We study whether business incubator management collaboration with R&D milieus affects incubated entrepreneurs to also collaborate with R&D milieus in different regional contexts. Empirically, we analyse 281 Norwegian entrepreneurs in 32 different business incubators. Incubator collaboration with R&D milieus increases entrepreneur collaboration with R&D milieus in sparsely but not densely populated regions. Also, education level increases collaboration with R&D milieus (plus investor milieus and international customers). Entrepreneur collaboration with R&D milieus is positively associated with market orientation and perceptual performance but tends to delay enterprise development.

An essential condition for talented cultural entrepreneurs to make a living in the creative industries is novelideas that lead to new projects and productions. The growth and expansion of cultural entrepreneurshipsdepend on the inherent tensions of continuous innovation. This article contributes to the literature by conductinga systematic literature review of the tensions that cultural entrepreneurs face when managing continuousinnovation. The authors present a conceptual framework that classifies managerial, entrepreneurial,innovation-related and network-related tensions. This serves to increase our understanding of the complexityof tensions within and between disciplines for cultural entrepreneurs needing to innovate continually. Thearticle also discusses the implications for further research, practice and policy.

Based on the shared interest of two academics with leadership responsibilitiesin the UK and Sweden our ambition was to better understand student learner expectations of leadership as Higher Education leaders operate within the relatively new context of what is being defined as ‘Responsible Leadership’. A search using Google Scholar, to give international reach, was carried out in late 2020 on four key themes pertinent to our research endeavour. The four themes, namely: Generation Z in Higher Education, Student Voice, Responsible Leadership and VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity) were searched using a metric which included articles presenting with a generic focus and written in the last 5 years (2017–2021). Texts were excluded if, in the abstract, they contained specific reference to subject discipline, teaching method, learner ability or any other locator which gave the text a specificity of subject rather than the generality sought here. In applying a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) methodology the ambition was to achieve summarised results to identify the debate and emerging evidence concerning our fields of interest. The research findings reveal challenging times ahead for the university sector with questions emerging about the function and purpose of Higher Education.

This cross-country study documents policies and practices designed to increase women entrepreneurs’ access to financial capital in Canada, Germany, Ireland, Norway, and the United States. Drawing on feminist theory, we examine assumptions of policy alongside the eligibility criteria, rules and regulations of practices. Our findings reveal that four of the five country policies examined were predicated on a neo-liberal perspective that positions women entrepreneurs as economic assets. We offer insights into opportunities for modernizing policies and practices in ways that will enhance the legitimacy of a more diverse array of women entrepreneurs and increase their access to financial capital. 

Gryende næringer («emerging industries») er kjennetegnet av høy grad av teknologisk og strategisk usikkerhet. I denne artikkelen argumenteres det for at entreprenører i gryende næringer møter utfordringer med å legitimere nyetableringen i sine omgivelser samt å redusere ekstern usikkerhet. På bakgrunn av økonomiske, sosiologiske, organisasjons- og markedsføringsteoretiske resonnementer antar vi at entreprenører kan legitimere seg i omgivelsene og redusere usikkerhet ved å investere i egen kompetanse, bygge nettverksrelasjoner, integrere andre ledd i produksjonskjeden og vektlegge markedet.

From background: Among others, public policy and access to financial capital are key elements of entrepreneurial ecosystems (Hechavarria and Ingram, 2014). Similarly, gender equality is an important determinant of entrepreneurial activity (Griffiths, Gundry and Kickul, 2013). In Norway, women are under-represented among entrepreneurs and business owners despite an increased policy focus on supporting women’s entrepreneurship in recent years. 

Purpose – The paper aims to clarify how a gendered analysis of entrepreneurial networks may benefit by the use of a constructionist (post-structuralist) perspective.

Design/methodology/approach – The paper makes use of a discourse analysis: first, the paper reviews a selection of empirical research articles from 1980 to 2008 on gender and networks in entrepreneurship research in order to convey the main research question, the hypotheses, the methodology and the main findings. Second, the paper identifies in a broader literature the hegemonic statements that characterize the discourse of gender and networks.

Findings – The main findings of the studies reviewed is that there are no major differences in the networks of female and male entrepreneurs. Research on the significance of gender for entrepreneurial success indicates that there is probably more variation within than between sex categories with regard to network activities. This may be an indication that empiricist feminism and standpoint feminism have outplayed their role as approaches to the study of gender and networks in entrepreneurial settings. The discourse analysis reveals five hegemonic statements: entrepreneurs use social networks strategically, women are disadvantaged compared to men and therefore cannot network effectively, weak ties are the source of men's success; strong ties are women's drawback and, finally, women are inherently relational.

Research limitations/implications – Methodologically, the current status of research on networks, gender and entrepreneurship demonstrates that most of the knowledge is gained through cross-sectional surveys. Typically, the majority of studies on entrepreneurship, due to the methods chosen, does not allow for first-hand, real and authentic experiences of entrepreneurial lives. Acknowledging the presence of the speaker can be done in various ways. Entrepreneurs may reveal their thoughts, their experience and reflections only if the relationship between the researcher and the researched is symmetrical. Narrative approaches are suggested in order to “tap” the voice – and thus the stories – of the acting entrepreneurs.

Practical implications – Theoretically, the discourse is limited by the lack of an explicit “gendered” perspective. The analysis of the texts reveals an implicit empiricist feminist approach, resulting in networks and entrepreneurship as well as gender and networks being portrayed in a very special and limited way.

Originality/value – The findings of the discursive approach to research texts on gender and entrepreneurial networks, is that the discourse is limited with regard to both theory and method. This paper has shown that the discourse in the research field is limited, and that the field needs to be challenged by other disciplinary procedures regulating what counts as knowledge. 

Cross- cultural research in management acknowledges that culture is a dominant  force that can influence several business activities such as entrepreneurship (Schaffer and Riordan, 2003). The role of networks in stimulating innovation and entrepreneurship is well-documented in international research (Granovetter, 1973; Aldrich & Zimmer, 1985; Greve & Salaff, 2003; Burt, 2004; Renzulli & Aldrich, 2005; Foss, 2006; Rost, 2011).) In the cultural  industry, entrepreneurial networking may be important as it may increase artists’ creativeness through cultural collaboration and access to important stakeholders (i.e. curators, customers, financiers, organizations). This paper uses a funding programme for Culture in the Nordic-Baltic to investigate how the cultural workers’ and artists’ networks affect trust, collaboration, creativity and learning. 

Har kvinnelige og mannlige etablerere like eller ulike holdninger til hvem de kunne tenke seg å rekruttere til bedriften? I denne artikkelen utvikles to strategier for anskaffelse av kompetanse: En likhetsstrategi, der etablereren ønsker å rekruttere noen som er mest mulig lik seg selv, det være seg utdanning, erfaring eller kjønn. En kompletteringsstrategi som uttrykker et ønske om å rekruttere noen som er vesensforskjellig fra seg selv. Ut fra et standpunktfeministisk kjønnsperspektiv kan en forvente at kvinnelige etablerere uttrykker holdninger til rekruttering i tråd med en likhetsstrategi. Men i følge Kanters tese om homososial reproduksjon (brødreskapsrekruttering) er det menn som ønsker likhet. Analyser av et kvantitativt og kvalitativt intervjumateriale med 48 etablerere fra tre fylker i Norge viser at kvinner ikke velger likhet i større grad enn menn. I vurdering av faglig kompetanse ønsker halvparten av både menn og kvinner ansatte som har mer utdanning ßenn dem selv (kompletteringsstrategi) mens den andre halvdelen la stor vekt på at de ansatte hadde samme fagbakgrunn og erfaring som dem selv (likhetsstrategi). Både mannlige og kvinnelige etablerere ønsker ansatte med like verdier og holdninger som dem selv (likhetsstrategi). Når det gjelder ansattes kjønn ønsker de ansatte med motsatt kjønn enn seg selv (kompletteringsstrategi). Dataene antyder at kontekstuelle faktorer som bransje, bedriftsstørrelse og etablereres egen utdanning har betydning for valg av strategi for anskaffelse av kompetanse. Vi anmoder videre forskning å benytte et postmodernistisk kjønnsperspektiv, hvor en får frem kvinner og menns ulike holdninger innad i sine grupper og som er utformet i relasjon til den videre kontekst bedriften befinner seg innenfor.

Chapter 12 analyses the case narratives at organizational and institutional levels of analysis by focusing each of the five dimensions of entrepreneurial architecture: culture, leadership, systems, strategies, and structures. One main conclusion is the importance and impact of a university’s regional and national context concerning the launch, development, and sustainability of programmes and activities supporting the entrepreneurial turn. A second major conclusion is that institutional change toward the entrepreneurial turn is effectively initiated “top down” and “bottom up” by formal and informal leaders reacting to regulative, normative, and cognitive levels of influence. The general picture emerges that there are different ways to accomplish third-mission activities and specific entrepreneurial architecture dimensions may be employed in different ways and strengths. The chapter concludes with suggested research and policy implications.

With an increased emphasis on commercializing research, licensing of technology, creating university spin-offs, introducing entrepreneurship programmes, and expanding university–industry relations, universities are being encouraged to take an entrepreneurial turn. We view the entrepreneurial turn as an institutional change, building on Scott (2014) as the term “institution” broadly refers to sets of formalized rules, norms, conventions, and behavioural expectations that determine what is appropriate in a given context. This expanded mission of the universities can also be better understood by integrating the concept of entrepreneurial architecture (Nelles and Vorley, 2010, Nelles and Vorley 2011).The chapter lays out the books’ theoretical framework focusing on (1) What actors and forces are important in motivating institutional change in the development of a university’s entrepreneurial architecture? (2) How do universities interact with institutional context in developing entrepreneurially? Finally, the chapter introduces the reader to universities from different national and regional contexts as a means to learn from in-depth comparative studies of emerging and well-developed entrepreneurial universities across different institutional contexts. Two research questions focus discussion.

Global recessions and structural economic shifts are motivating government and business leaders worldwide to increasingly look to "their" universities to stimulate regional development and to contribute to national competiveness. The challenge is clear and the question is pressing: How will universities respond?

This book presents in-depth case narratives of ten universities from Norway, Finland, Sweden, UK, and the U.S. that have overcome significant challenges to develop programs and activities to commercialize scientific research, launch entrepreneurial degree programs, establish industry partnerships, and build entrepreneurial cultures and ecosystems. The universities are quite diverse: large and small; teaching and research focused; internationally recognized and relatively new; located in major cities and in emerging regions. Each case narrative describes challenges overcome, actions taken, and resulting accomplishments.

This volume will be of interest to policymakers and university administrators as well as researchers and students interested in how different programs and activities can promote university entrepreneurship while contributing to economic growth in developed and developing economies.

Scholars across all discipline areas are increasingly being asked to demonstrate the impact of their research (Mohrman et al., 2001; Steyaert, 2011). In so doing, entrepreneurship researchers have become aware of the considerable disparity between the knowledge generated by academic scholars and that which can be usefully employed by entrepreneurs and managers in practice (Steffens et al., 2013). With specific regard to women’s entrepreneurship, while scholars have proved that gender does matter (Brush et al., 2010, Kelley et al., 2012), and that entrepreneurship in itself is a gendered phenomenon (Jennings & Brush, 2013), the extent to which gender scholars have been concerned with the actual impact of their research has not been evidenced to the same extent. However, assessing impact can be a highly complex issue, involving both subjective and objective assessments, often on a longitudinal basis (Storey, 2000; Henry et al., 2005). Thus, by way of proxy, we consider the manner in which scholars articulate the intended impact of their research to be an important first step toward a robust assessment of impact over time. With this in mind, this paper seeks to critically explore the articulated policy and practice implications of women’s entrepreneurship research. Our key objective is to consider whether there has been a notable shift in focus with regard to such implications since the first studies on female entrepreneurship appeared, and if so, to consider whether there is a link between such a shift and the different theoretical perspectives[1] adopted.  

We draw on a comprehensive data set compiled from the gender and entrepreneurship literatures over a 30-year period. Consistent with Denyer & Neely (2004), we conducted a systematic literature review (SLR) of relevant empirical papers published in top tier journals. For the purposes of this paper, consistent with Katz (2003) and Brush (2007), we focused on articles published in the ‘Big Five’ entrepreneurship journals (i.e. ERD, ETP, JBV, JSBM, SBE) between 1983 and 2012. We compare the different levels of focus on policy and practice implications between the three decades included in our review, and highlight notable variances. The paper builds on and contributes to extant literatures by furthering our understanding of policy and practice implications in gender and entrepreneurship research.

The paper is organised as follows. In the first section we discuss the issue of policy and practice implications, how this has attracted increased attention in the social sciences and the particular tradition within the field of entrepreneurship. The second section focuses on the development of gender perspectives in entrepreneurship research, outlining the particular questions that have guided our empirical study. The third section details the methodology, and this is followed by the presentation of our findings, which are subsequently discussed. Finally, some concluding remarks are provided, with an indication of avenues worthy of future research.

[1] For example, gender as a variable (GAV), feminist standpoint theory (FST) and post-structural feminism (PSF).

This paper focuses on women’s entrepreneurship policy as a core component of the entrepreneurial ecosystem. We use a systematic literature review (SLR) approach to critically explore the policy implications of women’s entrepreneurship research according to gender perspective: feminist empiricism, feminist standpoint theory, and post-structuralist feminist theory. Our research question asks whether there is a link between the nature of policy implications and the different theoretical perspectives adopted, and whether scholars’ policy implications have changed as the field of women’s entrepreneurship research has developed. We concentrate on empirical studies published in the “Big Five” primary entrepreneurship research journals (SBE, ETP, JBV, JSBM, and ERD) over a period of more than 30 years (1983–2015). We find that policy implications from women’s entrepreneurship research are mostly vague, conservative, and center on identifying skills gaps in women entrepreneurs that need to be “fixed,” thus isolating and individualizing any perceived problem. Despite an increase in the number of articles offering policy implications, we find little variance in the types of policy implications being offered by scholars, regardless of the particular theoretical perspective adopted, and no notable change over our 30-year review period. Recommendations to improve the entrepreneurial ecosystem for women from a policy perspective are offered, and avenues for future research are identified.

How are innovations taken to market? Both theoretically and empirically, the process of commercialization has received scant attention. This study investigates the early commercialization process of three innovative firms in the Norwegian petroleum industry. The authors argue that the role of strategic choice is important for the processes these firms use to create and build their own dynamic capabilities. In this regard, they address the central question of what role the strategic choice of the firm plays in the process, creation and evolution of its dynamic capabilities during the early stage of commercialization. The authors' findings reveal that certain dynamic capabilities are emphasized and appear to be more relevant to the strategic intentions of the CEO or entrepreneurial team. Two firms, whose strategic intent was to commercialize and exit, were more inclined to build an adaptive capability, while the firm intending to commercialize and to stay in the market stressed the importance of absorptive capability. Common to all three cases is the finding that adaptive and absorptive capabilities seem to enhance their innovative capabilities, which are essential for commercializing innovations.

Vem styr och leder egentligen svensk skola och hur går det till? I den här antologin analyseras skolchefens roll och vilka möjligheter skolchefer har att utöva ett ansvarsfullt ledarskap. Författarna belyser även vilka utmaningar, spänningsfält och konflikter som kan uppstå i relationerna mellan de aktörer som har i uppdrag att styra och leda skolan mot ökad likvärdighet och rättvisa. 

Vad påverkar skolchefer i deras arbete och vilken roll kan skolchefer själva ta för att påverka verksamheten? Med utgångspunkt i empiriska studier fördjupas och problematiseras möjligheter och svårigheter med att ansvarsfullt leda och utveckla skolan. 

Villkoren för styrning, ledning och organisation av skola och utbildning har förändrats under de senaste decennierna. Bokens innehåll visar hur viktig styrning och ledning av skolan är i en värld som kännetecknas av utmaningar som ökande sociala och ekonomiska skillnader, fattigdom, segregation, epidemier och klimatförändringar.