Foundational Research in Entrepreneurship Studies

Frontmatter

Chapter 1. Introduction

Abstract

Although the practice of entrepreneurship has a long history that goes back several centuries, systematic inquiry into entrepreneurial phenomena is of much recent vintage. Over the past five decades, entrepreneurship has become a well-established academic discipline with a rich and rigorous body of knowledge. As entrepreneurship research matures, it is useful to recognize the foundational articles that have been instrumental in the development of the field. To gauge the collective wisdom about foundational articles in entrepreneurship research, we invited researchers from around the world to write insightful retrospectives about the article(s) published before 2000 that they considered most impactful in the field. This introductory chapter provides an overview of our efforts to identify and discuss the articles that constitute the foundation of entrepreneurship research.

Vishal K. Gupta, Grace Chun Guo, Banu Ozkazanc-Pan

Chapter 2. “Entrepreneur as a Person at Crossroads”: A Reflection on Kets de Vries (1977)

Abstract

This chapter provides a reflection on Kets de Vries (J Manag Stud, 14(1):34–57, 1977). Kets de Vries’s article (J Manag Stud, 14(1):34–57, 1977) is considered a core article in early entrepreneurship literature because it is among the first to propose a synthesized view of entrepreneurial personality traits with a focus on interactions between individuals and environments. Kets de Vries (J Manag Stud, 14(1):34–57, 1977) discussed personality traits common across entrepreneurial types and investigated the impact of social and economic forces on the formation of entrepreneurship personality traits. Kets de Vries (J Manag Stud, 14(1):34–57, 1977) also warned of the potential danger and downside of entrepreneurial personality traits. This chapter also reviews later studies done on entrepreneurial personality traits that adopted a synthesized view and discusses the current themes in recent studies and directions for future research.

Grace Chun Guo

Chapter 3. The Urban Quality of Life and Entrepreneurship: Past, Present, and Future

Abstract

Urban spaces are known for their local quality of life, often fostering higher rates of entrepreneurship and innovation. In 2017 more than half of the world population is already considered urban; by 2050 this number is expected to surpass 70%. To face this accelerated growth, current research needs to better understand urban ecosystems to preserve and promote the urban quality of life that fosters local entrepreneurship and innovation. To aid this research goal Pennings original work on urban quality of life and entrepreneurship is revisited and discussed. This review includes five sections: (1) a historically framed theoretical context, (2) a summary of the original paper, (3) an analysis of the original contributions, (4) a suggested future research agenda, and (5) a brief conclusion.

Arturo E. Osorio

Chapter 4. Danny Miller (1983) and the Emergence of the Entrepreneurial Orientation (EO) Construct

Abstract

This chapter discusses the article “The correlates of entrepreneurship in three types of firms” by Danny Miller (Manag Sci 29(7):770–791, 1983). This is considered a foundational article because of how deeply it has impacted the field of entrepreneurship. First, it is the inspiration for the concept of entrepreneurial orientation (EO). It provided the idea that the construct of innovativeness, proactiveness and risk-taking influence greatly how a firm acts in its context. Second, it afforded researchers with a scale to study entrepreneurship within larger and older organizations. Thus, it effectively shed some light on corporate entrepreneurship (CE). I discuss how it impacted the field in its early years and how it still does in the latter years. I integrate the current work in the field to suggest future researches.

Ba Anh Khoa Dao

Chapter 5. New Venture Creation: From Gartner to the Present

Abstract

Gartner’s paper published in 1985 provided a robust framework for research into the various dimensions of new venture creation. It focused the discussion on differences among entrepreneurs and among their ventures, rather than on the differences between entrepreneurs and non-entrepreneurs. The framework was meant to provide a robust format for analysis and understanding of the variables of venture creation and their inter-relationships. Researchers have since applied the framework to explore several contemporary research themes like corporate, social, academic and international entrepreneurship. In the process, they have added new sub-dimensions to the framework and added depth to existing ones. This chapter discusses the ways in which researchers post-Gartner have used the framework and added value to it.

Mita Brahma, Shiv S. Tripathi, Subash Bijlani

Chapter 6. Bowen and Hisrich (1986) on the Female Entrepreneur: 30 Years of Research and New Directions for Gender and Entrepreneurship Scholarship

Abstract

At the time of its publication three decades ago, Bowen and Hisrich’s 1986 Academy of Management Review article was one of the first to address and examine the notion of women’s entrepreneurship and focus attention exclusively on female entrepreneurs. Their work was seminal for bringing together, through a career development perspective, what had previously been disjunctive studies and approaches to the study of women entrepreneurs. Their paper offered a comprehensive framework for understanding the entrepreneurial behavior of women through a careful outline of impacts and influences on women’s ability and choices in pursuing entrepreneurship. In this chapter, I focus on the contributions of these authors at the time they wrote the article and then consider their influence over each decade in relation to the field of gender and entrepreneurship.

Banu Ozkazanc-Pan

Chapter 7. Intending to Frame Entrepreneurship Research: Thirty Years After Bird (1988)

Abstract

Barbara Bird, in her seminal 1988 article “Implementing Entrepreneurial Ideas: The Case for Intention,” broke from existing research in strategic management and entrepreneurship. She did so by setting forth a behavioral framework for entrepreneurship that connects ideas with outcomes through the agency of intentionality. This retrospective explores the impact of Bird’s work on the field of entrepreneurship research through bibliometric analysis and a review of her seminal ideas that have become central to the field. In 1988 and today, Bird challenges entrepreneurship scholars to move beyond traditional and accepted methods by embracing novel new theoretical speculations. Bird’s groundbreaking focus on the psychological basis for venture creation embodied entrepreneurial thinking and has emboldened a generation of researchers to become academic entrepreneurs.

G. Page West III, Pat H. Dickson

Chapter 8. The Rich Legacy of Covin and Slevin (1989) and Lumpkin and Dess (1996): A Constructive Critical Analysis of Their Deep Impact on Entrepreneurial Orientation Research

Abstract

We examine the legacy of two award-winning seminal papers—Covin and Slevin (Strategic Management Journal, 10(1): 75–87, 1989) and Lumpkin and Dess (Academy of Management Review, 21(1): 135–172, 1996)—that played a significant role in introducing and shaping research on entrepreneurial orientation (EO). We start by summarizing the two papers and analyzing their impact on the field. We then conduct a constructive critical assessment of current EO research by discussing three prevailing myths in the literature and discuss how revisiting the two seminal papers can help correct these myths relating to the theoretical exposition and measurement of EO. Our goal is to delve into the profound impact of the two seminal articles and identify gaps in current EO literature to offer directions for future research.

Vishal K. Gupta, Dev K. Dutta

Chapter 9. William Baumol’s “Entrepreneurship: Productive, Unproductive, and Destructive”

Abstract

This chapter offers a retrospective account of William Baumol’s “Entrepreneurship: Productive, Unproductive, and Destructive” in light of its influence on entrepreneurship studies. The first section describes Baumol’s core arguments about the influence of institutions on the allocation of entrepreneurial talent. The second section then discusses their impact on the entrepreneurship discipline. Following this, the third section explores some criticisms of Baumol and explains how addressing these criticisms can provide paths forward for entrepreneurship studies that do justice to Baumol’s work while at the same time integrating it into important emerging research. In particular, Baumol’s arguments open the way to research on institutional entrepreneurship as well as the judgment-based view of entrepreneurial decision-making. The fourth section then considers the policy implications of Baumol’s work. The final short section concludes.

Matthew McCaffrey

Chapter 10. The Entrepreneurial ‘Mindset’: Entrepreneurial Intentions from the Entrepreneurial Event to Neuroentrepreneurship

Abstract

Entrepreneurial intentions are among the most researched phenomena in the field of entrepreneurship, but its real value is in the new doors it is opening. The increase in entrepreneurial intentions research during the 1980s and 1990s coincides with the introduction of contributions from the field of psychology: social psychology, cognitive psychology and now developmental psychology and even neuroscience. What we are now finding is advancing theory, research, practice and especially education. Entrepreneurial intentions may affect entrepreneurial behavior and, subsequently, venture development and growth, but the more we study intentions, the more we need to look deeper at where intent actually arises. This chapter celebrates this still-growing trajectory with a look at how it has evolved and an example of where it is heading.

Gabi Kaffka, Norris Krueger

Chapter 11. Fool’s Gold or Gold Rush? An Entrepreneurial Dilemma

Abstract

One of the critical issues among the myriad facing entrepreneurs is ‘liabilities of newness’. These liabilities can be severe in emerging industries and attenuated by legitimacy acquisition. Aldrich and Fiol (Acad Manag Rev 19(4):645–670, 1994), in their seminal paper, highlighted the legitimacy trade-off by theorizing about strategies at various levels (organizational to institutional) that could collectively help entrepreneurs succeed in new industries. Till about two decades ago, researchers would have termed ‘entrepreneurial activity’ as search for fool’s gold. However, Aldrich and Fiol’s study generated so much interest among researchers that now we know better. In this study, the authors map the entire legitimacy landscape since Aldrich and Fiol’s paper by looking at two dimensions that are at core of this entrepreneurial dilemma—Locus of Control and Degree of Conflict.

Sumeet Malik, Chandrika Rathee

Chapter 12. Entrepreneurial Opportunities as the Heart of Entrepreneurship Research: A Reflection on Venkataraman (1997)

Abstract

In this chapter we review the seminal article of Venkataraman (Adv Entr Firm Emerg Growth 3:119–138, 1997), which clarified the role of entrepreneurial opportunities in entrepreneurship research. The article also offered a framework to identify the boundaries of entrepreneurship as a distinctive domain of research by explaining the processes evolving around opportunities. We start by summarizing the paper and by reviewing the core ideas in the article. We also explain why we believe the article is a classic. Then we review the opportunity research that appeared before Venkataraman as well as some of the research built upon Venkataraman’s argument. Finally, we discuss how future research can continue to build on the insights from the article and in ways that continue to resonate in the field.

Golshan Javadian, Robert P. Singh

Chapter 13. Conclusion

Abstract

In this chapter we look back at the classics’ journey and share some insights from the previous chapters. We highlight some interesting trends from the chapters and share some of the benefits we believe the readers have gotten from reading the chapters about the classics. We make some comments about the contributing authors, their academic status and where they come from. We also discuss some of the limitations of our collection and share some insights for future projects. Finally, we acknowledge the contribution of people who made this work possible.

Dev K. Dutta, Golshan Javadian

Erratum to: Foundational Research in Entrepreneurship Studies

Golshan Javadian, Vishal K. Gupta, Dev K. Dutta, Grace Chun Guo, Arturo E. Osorio, Banu Ozkazanc-Pan

Backmatter