ENTREPRENEURSHIP MANAGEMENT123

7/29/2019 ENTREPRENEURSHIP MANAGEMENT123

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UNDERSTANDING AND

CONVEYING

ENTREPRENEURIAL IDEAS

JEAN CLARKE

LEEDS UNIVERSITY BUSINESS

SCHOOL


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UNDERSTANDING AND CONVEYING

MEANINGS Previous unit - entrepreneurship as process rather

than special ability

Entrepreneurial activities emphasisedfinding

resources, planning effectively, using network,managing risk etc.

These activities involve effective decision-makingand convincing others of the legitimacy of business

How do entrepreneurs make decisions and convinceothers in highly uncertain conditions?

Need to examine how entrepreneurs make sense of

these environments and convey these meanings toothers.


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MAKING DECISIONS IN AMBIGUOUS

CONTEXTS Ambiguity, adaptation and improvisation

characteristic of the entrepreneurial process.

Entrepreneurs dont have pre-determined goals, they

generate goals as they interact with externalenvironment which restricts their action.

Goals conceived through understanding what ispossible for entrepreneur to achieve, usingexperience and social networks (Sarasvathy, 2003).

Goals remain fluid and changing, reflecting theentrepreneurial position where change is constantand meanings continually adjusted.

Entrepreneurs take action based on the meanings

they can make from this context.


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CONVEYING IDEAS IN AMBIGUOUS

CONTEXTS Entrepreneurs exist in contexts where past histories

might constrain but dont predict future events.

Entrepreneurs work on the edge of what they do not

know (Hill & Levanhagen, 1995). Must be able to convince others of the legitimacy of

their venture e.g. bank managers, venture capitalistsand gain support of employees.

How can they convince others when they are oftenunsure of the form, shape and utility of the businessventure themselves?

Must examine how entrepreneurs give meaning toothers in context in order to engage them in an

uncertain venture.


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LINGUISTIC AND IMAGINATIVE

DIMENSIONS One recent attempt at enhancing our understandings

is Sarasvathys (2003; 2004) work on effectuation

Entrepreneurs are designers of firms, who see

possibilities rather than opportunities and work toembed their ideas in the world around them.

This is a process of engaging others in newmeanings, requiring some level of imaginativeaction.

Entrepreneurs connect with others, create newrealities and enable action through language &images

A number of examples exist in the entrepreneurship

literature, which aim to account for linguistic aspects


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ENTREPRENEURIAL IDENTITY

Cohen & Musson (2000) studied construction ofidentity of GPs and female entrepreneurs.

Enterprise discourse entered into both the GPs and

the female entrepreneurs talk allowing them to makesense of their activities.

Majority of female entrepreneurs did not identifywith the term entrepreneur, relating it to exploitativeentrepreneurs of the 1980s and Thatchers Britain.

Fournier and Lightfoot (1997) studied how peoplemake sense of being a family business owner.

Entrepreneurs use discursive strategies to combinefamily and business, creating coherent and

contextualised accounts of action.


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ENTREPRENEURIAL NARRATIVE Others have examined stories that entrepreneurs use

to make sense of the life-business-narratives (e.g.,OConnor (2002) entrepreneurship as a series of

stories She found entrepreneurs used a range of intertwining

and changing narratives to: justify their goals in founding the business,

persuade others of its legitimacy

to control and make sense of the ambiguity inherent in theenvironment.

She identifies six basic narrative types founding, visionary, marketing, strategy, historical and

convention, Narratives variousl a lied de endin on situation


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ENTREPRENEURIAL DILEMMAS Steyaert (1997) conceptualises entrepreneurial

process as embedded in a paradigm of becoming

Creators of new realities walking on the boundary

between existing situations and actualising implicitpossibilities into new contexts (Steyaert, 1997).

Conceptualises entrepreneurship in a problematicvocabulary

Focuses on dilemmas within the entrepreneurialenvironment,

Argues we should understand how entrepreneurstalk about and negotiate action through situationsthat are inherently dilemmatic


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ENTREPRENEURS AS TEXTS Pitt (1998) explored the personal theories of action

of two entrepreneurs, treating their conversationalnarratives as quasi texts

These texts are seen to contain implicit, personaltheories of managerial action

Entrepreneurs draw on literary concepts, and modeltheir personal theories as multi-element scripts thatevolve and change

These changes offer insights to researchers aiming tounderstand how entrepreneurs negotiate meaning inuncertain contexts.

Experientially grounded texts permit some degree of

systematic access to entrepreneurs theories of action


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ENTREPRENEURIAL METAPHORS Hill and Levanhagen (1995) highlight metaphor

Metaphors essential to communicate abstractconcepts and in situations where new and innovative

approaches are needed. Dodd (2002) also found entrepreneurs reached for a

range of metaphors, around dynamic and difficulthuman activities to give meaning to their lives.

Included war, passion, journey, and other activitieswhere the outcome was often unknown andpotentially dangerous.

Entrepreneurs used these metaphors to make senseof their actions and activities and express this

meaning to others around them.


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MEDIA METAPHORS FOR

ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Nicholson and Anderson (2005) describeentrepreneurship metaphors presented in a British

broadsheet newspaper.

They propose the sense-making role of figurativelanguage is important because of the problems indefining and describing entrepreneurial phenomena.

Myth and metaphor in newspapers helps define theentrepreneurship in the world around us

Images of male entrepreneurs as wolfish charmers,supernatural gurus, successful skyrockets orcommunity saviours and corrupters.

These myths and metaphors change over time

depending on social context


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GROUP TASK

Think of some metaphors that are used about

entrepreneurs in the media e.g. gladiator, hero etc.

Do you think metaphors are a useful way of makingsense of entrepreneurial activities

Make a list of entrepreneurial metaphors with others

in your group

What are the similarities/differences between them?


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ENTREPRENEURIAL MATURITY

Clarke, Gold, Holt, Thorpe, (2007) "What is Enlightenment?, IMMANUEL KANT,

1784

Immaturity and MaturityDifferent Life Views

Immaturity - inability use own understanding

Maturity - defy rules, formulas and guardians

Public use of critical reason (autonomy)

Unprejudiced thoughtnew ideas not just what othershave done

Enlarged thoughttake account of others views

Consistent thoughttolerance for ambiguity

Spread ideas, be own guardians, urge others to thinkfor themselves.


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ENTREPRENEURIAL MATURITY

Clarke, Gold, Holt, Thorpe, (2007) Building on linguistic understandings we argue that

goals are conceptualised by entrepreneurs inimaginative and metaphorical form

Investigate the images entrepreneurs use to conveytheir business goals

Explicitly investigating how entrepreneurs envisagetheir business goals in the form of a verbal image

Use of a postcard methodology Builds on previous metaphorical studies in the

entrepreneurship domain


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FINDINGS

Most prevalent image throughout analysis was of alandscape, some examples are outlined below.

Unprejudiced thoughtsuns orflaming suns

life-giving entity, creation, independence. Enlarged thoughtAngel of the North the open

arms of the angel suggest the acceptance of multipleperspectives consulting others and blending differentactivities and attitudes.

Consistent thoughtworking the land on a smallholding in Ravello on the Amalfi coast in Italycontent even when future is uncertain.

These images express imaginatively entrepreneurs

goals and ambitions for their business


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http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=www.durham.anglican.org/gallery/angel6.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.durham.anglican.org/gallery/&h=768&w=1024&sz=144&tbnid=1wfCouKPR7AJ:&tbnh=112&tbnw=149&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dangel%2Bof%2Bthe%2Bnorth%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DU


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GROUP TASK

What do these images mean for you?

Are they useful to understand entrepreneurship?

What do you think they suggest about theentrepreneurs goals and ambitions for the business?

Discuss these ideas with your group.


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EDUCATING ENTREPRENEURS

If entrepreneurship is a process of meaning-makingwhat does this mean for entrepreneurship education

Entrepreneurs should be aware of their language and

how this can impact on success or failure of venture Entrepreneurship not a special ability but having

effective interpersonal skills and being able toengage others in the venture.

Some theoretical input outlined in previous sections,the other units will be more practical, however, wecan now approach them with the understanding thatentrepreneurship skills may be developed in a range

of individuals.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP MANAGEMENT123

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