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Purpose – The purpose of this chapter is to explore the differing ways in which emancipation is conceived by (Burawoy, 2004) four types of sociology: professional, public, critical and policy. The chapter argues that taken in isolation these sociologies generate issues in research that can only be resolved by reference to the activities of other branches of the sociological enterprise.

Approach – The chapter starts with a conflict of values in public sociological research, where the researcher is confronted with respondents whose ‘voice’ is characterised as racist.

Findings – The chapter argues that whilst public sociology attempts to provide voice to marginalised social groups it often makes arbitrary judgments over the palatability of certain voices, preferring voices sympathetic to the sociological enterprise over populist voices. The nuance here is illustrated as a tension between public and critical sociology that is often overlooked in the literature.

Research implications – The chapter argues that to successfully make sociological judgments to marshal between divergent voices, public sociology needs to re-discover its relationship with professional sociology, in terms of its engagement with political normativity and uses of evidence. Ultimately, for the sociological enterprise to be emancipatory it has to have a functioning interdependence between its four main activities.

This chapter seeks to provide an overview of the role that culture plays in the effective governance and sustainability of an entrepreneurial ecosystem (EE). In particular, the authors draw upon their own experience at “Marina de Empresas” (MdE), an EE located in Valencia (Spain). MdE is an emerging and exciting EE that provides a unique context. Within the same complex, an entrepreneurial university, an incubator and accelerator (Lanzadera), and an entrepreneurial financing company (Angels) are all co-located. Thus, in one locality, the complete cycle of entrepreneurship is covered. Through an embedded case study methodology and using semi-structured interviews carried out with multiple key stakeholder’s insights are generated into the distinctive culture that the ecosystem holds. In so doing, the impact of entrepreneurial values, entrepreneurial spaces, and entrepreneurial practices, are considered in relation to how they can influence ecosystem functioning. The aim is to provide comprehension toward the transcending value that culture emits across an entrepreneurial community. The findings are relevant to entrepreneurs, incubators, accelerators, and the policy makers.

The application of network theory and social network analysis (SNA) to tourism and hospitality is recent. Nonetheless, several authors have been applying the method contributing to regional planning, local-level tourism networks, tourism policy and governance, innovation, entrepreneurship, knowledge transfer, and learning. This chapter aims to characterize the use of SNA in tourism and hospitality research. Specifically, it intends to: (i) present the framework of SNA in a methodological perspective; (ii) perform a bibliometric analysis of SNA use in tourism and hospitality research; (iii) systematize the dimensions and metrics that researchers can use to apply SNA, namely the relevance for tourism; and (iv) present a case study analyzing tourism innovation networks. This chapter brings important contributions to tourism and hospitality research and practice, by focusing on the theoretical framework and practical application of SNA, providing relevant conceptual and practical knowledge that will empower researchers to use this method in tourism and hospitality studies.

In a world where we recognize entrepreneurial means, ends and values in terms of geographies of meaning, this book explores the phenomenon of Entrepreneurial Place Leadership. This book identifies that a place-led perspective of entrepreneurial development is becoming increasingly important, given narratives around entrepreneurial ecosystems, spatial and temporal contexts, and the active design of entrepreneurial institutions. This introductory chapter outlines the rationale for the book, explores the entrepreneurial landscape and then highlights the chapter contributions. It concludes by drawing together policy and practice recommendations and suggesting directions for future research.

Global trading of oil and gas means international markets are more open than at any previous time. As a result, the oil industry oligopoly is being deconstructed and vertically integrated MNCs are being reconstituted to address this fact. In parallel, emergent MNCs in the form of National Oil Companies are now entering the competitive arena. Traditionally dominant MNCs are adopting new operating models focused on technological and financial strength. We examine changes in the once-dominant industry paradigm of vertical integration using several theoretical lenses. These include transaction-cost economics, the resource-based view and institution theory. The giant MNCs operated globally for decades and are an important variant of the MNCs studied in strategic management literature. We suggest the current theoretical models do not explain sufficiently how these MNCs respond to current changes and by using industry observation we contribute to modernization of this literature.

The English sector is characterised by an expanding and increasingly differentiated set of higher education providers (HEPs) and an ever-more diverse student body. As a consequence, HEPs are as differentiated in their widening participation (WP) approaches as they are in every other aspect of the business of HE, and this has led to tensions between why and how they should go about the business of WP. Are HEPs driven by the desire to enhance social justice or merely responding to regulatory pressure? This chapter discusses how changing market regulatory regimes have interreacted with, and often conflicted with, institutional missions as they try to respond to the dual policy imperatives discussed in earlier chapters: the economic, human capital expansionary dynamic and the desire to enhance social justice through access to the HE system.

In this chapter, I examine the informal cultural expertise utilized in the District Courts and Courts of Appeal of two Finnish cities. I argue that the parties that serve as providers of “cultural expertise” are manifold and include eyewitnesses, interpreters, and even the courts themselves. I examine the challenges regarding the informal use of cultural expertise, drawing from debates that consider the relationship between an “insider-expert” and a “trained-expert” in acting as a cultural mediator.