Entrepreneurial learning: A conceptual framework for technology-based enterprise

Abstract

Entrepreneurial learning has emerged as an important yet insufficiently understood area of enquiry. This paper develops new understanding in this area from a social constructionist perspective by using narratives elicited from technology-based entrepreneurs to explore their learning experiences and behaviours. The unit of analysis is the emergent entrepreneur in the technology-based enterprise. The paper develops a framework for analysing entrepreneurial learning through in-depth analysis of entrepreneurial experiences by using discourse analysis based on a social learning perspective. This conceptual framework includes three major themes of personal and social emergence, contextual learning and the negotiated enterprise, and 11 related sub-themes. These demonstrate connections between the emergence of entrepreneurial identity, learning as a social and contextual process, opportunity recognition, and venture formation as a negotiated activity.