Louis Jacques Filion Wins the Best Paper Award from the ICSB, in the Types of Entrepreneurship and Entrepreneurs Category
August 12, 2008
Louis Jacques Filion, holder of the Rogers – J.A. Bombardier Chair of Entrepreneurship, won the Best Paper Award in the Types of Entrepreneurship and Entrepreneurs category (e.g., female entrepreneurs, community and social entrepreneurship, etc.) from the International Council for Small Business (ICSB), at its annual conference, held in Halifax this year from June 22 to 25. The winning article, entitled “Particularités du processus de création d’entreprises par des femmes,” was co-written with Candido Borges (PhD May 2008), Assistant Professor at the Centro Universitário Euroamericano (UNIEURO), in Brasilia, while he was a doctoral student at HEC Montréal, and with Germain Simard, Project Manager with the Rogers – J.A. Bombardier Chair of Entrepreneurship.
Professor Filion is especially proud of this distinction in that over 600 articles were selected for review at this international event, one of the leading conferences in the field of entrepreneurship, and more than 200 articles were in the running for the awards, all categories combined. All in all, five Best Paper awards were presented, one in each category.
Differences and similarities between female and male entrepreneurship
The co-authors examined the differences and similarities between female and male entrepreneurship, after analyzing data drawn from a study of the creative process at 28 firms started by women, which they compared with data from a group of 168 firms started by men.
According to the authors, family-related aspects seem to have a greater influence on the creative process for women than for men. Moreover, women found it particularly difficult to reconcile their activities revolving around the new business with their personal and family lives. The business creation process is lengthier for women. It seems that they take longer to study the market and so have a better understanding of it than men do. Access to sources of funding and financial management remain problematic for female entrepreneurs. Finally, in comparison with men, women apparently have a clearer vision of what they want to do when they create their business.
In light of these findings, the authors came up with recommendations for supporting organizations, female entrepreneurs and university communities involved in the field of entrepreneurship. “One of our recommendations is that supporting organizations develop a system for assisting them throughout all the steps in creating a business, not just at the outset of the process and when they are drawing up a business plan, as is often the case,” notes Louis Jacques Filion.
A career devoted to entrepreneurship
Professor Filion has always been interested in entrepreneurial practices, and has received some of the most prestigious awards saluting his research and his commitment to promoting entrepreneurship on the national and international scenes. Among his most recent distinctions is the award for the best business textbook published in Quebec in 2007, which he received in June for his book Management des PME, a textbook with contributions by 31 recognized researchers in entrepreneurship from both here and abroad. In April 2008, he received the Promotion de l’entrepreneuriat award in recognition of his commitment throughout his career to promoting entrepreneurship among young people. Quebec Premier Jean Charest presented him with this prestigious distinction at the 28th Mercuriades gala, held in Montreal.