Einreichungsfrist für 3rd Annual Entrepreneurship-as-Practice Conference & PhD Consortium
15. Dez
The third version of this conference is aimed at entrepreneurship scholars and PhD candidates who are using or interested in using practice theory-led approaches towards understanding entrepreneurial phenomena.
Call for Papers
3rd Annual Entrepreneurship-as-Practice Conference & PhD Consortium
April 16-20 th 2018, Linnaeus University
Vaxjö, Sweden
Conveners
Orla Byrne, University College Dublin
William B. Gartner, Babson College + Linnaeus University
Bruce Teague, Eastern Washington University
Malin Tillmar, Linnaeus University
Neil Thompson, VU University Amsterdam
Karen Verduijn, VU University Amsterdam
About the Conference
The third version of this conference is aimed at entrepreneurship scholars and PhD
candidates who are using or interested in using practice theory-led approaches towards
understanding entrepreneurial phenomena. PhD candidates and junior faculty looking
to learn about practice theory and entrepreneurship as well as make connections and
get feedback from top international scholars on their work will find the consortium
highly valuable. Researchers that wish to further develop their empirical and conceptual
articles using practice theories and methodologies are encouraged to apply.
Introduction
Building on the first (February 2016 at VU Amsterdam) and second (February 2017 at
University College Dublin Quinn School of Business) workshops, this conference and
PhD consortium continues to explore what the ‘practice turn’ (Nicolini, 2009, 2012;
Schatzki et al., 2001; Schatzki, 2005), may bring to understanding entrepreneurship.
Initiated by such calls as having been made by Steyaert (2007) and Johannisson (2011),
the entrepreneurship as practice movement is now gaining traction, witnessed by such
contributions as De Clercq & Voronov (2009), Terjesen & Elam (2009); Goss et al.
(2011), and Keating et al. (2013).
While classic “theorists of practice” (e.g. Heidegger, 1929/1996; Wittgenstein, 1953,
1969, 1982, 1980; Bourdieu, 1990; Giddens, 1976) have emphasized the habitual,
repetitive and taken for granted role of human practices, practice researchers today
focus on the coordination of actions that reflect people’s understandings of “how to get
things done” in complex settings (Nicolini, 2011; Orlikowski, 2002). Taking a practice
approach makes it possible to conceive of the entrepreneurial process ‘as a culturally
shaped achievement, the result of engaging with and transforming social practices of
doing and living’ (Steyaert, 2007).
Practice theory relies on the general principle of consequentiality: the relationship
between situated action and the social structure in which the action takes place
(Feldman & Orlikowski, 2011). Practices can be seen as bundled activity patterns that
constitute daily life, thus they are non-individualistic phenomena since ‘the organization
of a practice is not a collection of properties of individual people [but] is a feature of the
practice, expressed in the open-ended set of actions that compose the practice’
(Schatzki et al., 2001).
We see practice theory as a means to advance entrepreneurship research in several
ways. First, entrepreneurship as practice continues to move away from understanding
‘who’ an entrepreneur is towards the importance of activity, performance, and work in
the creation and perpetuation of entrepreneurial practice. Second, practice theory helps
us understand the critical role of the body and material objects in organizing
entrepreneurship. Third, the practice perspective helps us perceive and better
understand the reproduction of entrepreneurial practices across time, space, and
individual.
Emphasizing the intricate socially situated practices of entrepreneurs comes with
considerable theoretical and methodological implications. These will be addressed
during the PhD consortium and research conference.
This conference aims at developing empirical and conceptual papers around the
‘practice turn’ taking place in entrepreneurship studies. To do so, we have developed a
PhD and Junior Faculty Consortium and a Research Conference in order to advance
understanding of entrepreneurship-as-practice, foster network ties, facilitate
collaborative writing relationships, and build a strong community of practice scholars.
PhD and Junior Faculty Consortium
The PhD consortium will be held on 16-17 th April, followed by attendance to the
Research Conference on 18-19 th , and concluded by a half-day PhD seminar on 20 th April.
Location of the PhD consortium is the beautiful castle Teleborgs Slott in Vaxjö
(http://www.teleborgsslott.com/). The consortium is organized by the conveners and
Linnaeus University, who will be offering 5 ECTS for PhD students who will complete
the course work and papers. Interested PhD candidates and Junior Faculty should
submit an abstract (of less than 1,000 words) by December 15, 2017 to William B.
Gartner (william.gartner@lnu.se). Full working papers for accepted students will be due
February 15, 2018. The course fee will be posted on October 1, 2017. Participants will
be required to complete a mandatory reading list. The consortium will be organized
around lectures by practice scholars, open-ended discussions, paper pitches, practice-
based methods training and networking opportunities. Topics that will be covered in
the consortium are will include:
- How should we define and use “practice” (e.g., practice theory, practice studies, entrepreneurship as practice) and its related concepts in the context of entrepreneurship?
- How can we apply various strands of practice theory (such as situated learning theory, cultural and historical activity theory (CHAT), praxeology, and ethno-methodology) to study entrepreneurship phenomenon, while still keeping conceptual coherence?
- What role does the human body and objects play in entrepreneurial activity?
Why does this matter?
- How does practice approach refocus the ‘outcomes’ of entrepreneurial action?
- How is a practice perspective related to but different from entrepreneurial effectuation?
- How can a practice approach link, or go beyond, micro and macro perspectives in entrepreneurship?
- What implications does practice theory have for entrepreneurial creativity?
- What methodological considerations come with a non-individualist notion of entrepreneurial practice?
Research Conference
The conference will be held on 18-19 th April 2018 (with a welcome reception the
evening of April 17). The conference will offer keynote lectures, opportunities for
networking, pitch presentations and round-table collaborative paper development
sessions. The location of the conference will be the main campus of Linnaeus
University.
Scholars wishing to present during the conference must submit an abstract to William
B. Gartner (william.gartner@lnu.se) by December 15, 2017. The abstract should not
exceed more than 1,000 words. Authors will be notified of acceptance or otherwise by
December 20 th , 2017. Full papers should be submitted by February 15 th , 2018. All
accepted papers will be pitched to all conference participants on the first day of the
conference. During the second day of the conference, papers will be assigned to small
working groups for developmental input and feedback. The fee for the conference will
be posted by October 1, 2017.
The conference will take place over two full days (from 9.00 to 17.00) on April 18 and
19 th (with a welcome reception on the evening of April 17) on the Linnaeus University
campus.
Address any queries about the conference or PhD consortium to:
William.gartner@lnu.se
International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior and Research Special Issue on
“Entrepreneurship as Practice”
The conference will serve as an opportunity for scholars to receive developmental
feedback on papers that could be submitted to a special issue on “Entrepreneurship as
Practice” for the International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior and Research.
Details on the Call for Papers for this special issue will be posted by November 1, 2017
and we expect the deadline for submissions to be October 1, 2018.
References
Bourdieu, P. (1990). The Logic of Practice. Stanford University Press.
De Clercq, D., & Voronov, M. (2009). Toward a practice perspective of entrepreneurship
entrepreneurial legitimacy as habitus. International Small Business Journal, 27(4), 395-
419.
Feldman, M.S. and Orlikowski, W.J. (2011). Theorizing practice and practicing
theory. Organization Science, 22(5), pp.1240-1253.
Giddens, A. (1976). New Rules of Sociological Method. Hutchinson, London
Goss, D., Jones, R., Latham, J., & Betta, M. (2011). Power as practice: A micro-sociological
analysis of the dynamics of emancipatory entrepreneurship. Organization Studies, 32(2),
211–229.
Heidegger, M. (1929/1996). Being and Time. Albany: SUNY Press.
Johannisson, B. (2011). Towards a practice theory of entrepreneuring. Small Business
Economics. 36, 135-150.
Keating, A., Geiger, S. & McLoughlin, D. (2014). Riding the practice waves: Social
resourcing practices during new venture development. Entrepreneurship Theory and
Practice 38 (5), 1207-1235.
Nicolini, D. (2009) Zooming in and out: Studying practices by switching theoretical
lenses and trailing connections", Organization Studies, Vol.30, No.12, 1391-1418
Nicolini, D. (2012). Practice Theory, Work and Organization: An Introduction. Oxford
University Press. Oxford.
Orlikowski, W.J. (2002). Knowing in practice: Enacting a collective capability in
distributed organizing. Organization Science, 13(3), pp.249-273.
Schatzki, T. R., Knorr-Cetina, K., & von Savigny, E. (Eds.). (2001). The Practice Turn in
Contemporary Theory. Psychology Press. London.
Steyaert, C. (2007). ‘Entrepreneuring’ as a conceptual attractor? A review of process
theories in 20 years of entrepreneurship studies. Entrepreneurship and Regional
Development, 19(6), 453-477
Terjesen, S. and Elam, A. (2009), Transnational entrepreneurs' venture
internationalization strategies: A practice theory approach. Entrepreneurship Theory
and Practice. 33, 1093–1120.
Schatzki, T.R. (2005). Peripheral vision the sites of organizations. Organization
studies, 26(3), pp.465-484.
Wittgenstein, L. (1953). Philosophical Investigations. Oxford: Blackwell.
Wittgenstein, L. (1969). On certainty. Oxford: Blackwell.
Wittgenstein, L. (1981). Zettel (2 nd . Edn.). Oxford: Blackwell.
Wittgenstein, L. (1980). Culture and value (Amended 2 nd edn.). Oxford: Blackwell.