The Past Speaks

Here are the details of my paper session panel at the Academy of Management.
Program Session #: 987 | Submission: 19863 | Sponsor(s): (ENT)
Scheduled: Monday, Aug 10 2015 9:45AM – 11:15AM at Vancouver Convention Centre in Room 219

Chair: Martine HLADY RISPAL; U. of Bordeaux;
Discussant: Wadid Lamine; Toulouse Business School;
ENT: Investigating the usefulness of qualitative methods for entrepreneurship research Research-oriented
Author: Martine HLADY RISPAL; U. of Bordeaux;
Author: Estèle Jouison-Laffitte; U. of Bordeaux;
Author: Kathleen Randerson; EDC Paris;

Whereas today the vast majority of entrepreneurship research adopts quantitative methods, the aim of this paper is to demonstrate how qualitative research can clearly and distinctly contribute to the field. More specifically, this study systematically reviews 160 qualitative articles published in three journals: the Journal of Business Venturing (JBV), Entrepreneurship Theory & Practice (ET&P) and Entrepreneurship and Regional Development (E&RD), between January 2007- December 2014.We reveal the specificities of each method, the way researchers leverage on them and the distinct contribution of each to the development of the field of entrepreneurship.

Search Terms: Entrepreneurship , qualitative methods

ENT: English-language Debates About Entrepreneurship in China, 1842-1911 Research-oriented
Author: Andrew David Allan Smith; U. of Liverpool;
This paper will examine the debates about the nature of Chinese entrepreneurship that people who wrote in English had between 1842 and 1911. These debates took place through the media of books, newspapers, and learned journals. The paper will show that these debates were informed by competing theories of culture, political institutions, and human nature. This paper will show that while some Westerners viewed Chinese entrepreneurs through Orientalist or racialist lenses, other contemporary authors depicted Chinese entrepreneurs in a fashion that drew on more universalitistic theory of human nature and which therefore tended to undermine the Us-and-Them dichotomy between the West and the non-West that underpinned Orientalist thought. Scholars of present-day entrepreneurship should draw three main lessons from this study of historical debates about entrepreneurship in late Qing China. First, it is important to remain conscious that one’s cultural biases are particularly likely to affect perceptions of entrepreneurship in other cultures. Second, observers must always be on their guard to ensure they do not unconsciously slip into Orientalist modes of thought when thinking about entrepreneurs in non-Western countries. Third, we must recognize that all lenses for viewing entrepreneurship have historical roots and philosophical foundations of which the scholar may be unconscious. By historicizing present-day theoretical debates about entrepreneurship, this paper should encourage greater scholarly reflexivity.

Search Terms: China , Colonialism , Postcolonial Thought

Selected as a Best Paper ENT: Risk, Uncertainty and Entrepreneurship: Evidence from a Lab-in-the-Field Experiment
Author: Martin van Koudstaal; U. of Amsterdam;
Author: Randolph Sloof; U. of Amsterdam;
Author: Mirjam Van Praag; CBS;

Theory predicts that entrepreneurs have distinct attitudes towards risk and uncertainty, but empirical evidence is mixed. To better understand the unique behavioral characteristics of entrepreneurs and the causes of these mixed results, we perform a large ‘lab-in- the-field’ experiment comparing entrepreneurs to managers – a suitable comparison group – and employees (n=2288) . The results indicate that entrepreneurs perceive themselves as less risk averse than managers and employees, in line with common wisdom. However, when using experimental incentivized measures, the differences are subtler. Entrepreneurs are only found to be unique in their lower degree of loss aversion, and not in their risk or ambiguity aversion. This combination of results might be explained by our finding that perceived risk attitude is not only correlated to risk aversion but also to loss aversion. Overall, we therefore suggest using a broader definition of risk that captures this unique feature of entrepreneurs; their willingness to risk losses.

Search Terms: Entrepreneur , Manager , Behavior

ENT: Seeing Entrepreneurs in Action: Using Video-based Gesture Analysis in Entrepreneurship
Author: Jean Siobhan Clarke; U. of Leeds;
Author: Joep Cornelissen; Erasmus U. Rotterdam;
Author: Rowena Viney; Leeds U. Business School;

In this paper, we elaborate on the potential of using video-based data as part of multi-modal research in entrepreneurship. We first demonstrate how such data record in detail the nature of entrepreneurial interactions, and then go on to illustrate how analysing such interactions multi-modally helps explain the content and effectiveness of an entrepreneur’s efforts to communicate meaning and convince stakeholders to support a venture. We particularly focus on the role of gesture as part of such behavioural displays and interactions, given that gesture is an under-researched but significant aspect of communication in most social settings, including entrepreneurship. Drawing on data collected as part of a larger study on entrepreneurship, we analyse gestures in different contexts of communication (an informal conversation and a formal pitch presentation) and compare two analytical protocols for gesture research drawn from cognitive linguistics and conversation analysis. The comparison of these protocols highlights the role of theoretical assumptions and different units of analysis in video-based gesture research. One of the most noticeable differences between the two approaches to gesture analysis is the way in which gestures are interpreted and analysed as part of communication and social interaction; i.e., as conveyors of meaning, or as pragmatic ways of managing interactions. We discuss these findings, and draw out the methodological implications for further research on entrepreneurship and new venture creation.

Search Terms: Entrepreneurship , Video , Gesture