Digital entrepreneurship vs. Traditional entrepreneurship : the setting up of a global conceptual model

Abstract

A review of the contemporary literature on entrepreneurship suggests that, in general, entrepreneurship in the digital sphere is more or less different from " traditional " entrepreneurship. Nevertheless, faced with this assertion, the question that remains slightly discussed is to determine which are foremost the main variables that allow us to compare these two phenomena in order to be able to distinguish them? Based on an in-depth study of variables used in the literature to describe entrepreneurs and their businesses, this paper attempts to introduce a global conceptual model that opens new tracks research to compare, in an empirical way, digital entrepreneurship and traditional entrepreneurship. This framework takes into account three main elements: The entrepreneur profile, the entrepreneurial process and finally the measurement of the venture performance and outcomes. This work also provides useful informations on digital entrepreneurship while demonstrating that it is a complex and multifactorial phenomenon.