Citation
Jones, P. (2016), "New challenges and fresh perspectives on entrepreneurial research", International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, Vol. 22 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEBR-01-2016-0001
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
New challenges and fresh perspectives on entrepreneurial research
Article Type: Editorial From: International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, Volume 22, Issue 1.
This editorial welcomes the release of Volume 22 of the International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour and Research (IJEBR). The editorial team Dr Martina Battista (co-editor), Professor Lois Shelton (co-editor), Dr Richard Tunstall (co-editor) and Dr Claire Seamen (Book Review Editor) remains unchanged. However, Patti Davis, the journal publisher is moving on to another role within Emerald. On behalf of the editorial team we would like to take the opportunity to thank Patti for her dedicated service to the journal. She was a pleasure to work with and has greatly improved IJEBR and its international reputation during her tenure. We wish her all the best for her future career.
This should be an interesting and challenging year in the further development of the journal. IJEBR has applied for membership of the new Thomson ISI system and eagerly awaits the outcome of this application. Furthermore, 2016 should also see the introduction of the new early cite system known as article level publication which will enable immediate availability of all published content within the journal.
IJEBR is currently promoting several special issue calls promoting social enterprise, radical entrepreneurship scholarship and sustainable entrepreneurship. Please visit the journal website for further information. Furthermore, we would welcome expressions of interest for the development of new special issue calls.
This issue includes an invited paper from Professor Nigel Culkin the current President of the Institute of Small Business and Entrepreneurship. IJEBR has a long standing association with ISBE. ISBE has a key role as a learned society for the promotion of entrepreneurship research. Professor Culkin’s article considers the needs of the micro and small business ecosystem through the lens of the entrepreneurial university as a regional anchor institution. The study suggests the need for regional policy makers to embrace a innovation-supportive culture, which enables firms and systems to evolve over time as opposed to the recommendations of the Comprehensive Spending Review. The outcomes of which will see some of the most robustly evaluated programmes, designed to support small firm growth, closed down to be replaced with a commitment (by government) to reduce bureaucracy and extend small business rate relief for an extra year.
The paper by Hanage, Scott and Davies presents a longitudinal study investigating how digital creative graduates develop new businesses on graduating from university, and how their creative, business and personal lives interact until their nascent ventures fail financially. The longitudinal approach provides new insights and indicates several areas where more research would be valuable, especially in dealing with the consequences of unsuccessful nascent business ventures.
The novel study by Smith considers how small-business-communities trust is important for inter/intra family particularly in relation to familial dynamics. The issue of mistrust or distrust is seldom examined in an academic context. In business families “Black-Sheep” often rebel against familial expectations by engaging in criminal activity. This is key because entrepreneurs are eulogised by society and as an institution, family business is venerated. The idea that small business owners would knowingly engage in crime is anathema. However, this study provides an alternative heuristic through which to understand the application of black-sheep thesis in business settings. This study has practical implications for the investigation of crime in such communities and for researchers in the emerging field.
Hajizadeh and Zali paper considers how and why individuals identify business opportunities and provides a comprehensive framework of key effective factors that investigates the role of prior knowledge and cognitive characteristics of entrepreneurial alertness and learning in the entrepreneurial opportunities recognition process. The study confirmed that prior knowledge has a significant impact on entrepreneurial alertness and learning. Finally, the results demonstrate that both entrepreneurial alertness and learning partially mediated the relationship between prior knowledge and opportunity recognition.
The study by Danso, Adomako, Uddin and Ofori-Damoah examines the moderating effects of cognitive style dimensions on the relationship between entrepreneurs’ optimism and persistence utilising survey data from small and medium-sized enterprises in Ghana. The study found that the relationship between entrepreneurs’ optimism and entrepreneurial persistence is enhanced at higher levels of cognitive planning and creating styles.
Kakouris paper considers entrepreneurial conceptions and beliefs of Greek graduates, comparing Science and Economics graduates and nascent entrepreneurs to general population samples employing a quantitative study. Differences in conceptions are further examined as determinants of entrepreneurial intention.
Bizri paper explores the issue of succession in the family business lifecycle in Lebanon utilising a qualitative approach. The study focuses on the drivers of successor choice and on the impact of this choice on the entrepreneurial behaviour of the siblings. The three dimensions of social capital were found to have a profound influence on the succession decision with much focus on familial stewardship as an emerging cognitive driving force. When “familial stewardship” is shared by incumbent and sibling, it strengthens the latter’s chances of being chosen as successor. Further, a succession pathways model was introduced that depicts the siblings’ behaviour following the succession decision which seems to trigger further entrepreneurship.
The Resnick, Cheng, Simpson and Lourenço paper explores the extent to which traditional marketing theory and practice can be applied in SMEs and consider how owner-managers perceive their own role in marketing within a small business setting. The study identified four attributes that framed an SME self-branding model. The personal brand of the owner-manager becomes the identity for the business through a unique set of skills, often honed to suit their particular market context and customer set. SMEs co-produce their business with their customers with much of their work shaped to exact customer requirements such as bespoke IT systems or specific ranges of goods. SMEs focus on operational issues rather than spending time planning or formulating strategies and SMEs persevere with their businesses and build long-term customer relationships through networking and a high degree of customer contact and interaction.
This issue concludes with two book reviews. Firstly, Marina Solesvik provides a review of Richard Harrisons text Crowdfunding and Entrepreneurial Finance. The second review undertaken by Dr Oliver Mallet who reviewed Entrepreneurship for the Creative and Cultural Industries by Bonita Kolb.
I would like to conclude this editorial by thanking all contributors to IJEBR, including authors, reviewers and general readership and wishing them a happy and prosperous new year.
Paul Jones