ITHACA, N.Y., Aug. 8 /EMWNews/ -- The Johnson School at Cornell

University today announced that Wesley Sine, assistant professor of

management and organizations, received a grant from the Cisco Entrepreneur

Institute, an initiative of Cisco Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: CSCO) focused on

fostering entrepreneurship. The grant is currently funding entrepreneurship

research in Latin America, including Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica,

and Mexico, and will be conducted with local organizations in each country.



    



    Research is already underway in Chile with the El Instituto Profesional

(AIEP), an institution of higher education that seeks to become the leading

institution of technical and vocational education in the country, with

plans to expand to the three remaining countries this summer and fall.



    In Chile, Sine is currently tracking more than 300 participants who

have indicated they are interested in entrepreneurship and starting a

business. A survey developed by Sine asks respondents for their new

business ideas, as well as specifics on their socio-economic background,

education, experience, networks, personality traits, and career

aspirations. Sine plans to track the progress of turning those ideas into

viable businesses with six-month follow up surveys. In addition to tracking

the students at each of the universities, researchers will randomly survey

business people from the general population and a local university that

does not offer entrepreneurship courses.



    Sine comments, "Through this research, we're looking to get a better

idea of the causal factors that determine the extent to which the

population engages in entrepreneurial activities and the degree of their

success. By tracking individual entrepreneurs and their ideas over time, we

hope to learn more about the challenges they face and their motivations as

they develop their new business ventures."



    Sine has also been conducting entrepreneurship research in Colombia.

The study, called "Declining Insurgencies," investigates the welfare of

almost 1,000 entrepreneurs in Colombia and reports that the survival rate

for small businesses in Colombia have doubled since 2001, due largely to a

sharp decrease in violence and the ensuing rapid economic growth. Sine was

also awarded a $12,000 grant from Cornell's Mario Einaudi Center for

International Studies for "The Failure of Political Institutions and New

Venture Survival" and received one of 12 fellowships for fall 2008 from

Cornell's Institute of Social Sciences.



    The Cisco Entrepreneur Institute and its local partners, including

academic institutions, non-governmental organizations and economic

development agencies will offer participants in all five countries,

entrepreneurship sessions and workshops. The Institute is focused on

fostering entrepreneurship markets by working with local government and

business organizations to foster the creation and success of small- and

medium-sized businesses. The Institute provides practical business insights

for entrepreneurs, facilitates knowledge-sharing with local business

leaders and shows participants how to leverage technology to speed business

growth.



    Cisco believes this initiative will create significant long-term

benefits and help transform the economic landscape for customers and

partners, while enabling Cisco to further expand its business and social

impact. More information is available on the Institute at

http://www.ciscoinstitute.net.

    About the Johnson School



    Founded in 1946, the Johnson School is Cornell University's graduate

school of management. Consistently ranked as one of the top graduate

schools of business, the Johnson School builds upon Cornell's depth and

breadth of distinguished research and teaching, and its vast, worldwide

network of alumni, faculty, and colleagues. The school's "performance

learning" approach offers students defined frameworks and analytical tools,

combined with expert feedback to solve real problems in real organizations.

Deliberately small and extremely selective, the Johnson School maintains an

intense, collaborative community, where students develop teamwork and

networking skills that foster innovation and deliver results. Programs

include one- and two-year MBA degrees, an Executive MBA and the

Cornell-Queen's Executive MBA, which offers interactive videoconferencing

sessions across the U.S. and Canada. For more about the Johnson School

please visit: http://www.johnson.cornell.edu.








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Wesley Sine

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