Publications Repository - Gdańsk University of Technology

An entrepreneurial team can be defined as a small group of individuals holding ownership or control positions who create or develop an entrepreneurial venture and have shared commitments towards each other. Entrepreneurial teams start numerous new ventures or affect the performance of firms due to their social capital based on some characteristic attributes. The mental models of teams refer to internal, organised representation of team tasks, relations, skills and environment. A mental model of a team is dynamic and if it is shared by team members at the beginning of the team’s lifecycle, it is crucial for the team members’ cooperation and influences the team’s performance, satisfaction and viability. The vision of the entrepreneurial team’s characteristics is an important element of its members’ mental model they start their cooperation with. The aim of this article is to define the initial mental model of an entrepreneurial team and diagnose the young Poles’ image of entrepreneurial teams that can be a trigger or a barrier in developing collaborative entrepreneurship. The method used was based on a survey with open-ended questions conducted among 120 students. The presented results allow to propose the initial mental model for cooperation in entrepreneurial teams and creating a recommendation for preparing students to have a more open attitude towards team-based innovative enterprises.

Authors

• dr Beata Krawczyk-Bryłka link open in new tab