Entrepreneurial Identity

Entrepreneurship is an academic discipline that, despite decades of growth in research and teaching activity lacks a traditionally distinct or common theoretical domain. In this book, editors Thomas N. Duening and Matthew Metzger explore entrepreneurial identity, facets of entrepreneurship education in forming and developing this identity and the development of entrepreneurs in general. Chapters focus primarily on macro-level identity issues (i.e., how do these entrepreneurial archetypes form, persist, and sometimes change) or micro-level identity issues (i.e., how can educators and resource providers identify, communicate, and incentivize identity construction among aspiring entrepreneurs), topics that will be of interest to researchers and students alike.

Identities can potentially serve as powerful elements that both drive, and are shaped by, entrepreneurial actions. Entrepreneurial identity is a complex construct with multidisciplinary roots, and therefore there is scope to more fully enrich our theoretical understanding of identity and identity formation, at both individual and organizational levels, and their relationship to entrepreneurial processes, practices and activities. This book highlights two key features of contemporary research on entrepreneurial identity. First, to see it as a dynamic rather than a (relatively) fixed and unchanging feature, shaped by different life episodes. It is increasingly fluid, multilevel and multidimensional, comprising multiple subidentities rather than a univocal (and unchanging) self. As such, it has a profound effect not only on the way we feel, think and behave, but also on what we aim to achieve. Accordingly, it is vital that its dynamics are better understood, particularly in determining how actors behave in an entrepreneurial context. The book’s second focus is on identity work as the process through which entrepreneurial identities are formed and shaped, and the contributors demonstrate how the dynamics of identity formation relate to entrepreneurial outcomes in a range of individual and organizational contexts. This book was originally published as a special issue of Entrepreneurship & Regional Development.

This open access book investigates the inter-relationship between the mind and a potential opportunity to explore the psychology of entrepreneurship. Building on recent research, this book offers a broad scope investigation of the different aspects of what goes on in the mind of the (potential) entrepreneur as he or she considers the pursuit of a potential opportunity, the creation of a new organization, and/or the selection of an entrepreneurial career. This book focuses on individuals as the level of analysis and explores the impact of the organization and the environment only inasmuch as they impact the individual’s cognitions. Readers will learn why some individuals and managers are able to able to identify and successfully act upon opportunities in uncertain environments while others are not. This book applies a cognitive lens to understand individuals’ knowledge, motivation, attention, identity, and emotions in the entrepreneurial process.

Entrepreneurship underpins many roles within the publishing industry, from freelancing to bookselling. Entrepreneurs are shaped by the contexts in which their entrepreneurship is situated (social, political, economic, and national). Additionally, entrepreneurship is integral to occupational identity for book publishing entrepreneurs. This Element examines entrepreneurship through the lens of identity and narrative based on interview data with book publishing entrepreneurs in the US Book publishing entrepreneurship narratives of independence, culture over commerce, accidental profession, place, risk, (in)stability, busyness, and freedom are examined in this Element.

Technology Entrepreneurship: Taking Innovation to the Marketplace, Third Edition provides a practical toolkit for potential entrepreneurs with technology backgrounds that will help them navigate complex issues such as raising capital, IP protection, product development, and more. The book's structure follows the entrepreneurial process in a step-by-step way, defining key terms and helping readers without business qualifications engage with the activities addressed. In addition, it covers a discussion of current trends and developments relevant for tomorrow’s entrepreneurs. In-depth information on the practicalities of technology entrepreneurship are combined with experience from academics to provide a unique resource on how to approach this crucial subject. Presents an intense focus on product design and development, with customers and markets in mind Includes extensive discussions on intellectual property development, management and protection Provides potent insights into marketing and selling technology products to the global marketplace Covers techniques for forecasting financials, raising funds, establishing venture valuation, and exit strategies

Elgar Research Agendas outline the future of research in a given area. Leading scholars are given the space to explore their subject in provocative ways, and map out the potential directions of travel. They are relevant but also visionary. The editors map out a vision for research on women and entrepreneurship and using a contextual framework that includes aspiration, behavior and confidence. They delve into issues such as social identity, start-ups, crowdfunding and context to set a new foundation for future research on entrepreneurship and gender.

This collection of papers aims to generate new and exciting opportunities for a holistic view of entrepreneurial research agendas, and advance the manner in which academics and researchers think about and engage with various aspects of entrepreneurial practice and development.

Stylish, bold, fiery, and full of zest, this book could well have been called Embodying Entrepreneurship . . . for perhaps the first time, we have a cultured, scholarly, in-the-flesh treatment of entrepreneurial life. Ranging from striptease to de Sade, the aboriginal to Christo, and the grotesque to the sublime, The Politics and Aesthetics of Entrepreneurship is a tantalizing and critically refreshing work throughout. This one could easily become the bad boy book of entrepreneurial studies, given how strongly it challenges (slaps?) existing entrepreneurship studies. Daved Barry, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Portugal Daniel Hjorth and Chris Steyaert make a unique contribution to management education. Their ability to illustrate complex ideas through theatre and visual media is outstanding and much appreciated by a wide audience. This book is no exception. Their insights into the nature of entrepreneurship are fresh and original. Their style of presentation is both rich and rewarding. This is a book to surprise you and it will. Heather Höpfl, University of Essex, UK . . . the four books comprising the series would certainly be a valuable addition to any entrepreneurship library. However, each book also stands alone as an individual purchase. Lorraine Warren, International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour and Research This fourth book in the New Movements in Entrepreneurship series focuses on the politics and aesthetics of entrepreneurial processes, in order to shed light on entrepreneurial creation itself. Presenting original empirical material, the eminent contributors examine control and entrepreneurship in various organizational contexts. They go on to demonstrate how control can be exercised entrepreneurially, how art brings an entrepreneurial force into society, and how entrepreneurship operates by aesthetic moves. The need to move beyond the traditional focus on the economic and business implications of entrepreneurship is also discussed, as is the relevance of political and aesthetic theory to our understanding of entrepreneurship as a creative force. The book provides entrepreneurship studies with a new language, that in itself is an aesthetic effort with political implications, resulting in new theoretical, empirical and practical possibilities. It will prove a fascinating read for students, academics and researchers with an interest in entrepreneurship and management and creativity and aesthetics.