establish the basis for the analysis. The matched samples formed two groups, vendor-entrepreneurs and factory workers.; The purpose of this study was to discover (a) if vendor-entrepreneurs exhibited a characteristic unique array of cultural values, as exhibited by a propensity for risk and valuing work over family; and (b) if entrepreneurs had higher Individualism, Power Distance, Masculinity, and Long-Term Orientation scores and a lower Uncertainty Avoidance score than factory workers, who represented nonentrepreneurs.; The results from the research confirmed prior research for the questions of differences for Individualism, Uncertainty Avoidance, Masculinity, Long-Term Orientation, valuing work over family, and desiring less security. The results confirmed overall Power Distance, but five countries did not give confirmation.; The study indicated that the former communist nations have a vibrant entrepreneurial orientation with higher than expected levels of Individualism and Uncertainty Avoidance and a lower than expected level of Power Distance.; The researcher concluded that the former communist nations have vendor-entrepreneurs that exhibit similar differences in their characteristics when compared to factory workers as those found in developed nations from previous studies. This study supports previous entrepreneurial theory regarding such differences.