Editorial

Citation

Marlow, S. (2005), "Editorial", International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, Vol. 11 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijebr.2005.16011aaa.001

Editorial

This editorial differs from previous commentaries in that it only details papers in issue one. The whole of issue two is dedicated to the analysis of women’s enterprise under the editorship of Dr Pauric McGowan from the University of Ulster and Dr Collette Henry of the Dundalk Institute. Women’s enterprise is a critical area of interest in entrepreneurship studies not only because of the contribution made by their firms to the economy but also because of the impact of gender upon the performance of such businesses. Hence, this dedicated issue will make a critical contribution to our understanding of the link between gender and enterprise; the joint editors will engage further with this debate and outline the papers in their preamble to the special edition which will be published in April 2005.

In this first issue of 2005 we are again privileged to be able to publish four papers which offer a critical, analytical discussion of key elements pertaining to enterprise. The paper by Kotey focuses upon the family firm; it is well established that the family is an important influence upon the development of SMEs; there is some concern however, that family priorities may not always accord with business goals. To examine this proposition, Kotey considers differences in business goals, management practices and performance indicators in family and non-family owned firms. From her evidence a variety of subtle differences emerge which add to our knowledge of this area. The paper by Zhao clearly reflects the remit of this journal with its consideration of the synergy between entrepreneurship and innovation. Within the field of entrepreneurship there is frequently confusion around basic terms and concepts but this is not the case here; Zhao offers a clear and articulate definition of both entrepreneurship and innovation which is particularly useful in furthering current debate. Having clearly outlined the concepts, he is then able to go on to examine how these key issues are related and so help an organisation to flourish. The clarity of discussion and debate within this paper is laudable.

Segal, Borgia and Schoenfeld draw together the notions of motivation and intentions to enter self-employment amongst a sample of students. Increasingly, universities are offering courses to all students on entrepreneurship and self-employment but it is noted that younger people are in fact, less likely to engage with enterprise. Hence, the authors have linked in the issue of motivation to this debate drawing critically upon the relevant literature. Finally, Rigg presents a paper which explores organisational discourse in smaller enterprises. It is noted that there has been growing attention paid to the notion of organisational discourse but to date, this concept has not been analysed within the context of the smaller firm. Rigg uses two case study examples to illustrate how formal learning amongst SME managers influences organisational practices; by employing a discourse perspective, new ways of understanding the links between learning, knowledge and smaller organisations are considered. These four papers, although drawn from a variety of perspectives and considerations, again illustrate the richness of the entrepreneurial debate and the challenge in exploring the details and nuances of entrepreneurial behaviour.

Sue MarlowEditor