The Editor's Corner
Boštjan Antončič
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The Relationship Between Entrepreneurial Intensity and Shareholder Value Creation
Pierre Erasmus and Retha Scheepers

Innovation and entrepreneurship have long been regarded as sources of value and wealth creation. Previous research has shown that there is a positive relationship between enterprises’ levels of entrepreneurship and their financial performance. Little research, however, has hitherto focused on measuring the relationship between entrepreneurship and shareholder value creation. In this study the relationship between the entrepreneurial intensity and the shareholder value created by an enterprise is investigated. An adapted corporate entrepreneurship (CE) measurement instrument is applied in order to gauge entrepreneurial intensity, while shareholder value creation is measured by the market adjusted total share return (TSR) and the value based financial performance measure Economic Value Added (EVA). The study is conducted for a sample of enterprises listed in the industrial sector of the Johannesburg Securities Exchange (JSE) for the period 2003–2005. The contribution of the study is the focus on the relationship between entrepreneurial intensity and shareholder value creation, rather than purely on the accounting-based financial performance of an enterprise.

Key Words: entrepreneurial intensity, value based financial performance measures, economic value added
JEL Classification: L25, L25
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The Relationships Among Leadership Styles, Entrepreneurial Orientation, and Business Performance
Chung-Wen Yang

This study aims to contribute to the knowledge of leadership styles and entrepreneurial orientation at small and medium enterprises as well as their effects on business performance. This study examines how leadership style can affect the development and implementation of entrepreneurial orientation in small and medium enterprises in Taiwan. It is also designed to examine the effects of leadership styles and entrepreneurial orientation on business performance. Significant conclusions from this study are that different leadership styles may affect business performance; that transformational leadership is significantly more correlated to the business performance than is transactional leadership and passive-avoidant leadership; that entrepreneurial orientation is positively related to performance; and that transformational leadership with higher entrepreneurial orientation can contribute to higher business performance.

Key Words: leadership styles, entrepreneurial orientation, business performance
JEL Classification: M10
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How Internal and External Sources of Knowledge Contribute to Firms’ Innovation Performance
Anja Cotič Svetina and Igor Prodan

This paper investigates the extent to which different knowledge sources contribute to firms’ innovation performance. The empirical analysis estimates the relationships in the structural model of the influence of knowledge sources on innovative performance using data collected through personal interviews at 303 firms. The results reveal that internal sources have the most important influence on firms’ innovative performance and confirm that, in their innovation process, firms mostly rely on knowledge developed through in-house R&D efforts, continuous improvement, and internal education and training programs. The data show that in-house learning is not sufficient for generating innovation and that firms need to supplement internal knowledge with knowledge acquired outside the firm. They mainly need to secure links with firms and institutions in the global environment if they want to secure the inflow of new ideas and approaches that will eventually lead to innovations.

Key Words: knowledge, innovation, structural equation modeling
JEL Classification: O30, O31
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Ensuring Professionalism of the External Evaluation Commission: The Slovenian Case Study
Karmen Rodman and Nada Trunk Širca

In 2006–2007, the Slovenian higher education (HE) system took the first steps toward building a national model of institutional external evaluation (IEE), which would be comparable with other European models. In the first part of the article, the authors discuss the main tendencies within the European he area. This is followed by an outline of the developments in the field of quality assurance within Slovenian he, stressing the years 2006 and 2007. The scientific contribution of the article lies in the evaluation outcomes of the national pilot IEES, with focus on the professional competences of the External evaluation commission (EEC) members. Observation results stress the importance of the proper training of EEC members. The authors propose that a systematic follow-up on the EEC work needs to be established and a code of ethics drawn up, highlighting the preferred values and principles of EEC members.

Key Words: quality assurance, higher education, external evaluation, institutional evaluation, external evaluation commission
JEL Classification: M42, I28
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An Empirical Analysis of Credit Risk Factors of the Slovenian Banking System
Boštjan Aver

The study presents the results of an analysis of credit risk factors of the Slovenian banking system. The objective of the empirical analysis is to establish which macroeconomic factors influence the systematic credit risk of the Slovenian banking loan portfolio. The research results have confirmed the main hypothesis that certain macroeconomic factors have a major influence on the examined credit risk.We could conclude that the credit risk of the loan portfolio depends on the employment or unemployment rate in Slovenia, on short and long-term interest rates of Slovenian banks and the Bank of Slovenia, and on the value of the Slovenian stock exchange index. We cannot claim that the examined credit risk depends on the inflation rate in Slovenia, the growth of GDP (industrial production), EUR and USD exchange rates or the growth of Slovenian import and export.

Key Words: Slovenian banking system, credit risk factors, loan portfolio, Bank of Slovenia, macroeconomic factors
JEL Classification: G11, G21
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