2nd Developmental Workshop on Entrepreneurial Teams and
Collective Entrepreneurship Research
Call for Papers
IÉSEG School of Management, 18-19 September, 2017, Paris, France
Official website : http://www.ieseg.fr/en/faculty-and-research/ieseg-research/entrepreneurial-teams-workshop-2017/
While it has been 40 years since Jeffry A. Timmons wrote about entrepreneurial teams and wondered whether they were ‘an American dream or nightmare?’ (Timmons, 1975), research into this topic remains relatively recent. Indeed, it was the late 1980s-early 1990s before Reich (1987) urged us to “celebrate collective entrepreneurship” and Kamm and her colleagues published their seminal research agenda on entrepreneurial teams (Kamm et al. 1990). However, research relating to entrepreneurial teams is now picking up momentum, with journal special issues (International Small Business Journal, June 2005; Management Research News, 2009; Entrepreneurship Theory & Practice, January 2013), literature reviews and conference tracks on the topic increasingly visible.
This pattern is consistent with the history of entrepreneurship research that has been long marked by the reification of the phenomenon in a deus ex machina entrepreneur or lone hero. However, the collective reality of entrepreneurship and, more specifically the importance of team entrepreneurship, could not be overlooked much longer. It has become increasingly difficult to keep neglecting the quantitative and qualitative importance of entrepreneurial teams as most new ventures are now team based (at least one-half and up to 79.1 per cent in a recent survey of European start-ups) (Aldrich et al. 2004; Kollmann et al. 2016; Lechler 2001; Ruef 2010; Watson et al. 1995), and some research has shown that they tend to register superior performance (e.g., growth) to their solo counterparts (Birley and Stockley 2000; OECD 2003).
What are the movements that are occurring in developing an understanding of entrepreneurial teams? In seeking to capture the signals of the current evolutions of entrepreneurial teams research, Ben-Hafaïedh (2017) identified three main trends. First, formation is key. By recognizing the specificities of entrepreneurial teams with regard to other organizational teams (e.g., the unique nature of the new venture context (Klotz et al. 2014), the fact that entrepreneurial teams are naturally occurring rather than constructed or imposed by others (Ruef 2010)), researchers are starting to begin to understand the criticality and uniqueness to entrepreneurial teams of the formation stage and the need to explore it.
- Why and how do entrepreneurial teams form?
- How do the two main currently identified approaches, resource-based and interpersonal, shed light on the process of entrepreneurial team formation? With which contingencies? And for what performance?
- How do business opportunities (identification, refinement, etc.) and entrepreneurial team formation process interact? And how does this relationship relate to performance issues?
- How is the work organized during the formation stage and with what effects on team outcomes?
- How do possible formal functional roles interact with the more informal ones (e.g., Belbin team roles)?
- How are rewards discussed and with what effects?
The second key lesson that is being learned in entrepreneurial teams research is that resources need to be leveraged. Entrepreneurial team composition and its relationship with performance have been, following the upper echelons research stream, investigated quite frequently. The main research question that has been explored has related to the benefits of diversity, with the results being mostly inconclusive (Zhou and Rosini 2015). Nevertheless, an overall effect of entrepreneurial team composition on new venture performance is found (Jin et al. 2016) and team composition is important to investors (professional or not, Franke et al. 2008; Vogel et al. 2014). Thus, without dismissing entrepreneurial team composition as a key factor for team and new venture performance, researchers are more attentive to the conceptualization and measurement of diversity (e.g., deeper-level diversity, and not just averaging individual characteristics). In alignment with the IMOI model (inputs-mediators-outputs-inputs), mediators are more and more considered and, in particular, process variables are distinguished from emergent states (de Mol et al. 2015; Klotz et al. 2014; Marks et al. 2001).
- How can we better investigate entrepreneurial team composition effects? (e.g., personality, affective inputs, measurement)
- What is the role of processes and emergent states? And how can we capture the emergent team properties?
- How does learning impact the process of leveraging entrepreneurial team resources?
- How does the composition evolve over time? And with what relation with team processes and emergent states? With what impact on the outcomes?
Finally, the importance of context is more and more acknowledged. The context can be seen from the perspective Welter (2011) develops in her research agenda on contextualizing entrepreneurship research, that is business (industry, market), social (networks, household and family), spatial (geographical environments, industry districts and clusters) and institutional (culture and society, political and economic system). The temporal dimension is an important context element as well, with the different development stages of an entrepreneurial team as well as temporal topics such as learning and turnover. This dimension also restates the importance of longitudinal studies in order to observe a team’s evolution over time. Furthermore, context can also be embedded so as to typify the entrepreneurial team. This is notably the case for family entrepreneurship, social entrepreneurship, academic entrepreneurship, women entrepreneurship, business groups, franchises, and so on.
- The relevance in entrepreneurial teams research of not considering traditional context variables as simple controls. Why? And how?
- The investigation of the temporal dimension in entrepreneurial teams research. What? And How?
- The different types of entrepreneurial teams (social entrepreneurial teams, family entrepreneurial teams, etc.).
These trends offer non-limitative examples of the questions that would be interesting to address in this workshop.
Aims
The purpose of this workshop is twofold. First, it aims at creating an international community of researchers interested in the topics of entrepreneurial teams and collective entrepreneurship more generally. Second, it has a developmental objective, i.e. papers will be thoroughly reviewed and discussed by the peers in order to advance them on the path of publication. We thus welcome original research but also papers that have been presented before (or are scheduled to be) but that have not been submitted to an academic journal yet. For these reasons, this workshop will be limited to a small number of people in order to create the best conditions for constructive interaction. Each participant will be asked to review the work of two others. Participants who are not presenting may be allowed to register depending on space availability.
Deadlines and Submission Guidelines
Abstract deadline: June 30, 2017 [Notification of acceptance will be given shortly after this date]
The submission should contain, in a single document, a cover page and an abstract/body of the proposal. The cover page must include the title of the proposal, authors’ names, affiliations, address, telephone, and e-mail. The body of the proposal should contain an abstract of maximum 2 pages (cover page not included), single-spaced, times new roman 12. The abstract should clearly highlight the following issues: objectives, literature review, theories used, approach/method, results/findings, and contribution of the research. To be sent by e-mail to: c.benhafaiedh @ ieseg.fr and chabaud.iae @ univ-paris1.fr.
Full papers will be required by August 15, 2017.
Publishing Opportunities
A selection of the presented papers will be invited to submit a revised version for consideration to an upcoming special issue of an international academic journal. Other publishing opportunities are currently under consideration.
Venue and Dates
The workshop will be hosted by IESEG School of Management, Paris campus, France on the 18 and 19 of September 2017.
Co-chairs
Cyrine BEN-HAFAÏEDH, IÉSEG School of Management
Didier CHABAUD, IAE de Paris, Sorbonne Graduate School of Management
Keynote speaker
Frédéric DELMAR is the associate vice dean of the School of Economics and Management at Lund University. He is also a professor in entrepreneurship at the Sten K. Johnson Centre for Entrepreneurship, at the same university.
Previous to his current appointment, he has hold positions at EMLYON Business School, France; Stockholm School of Economics and Stockholm University, Sweden.
He is recognized as an internationally leading scholar in entrepreneurship research. His main research interest lies in the early development of new ventures as well as new venture growth. His current interest is in new venture team dynamics. He has been researching entrepreneurship for twenty years and worked as an expert for the OECD and EU. He has also been active in several start-ups.
His work has been published in a number of journals like Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, Journal of Business Venturing, Journal of Management, Management Science, Strategic Management Journal, and books. He is associate editor for Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, and former senior editor for Organization Studies. He is the member of the editorial board of Journal of Business Venturing, Entrepreneurship Theory & Practice and Strategic Organization
Institutional Partners
The European Council for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (ECSB) is a non-profit organization whose main objective is to advance the understanding of entrepreneurship and to improve the competitiveness of SMEs in Europe. ECSB facilitates the creation and distribution of new knowledge through research, education and the open exchange of ideas between professions and across national and cultural boarders. The ECSB is an affiliation to the ICSB (International Council for Small Business).
More at: www.ecsb.org
Académie de l’Entrepreneuriat et de l’Innovation (AEI) is a non-profit organization whose main objective is to promote the development and the understanding of entrepreneurship in France. AEI is both involved in the development of research, of education, and of connections with French institutions and practitioners. AEI is member of the FNEGE (Fondation Nationale pour l’Enseignement de la Gestion des Entreprises, French Foundation for Management Education).
More at: http://www.entrepreneuriat.com/
Established in 1964, IÉSEG School of Management is one of the top business schools in France, with its Master in Management 17th in the 2016 Financial Times ranking. As a French Grande École and member of the Conférence des Grandes Écoles, IÉSEG is one of the most prestigious higher education institutions in the country. It has also been awarded the triple crown of international accreditations: AACSB, AMBA, and EQUIS.
The School currently has 4 800 students at it two campuses; the historic campus in Lille and at Paris at La Défense, Europe’s biggest business hub. Bachelor, Master of Science and Post-graduate Programs at IÉSEG are taught in English. IÉSEG collaborates closely with the largest institute of research in Europe, the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS). 84% of IÉSEG’s permanent faculty is international, and the school has a network of more than 260 partner universities in 66 countries
More at: http://www.ieseg.fr/en/
Established in 1956, Sorbonne Graduate Business School (IAE de Paris) is a non-profit organization associated with the public university Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne. SBS stands out for its focus on Executive Education – 80% of our students are business professionals seeking to gain an in-depth knowledge of management theory or to update their skills with the latest tools & techniques by studying part-time. SBS welcomes annually 2 200 students, including 850 international students. Programs are taught in Paris and thirteen other countries, thanks to the close network of partnerships we have developed with foreign universities.
More at: http://www.iae-paris.com/en
Fees
230 euros, including workshop material, two lunches and coffee breaks, one dinner (excluding any other expenses).
200 euros for ECSB members (this being an ECSB country event), as well as AEI members, and PhD students.
Practicalities
Forthcoming
Contact: For any question, please e-mail Cyrine Ben-Hafaïedh, IÉSEG School of Management. c.benhafaiedh@ieseg.fr
Selected references
Ben-Hafaïedh, C. (2017). Entrepreneurial Teams Research in Movement. In C. Ben-Hafaïedh, & T. M. Cooney (Eds.), Research Handbook on Entrepreneurial Teams: Theory and Practice. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing.
Cooney, T. M. (2005). Editorial: What is an Entrepreneurial Team? International Small Business Journal, 23(3), 226-235, doi:10.1177/0266242605052131.
de Mol, E., Khapova, S. N., & Elfring, T. (2015). Entrepreneurial Team Cognition: A Review. International Journal of Management Reviews, 17(2), 232-255, doi:10.1111/ijmr.12055.
Jin, L., Madison, K., Kraiczy, N. D., Kellermanns, F. W., Crook, T. R., & Xi, J. (2016). Entrepreneurial Team Composition Characteristics and New Venture Performance: A Meta-Analysis. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, n/a-n/a, doi:10.1111/etap.12232.
Kamm, J. B., Shuman, J. C., Seeger, J. A., & Nurick, A. J. (1990). Entrepreneurial teams in new venture creation: A research agenda. Entrepreneurship: Theory & Practice, 14(4), 7-17.
Klotz, A. C., Hmieleski, K. M., Bradley, B. H., & Busenitz, L. W. (2014). New venture teams: A review of the literature and roadmap for future research. Journal of Management, 40(1), 226-255, doi:10.1177/0149206313493325.
Marks, M. A., Mathieu, J. E., & Zaccaro, S. J. (2001). A temporally based framework and taxonomy of team processes. Academy of Management Review, 26(3), 356-376.
Ruef, M. (2010). The Entrepreneurial Group: Social Identities, Relations, and Collective Action. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Schjoedt, L., & Kraus, S. (2009). Entrepreneurial teams: definition and performance factors. Management Research News, 32(6), 513-524.
Schjoedt, L., Monsen, E., Pearson, A., Barnett, T., & Chrisman, J. J. (2013). New venture and family business teams: Understanding team formation, composition, behaviors, and performance. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 37(1), 1-15, doi:10.1111/j.1540-6520.2012.00549.x.