Entrepreneurship Scholars Research Articles

Operations for entrepreneurs: Can Operations Management make a difference in entrepreneurial theory and practice?

Although entrepreneurship‐related papers have had some representation in Production and Operations Management (POM) over the past 30 years, the topic still seems a bit like a poor stepchild in the research of operations management (OM) scholars. Yet, entrepreneurship is important to the economy, and many schools are growing significantly their entrepreneurship programs and offerings but often without reference to or inclusion of operations courses. This paper is motivated by the question of the operations needs of new ventures and how they might differ from the needs of large, established firms. Toward that end, we review briefly the state of entrepreneurship scholarship in POM (and beyond), present our own (field‐based) research (and cases), and propose a framework for what we call “operations for entrepreneurs,” that we hope can be a basis for further productive research and curriculum development by the OM community.

Mike Wright: a communitarian entrepreneurship scholar

Mike Wright: a communitarian entrepreneurship scholar

Entrepreneurial imagination: Insights from construal level theory for historical entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurial imagination is core to the entrepreneurial process but hard to study in the present. Methodologically, historians have the advantage of reconstructing entrepreneurs’ future thinking in their time. However, traditional historical methodology offers only limited tools to analyse and interpret uncertainty in historical future-oriented sources. In this paper, we suggest that Construal Level Theory (CLT), a theory in social-cognitive psychology, represents a complementary resource to deal with uncertainty and analyse the role of entrepreneurial imagination in evaluating and selecting business opportunities. We elaborate on four manifestations of abstraction suggested by CLT: desirability vs. feasibility, primary vs. secondary aspects, words vs. pictorial representations, and small vs. large categories. We further explain how insights from CLT can raise important questions for source analysis and facilitate comparisons, and then demonstrate it by investigating Thomas Edison’s ego-documents. We conclude by sketching a future interdisciplinary dialogue with entrepreneurship scholars and psychologists.

The (R)evolution of the Social Entrepreneurship Concept: A Critical Historical Review

The contested concept of social entrepreneurship has gained particular prominence in academic literature over the last few decades. To explore how patterns of understandings relating to social entrepreneurship have emerged and shifted over time, we undertook a critical historical review focusing on the most highly cited social entrepreneurship articles in each of five time periods over the last 30 years. We identify four thematic areas—conceptualization, theoretical approaches, the search for data, and social change outcomes—characteristic of each period, allowing us to plot the terrain of social entrepreneurship scholarship over time. We show how patterns emerge across these themes over time and relate our analysis to wider developments in the field. In concluding, we discuss how the concept has been theoretically and conceptually enriched by an ability to accommodate critique.

진정한 기업가성과 세계적 기업가정신

This study investigated a global fashion company with longitudinal two-staged in-depth case study research. Global luxury handbag stems from Aristocratic culture among European. Global luxury brand like Louis Vuitton, Buberry and others have roots in that region. Within dozens of years several global fashion brands such as DKNY, Michael Cors, Coach, and so on are launched in US. Behind the scenes, Simone Co., an entrepreneurial company takes the role of supportive partners. This company has first OEM order from a globally top-tier brand instead of European manufacturer. Since then, it has evolved to provide full package of services from design to delivery. The first entrepreneurial success story from Asia (Breaking the prejudice of ‘Asia discount’). The growth stages starts with the opening the window of opportunity. Authentic entrepreneurity can be stated as “Affordable Luxury in made in Asia.” Simone developed competence of design to be the first ODM in Asia. The vision of Brand Orchestra in Global Opera of Luxury Handbag with global brands continue to be realized with the lead customers and partners. Longevity with DKNY(since 1987), 11 years with LVMH (since 2000) are exceptional partnership. The deeper OCEAN of entrepreneurity was studied from the grounded theory approach to figure out 10 elements of entrepreneurity that linked with Entrepreneurial Orientation(EO) and actions: Innovation, risk taking, and proactive pursuit of opportunities. The global scale of success in fashion entrepreneurship are extraordinary for the sustainablity. The possibility in the sector is based on the combination of the three continental strength of entrepreneurity, and entrepreneurial orientation with innovation, proactiveness, and risk-taking. The value added are increasing with traditions, market, and the craftsmanship. There are some implications to the entrepreneurship scholars, educators, and practitioners in the field.

Does practice make perfect? Assessing the formation of expertise amongst new venture founders

PurposePrior research has theorised that entrepreneurs use deliberate practice (DP) in the start-up process to improve their competences and achieve new venture success. However, does DP truly lead to an increase in entrepreneurial expertise? This article advances the understanding of DP for entrepreneurship scholars by answering the following question: to what extent does DP influence the formation of entrepreneurial expertise amongst business founders?Design/methodology/approachThe study employs a sample of founders of limited-liability firms. Data were collected mainly through a web-based survey designed specifically for this research. Regression analysis was used to investigate the relationship between DP and entrepreneurial expertise amongst business founders.FindingsThe results show that DP is positively associated with entrepreneurial expertise, which provides us with an improved understanding of DP and expertise in the entrepreneurship context.Originality/valueThe article offers empirical evidence linking DP to the achievement of entrepreneurial expertise. Further, the article emphasises DP as key to experiential learning, representing a predominant mode by which entrepreneurs’ experiences are transformed into expertise. Finally, the article highlights the important role of learning through DP in opportunity development.

A personal reflection on repositioning the masculinity entrepreneurship debate in the literature and in the entrepreneurship research community

PurposeDespite the healthy growth in studies and publications in recent years in relation to the expanding paradigm of gender and entrepreneurship, and notwithstanding the success of this very journal, from the perspective of the author, the field remains overly dominated by a focus on female and women's entrepreneurship. Conversely, there are few studies on masculinity and entrepreneurship and the role of men in shaping gendered entrepreneurship. In addition, few male entrepreneurship scholars choose to write in this niche and specialised field. Indeed, there is a discernible imbalance in the literature in relation to what can be termed as “silent” and “silenced” masculinities. In this reflection, the study aims to look back at his career as an entrepreneurship and gender scholar, considering why this situation exists.Design/methodology/approachThis is an invited, reflective essay written in an auto-ethnographic style containing personal viewpoints.FindingsIn the feminist-inspired gender and entrepreneurship literature, “Patriarchy” and the entrepreneurial “strawman” are blamed for the problems associated with the “silent” and silenced female entrepreneur. Much of the gendered literature concentrates on gendered female stereotypes and in particular on negative elements of these. The main finding is that the common assumption of the female as proxy for gender has, to date, prevented the consideration of the full spectrum of gendered identities. These issues are explored, and a call is made for more in-depth research into masculinity and entrepreneurship.Originality/valueThis reflection presents some novel thoughts on how to advance the debate on gender scholarship and in particular masculinity.

Refugee women's entrepreneurship: where from and where to next?

PurposeThis reflective paper offers an overview on how refugee women's entrepreneurship scholarship evolved, and suggests research directions for the future development of the field.Design/methodology/approachA reflective approach encompassing the evolvement of the field of refugee women's entrepreneurship research.FindingsWhilst refugee women's entrepreneurship scholarship and research, and its interlinks with resilience, empowerment, gender, and livelihoods theoretical framings have flourished in recent years, it remains a relatively young scholarship area, evolving from a broad social science multi-disciplinary base including refugee studies, economics, and development, rather than mainstream business disciplines.Originality/valueRefugee women's entrepreneurship offers a novel approach and contribution to the broader and established gender and entrepreneurship field. Nevertheless, critical research questions and gaps remain within the growing refugee women's entrepreneurship scholarship regarding the potential of entrepreneuring to empower refugee women socially, economically, and politically.

The Impact of South Africa’s Total Early-stage Entrepreneurial Activity Rate on Entrepreneurial Attitudes and Behavior

Given that entrepreneurship scholars use various approaches to measure entrepreneurial success, which leads to inconsistent findings, in this study we investigate the impact that South Africa’s total early-stage entrepreneurial activity (TESEA) rate has on the entrepreneurial attitudes and behavior of South Africans and their reactions to different macroeconomic factors. Secondary datasets were elicited from the World Bank’s world development indicators and the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) database from 2003–2014. Using a generalized linear model (GLM) poisson regression, we affirmed the statistical significance of these relationships, as well as enhanced the validity and reliability of the quantitative estimation procedure. We found that the TESEA rate is positively associated with a higher ease of doing business and entrepreneurial intention level. Furthermore, we found that when entrepreneurship is viewed as a good career choice, and given media visibility, the TESEA rate increases, and vice versa. It was also observed that the GDP per capita (which relies on efficiency, innovation and optimal utilization of market knowledge), as well as the level of economic freedom in South Africa, positively impacts the nation’s TESEA rate. Likewise, we found that the unemployment rate is positively associated with the TESEA rate of South Africa. South Africa’s TESEA rate is influenced by a combination of factors due to the dynamic nature of individual traits. However, the TESEA rate has a remarkable impact on South Africa’s entrepreneurial decision making. This implies that a targeted approach is more relevant when implementing both private and government policy initiatives.

Modeling new-firm growth and survival with panel data using event magnitude regression

We introduce a new model to address three methodological biases in research on new venture growth and survival. The model offers entrepreneurship scholars numerous benefits. The biases are identified using a systematic review of 96 papers using longitudinal data published over a period of 20 years. They are: (1) distributional properties of new ventures; (2) selection bias; and (3) causal asymmetry. The biases make the popular use of normal distribution models problematic. As a potential solution, we introduce and test an event magnitude regression model approach (EMM). In this two-stage model, the first model explores the probability of four events: a firm staying the same size, expanding, contracting, or exiting. In the second stage, if the firm contracts or expands, we estimate the magnitude of the change. A suggested benefit is that researchers can better separate the likelihood of an event from its magnitude, thereby opening new avenues for research. We provide an overview of our model analyzing an example data set involving longitudinal venture level data. We provide a new package for the statistical software R. Our findings show that EMM outperforms the widely adopted normal distribution model. We discuss the benefits and consequences of our model, identify areas for future research, and offer recommendations for research practice.

‘Resilience Activation’: Exploring Relational Mechanisms in Strategy and Practice

‘Resilience Activation’: Exploring Relational Mechanisms in Strategy and Practice

Craft Production and Entrepreneurial Form

Work on craft production has examined a wide range of topics from x, y to z. So far, however, the intersection of craft production and entrepreneurship has been overlooked, such that we know little about the people who found companies around craft or their motivations. Entrepreneurship scholars have also neglected craft production as a discrete entrepreneurial form, which tend to be of small scale. We fill both of these gaps in the literature simultaneously by investigating the phenomenon on craft entrepreneurship in the context of bean-to-bar chocolate in the U.S. Through qualitative analysis, we find that founders of craft firms engage in a form of entrepreneurship centering on a specific meaning of both their product and the production process and incorporating non-market goals. In turn, this orientation generates limits to organizational scale, resulting in a specific organizational form that defines craft entrepreneurship.

A conceptual competencies-based framework to enhance the innovation capacity of fourth industrial revolution entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurship scholars have focused their research on compiling a list of competencies that enhance entrepreneurial behaviour. Yet, these efforts might be redundant as new competencies are necessary in the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). Furthermore, previous research investigated entrepreneurial competencies (ECs) from a developed country perspective. This paper follows two phases in identifying ECs for the 4IR in a developing country context. During phase 1, a Delphi study is employed, whereby 12 participants provide 108 ECs (round 1) and 87 ECs (round 2) required for the 4IR. Based on an extensive literature review, a concept matrix is conducted in phase 2, in which 136 competencies are listed. After phase 2 has been conducted, 87 ECs are identified, of which 33 have resulted as the most cited in the literature. By utilizing this multi-dimensional holistic approach, we can distinguish the ECs necessary to increase entrepreneurs’ capacity to innovate. The final analyses indicate 12 ECs, presented in a conceptual framework and categorized into four domains: cognitive (knowledge), functional (skills), social (attitudes and behaviours) and meta (facilitating learning). The findings illustrate the demand for specific ECs, although no additional ECs such as technology skills are identified for the 4IR within a developing country context.

Artificial Intelligence Systems: the Influence on Human Entrepreneurial Creativity

This article explores the influence of artificial intelligence (AI) systems on the generation of new venture ideas, answering a direct call from entrepreneurship scholars (Chalmers, MacKenzie, & Carter, 2021). A conceptual framework is built to unearth the underlying mechanisms, drawing on cognitive theories of creativity. The conceptual framework is tested experimentally with 90 participants. Findings show that the use of AI during new venture idea generation is a double-edged sword. Humans can enhance their cognitive flexibility, which leads to generate more high-quality ideas (number of creative, novel and useful ideas) at the expense of average novelty of ideas. Practical implications, academic contributions and future research opportunities are discussed.

Performance Implications for Passion and Sleep Quality Among Entrepreneurs During COVID-19

Research in entrepreneurial passion has stated passion as a double-edged sword for the well-being and success of entrepreneurs. Among various elements of well-being, sleep quality has gained significant attentions from entrepreneurship scholars in recent years. Yet, we still do not know how passion affects sleep quality of entrepreneurs, particularly in the time of crisis. This study addresses this gap by drawing upon the Dualistic Model of Passion and provide theoretical predictions on how harmonious passion and obsessive passion influences well-being and success of entrepreneurs. We validate our predictions using a longitudinal study with 302 entrepreneurs during the COVID-19 crisis, and provide empirical evidence on how sleep quality plays as a underlying mechanism to explain effects of different types of passion on entrepreneurial success. Specifically, our results show that harmonious passion positively influences entrepreneurial success through sleep quality while obsessive passion influences on the success negatively.

The Role of Firm Size in Shaping Job Satisfaction Among Joiners and Entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurial ventures are growth-oriented firms and face the unique challenges that growth presents. Given the performance implications of venture growth in size, entrepreneurship scholars have used firm size as an indicator of entrepreneurial success. However, the existing studies on venture scale and growth provide limited insights into individual-level outcomes. To advance our understanding of the role that firm size can have in an entrepreneurial work setting, we examine the impacts of venture size on job satisfaction among joiners and entrepreneurs. Using data from more than 8,000 U.S. scientists and engineers, we find that both joiners and entrepreneurs report lower levels of job satisfaction when they work in a young and large firm compared to when they work in a young and small firm. Evidence suggests that although individuals are likely to be more satisfied with the pecuniary benefits that a large firm can provide, they may report lower levels of satisfaction with the non-pecuniary attributes, such as a sense of independence and level of responsibility. By demonstrating the potential costs of venture expansion, this study highlights the value of studying the consequences of venture development at the individual level.

Speaking of Opportunities: The Effect of Language on Entrepreneurial Alertness

Although entrepreneurial alertness is foundational in applied entrepreneurship studies, entrepreneurship scholars have rarely considered institutional factors that shape entrepreneurial alertness. We investigate the underlying mechanisms of entrepreneurial alertness with respect to one of the most salient, yet underexplored, aspects of informal institutions: the future-time-reference (FTR) in linguistic structures. Drawing upon imprinting theory, we theorize that entrepreneurs’ early language imprint persistently affects their alertness, and that both individual and environmental contextual factors may alter this effect. We test our model with two studies. Study 1 employs a multi-source database with 107,830 observations across 56 countries and Study 2 surveys 618 entrepreneurs in four countries. Our findings indicate that entrepreneurs in institutions with strong-FTR languages exhibit higher level of alertness. Further, this effect is intensified for older entrepreneurs, yet weakened for entrepreneurs with higher level of education or entrepreneurs who experience higher level of globalization in their home country. Our study contributes to a better understanding of language imprinting on entrepreneurial alertness.

A Literature Review of Perspective taking Research Relevant for Entrepreneurship

Perspective taking enhances an entrepreneur’s ability to recognize better market opportunities in terms of desirability, feasibility, alignment, and creativity. Although the perspective taking construct is well-established in organizational psychology literature, entrepreneurship scholars have yet to realize its full potential. To this end, this paper offers a literature review and synthesis of perspective taking research relevant to entrepreneurship to elucidate perspective taking’s role as a mechanism for entrepreneurial learning. This paper identified 25 articles in which perspective taking plays a central role, and the relevance for entrepreneurship is clearly apparent. Additionally, this review is informed by another 26 articles covering the broader topics of perspective taking within psychology, cognition, and entrepreneurial learning. This review describes the various roles of perspective taking in existing scholarship, including its antecedents, consequences, mediators, and moderators, and concludes with suggestions for additional research avenues. Taken together, this literature review shows that perspective taking, and the learning that it evokes, play a valuable and necessary role across the spectrum of entrepreneurship research.

Environmental Uncertainty, Entrepreneurial Governance, and Entrepreneurial Outcome

Uncertainty is a central construct in the entrepreneurship literature. However, the relationship between environmental uncertainty and entrepreneurial outcome is still underexplored. As the real world becomes increasingly discordant, understanding how environmental uncertainty affects entrepreneurial outcome and how startups can mitigate uncertainty has attracted much attention from both entrepreneurship scholars and entrepreneurs. Aiming to fill this gap, this paper studies two research questions: (1) how different kinds of environmental uncertainty affect entrepreneurial outcomes differently? (2) how entrepreneurial governance helps startups mitigate or embrace environmental uncertainty? Integrating theories from management and economics literature, I propose that macroeconomic uncertainty and economic policy uncertainty negatively affect entrepreneurial outcome, while political uncertainty positively affects entrepreneurial outcome. Informal institutions such as clan culture can mitigate the negative effects of economic policy uncertainty and amplify the positive effects of political uncertainty. Moreover, firms with fewer shareholders, with institutional shareholders, or without majority-hold shareholders will also be less negatively affected by economic policy uncertainty. Utilizing a novel dataset of over 9 million Chinese firms registered during 2005–2014 and over 246,000 normative documents published by Chinese provincial governments from 2005 to 2018, I found support for my propositions.

Social Entrepreneurship in Africa: Entrepreneurial Action to Create a Better World Together

Social entrepreneurship is increasingly recognised as an important community response to catastrophes such as ethnic conflict, social issues such as poverty, inequality, and child labour, and environmental challenges such as waste management and climate change (Saebi, Foss, & Linder, 2019; George, Howard-Grenville, Joshi & Tihanyi, 2016a; Sserwanga et al., 2014). In light of the growing literature on social entrepreneurship, and the size and scale of the African continent, surprisingly few studies have engaged with and explored social entrepreneurship in African countries (Rivera-Santos, Holt, Littlewood, & Kolk, 2015; Zoogah, Peng, & Woldu, 2015; Zahra, Gedajlovic, Neubaum, & Shulman, 2009). Our presenter symposium seeks to address two fundamental shortcomings in current organization, management, and entrepreneurship scholarship. First, research in African countries offers the opportunity for greater understanding of how “the diverse, rich life worlds of African people can inform our understanding of management and organization” (AMR, 2021; Kim, Bansal & Haugh, 2019). Second, Africa has been recognized as an important and fertile ground for critically evaluating the relevance of Western theories in non-Western contexts (Nkomo, 2017; Zoogah et al., 2015). Specifically, the learnings derived from a better understanding of how African communities organize local responses to local needs creates opportunities for new insights into how social entrepreneurship seeks to create a better world for communities. Social entrepreneurship in Africa: Entrepreneurial action to create a better world together Presenter: Giacomo Ciambotti; U. Cattolica del Sacro Cuore Presenter: Helen Haugh; U. of Cambridge