Pacific Perspective
Pacific Perspective
Entrepreneurs
begin at homeHawaii is essentially a small business economy, yet it is not an entrepreneurial economy. The state has a relatively large number of small firms, but lags in three much more important areas: number of rapid-growth small firms, rate of new business starts, and number of new business failures.
When entrepreneurship is not supported, the spillover effect tends to include lagging schools, underinvested social programs, less investment in the arts, and weaker support for the environment.
Those who understand the vital role of entrepreneurship point fingers in many directions when evaluating the local environment. Yet not much seems to change over time. Books, articles and task forces come and go, with each echoing many of the same sentiments in terms of the forces the stifle the Hawaiian economy and the kinds of actions that are needed.
There is one constant. Hawaii is unique relative to other states in a very important way -- the fact that government plays a very central role. Rather than work around this significant obstacle, the key to an entrepreneurial renaissance must begin with government. More specifically, the key to changing the private sector is to change the public sector.
Government at all levels tends to be anti-entrepreneurial. Fundamental conflicts exist between the way government does business and the requirements of innovation, growth and change in new ventures. Conflicts can be traced to government's multiple and ambiguous goals, limited managerial autonomy, political interference, high public visibility, skewed reward systems, a short-term orientation influenced by budget and election cycles, and restrictive personnel policies.
Entrepreneurial government abandons the age-old bureaucratic model and the adoption of a model built around decentralization, flexibility, program innovativeness, and customization. Most importantly, government adopts as a central role the facilitation of entrepreneurship in the community.
Some of the principles around which these governments built their efforts include:
>> Designing purpose-driven rather than rule-driven organizations.
>> Steering rather than rowing; providing the vision, but working through creative partnerships to deliver value to the community.
>> Innovation in all facets of program design and delivery.
>> Injecting competition and other market mechanisms into the provision of public services.
>> In program delivery, focusing on outcomes, not inputs or processes.
>> Meeting the needs of "customers," not of bureaucrats and politicians.
>> Relying on creative methods for earning revenues.
>> Emphasizing business community participation and empowerment over hierarchy.
Michael H. Morris is the Noborikawa Chair in entrepreneurship, marketing and information technology at the University of Hawaii's College of Business Administration. Reach him at morris@cba.hawaii.edu.