Recognizing the success of entrepreneurs in transition economies such as the economies of Central and Eastern Europe, Soviet Union and East Asia; Peng (2001) carried out a study to find out how entrepreneurs create wealth and flourish in such economies. While the study recognizes these economies as traditionally entrepreneurship-hostile, it also recognizes that entrepreneurs have nonetheless risen to create wealth in such economies. The paper found out that the success of such entrepreneurs is due to their strength, unique strategies and controversial practices. The potential strategies utilized by entrepreneurs in these transitional economies include networking, boundary blurring and prospecting. While prospecting is a viable generic strategic option even in other economies, boundary blurring is an unusual strategy which poses a challenge to entrepreneurship in a global perspective.
In relation to prospecting, Peng (2001) suggests that entrepreneurs in transition economies focus on changing markets, innovation and flexible organizational structure. The business organization in transition economies are headed by individuals with entrepreneurial minds – energetic and aggressive. Young managers head small startups which have better orientation, flexibility and agility that allows them to react quickly to emerging market opportunities. Institutional environment of transitional economies has also been found out to be focused on networks. Entrepreneurs in such economies therefore use the networks to increase their performance as each entrepreneur provides his/her network. Boundary blurring is also common in transition economies. This includes the blurring of boundaries separating public sector and the private sector, and boundaries separating legal and illegal sectors. Finally, this article draws some lessons from the entrepreneurial success of transition economies. These lessons include: taking collective action in order to promote development of entrepreneurship, creating links with educational institutions in the economy, adapting to environmental changes and enhancing entrepreneurship to meet strategic leadership standards.
