Cross-Cultural Differences of Entrepreneurs' Error Orientation: Comparing Chinese Entrepreneurs and German Entrepreneurs

Abstract

When starting up firms, entrepreneurs will easily be in the situation of being away from predetermined goals or criteria. How entrepreneurs cope with errors is critical to the development of their firms. The research used the free software, Mx, and explored the error orientation of entrepreneurs in four industries, including IT and software, catering and hotel, machinery and parts, and construction, to find the differences of entrepreneurs' error orientation by comparing Chinese entrepreneurs and German entrepreneurs. The results suggest that Chinese entrepreneurs pay more attention to the ability of solving problems caused by errors and the ability of learning from errors. German entreprenurs pay more attention to communicating with other when an error occurs. Entrepreneurs of either culture background value the ability of coping with errors. The implication of the results for IT industry is also included.