Special Issue on: ÒRestorying entrepreneurship in a changing worldÓ
Guest Editors: Dr Lorraine Warren and Dr Robert Smith
For Tamara Journal of Critical Organization Inquiry
http://tamarajournal.com
Call Close Date: January 2010 for Vol 10, Issue 1 March 2011
Lewis and Llewellyn (2004) suggest that the enterprise culture prevalent in Western society is a moral crusade that validates the power and capacities of individual entrepreneurs to change institutions and organisations in accordance with a belief in the modernist project of improvement through economic growth. As a result, there is a long tradition in the Western media of valorising entrepreneurs as mavericks, hero figures and lone wolves admired as much for their cunning as for their qualities as serious self-made (usually) men (Nicholson and Anderson, 2005). Consequentially, entrepreneur stories are circulated widely in the public consciousness, as heroic tales of obstacles overcome and bureaucracies toppled in pursuit of new market landscapes. For some entrepreneurs this storying brings with it an acceptance of what might be deemed brutal behaviour were it not for the magic cloak of entrepreneurial licence. For example, Alan SugarÕs catchphrase from the Apprentice TV show, ÔYouÕre Fired!Õ has become part of the lexicon in the UK and the US; DragonÕs Den programmes, notionally about the funding of ideas from business neophytes descend into sneering and mockery if the unfortunate inventorÕs ideas are unsuitable; Michael OÕLeary, the hardline cost-cutter of Ryanair still attracts respect, albeit that his cost cuts often impact badly on his own customers.
However, it is interesting to consider how long such accounts of entrepreneurial identity remain legitimate now that they are becoming increasingly associated with the kind of reckless practices that have caused the current economic crisis. It could be argued that the current situation has arisen through a combination of deregulation and the validation of buccaneering, or ÔentrepreneurialÕ behaviours at all levels of the industry, from CEO to home-owner. The climate may now be right therefore, for a re-storying of entrepreneurship.
Of course, there are already nante-narratives that challenge this perspective, such as notions of philanthropic endeavour (Bill Gates), those who are perceived as un-heroic for whatever cultural reason (Mohammed Al Fayed or Vance Miller), values-driven entrepreneurship (such as Innocent Drinks) and lesser-known tales of local activities that bring about social and community change often on a small scale. Thus, this special issue invites contributions that consider how alternative accounts of entrepreneurship may shape, or be shaped by a changing economic order.
Topics might include
Contact for submissions:
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Dr Lorraine Warren Senior Lecturer in Entrepreneurship & Innovation School of Management University of Southampton Highfield campus Southampton SO17 1BJ Phone: +44 (0) 2380 598972 Email: lw4@soton.ac.uk |
Dr Robert Smith Lecturer in Police Leadership & Management Aberdeen Business School The Robert Gordon University Garthdee Road AB10 7QE Phone: +44 (0)1224 263800 Email:
r.smith-a@rgu.ac.uk |