Entrepreneurs On Entrepreneurship: A Research Structure Based On 12 Practitioner Case Studies

Abstract

The importance of entrepreneurship for economic growth and social advancement is well established, but most scholars do not agree on a structure for organizing its study.  As a result, a great deal of scholarly effort in the field is often criticized as noncumulative, disorganized, and lacking predictive capability.  Additionally, connections with important sub domains such as social and sustainable entrepreneurship are not well established.  Advancement in the organization of the research domain can potentially lead to improved formulation of research questions, better selection of methodologies employed, and enhancements in the ability of researchers to deal more effectively with the multidisciplinary and process nature of the field.  This paper uses qualitative research methodology to analyze data collected from semi structured interviews with practitioner entrepreneurs to advance a structure for future research in the field.   A conceptual framework for organizing the research domain of entrepreneurship is developed through analysis of the insights and experiences from 12 case studies of practitioner entrepreneurs, leading to the identification of a proposed structure based upon four categorical dimensions of an entrepreneurship conceptual framework – procedural, typological, behavioral, and environmental.