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1 – 10 of over 25000
Article
Publication date: 4 September 2019

Emma O’Brien, Thomas M. Cooney and Per Blenker

Entrepreneurship education has moved from an elitist view focussing on a start-up and picking-the-winners philosophy towards a broader enterprising behaviour approach; recognising…

1260

Abstract

Purpose

Entrepreneurship education has moved from an elitist view focussing on a start-up and picking-the-winners philosophy towards a broader enterprising behaviour approach; recognising entrepreneurship as an activity of relevance for everybody. The purpose of this paper is to extend this development and identify how university entrepreneurial ecosystems can be expanded to support communities that are under-represented in entrepreneurship.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on an integrative literature review (Torraco, 2005), this paper draws together and synthesises literature from the field of entrepreneurship, higher education studies and under-represented communities in an integrated fashion, leading to the development of a new conceptual model.

Findings

This paper challenges the traditional role of universities in supporting entrepreneurship as focussing mainly on economic growth and new venture creation, and identifies how universities are also positioned to provide greater civic support to entrepreneurial learning amongst under-represented communities. Through a critical analysis of the literature, the conceptual model proposed identifies six key considerations in the expansion of university entrepreneurial ecosystems for under-represented communities.

Practical implications

There are currently 96.6m people at risk of poverty and social exclusion in the EU (OECD, 2017) and an estimated 43.1m Americans (US Census Bureau, 2017). This paper explores how university entrepreneurial ecosystems can be expanded to support minority and disadvantaged communities who are under-represented in terms of entrepreneurial activity.

Originality/value

Given that there is little research regarding how universities might activate inclusive entrepreneurship initiatives amongst under-represented communities, this paper expands existing knowledge as it identifies the key considerations encompassing university-led community collaborative enterprise support.

Article
Publication date: 29 August 2023

David Rae and Per Blenker

This paper aims to introduce the concept of Entrepreneurial Collective Intelligence (ECI) as a means of understanding how communities of entrepreneurial actors learn to act both…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to introduce the concept of Entrepreneurial Collective Intelligence (ECI) as a means of understanding how communities of entrepreneurial actors learn to act both collectively and knowingly. It explores how connections between processes of CI, agency and action can explain and enable the development entrepreneurial community organisations.

Design/methodology/approach

There is a selective literature review of prior works on the related fields of community and collective entrepreneurship; collectives and intelligence; agency and action. The review is used to propose a framework of collective entrepreneurial intelligence, agency and action. An interpretive approach is used to research four case studies of community organisations which use CI to generate entrepreneurial outcomes.

Findings

The cases are compared with themes from prior literature to develop a conceptual model of four ECI processes which enable intelligence, agency and action: collaborative processes; distributed working; intelligence representations and organisation of infrastructures. These are theorised to discuss ideas, challenges, methods and questions to enhance entrepreneurial actions, based on sharing knowledge and learning, in the context of collective agency, action and intelligence.

Research limitations/implications

The four processes, both together and separately, represent a coherent framework useful for further studies on the role of collectives in enterprising communities.

Practical implications

The four processes each represent a central area of attention, not only for development, learning, decision-making and leadership within enterprising communities but also for entrepreneurship education in terms of alternative didactics, pedagogies and learning forms.

Social implications

The improved knowledge on the role of collective agency and CI within entrepreneurial processes is useful for strengthening civil activism and other fruitful forms of entrepreneurial collective processes. This may help solve complicated societal problems where traditional conceptions of entrepreneurship fail.

Originality/value

The conceptual contribution is to explain the dynamic relationships between ECI and action, mediated by collective agency. The role of CI in informing entrepreneurial communities is explored and four enabling processes are proposed. This coherent framework is useful for further studies on the role of collectives in enterprising communities, whilst informing their learning, decision-making and leadership.

Details

Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy, vol. 18 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1750-6204

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 28 March 2023

Nihar Amoncar, Paul Agu Igwe and Nnamdi Madichie

The purpose of this study is to explore the elements of the Marwari business community’s sociocultural context, which influence entrepreneurial behaviour. The entrepreneurial

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to explore the elements of the Marwari business community’s sociocultural context, which influence entrepreneurial behaviour. The entrepreneurial behaviour of the Marwari community is interrogated in the context of the wider indigenous entrepreneurship literature.

Design/methodology/approach

The study adopts a qualitative approach in exploring the thoughts, feelings, beliefs and effectual entrepreneurial behaviour of a sample of Marwari entrepreneurs. An exploratory, qualitative content analysis method was adopted to highlight the emerging insights into traditional entrepreneurship.

Findings

The study identifies unique, traditional Marwari behavioural constructs such as Sakh and Samai and the role it plays in trust-based business relationships. Overall, the study finds that although the Marwari practices and ecosystem enable a deep understanding of the entrepreneurial and business process, they do not facilitate creative innovation or entrepreneurial experimentation as seen within modern start-up incubation ecosystems.

Research limitations/implications

The study took a conscious decision to restrict further data collection upon saturation and used a purposeful sampling technique to increase the richness of this study rather than enlarge the sample and dilute the quality of the data.

Practical implications

The study identifies nuances of Marwari’s traditional practices that have come to determine their effectual tendencies that support business growth and sustainability. The study, however, finds that the restrictiveness of the Marwari ecosystem practices on fluency of doing business rather than creative innovation and thought experimentation risks the longevity of the traditional ecosystem advantage enjoyed by the Marwaris for centuries.

Social implications

The study broadens the understanding of the uniqueness of traditional business communities, which are comparatively marginalized in mainstream entrepreneurship research. Via this study, it is seen that the Marwari form of entrepreneurship is collectivist rather than individualist in nature, which differentiates them from their Western counterparts. This helps to explain why entrepreneurs tend to behave differently; hence, achieving a universal definition of entrepreneurship remains a challenge.

Originality/value

While the relationship between the sociocultural aspects of communities and their entrepreneurial behaviour is known, the role of the constituent elements of the Marwari sociocultural context and influence on business is unclear. This study takes the lead in identifying such elements of the Marwari sociocultural construct and argues how these elements can play a role in the Marwaris demonstrating tendencies of effectual behaviour.

Details

Journal of Research in Marketing and Entrepreneurship, vol. 25 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1471-5201

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 21 August 2017

Lori Dickes, Elizabeth Crouch and Thomas C. Walker

Entrepreneurship is argued to be a critical driver of economic growth for both individual communities and the nation. Regional scientists, economists, and policy makers underscore…

Abstract

Purpose

Entrepreneurship is argued to be a critical driver of economic growth for both individual communities and the nation. Regional scientists, economists, and policy makers underscore the importance of a diverse economy that supports recruitment of new firms, existing firms, and entrepreneurship efforts. However, there remains evidence that many states and localities prefer traditional industrial recruitment efforts and that local and state entrepreneurial efforts may be less coordinated. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

This research explores the commitment and priorities of local and regional developers to entrepreneurial policy and other economic development policy efforts. This study uses a statewide survey to local economic developers and logistic regression to determine the likelihood of local entrepreneurial program efforts across South Carolina.

Findings

The model results reveal that the probability of local or regional entrepreneurial development programming is complex and dependent on the type of organization involved in economic development along with other community and state characteristics. However, results further confirm that barriers to entrepreneurship, like access to seed capital, and the influence of perceived alternative policies affect local and regional support of entrepreneurship.

Originality/value

The policy priorities of local economic developers appear to play a significant role in the probability of having local entrepreneurship policy and programs. This confirms that the signals local policymakers receive from the state may impact the programming choices and policy emphasis at the local and regional level. In conclusion, if states want entrepreneurial efforts to be a critical driver of economic growth and development, there must be a coordinated and focused state driver supporting these efforts.

Details

Journal of Entrepreneurship and Public Policy, vol. 6 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2045-2101

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 23 July 2020

Barbara Del Bosco, Roberto Chierici and Alice Mazzucchelli

This paper investigates the user entrepreneurship process in the video game industry, and how this process is influenced by the interactions between user entrepreneurs and…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper investigates the user entrepreneurship process in the video game industry, and how this process is influenced by the interactions between user entrepreneurs and communities.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper presents an exploratory multiple case study on 17 firms founded in the video game industry by Italian users.

Findings

The findings show that in most of the cases analysed, innovation by users precedes identification of the entrepreneurial opportunity. This research identifies three categories of communities that provide different forms of support to user entrepreneurs: communities of (1) gamers/users, (2) developers/innovators and (3) entrepreneurs. Given the different role played, the three categories of communities have a different relevance during the various phases of the innovation and entrepreneurial path: communities of gamers/users and of developers/innovators affect innovation development and opportunity identification, while communities of entrepreneurs help users to evolve from opportunity recognition to the start-up of a firm.

Originality/value

This study investigates the video game industry, a context in which user entrepreneurship is under-researched and that is characterized by the intangible nature of the products (while previous studies have mainly focused on physical goods). It contributes to extant literature by revealing that, at the beginning of the end-user entrepreneurial process, there may be not only unmet needs but also “excitement-driven” innovations. Moreover, by analysing the whole entrepreneurial path, the study shows how three categories of communities (gamers/users, developers/innovators and entrepreneurs) provide different forms of support to user entrepreneurs in the different phases of the entrepreneurial process.

Details

Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, vol. 27 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1462-6004

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 30 April 2021

Dag Håkon Haneberg and Lise Aaboen

The purpose of the present paper is to explore entrepreneurial learning at the centre of communities of practice.

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of the present paper is to explore entrepreneurial learning at the centre of communities of practice.

Design/methodology/approach

Learning perspectives from the community of practice concept are applied to interpret and discuss results from an in-depth empirical investigation using a novel qualitative method, the Zaltman metaphor elicitation technique (ZMET), to study the entrepreneurial learning behaviour of ten coaches in a student venture incubator. The coaches are students with a certain level of entrepreneurial experience. Given their coaching roles and practices, the coaches are considered “community insiders”.

Findings

The findings show how the socially situated entrepreneurial learning of community insiders could be considered an adaptive process following multiple learning trajectories depending on with whom and about what the entrepreneur involves in social relationships.

Practical implications

Policy makers seeking to facilitate communities of practice should enable learning activities for community insiders and organic development in addition to networking events and support for the entire ecosystem in order to enable bridging of communities of practice.

Originality/value

The present paper focuses on the entrepreneurial learning of community insiders using a novel qualitative method, ZMET. The paper empirically demonstrates that community insiders learn through an adaptive process and participation in multiple communities of practice. This is both in interaction with the nascent entrepreneurs whom they coach as well as when interacting with other community insiders.

Details

International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, vol. 28 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1355-2554

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 October 2020

Natalia D'Souza and Shane Scahill

This study explores nurses' views as to whether they see community pharmacists as “entrepreneurial” and what this might mean for working together in primary care. Pharmacists are…

Abstract

Purpose

This study explores nurses' views as to whether they see community pharmacists as “entrepreneurial” and what this might mean for working together in primary care. Pharmacists are expected to fully integrate with their colleagues – particularly nurses – under the New Zealand health policy. Yet, there is scarce literature that examines multidisciplinary teamwork and integration through an entrepreneurial identity lens. This is particularly important since around the world, including New Zealand, community pharmacies are small businesses.

Design/methodology/approach

This was an exploratory qualitative study. A total of 18 semi-structured interviews were conducted with nurses from primary care, nursing professional bodies and academics from nursing schools. Interviews were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. Coding was undertaken through general inductive thematic analysis.

Findings

In total three key themes emerged through analysis: the entrepreneurial profile of the community pharmacist, the lack of entrepreneurship across the profession, and the role identity and value that community pharmacists hold, as viewed by nurses. There appeared to be pockets of entrepreneurship in community pharmacy; nurses did not express a blanket label of entrepreneurship across the whole sector. Nurses also discussed several forms of entrepreneurship including commercial-oriented, clinical and social entrepreneurship. The social entrepreneurship identity of community pharmacists sat most comfortably with nurse participants. Overall, nurses appeared to value community pharmacists but felt that they did not fully understand the roles that this profession took on.

Research limitations/implications

This paper contributes to the academic literature by identifying three domains of entrepreneurship relevant to community pharmacy as well as multi-level barriers that will need to be jointly tackled by professional bodies and policy-makers. Improving nurses' and other healthcare professionals' knowledge of community pharmacists' role and expertise is also likely to facilitate better inter-professional integration.

Originality/value

There is scarce literature that attempts to understand how entrepreneurial identity plays out in health organisation and management. This study adds to the knowledge base of factors influencing integration in healthcare.

Details

Journal of Health Organization and Management, vol. 34 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1477-7266

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 3 April 2017

William W. Kirkley

The purpose of this paper was to investigate the degree to which Entrepreneurship Education (EE) was being provided to secondary school students following changes to the Secondary…

13186

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper was to investigate the degree to which Entrepreneurship Education (EE) was being provided to secondary school students following changes to the Secondary School Curriculum in 2010 by the New Zealand Ministry of Education. Under these changes, secondary schools were charged with following an “entrepreneurial” approach to school instruction that would develop entrepreneurial behaviors in students.

Design/methodology/approach

The study used a qualitative methodology focused on gauging the reaction by teachers, students and their parents to this new teaching approach. The sample comprised ten secondary schools situated in Northland, New Zealand. A series of focus groups were used to solicit data among three levels under study in each school, i.e. teachers, students and parents. Individual semi-structured interviews were used to collect data from school principals to determine overall reactions to EE by the rest of the school.

Findings

Teachers reported benefits in terms of reduced direct teaching workload, increased participation from students and significantly improved scholastic results compared to targets set in the curriculum. Students reported positively on the greater degree of flexibility allowed under this teaching approach, while parents reported changes in attitude and more engagement in school activities and projects.

Research implications

The continuing evolution of classroom education at secondary school level has long-term repercussions for student learning, engagement and retention as we move to the digital age. Similarly, there are also consequences for the evolving role of teaching, curriculum design and delivery.

Originality/value

The value of this research lies in a closer examination of the effects traditional teaching practices have had on secondary students entering the digital age. Furthermore, it investigates an alternative teaching approach through EE and the impact it has on student learning, retention and engagement.

Details

Asia Pacific Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, vol. 11 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2071-1395

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 28 March 2008

Sibylle Heilbrunn

The purpose of this paper is to explore the factors influencing entrepreneurial intensity. More specifically the study addresses the following objectives: propose a way to measure…

1590

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the factors influencing entrepreneurial intensity. More specifically the study addresses the following objectives: propose a way to measure entrepreneurial intensity within the community context in order to determine entrepreneurial activity over a period of ten years, detect the factors influencing the entrepreneurial intensity, and finally locate Kibbutz communities on the entrepreneurial grid.

Design/methodology/approach

Kibbutz communities are the level of analysis. Using a comprehensive questionnaire, a sample of 60 Kibbutzim – constituting 22 percent of the population of Kibbutz communities in Israel – was investigated over a period of ten years. The same questionnaire was administered to the same sample Kibbutzim (Kibbutzim is the plural of Kibbutz) in 1994, 1997 and 2004. Collected data include number and types of enterprises, economic strength, organizational size and age, and features of organizational structure and culture.

Findings

Quantitative data analysis revealed a significant increase of entrepreneurial activity of Kibbutz communities in terms of frequency, degree and intensity of entrepreneurship. Organizational size and age have an impact on entrepreneurial intensity as well as the existence of an “entrepreneurial vehicle.” On the entrepreneurial grid Kibbutzim are moving from the incremental/periodic cluster towards the dynamic cluster, but few meaningful breakthroughs can be observed.

Research limitations/implications

More research is needed in order to understand the interrelationship between community environments and entrepreneurship. The major research limitation of this paper constitutes the fact that only Kibbutz communities were investigated.

Originality/value

The paper utilizes the concept of the entrepreneurial grid for an empirical analysis of community entrepreneurship.

Details

Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy, vol. 2 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1750-6204

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 22 September 2022

Banu Ozkazanc-Pan

This paper offers new conversations on entrepreneurial ecosystems as contested communities through a critique of extant work that relies uncritically on social capital. It offers…

Abstract

This paper offers new conversations on entrepreneurial ecosystems as contested communities through a critique of extant work that relies uncritically on social capital. It offers new directions for theorizing and studying entrepreneurial ecosystems guided by a critical perspective of social capital (i.e., arriving from several intellectual traditions including political economy, intersectionality, critical race theory, and feminisms). In doing so, the paper offers insights around how continued structural and relational inequalities based on gender, race and/or immigrant status within the domain of entrepreneurship can be brought to the forefront of ecosystem frameworks. Doing so produces new approaches to the conceptualization and study of entrepreneurial ecosystems as more than sites of economic activity between and among actors, but rather it allows for consideration of how being differentially embedded in social structures matters for entrepreneurship. Differences in social structures within ecosystems reflect broader societal patterns and analyzing them can yield insights about the configuration of institutions. To understand the complexity of how different institutional configurations may lead to different forms of entrepreneurial ecosystems, it is necessary to have different conceptual starting points on social capital (informal) and exchange relationships (formal) as foundational aspects of entrepreneurial activities. Consequently, the paper provides these new analytic starting points, thus providing better explanatory and empirical power to demonstrate how and why inequalities persist in entrepreneurship.

Details

Entrepreneurialism and Society: Consequences and Meanings
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80382-662-2

Keywords

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