Relevance and Rigour with Qualitative Entrepreneurship Research: A Literature-Review Based Discussion
-
Birgit Leick
and
Gesine Tuitjer
Abstract
As qualitative empirical entrepreneurship research is increasingly gaining momentum, and newly emerging research streams are pushing commonly applied methods to their epistemological limits, such entrepreneurship studies often have issues regarding their rigour, because important onto-epistemological aspects, such as the positionality of the researcher in the research process, are not duly considered. At the same time, qualitative empirical entrepreneurship studies are highly popular, implying a high level of their relevance. This conceptual article discusses how scholars may perform relevant qualitative empirical entrepreneurship research rigorously by combining two methods. To this aim, the article discusses important methodological challenges and opportunities for qualitative empirical entrepreneurship research, in general, and, based upon both a discussion of the methods studied and a systematic literature review, compares the utility of the methods for the qualitative empirical toolbox, which widely applies the Gioia protocol. This comparison of methods, including the Gioia protocol, allows conclusions on increasing both the relevance and rigour of qualitative empirical entrepreneurship research.
Appendix 1: Overview of the SLR sample of empirical entrepreneurship studies using the Gioia protocol (n = 43)
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Appendix 2: Overview of the SLR sample of empirical entrepreneurship studies using auto-ethnography (n = 25)
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Appendix 3: Overview of the SLR sample of empirical entrepreneurship studies using the documentary method (n = 6)
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Appendix 4: Entrepreneurship research using the Gioia protocol according to relevance and rigour considerations
| Empirical studies identified in chronological order | Relevance for entrepreneurship research | Application of the method and issues of rigor addressed |
|---|---|---|
| Cusin, J., and V. Maymo. 2016. “Post-Bankruptcy Stigmatization of Entrepreneurs and Bankers’ Decisions to Finance.” M@n@gement (France) 19 (4): 305–329. | The paper addresses the question of how post-bankruptcy entrepreneurs experience discrimination through banking professionals. | A total of seven semi-structured interviews alongside exploratory experimentation were used. The experiment produced written accounts of how 40 (2 × 20) banking professionals will explain their lending decisions in a fictional case. One group of 20 banking professionals was presented with a fictional case in which the entrepreneur asking for funding had experienced bankruptcy before. These written accounts and the interviews were coded using Gioia protocol. Specific details about the Gioia protocol as well as issues of the positionality of researchers are not discussed. |
| Chandra, Y., and L. Shang. 2017. “Unpacking the Biographical Antecedents of the Emergence of Social Enterprises: A Narrative Perspective.” Voluntas 28 (6): 2498–2529. | The paper addresses the biographical antecedents which influence the founding of social enterprises. | The Gioia protocol is used in combination with other quantitative methods in order to analyse the written accounts (as biographical narratives) of 200 self-identified social entrepreneurs. The coding process is rendered transparent, inter-coder reliability is assured. One team member adopted the role of a ‘devil’s advocate’ to challenge the mainstream interpretation of the data within the coding team. Although this process is described in detail, it remains unclear whether the conducted content analysis is truly able to capture entrepreneurs’ sense-making, their actions and emotions, and at which parts it represents an interpretive coding-processes. Issues of the positionality of researchers are not discussed. |
| Chandra, Y. 2017. “A Time-Based Process Model of International Entrepreneurial Opportunity Evaluation.” Journal of International Business Studies 48 (4): 423–451. | The study explores the entrepreneurial opportunities for internationalisation beyond the start-up period of businesses. | The Gioia protocol is used for a content analysis of 15 semi-structured interviews with entrepreneurs, addressing their decision-making process for internationalisation over time. The way that the interviews were conducted is made transparent, highlighting the author’s goal to achieve rich, in-depth narrations about the internationalisation process of the start-up businesses which reveal the “thinking behind decisions” (p. 429). The coding process is described in a very transparent fashion, highlighting that coding was limited to what was said explicitly and followed a comparative cross-case procedure. The positionality of the researcher is not discussed in the paper. |
| Sabbaghi, O., and G. F. Cavanagh, S. J. 2018. “Social Entrepreneurship and Sense-Making: Evidence from the Global Social Benefit Institute.” Social Enterprise Journal 14 (3): 289–311. | The paper investigates how social entrepreneurship, viewed from entrepreneurship students’ perspective, brings together institutional values and management education. | The Gioia protocol is used to analyse students’ written accounts (with 19 essays from 14 students) for their sense-making about social entrepreneurship and faith-based education. Inter-coder reliability was reached through a discussion and comparison of codes. The paper renders the coding process from an essay about students’ experiences (verbatim level) to Christian principles (second-order code level) transparent. The data structure is provided, while the positionality of the researchers is not addressed. |
| Bonfanti, A., Castellani, P., Giaretta, E., and F. Brunetti. 2019. “Developing Entrepreneurial Learning Triggered by Factory Tours.” Learning Organization 26 (6): 574–587. | The paper explores the potential of factory tours as a learning situation for entrepreneurs from the industrial manufacturing sector. | The Gioia protocol is used to analyse nine semi-structured interviews with entrepreneurs participating in the factory tours, combined with secondary data. The data structure is presented. The coding process is made transparent and reflected upon, pointing out that only verbal/explicit data is coded in form of a content analysis, but no interpretation of implied meaning is performed. The positionality of the researchers is not addressed. |
| Canestrino, R., Ćwiklicki, M., Di Nauta, P., and P. Magliocca. 2019. “Creating Social Value Through Entrepreneurship: The Social Business Model of La Paranza.” Kybernetes 48 (10): 2190–2216. | This paper is a single case-study on the creation of social value through a social enterprise which recovers artistic and cultural heritage sites, thereby opening avenues into tourism for the poor district of the Italian city of Naples. | The Gioia protocol is used to analyse face-to-face interviews (n = 7) and secondary data from participatory research. While inter-coder reliability was controlled for, the paper does not provide much information about the coding process. Instead, the Gioia protocol is referred to as a rigorous method. The data structure is provided, including verbatim quotes. Aspects of positionality are, however, not discussed. |
| Laari-Salmela, S., Mainela, T., and V. Puhakka. 2019. “Resolving the Start-up Identity Crisis: Strategizing in a Network Context.” Industrial Marketing Management 80: 201–213. | The study is concerned with entrepreneurs’ cognition of network identity as a socially constructed phenomenon, based upon a comparison of start-ups in identity crises. | The Gioia protocol is used as a means to arrive at qualitative rigour in the development of new concepts. The coding processes is made transparent and the data structure provided by highlighting the process from verbatim quotes to their interpretation. Aspects of positionality are, however, not discussed. |
| Politis, D., Gabrielsson, J., Galan, N., and S. A. Abebe. 2019. “Entrepreneurial Learning in Venture Acceleration Programs.” Learning Organization 26 (6): 588–603. | The study analyses the contextual effects of venture acceleration programmes on the learning dynamics and experiences of entrepreneurs. | The Gioia protocol is used to analyse face-to-face interviews with 21 entrepreneurs. Secondary data, such as documents and observations, are also utilised. The authors apply the Gioia protocol as an interpretive procedure and take turns in coding the material to arrive at inter-coder reliability. The data structure is provided in the paper, including verbatim quotes. Furthermore, verbatim quotes and their interpretation form a large part of the presentation of results. The limitation section does mention a potential bias through social desirability but does not consider the positionality or subjectivity of the researchers. |
| Siqueira, A.C.O., and B. Honig. 2019. “Entrepreneurs’ Ingenuity and Self-Imposed Ethical Constraints: Creating Sustainability-Oriented New Ventures and Knowledge.” Journal of Knowledge Management 23 (10): 1965–1983. | The paper investigates the business environment of ethical businesses which must operate under ethical constraints; it studies how these constraints enhance entrepreneurial ingenuity. | The Gioia protocol is used as a key to understanding a nascent research field with little a priori knowledge. The exploratory approach is based upon six semi-structured interviews, which are used as data material together with secondary data. The data structure is provided, and the analysis section presents many verbatim quotes and their interpretation, so that the links between data and interpretation are rendered transparent. The positionality of the researchers is not addressed. |
| Ciao, B. 2020. “Business Founding in Biotech Industry: Process and Features.” Management Research Review 43 (10): 1183–1219. | The study investigates the business founding process in the bio-tech industry to present a business creation process model for this industry. The authors identify a high level of cooperation and knowledge-sharing at the early stage of business founding to be a key feature of venture creation in the industry under focus. | The Gioia protocol is used to analyse “unstructured” interviews with agents belonging to five different cases. Cases were selected until saturation was reached. The interview guideline is presented consisting of four central themes. The interpretation process from verbatim quotations to third-level theoretical dimension is described; in a similar vein, the data structure presented. Limitations of the paper are not discussed, neither is the positionality or subjectivity of the interpretation process mentioned. |
| Khan, S., Nasir, N., Jamshed, S., Omer, M., and S. Nasir. 2020. “Exploring the Orientation Factors of Women Entrepreneurs: A Life Course Approach.” International Journal of Psychosocial Rehabilitation 24 (4): 2376–2398. | The authors conduct an exploratory, interpretive study to understand the life courses of entrepreneurial women in Pakistan and their motivation and feelings regarding entrepreneurship. | The Gioia protocol is used to analyse six interviews with female entrepreneurs. The data structure is provided. Limitations of the study are not discussed, nor are questions of rigour, positionality or subjectivity of the researchers addressed. |
| Kuijpers, F. M., and E. L. Eijdenberg. 2020. “Showcasing Entrepreneurs’ Responses to Severe Drought: Qualitative Findings from Cape Town, South Africa.” Economic Effects of Natural Disasters: Theoretical Foundations, Methods, and Tools 2021: 131–146. | The paper analyses how entrepreneurs from emerging economies deal with the experience of severe drought. More generally, the authors seek to interpretively understand the entrepreneurs’ feelings, perceptions and experiences with climate change. | 12 semi-structured interviews with entrepreneurs of social enterprises were conducted and analysed using the Gioia protocol. The data structure and the process from verbatim quotes to third-level theoretical dimensions is described in much detail, rendering the coding process transparent. The researchers acknowledge the contextuality of their results in the limitations section and suggest data triangulation for further research. |
| Le Loarne-Lemaire, S., Partouche-Sebban, J., Razgallah, M., and A. Maalaoui. 2020. “Antecedents of Well-Being for Artisan Entrepreneurship: A First Exploratory Study.” International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business 41 (1): 96–114. | The paper explores the antecedents of well-being of artisan food entrepreneurs in an exploratory and inductive study. The foundation for well-being is found in the fact that artisan entrepreneurs can fulfill their creativity and live their passions, but likewise can conduct traditional and heritage practices with super-individual value. | 13 in-depth interviews were analysed using the Gioia protocol. The interview guideline is presented, and the data structure, which visualised the process from verbatim quotes to third-level theoretical dimensions, is presented. Inter-coder reliability is discussed to enhance the rigour of the coding procedure. The positionality of the researchers is not addressed. |
| Toscher, B. 2020. “Blank Canvas Explorative Behavior and Personal Agency in Arts Entrepreneurship Education.” Artivate 9 (2): 19–44. | The paper analyses entrepreneurship education in arts and explores how art students can learn entrepreneurial behaviour by exploring and exercising their personal agency. | The Gioia protocol is used to analyse data from participant observation, including interviews and written texts, such as field notes and diaries of participants. The coding process from data to third-level theoretical dimensions is described transparently and in detail, and the data structure is also presented. Limitations are not discussed, and aspects, such as the positionality or subjectivity of the researcher, are not addressed. |
| Ayatakshi-Endow, S., and J. Steele. 2021. “Striving for Balance: Women Entrepreneurs in Brazil, Their Multiple Gendered Roles and Covid-19.” International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship 13 (2): 121–141. | This exploratory study investigates how female entrepreneurs in Brazil juggle their business-related and family duties during the recent COVID-19 pandemic. | The Gioia protocol is used to analyse the entrepreneurs’ experiences and perceptions within 13 semi-structured interviews. The data structure is presented, including verbatim quotes, which allows for a transparent interpretive process from interview quotations to third-level theoretical dimensions. Issues of the positionality of researchers are not discussed. |
| Butt, M. W., Kausar, A. R., and Y. Rashid. 2021. “Exploring the Role of Agile Operant Resources in the Facilitation of Strategic Orientation: The Case of Family-Owned Businesses in Pakistan.” Global Business Review. DOI: 10.1177/09721509211053499. | The paper tackles the resourcing strategies of family-owned businesses in Pakistan with a focus on the sustainability of these businesses. | The paper employs the Gioia protocol to analyse interviews with 30 interviewees from family-owned businesses. While the data structure is presented, including verbatim quotes, the process of sampling, interviewing and coding and how the Gioia protocol is applied in practice remain unclear. Only very general references to the method and its strengths are made. |
| Conti, E., and A. Chiarini. 2021. “Design-Driven Innovation: Exploring New Product Development in the Home Appliances and Furniture Industry.” TQM Journal 33 (7): 148–175. | The exploratory, multi-case study investigates design-driven innovation processes in Italian furniture manufacturing businesses and how entrepreneurs influence the role of designers and other agents in the innovation process. | The paper uses content analysis to analyse 20 interviews with, among others, the entrepreneurs, who belong to four different businesses or cases. Triangulation is used, combining interviews with secondary data material about the businesses. While there is a reference to the Gioia protocol as a general research method that is commonly used in management research, no further description of the method is provided (no data structure presented). |
| Rashid, S., and V. Ratten. 2021. “Commodifying Skills for Survival Among Artisan Entrepreneurs in Pakistan.” International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal 17 (3): 1091–1110. | The study investigates the learning processes of artisan entrepreneurs by which they turn their craft skills into entrepreneurial businesses. Especially relational learning, learning in groups and informal learning situations are important for this group of entrepreneurs. | The Gioia protocol is used to analyse semi-structured interviews with 12 artisan entrepreneurs. The data structure is provided, and the process from verbatim quotes to third-level theoretical dimensions is explained. The authors state that limitations of the study could be its subjective and qualitative nature. Questions of the researchers’ positionality are, however, not discussed. |
| Bastian, B., and A. Zucchella. 2022. “Entrepreneurial Metacognition: A Study on Nascent Entrepreneurs.” International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal 18 (4): 1775–1805. | The exploratory paper investigates how nascent entrepreneurs reflect upon their own decision-making by employing a meta-cognitive perspective. | The Gioia protocol is used to analyse the experiences and perceptions of a total of eleven nascent entrepreneurs through in-depth interviews. The interview guideline is provided in the appendix of the study, and the data structure is also presented, which visualises the process from verbatim quotes to third-level theoretical dimensions. The interview data was triangulated with field notes and archival company data. Issues of the positionality of researchers are not discussed. |
| Khan, M. R., Roy, S. K., and M. T. Pervin. 2022. “Retail-Based Women Entrepreneurship Entry Model Through Small Business Orientation (SBO).” Journal Women’s Entrepreneurship and Education 2022 (1–2): 117–136. | The study explores the entry process of female entrepreneurs in small retail businesses in Bangladesh. | The Gioia protocol is used to analyse the interview data obtained from 20 interviews with female entrepreneurs of small retail businesses. The data were triangulated with observations, which are meant to “avoid the biases of the responses of the respondents” (p. 122). While the authors seem to have social desirability in mind when reflecting upon a potential bias in their interview data, they do not discuss their positionality regarding the coding of the material. The data structure is, however, presented. |
| Maxheimer, M. M., and C. L. Nicholls-Nixon. 2022. “What Women Want (And Need) From Coaching Relationships During Business Incubation.” Journal of Small Business and Entrepreneurship 34 (5): 548–577. | The paper explores the needs and expectations of female entrepreneurs taking part in business coaching programmes within an incubator context. The results suggest that men and women value aspects of the coaching for such entrepreneurial incubation programmes differently. | The Gioia protocol is used to analyse a total of 15 interviews of individuals who are involved in business coaching and incubator programmes. The authors ensure inter-coder reliability through the discussion of codes. The paper discusses aspects of credibility and transferability, and it lays out steps how these issues were addressed in the study. The positionality of researchers is, however, not discussed. |
| Rashid, S., and V. Ratten. 2022. “Spirituality and Entrepreneurship: Integration of Spiritual Beliefs in an Entrepreneurial Journey.” Journal of Enterprising Communities 16 (6): 876–899. | The paper studies the role of spirituality within an entrepreneurial journey and how spiritual believes influence business relationships of entrepreneurs. | The Gioia protocol is used to analyse interview data from 36 open interviews with entrepreneurs. The data structure is presented, and the process of coding from verbatim quotes to third-level theoretical dimensions is rendered transparent. The positionality of researchers is, however, not discussed. |
| Ciambotti, G., Pedrini, M., Doherty, B., and M. Molteni. 2023. “Unpacking Social Impact Scaling Strategies: Challenges and Responses in African Social Enterprises as Differentiated Hybrid Organizations.” International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour and Research 29 (11): 25–57. | The study investigates strategies of entrepreneurs when faced with the problem of financial and social upscaling of social enterprises in Africa, using qualitative interviews in a multiple case-study design. | The Gioia protocol is used to analyse 24 semi-structured interviews. The presentation of the coding process is focused on the combination of findings with theoretical concepts from the literature, whereas the description of common quality criteria (e.g., inter-coder reliability) are omitted. The data structure is presented. |
| Costanza, F. 2023. “When the Business Is Circular and Social: A Dynamic Grounded Analysis in the Clothing Recycle.” Journal of Cleaner Production 382: 135216. DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.135216. | The study investigates the interplay between social entrepreneurship and circular economy in a qualitative case study, using secondary data and interviews with, among others, entrepreneurs. | The Gioia protocol is combined with secondary data to build a model of a business process. While the paper describes in much detail the theoretical foundations of both the Gioia protocol and the secondary data applied, little can be learnt about the actual interviewing and coding process. No data structure is provided. Questions of quality and of the researchers’ positionality are not discussed. |
| Dawa, S., and J. Marks. 2023. “An Effectuation Approach to Sustainable Entrepreneurship.” Journal of Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies. DOI: 10.1108/JEEE-06-2023-0252. | The study explores the usefulness of effectuation as an approach for social enterprises with entrepreneurs having limited resources; the study uses interviews with, among others, social entrepreneurs. | The Gioia protocol is applied to in-depth interviews in this abductive, multiple case study. Both the data-collection process and the sampling are rendered transparent. The description of the coding process, however, remains rather superficial, without providing references to how the coding and data generation were actually performed in the study. Information about the data structure is not presented. |
| Khattar, V., and U. A. Agarwal. 2023. “Evolving as an Entrepreneur: A Life Story Approach to Studying Indian Women Entrepreneurs.” Career Development International 28 (3): 277–299. | The study uses a life-story approach to investigate the entrepreneurial identity of Indian female entrepreneurs. | The Gioia protocol is used to analyse 15 in-depth interviews with Indian female entrepreneurs. The sampling process and the interviewing approach are described by referring to social desirability and positionality. The coding process is also described in more technical terms, with a transparent description of quality assessment during coding (inter-coder reliability, principle of comparative method, etc.). Finally, the data structure is provided. |
| Mishra, B., Kumar, A., and I. Mishra. 2023. “Electronics Manufacturing Entrepreneurs in a Performance Bonsai Trap: The Case of an Emerging Economy.” Benchmarking 31 (8): 2693–2717. | The study investigates the growth strategies and especially the barriers to growth for start-ups from the electronics manufacturing sector, using, among other sources, interviews with the businesses owners. | The authors combine the Gioia protocol and a phenomenological interpretation of interviews. The Gioia protocol is used as a rigorous content analysis, while the phenomenological analysis is concerned with the question of the “how” of the narrations and motive constructions of the interviewees. |
| Razzak, B. M., Idris, B., Hasan, R., Saridakis, G., and J. M. Hansen. 2023. “The Impact of Covid-19 on Struggling Ethnic Minority Entrepreneurs’ Business Strategy: The Case of Bangladeshi Curry Houses in the United Kingdom.” International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour and Research 29 (8): 1837–1866. | The study covers the different strategies or adaptation mechanisms with which Bangladeshi restaurant owners in London reacted to the COVID-19 pandemic. | The paper does not present the data structure when applying the Gioia method. Concomitantly, the coding process from verbatim quotes to third-level theoretical dimensions remains unclear. |
| Seet, P.-S., Jogulu, U., Cripps, H., and M. Nejati. 2023. “Transforming Self-Perceived Self-Employability and Entrepreneurship Among Mothers Through Mobile Digital Sharing Economy Platforms: An Exploratory Case Study.” Personnel Review 52 (3): 492–520. | The paper addresses how the use of a peer-to-peer platform app impacted the labour market behaviour of unemployed mothers; the paper also studies whether the platform, which is designed to offer household services, sparked entrepreneurial opportunities for the mothers interviewed. | The Gioia protocol was used for a content analysis of interviews with 150 app-using mothers. While the data structure is provided, the process from verbatim quotes to third-level theoretical dimensions is not described. The reported limitations concern the composition of the sample, while the researchers’ positionality is not discussed. |
| Botha, M., and S. Sibeko. 2024. “The Upside of Narcissism as an Influential Personality Trait: Exploring the Entrepreneurial Behaviour of Established Entrepreneurs.” Journal of Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies 16 (3): 469–494. | The study investigates narcissism as a characteristic of entrepreneurial behaviour which is tangled up in authentic character traits in “what seems to be a constant battle between the authentic identity and the entrepreneur identity” (p.486), of entrepreneurs in South Africa. | The Gioia protocol was used in an exploratory approach to analyse 12 in-depth interviews with entrepreneurs. The authors reflect upon the quality of their methodological procedure, and therefore the research question (“narcissism” as an entrepreneurial trait) was not mentioned in the interview guideline, but in case that interviewees explicitly mentioned narcissism, then this line was followed-up during the interview. The process of the thematic coding is described, and the data structure presented. Aspects of positionality of the researcher or an implicit interpretation of interview quotes are, however, not discussed. |
| Braun, S., and M. Suoranta. 2024. “Incubating Innovation: The Role of Incubators in Supporting Business Model Innovation.” Journal of Research in Marketing and Entrepreneurship. DOI: 10.1108/JRME-01-2024-0028. | The study explores the role of incubators in providing start-up entrepreneurs with business model innovations. | The Gioia protocol is used to analyse a total of 19 semi-structured interviews in this multiple, comparative case study. The broad themes of the interview guideline are presented, and the procedure of interviewing (“free reports, conversational and flexible”) is made transparent as well. The data structure is furthermore presented. Aspects of positionality of the researcher or an implicit interpretation of interviews quotes are, however, not discussed. |
| Cloitre, A., Theodoraki, C., and V. Dos Santos Paulino. 2024. “Entrepreneurial Support Organizations in Sustainable Knowledge-Driven Ecosystems.” Journal of Technology Transfer. DOI: 10.1007/s10961-024-10117-2. | The study investigates entrepreneurial support systems from a multi-actor perspective, including, but not limited to, entrepreneurs. | The Gioia protocol is used to analyse 45 semi-structures interviews as the basis for qualitative-inductive reasoning in an explorative study. The composition of the sample, the broad interview themes and the coding process are described. The data structure is furthermore provided. Results from the interviews are triangulated with secondary data. Aspects of positionality of the researcher or an implicit interpretation of interviews are, however, not discussed. |
| Dhir, A., Meenakshi, N., Nawaz, R., and P. Kaur. 2024. “How Do We Pivot? Facilitators, Inhibitors, and Strategies of Tech Healthcare Startups Before, During, and After a Crisis.” Technological Forecasting and Social Change 207: 123606. DOI: 10.1016/j.techfore.2024.123606. | The study identifies the facilitators and inhibitors that tech-healthcare startups encountered before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic crisis and the strategies used by these businesses to survive. | The Gioia protocol is used to analyse 48 open-ended essays with entrepreneurs, and other individuals from healthcare start-ups. The coding process is described in theory, however, without a reference how, for example, inter-coder reliability was reached, or along which themes the data were coded. By contrast, the authors state that: “(t)o eliminate biases, we analyzed the qualitative data using the deductive approach for data analysis” (p.4). It remains unclear what type of bias the interview data or the coding process could suffer from. The data structure is provided. Aspects of positionality of the researcher or an implicit interpretation of interviews are, however, not discussed. |
| Gashi Nulleshi, S. 2024. “How Do Women Entrepreneurs Influence the Strategic Orientation of Family Businesses? A Typology of Swedish Decision-Making in Småland Community.” Journal of Enterprising Communities 18 (2): 117–44. doi:10.1108/JEC-06-2022-0091. | The study investigates women’s role in decision-making in Swedish family firms and presents three different modes of decision-making with differing female strategies to influence decision-making. | The Gioia protocol has inspired the analysis of narrative interviews with nine women in Swedish family firms. The topics of the analysis are women’s decision-making, perceptions and how they make sense of their entrepreneurial journey. The data structure is provided; however, the process of coding and interpretation seems to lean more into the direction of interpretive analysis instead of content analysis, which is often associated with the Gioia protocol. The verbatim quotes are provided in the annex, rendering the procedure more transparent. Aspects of positionality of the researcher or an implicit interpretation of interviews are, however, not discussed. |
| Häkkinen, R. A., and J. Kansikas. 2024. “Employee Entrepreneurial Behaviour in SME Service Development: A Qualitative Study on Effectuation.” International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business 53 (1): 42–69. | The study looks at intrapreneurship and entrepreneurial behaviour of employees in processes of co-creation, together with customers. | The Gioia protocol is referred to as a tool that is suitable to analyse socially constructed worlds and used to analyse transcripts from four open focus-group discussions, so that interactions between participants could be observed. Nevertheless, the coding process is described as a content analysis of the verbal utterances, instead of interpretive analysis. The data structure is provided, and the process from verbatim quotes to third-level theoretical dimensions is rendered transparent. Aspects of positionality of the researcher or an implicit interpretation of interviews are, however, not discussed. |
| Lange, F., Steinhoff, M. M., Tomini, N., and D. K. Kanbach. 2024. “Acting Beyond Concepts: A Comparative Study of Entrepreneurial Actions Between Novice and Experienced Entrepreneurs in Early-Stage Venture Creation.” Journal of Small Business and Entrepreneurship. DOI: 10.1080/08276331.2024.2375820. | The study uses a grounded-theory approach to differentiate between the activities of novice and experienced entrepreneurs and analyse how experience shapes entrepreneurial activities. | The Gioia protocol is used to analyse a total of 112 semi-structured interviews (which are in-depth interviews but comparatively short). The authors state that the research based upon interview data must rely on accurate self-reporting of interviewees and that the coding process may be biased. However, it remains unclear why the coding process could potentially be biased. The Gioia protocol is applied as an inductive and interpretive procedure. The coding process is described, inter-coder reliability is ensured, and the data structure is provided in the annex. Aspects of positionality of the researcher or an implicit interpretation of interviews are, however, not discussed. |
| Mohammadparst Tabas, A., Kansheba, J. M., and C. Theodoraki. 2024. “Igniting a Knowledge Renaissance: Revolutionising Entrepreneurial Ecosystems with Transactive Memory Systems.” Journal of Knowledge Management 28 (11): 199–220. | The study explores how entrepreneurs garner and capitalise knowledge within entrepreneurial ecosystems by using a transactive memory-system lens, focusing on processes such as knowledge specialisation or credibility. | The Gioia protocol is used in an exploratory case study for a content analysis of 26 semi-structured interviews. The coding process of the Gioia protocol is described in an abstract form, but without reference to how the coding was conducted (except for that the researchers mention inter-coder reliability through discussion at the level of first-order codes). Aspects of positionality of the researcher or an implicit interpretation of interviews are, however, not discussed. |
| Norato, H., and M. Pozzebon. 2024. “Affordance of Conciliation: Increasing the Social Impact of Hybrid Organizations.” Information Technology and People. DOI: 10.1108/ITP-12-2022-0943. | The study explores how social entrepreneurs in entrepreneurial ecosystems in Brazil use ICT and the positive affordances of ICT for achieving social and financial goals. | The Gioia protocol is used in this inductive study to analyse 22 semi-structured interviews with entrepreneurs and other members of an ecosystem. The data-collection process is rendered transparent with details regarding sample selection and interview procedure. The data structure is presented. Aspects of positionality of the researcher or an implicit interpretation of interviews are, however, not discussed. |
| Santoro, G., Jabeen, F., Kliestik, T., and S. Bresciani. 2024. “AI-Powered Growth Hacking: Benefits, Challenges and Pathways.” Management Decision. DOI: 10.1108/MD-10-2023-1964. | The study explores how businesses and entrepreneurs use AI to support their decision-making and operations, using, among other data, qualitative interviews. | The Gioia protocol is used to analyse 21 semi-structured interviews in this inductive multi-case study. Secondary material is analysed as well. The broad themes of the interview guideline and the data structure are presented. Aspects of positionality of the researcher or an implicit interpretation of interviews are, however, not discussed. |
| Tandon, A., Chaudhary, S., Nijjer, S., Tekelas, F., and P. Kaur. 2024. “Challenges in Sustainability Transitions in B2B Firms and the Role of Corporate Entrepreneurship in Responding to Crises Created by the Pandemic.” Industrial Marketing Management 118: 93–109. | The study explores the pandemic-related difficulties and challenges for businesses during their transition towards sustainability. | The Gioia protocol is used to analyse 76 open-ended essays obtained via an online panel of entrepreneurs (Prolific Academic). The process of the analysis with coding from verbatim to third-level theoretical dimensions is described transparently, and the data structure is also provided. Inter-coder reliability is safeguarded through the comparison and discussion of codes within the team. |
| Tigges, M., Mestwerdt, S., Tschirner, S., and R. Mauer. 2024. “Who Gets the Money? A Qualitative Analysis of Fintech Lending and Credit Scoring Through the Adoption of AI and Alternative Data.” Technological Forecasting and Social Change 205: 123491. DOI:10.1016/j.techfore.2024.123491. | The study explores how the use of AI and alternative data in credit scoring affects fintech lending, based upon expert interviews. | The empirical part of the exploratory study consists of 26 interviews with, among others, entrepreneurs. The sampling procedure and interview approach are rendered transparent. In a similar vein, the coding process is transparently described, including examples of verbatim quotes and how they were transformed to first-order concepts and later grouped to second-order themes. However, further quality criteria of the coding process (inter-coder reliability, etc.) are not discussed, nor is the data structure provided. Rather, the Gioia protocol is described in rather abstract terms. |
| Tran, T.T.T., and V. Schaeffer. 2024. “Barriers to Social Enterprise Growth in Developing Countries: Proposition of a Multilevel Approach.” Social Enterprise Journal. DOI:10.1108/SEJ-05-2023-0054. | The study explores the barriers to growth for social enterprises in Vietnam, based upon interviews with social entrepreneurs. | The Gioia protocol is used to analyse 21 semi-structured interviews with entrepreneurs. The broad interview guideline is laid out. Secondary data are also used. Both the interviews and initial first-order coding are provided in Vietnamese, while the second-order themes were translated to English. The data structure is provided; however, aspects of positionality are not discussed. |
| Zhang, G., and M. N. Ravishankar. 2024. “The Role of Capabilities in Digital Service Development and Delivery: The Case of Start-up Organisations.” Information Technology and People 37 (3): 1156–1184. | The case study explores how the organisation of a Chinese start-up helps the business to deliver digital products by using interviews, among others, with entrepreneurs, who were involved in the development of the business. | The Gioia protocol is used to analyse a total of 41 interviews and secondary material. The coding process is rendered transparent, and the data structure is also provided. Aspects of positionality of researchers or coding quality (such as inter-coder reliability) are not discussed. |
Appendix 5: Entrepreneurship research using auto-ethnography according to relevance and rigour considerations
| Empirical studies identified in chronological order | Relevance for entrepreneurship research | Rigour of methods used |
|---|---|---|
| Meek, W. R. 2010. “The Role of Family Member Support in Entrepreneurial Entry, Continuance, and Exit: An Autoethnography.” In Entrepreneurship and Family Business, edited by A. Stewart, G. T. Lumpkin, and J. A. Katz, 87–111. Bingley: Emerald. | An auto-ethnographic account is presented of family-members’ support for an individual’s entrepreneurial venture during the process of venture creation and business development. | The triangulation of data is used through “participant observation, self-reflective writing, interviews with family members, and documents and artifacts from my family’s business” (Meek 2010, p. 89). Validity as a criterion is mentioned, but not addressed in-depth. |
| Engstrom, C. 2012. “An Autoethnographic Account of Prosaic Entrepreneurship.” Tamara: Journal for Critical Organization Inquiry 10 (1–2). | Experienced failures in early-life entrepreneurship are presented as a prosaic life-story and viewed in the light of mainstream identities and discourses in the U.S. context in order “to challenge popular narrative themes … and rethink some of the taken-for-granted assumptions in popular and academic narratives of entrepreneurship” (Engstrom 2012, p. 42). Reference is made to the interpretive turn in entrepreneurship, dubbed “prosaic entrepreneurship”. | Neither addressed nor discussed. |
| Belinsky, S. J., and B. Gogan. 2016. “Throwing a Change-Up, Pitching a Strike: An Autoethnography of Frame Acquisition, Application, and Fit in a Pitch Development and Delivery Experience.” IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication 59 (4), 323–341. | The paper presents a systematic study of one author’s pitch development over one year, based upon a literature review. The auto-ethnographic study is positioned in the field of professional communication and highlights the communication practices through pitches of start-up entrepreneurs (Belinsky and Gogan 2016, p. 323 and p. 328). | The triangulation of data is used “by constellating various data points” and safeguarding an independent analysis of data by the partaking authors (Belinsky and Gogan 2016, p. 331). Credibility and trustworthiness as criteria are mentioned but not addressed in-depth. Methodological limitations are briefly addressed in the limitations section. |
| Pelly, R. D. M. 2017. “The Story of Captain Baby Face and the Coffee Maker: An Entrepreneurial Narrative Perspective on Corruption.” Journal of Management Inquiry 26 (4): 390–405. | Stories about entrepreneurship and corruption taking place in organisational frameworks of public servants are presented as a layered auto-ethnography as the author “calls into question the frequently used negative moral labels assigned to corruption” (Pelly 2017, Abstract). | A triangulation of data is used: “Multiple data sources for this project were most beneficial. (…) I continue to speak frequently with many of my former military colleagues and we reflect upon our experiences. The data sources are not used to objectify the past but rather represent the vast array of potential data sources using narrative approaches.” (Pelly 2017, p.393). |
| Pelly, R. D. M. 2019. “A Bureaucrat’s Journey from Technocrat to Entrepreneur Through the Creation of Adhocracies.” In Institutionalization of Entrepreneurship Research, edited by A. Fayolle, H. Landstrom, W. B. Gartner, and K. Berglund, 11–37. London/New York: Routledge. Also published as: Pelly, R. D. M. 2016. “A Bureaucrat’s Journey from Technocrat to Entrepreneur Through the Creation of Adhocracies.” Entrepreneurship & Regional Development 28 (7–8): 487–513. |
A storytelling account about a transformational process from a bureaucrat to a public-service entrepreneur is presented, which is embedded in organisational management conversations. | Validity in terms of the study’s limits to generalisation is addressed in the limitations. |
| Turunen, P., and E. Hiltunen. 2019. “Empowering Leadership in a University Spin-off Project: A Case Study of Team Building.” South Asian Journal of Business and Management Cases 8 (3), 335–349. | An auto-ethnographic account through narratives of two co-authors is presented about the team-building process and the role of empowerment leadership. The context is intrapreneurship in terms of an entrepreneurial university spin-off. The case study makes reference to other auto-ethnographic studies about team-building processes with university spin-offs, but does not relate to entrepreneurship literature. | While validity in terms of the study’s limits to generalisation is not addressed, research ethics within the team of auto-ethnographers is openly addressed as follows: “the ethical issues were particularly important. The team building narrative, written by the first author, extensively revealed his personal feelings and relationships with other team members. The authors made every effort to ensure that all the methods used were ethically sustainable and followed established scientific guidelines for data acquisition, research, and evaluation. The authors protected the team members’ anonymity and did not expose the research data in any way that might cause harm for organizations, team members or other stakeholders who participated in, or were mentioned in, this narrative research” (Turunen & Hiltunen 2019, p. 338). |
| Fisher, G., R. Stevenson, and D. Burnell. 2020. “Permission to Hustle: Igniting Entrepreneurship in an Organization.” Journal of Business Venturing Insights 14: e00173. | Entrepreneurial efforts by individuals embedded in organisations and facing institutional-organisational restrictions are presented through auto-ethnographic accounts, with a focus on a crisis context. | Neither addressed nor discussed. |
| Poldner, K. 2020. “Performing Affirmation: Autoethnography as an Activist Approach to Entrepreneurship.” In Research Handbook on Entrepreneurial Behavior, Practice and Process, by W. B. Gartner, and B. T. Teague, 102–137. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar. | Entrepreneurial behaviour (according to a sustainable fashion entrepreneur) is described as affirmative activism of individuals, who “are thrown into the world and are connected with its different elements in an ongoing process of creating and becoming” (Poldner 2020, p. 107). A retrospective, longitudinal self-experienced and self-reflected story is presented through various events over time, which highlight an auto-ethnographic conceptualisation of one’s own understanding as individual and entrepreneur. | Neither addressed nor discussed. |
| Webb, S. K. 2020. “Polypreneur. An Autoethnography of Owning Multiple Businesses, Simultaneously.” In The Routledge International Handbook of Organizational Autoethnography, edited by A. Herrmann, 240–251. London/New York: Routledge. | An auto-ethnographic presentation of several parallel enterprising ventures is provided, viewed in light of a polyamorous lifestyle. Reference is made to the prosaic-entrepreneurship approach (Engstrom 2012). | Neither addressed nor discussed. |
| Dobson, S., and B. Walmsley. 2021. “Fail Fast, Fail Often… but Don’t Fail this Course! Business and Enterprise Education Through the Lens of Theatre and the Creative Arts.” Industry and Higher Education 35 (4): 336–346. | The authors present a rather brief auto-ethnography-based discussion of their experiences with enterprise/entrepreneurship education in the creative arts; they highlight areas in which tensions or contradictions may emerge with regard to “traditional” entrepreneurship and management education in business schools. | Methodological issues with regard to rigour in auto-ethnography are not addressed. |
| Elkina, A. 2021. “Doing Gender in the Student Entrepreneurship Society Programme.” In New Movements in Academic Entrepreneurship, edited by P. Eriksson, U. Hytti, K. Komulainen, T. Montonen, and P. Siivonen, 144–163. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar. | The author discusses her own experience of participating in a student entrepreneurship programme through the lens of a gender perspective. The chapter focuses on a presentation of the author’s emotions and feelings throughout the entrepreneurship training and highlights differences of a gender-neutral versus a gender-aware perspective. | Neither addressed nor discussed. |
| Marks, S. 2021. “Performing and Unperforming Entrepreneurial Success: Confessions of a Female Role Model.” Journal of Small Business Management 59 (5): 946–975. | An auto-narrated critique of the prevalent role-model narrative of female entrepreneurs is presented based upon auto-ethnography. | The issue of validity is implicitly addressed in the limitations. |
| Vershinina, N., and A. D. Cruz. 2021. “Researching Migrant Entrepreneurship Communities: A Reflection Through Collaborative (Auto) Ethnographies.” International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal 17: 507–526. | Migrant entrepreneurship experiences are described through the auto-ethnographic lens of an interdisciplinary researchers’ team. | Validity concerns and the need for triangulation are discussed in the light of the existing literature. |
| Williams, K. S. 2021. “Finding Viola: The Untrue, True Story of a Groundbreaking Female African Nova Scotian Entrepreneur.” Culture and Organization 27 (5): 365–385. | The author re-interprets the life of a Black female civil-rights activitist through the lens of “a feminist approach to critical historiography, which fuses prowoman polemical writing, with fictocritical strategies and autoethnography” (Williams 2021, p. 366). This re-interpretation addresses the entrepreneurial venturing of the person described, which is presented as neglected discourses about the historical person (Williams 2021, pp. 378–379). Auto-ethnography is applied in combination with another methodology; however, how auto-ethnography is specifically used is not made transparent by the author. | Neither addressed nor discussed. |
| Danielsson, A., and D. Hyams-Ssekasi, D. 2022. “Interdisciplinary Communication: Paving the Way for Gamification in Entrepreneurship Education–A Case Study From a Medium-Sized UK University.” In Handbook of Research on the Influence and Effectiveness of Gamification in Education, edited by O. Bernardes, V. Amorim, and A. C. Moreira, 307–338. Hershey, PA: IGI Global. | An auto-ethnographic presentation of cross-disciplinary experiences in gamification as part of entrepreneurship education in business/law schools is presented. Collaborative auto-ethnography is used not only to describe the successful strategies and development needs for gamification in such contexts, but also to draw implications for the future of entrepreneurship education. | The limitations of auto-ethnographic research methodologies in terms of their validity and generalisability are reflected on in the methodology section; however, ethics in auto-ethnography are not addressed. |
| Scheu, M., and A. Kuckertz. 2022. “Entrepreneurship in China: Autoethnographic Insights into a Pulsating Entrepreneurial Society.” In The Clash of Entrepreneurial Cultures? Interdisciplinary Perspectives Focusing on Asian and European Ecosystems, edited by H. Pechlaner, H. Thees, and W. Manske-Wang, 15–23. Cham: Springer International Publishing. | The authors provide an insider’s account of the People’s Republic of China’s entrepreneurial ecosystems. The authors consider their methodological approach to be auto-ethnographic, because the lead author draws on direct and personal experience from having studied in the People’s Republic of China. However, no details about auto-ethnography as a research approach for the study are provided. | Neither addressed nor discussed. |
| Campbell, B. 2024. “Doing Diversity in Entrepreneurial Accelerators: A Mentor’s View of Tools, Translations, and the (Re)Production of Social Structures.” Scandinavian Journal of Management 40 (4): art. no. 101344. | The lived experience of serving as both participant and mentor in an accelerator programme for start-up entrepreneurs are recounted, focusing on diversity and inclusion as practices. | Validity in terms of the study’s limits to generalisation is very briefly addressed in the limitations. |
| Edmondson, V. C., Zebal, M. A., Jackson, F. H.,Bhuiyan, M.A. and J. Crumbly. 2024. “The Promise of Entrepreneurship Ecosystems: A Conceptual Model for Black American Entrepreneurs.” Journal of Research in Marketing and Entrepreneurship 26 (2): 388–414. | Based on a mixed-method approach, which includes auto-ethnography following a systematic literature review, the authors propose and apply the model of a specific entrepreneurial ecosystem for black American entrepreneurs. Auto-ethnography forms part of the methodology applied but is seemingly not central to this study. | Not addressed or discussed with regard to auto-ethnography, but shortly mentioned in the limitations (related to the mixed-method approach applied in the publication). |
| Fisher, G. 2024. “Resourcefulness Enactment: The Sensemaking Process Underpinning Resourceful Actions.” Entrepreneurship: Theory and Practice 48 (4): 911–940. | The author utilises an autoethnographic account from “a 1,430-mile, semi-supported mountain bike race across some of the most rugged and remote parts of South Africa” (Fisher 2024, p. 912) to understand the role and importance of resourcefulness and sense-making for entrepreneurship and organizational research, as cited on p. 912 as follows: “(a)s I engaged in repeated situations that required resourcefulness on the bike ride and observed other riders in the event doing the same, I recognized that the sensemaking process required to negotiate the resource-constrained situation in which we found ourselves was very similar to that of entrepreneurs operating in resource-constrained environment”. | Validity in terms of the study’s limits to generalisation is very briefly addressed in the limitations. |
| Lee, J. K. T. 2024. “An Intrapreneur’s Story: Coherence as the Conceptual Bridge Between Stories and Management for Entrepreneurial Success and Failure.” In A World Scientific Encyclopedia of Business Storytelling Volume 1: Corporate and Business Strategies of Business Storytelling, edited by D. Boje, 75–105. Singapore: World Scientific. | The author recounts the story of experienced entrepreneurial endeavours in an organisation (as intrapreneurship), highlighting both success and failure of the venture from his own perspective. | The limitations of auto-ethnographic research methodologies in combination with qualitative research is very briefly addressed in the limitations section regarding issues of validity and generalisability. Ethics in auto-ethnography is not addressed. |
| Mikeworth, M. 2024. “How a Cosmic Conversation Generated a Contemporary Enterprise Using an Ancient Narrative.” In A World Scientific Encyclopedia of Business Storytelling Volume 1: Corporate and Business Strategies of Business Storytelling, edited by D. Boje, pp. 175–196. Singapore: World Scientific. | The entrepreneurial journey of a Christian church-affiliated non-profit organisation is depicted from the founder’s own Christian perspective by retrospectively highlighting the intense interplay of the founder’s faith and values and the organisational development. | Neither addressed nor discussed. |
| Nurse, S. 2024. “Race and Survival: Examining the Interplay of Demand and Supply Factors on Black-Owned Businesses During Gentrification in New York City.” Urban Affairs Review. https://doi.org/10.1177/10780874241264716 | The author examines the development of a black American residential quarter that has presented a thriving entrepreneurial community, during a process of gentrification during urban development. To study this question, auto-ethnography, i.e., the author’s own experiences with and reflections about a black American start-up business in the residential quarter, is combined with ethnographic studies of a total of nineteen entrepreneurs from the area. | In the methodology section, the author describes the approach to data triangulation based upon a mixed-method study. Here, issues of validity are openly, yet briefly addressed. |
| Oktadiana, H., Chen, T., and J. Haryono. 2024. Entrepreneurial Strategies and Innovation in Hospitality Business: Stories from Australia and Indonesia. In Corporate Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Tourism and Hospitality: Global Post COVID-19 Recovery Strategies, edited by T. Aguiar-Quintana, J. Day and F. R. A. Vera, 166–178. London: Routledge. | The authors, who are partly founders/owner-managers or family members of founders/owner-managers of the restaurants portrayed through an auto-ethnographic approach, describe various entrepreneurial strategies developed by the restaurants to stay in a competitive market and/or survive the recent COVID-19 crisis. Based on the cases described, “a distinction between various forms of hospitality operations can be drawn” (Oktadiana, Chen, and Haryono 2024, p. 177). | Neither addressed nor discussed. |
| Wells, J. R. 2024. “Creative Social Entrepreneuring as a Vehicle for Creative Emancipation.” Creative Industries Journal 17 (2): 272–291. | The author investigates “the emancipatory and empowering aspects of creative social entrepreneuring through the unique and deeply embedded perspective of a nascent creative entrepreneur” (Wells 2024, p. 272) through an autoethnographic account about learning effects in an entrepreneurship training programme. | Neither addressed nor discussed. |
| Williams, K. S. 2024. “Re-storying Canadian Entrepreneur and Civil Rights Leader, Viola Desmond (1914–1965): A Polemic of the Heart.” In A World Scientific Encyclopedia of Business Storytelling Volume 1: Corporate and Business Strategies of Business Storytelling, edited by D. Boje, 71–96. Singapore: World Scientific. | Similar to her 2021 article, the author re-interprets the life of a Black female entrepreneur by combining autoethnography with fictional elements, such as an imaginary interview of and conversation with the historical entrepreneur. Auto-ethnography is combined with what the author calls “ficto-feminism”. | Neither addressed nor discussed. |
Appendix 6: Entrepreneurship research using the documentary method according to relevance and rigour considerations
| Empirical studies identified in chronological order | Relevance for entrepreneurship research | Application of the method and issues of rigor addressed |
|---|---|---|
| Sweeney, M., Docherty-Hughes, J., and P. Lynch. 2018. “Lifestyling Entrepreneurs’ Sociological Expressionism.” Annals of Tourism Research 69: 90–100. | The study explores the branding activities of commercial home hosts, or lifestyle entrepreneurs, in the small tourism sector, using the documentary method for the iconic interpretation of photos of the hosts’ favourite places in the house. | The process from pre-iconographic to iconographic interpretation is described in detail, but limitations of the study regarding its validity or its rigour are neither addressed nor discussed. |
| Möhring, J., M. Storch, U. Proskunina, and K. Schneider. 2019. “A Case of Reconstruction of Learning-Transfer Types in a Situated-Learning Based Training Program for Women Entrepreneurs in Germany.” In: Journal of Entrepreneurship Education 22 (3): 1–13. | The paper tackles the learning situation in entrepreneurial learning programmes for female entrepreneurs and presents different types of leaning-transfer orientations among the participating women. | The paper is based upon eight problem-centred interviews with female entrepreneurs. The documentary method is applied as an interpretive-reconstructive method, and socio-generic as well as sense-generic types of entrepreneurial learning are presented. The study explains in detail how these socio-generic and sense-generic types were established. Aspects of quality of research (i.e., validity) and the scope of the results are discussed in the limitation sections. |
| Tuitjer, G. 2021. “Entrepreneurial Knowledge Strategies in Specialty Food Innovations.” In The Rural Enterprise Economy, edited by B. Leick, S. Gretzinger, and T. Makkonen, 206–218. London: Routledge. | The case study investigates the network structures related to knowledge dynamics within a group of food entrepreneurs. | The documentary method is used to analyse 21 interviews; however, the process from data to results is not described, but only the method is briefly explained in more general terms. Aspects of rigour, such as the positionality of researchers, are not discussed. |
| Stamm, I., and M. Gutzeit. 2022. “Group Conditions for Entrepreneurial Visions: Role Confidence, Hierarchical Congruences, and The Imagining of Future in Entrepreneurial Groups.” Small Business Economics 59 (3): 1023–1041. | The study compares the entrepreneurial future visions of different families of craft entrepreneurs. | The comparative case-study is based upon focus-group discussions with 12 different families of craft businesses. Analytical steps from the documentary method (topical analysis and structure of the narration-analysis) as well as a content analysis from the Gioia protocol are combined to link entrepreneurial visions of the future to socio-structural characteristics of the group. The analysis is based upon group discussions. The process from sampling to interpretation is described in detail and rendered transparent. Aspects of quality control of the research are mentioned, for example, through comparison between the cases. |
| Tuitjer, G. 2022. “Growing Beyond The Niche? How Machines Link Production and Networking Practices of Small Rural Food Businesses.” Entrepreneurship and Regional Development 34 (5–6): 471–485. | The paper is informed by practice-theory thinking and reconstructs different entrepreneurial practices, using the documentary method. | The study is based upon a longitudinal case study with secondary-data analysis. The documentary method is used to analyse 19 different interviews (including group discussions, expert interviews and narrative/biographical interviews). The sampling and interviewing process are described. The theoretical foundations of the documentary method as an interpretive, reconstructive method are discussed, while the individual steps of the method are not presented. Aspects of positionality of researchers are discussed in the limitations section. |
| Gajewski, E., and G. Kungl. 2024. “Economic Alterity and The Green Spirit of Capitalism – On The Pitfalls of Green Entrepreneurship.” Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions 53: 100898. DOI: 10.1016/j.eist.2024.100898 | Based upon qualitative case studies of nine so-called green entrepreneurs, the study examines how sustainability motives and meanings of “capitalism” come together in a “green spirit of capitalism”. | The comparative case-study is based upon nine cases, with one to two semi-narrative interviews per case and secondary-data analysis. The study uses the documentary method’s first step as a “formulating analysis” in terms of a content analysis; however, no reflective interpretation of the data (corresponding to the second step of the documentary method) is applied. The material is coded along three concepts from the literature. Aspects of rigor such as positionality are not discussed. |
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Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Competitive Research Articles
- Benefiting from Social Groups: Managerial Network Communities and Corporate Collaborative Innovation
- Microfoundations of Institutional Entrepreneurship: The Interactive Effects of CEO Entrepreneurial Self-efficacy and Organizational Characteristics
- Women Leaders and Entrepreneurial Orientation in High-Technology Industries. A Problem of Role Congruity Between Glass Ceiling and Paper floor?
- Socio-Economic Integration Within and Through Small-Scale Family Businesses of Turkish-Origin Entrepreneurs in Germany
- Research on the Configuration Factors and Paths Affecting the Entrepreneurial Performance of Tea Farmers in Hunan Province
- Relevance and Rigour with Qualitative Entrepreneurship Research: A Literature-Review Based Discussion
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Competitive Research Articles
- Benefiting from Social Groups: Managerial Network Communities and Corporate Collaborative Innovation
- Microfoundations of Institutional Entrepreneurship: The Interactive Effects of CEO Entrepreneurial Self-efficacy and Organizational Characteristics
- Women Leaders and Entrepreneurial Orientation in High-Technology Industries. A Problem of Role Congruity Between Glass Ceiling and Paper floor?
- Socio-Economic Integration Within and Through Small-Scale Family Businesses of Turkish-Origin Entrepreneurs in Germany
- Research on the Configuration Factors and Paths Affecting the Entrepreneurial Performance of Tea Farmers in Hunan Province
- Relevance and Rigour with Qualitative Entrepreneurship Research: A Literature-Review Based Discussion
