INTERNATIONAL SMALL BUSINESS JOURNAL (Sage)
SPECIAL ISSUE:
Socio-Cultural Factors and Entrepreneurial Activity
Entrepreneurs capture or produce change, and thus entrepreneurship is the
manifestation of change. In the same way, entrepreneurship and small
businesses are regarded as vital sources of jobs, business dynamism and
innovation. Scholars continue to discover the factors that explain firm
creation with the aim of influencing those that might be able to put these
new initiatives into practice to stimulate new business. The conclusions
obtained from entrepreneurship research stress multiple dimensions that
influence the decision to start up a new business. However, while research
has yielded rich results from a personal, economic, institutional and
political point of view, the influence of cultural and social factors on
enterprise development remains understudied.
This special issue is dedicated to examining the social and cultural factors
of entrepreneurial activity. Authors have pointed out the importance of the
socio-cultural factors in the final decision to create new businesses
(Hofstede, 2001), stating that entrepreneurship is embedded in a social
context (Aldrich and Zimmer, 1986), establishing entrepreneurship as a
societal phenomenon rather than as a purely economic activity (Steyeart,
2007). Other authors have emphases that entrepreneurial variations could be
better understood by considering the social environment where the firm is
created, more than the economic variables. Drakopoulou Dodd and Anderson
(2007) suggest that while the economic environment may explain some of the
variation, any convincing explanation must take account of the differences
that lie in the social and cultural aspects of entrepreneurial activity.
We are seeking to include scholarship from multi-disciplinary perspectives
including Institutional Economics (North, 1990) and Economic Sociology
(Granovetter, 1985; Fligstein 2001; Thornton, 1999) as possible conceptual
frameworks to analyze the influence of socio-cultural factors on
entrepreneurial activity. Other approaches are welcome in order to overcome
the limitations or to complement these perspectives.
In this respect, the special issue will provide a common platform for
scholars and practitioners to address the impact of socio-cultural factors
on entrepreneurial activity.
References
Aldrich, H.E. and Zimmer, C. (1986) ´Entrepreneurship through Social
Networks, in D. Sexton and R. Smilor (eds.) The Art and Science of
Entrepreneurship, pp. 3-23. New York: Ballinger.
Drakopoulou Dodd, S.D. and Anderson, A.R. (2007) ´Mumpsimus and the Mything
of the Individualistic Entrepreneur´, International Small Business Journal,
25(4): 341-60.
Fligstein, N. (2001) 'The Architecture of Markets: An Economic Sociology of
Twenty-First- Century Capitalist Societies', Princeton, NJ: Princeton
University Press.
Granovetter, M. (1985) 'Economic Action and Social Structure: The Problem of
Embeddedness', American Journal of Sociology 91 (3): 481-510.
Hofstede, G. (2001) Culture's Consequences; Comparing Values, Behaviors,
Institutions and Organizations Across Nations, 2nd edition. Thousand Oaks:
Sage.
North, D.C. (1990) Institutions, Institutional Change and Economic
Performance. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Steyaert, C. (2007) ´"Entrepreneurisng" as a Conceptual Attractor? A Review
of Process Theories in 20 Years of Entrepreneurship Studies´,
Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, 19(6): 453-77.
Thornton, P. H. (1999) 'The Sociology of Entrepreneurship,' Annual Review of
Sociology, 25: 19-46.
Topics of Interest
Recommended topic areas to consider for inclusion in this special issue are,
but are not limited to, the following:
· Socio-cultural diversity and entrepreneurial activity
· The relationship between cultural factors and business strategies
· Education and entrepreneurship
· Value systems and entrepreneurial values
· Religion and entrepreneurship
· Socio-cultural differences in ethnic entrepreneurship
· The role of socio-cultural factors in intrapreneurship
· Socio-cultural diversity and regional development
· Similarities and differences in the role of socio-cultural factors in
SMEs and large corporations
· The role of socio-cultural factors in entrepreneurship in developing
countries.
· Institutional economics and entrepreneurship
· Economic sociology and entrepreneurship
· Culture and entrepreneurship from a cross country comparison
· The importance of social context in the entrepreneurial process
Editors
Professor Domingo Ribeiro Soriano
Domingo Ribeiro Soriano is currently professor of management at the
University of Valencia, Spain-Europe. He has publications in international
journals and books, and serves as a reviewer for these journals, too. He has
been guest editor in the Service Industries Journal (Taylor & Francis),
Small Business Economics (Kluwer/Springer), and Human Resource Management
(Wiley). He is a Full Editor of the International Entrepreneurship and
Management Journal, and Service Business, both journals published by
Springer. Finally, he is book review editor for Management Decision
(Emerald).
Professor Patricia H. Thornton
Patricia Thornton is a Professor at Duke University Fuqua School of Business
and Visiting at Stanford University Department of Sociology. She teaches
entrepreneurship and new venture management and the social science of
entrepreneurship. She is on the editorial boards of Organization Science and
Small Business Economics and is a frequent external reviewer for ARS, AJS,
AMJ, AMR, and ASQ. The focus of her research is on developing and testing
theories on the impact of culture and institutional change on organizational
decision making, innovation, and entrepreneurship. She is the recipient of
the award for best scholarly research article by the OOW section of the
American Sociological Association.
Professor David Urbano
David Urbano is currently professor of entrepreneurship at the Autonomous
University of Barcelona, Spain-Europe. He has publications in international
journals and serves as a reviewer. He is in the Editorial team of the
International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal. His research is
focused on the factors that condition Entrepreneurship in different contexts
from the Institutional approach. He has worked as a researcher and teacher
for several Spanish and European universities in other countries.
Contributors
The issue will publish theoretical, methodological and empirical studies of
small firms from a broad range of disciplines and perspectives, which should
act as a guide for academics, policy makers and analysts, in government and
business, seeking to understand the sector, trade and business institutions,
small business representative bodies and those in support agencies.
Please send electronic submissions (word format) directly to the guest
editors: Dr. Domingo Ribeiro (
domingo.ribeiro@uv.es), Dr. Pat Thornton
(
thornton@duke.edu) or Dr. David Urbano (
david.urbano@uab.es). Prospective
authors are welcome to submit an abstract to the guest editor for
preliminary feedback on the appropriateness of their planned manuscript.
Please clearly identify your submission in the email subject line
"ISBJ-Special Issue".
Review Process
All submissions should follow the general guidelines of the journal. The
manuscripts will be peer reviewed according to the journal's general policy;
all reviews are double-blind. From this review process 4-5 papers (maximum
of 8,000 words per paper) will be selected for the Special Issue.
Timescales
Stage
Activity
Completion Date
1
Submission of full paper
31/1/2009
2
Feedback from referees
30/4/2009
3
Submission of revised paper
30/6/2009
4
Second round from referees (if applicable)
31/7/2009
5
Submission of final revised paper
30/9/2009
6
Editing and final drafts completed
30/10/2009
7
Sent to the Editor in Chief
10/11/2009
8
Publication date
Issue 3 (tentative) 2010
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