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Summary articles Innovation & Entrepreneurship in ContextEnterprising Identities: Female Entrepreneurs of Moroccan or Turkish Origin in the
Netherlands.
Essers and Benschop
This paper explores the complex processes of identity construction of female ethnic minority
entrepreneurs. Being female, Turkish or Moroccan, and entrepreneur at the same time
requires various strategies to negotiate identities with different constituencies. These
strategies of identity work vary in the degree of conformity: one type is to mainly adhere to
conventional images of femininity, a second one is to denounce femininity and/or ethnicity
situationally, and the third is to resist the masculine connotation of entrepreneurship by
disconnecting it from masculinity.
We derive that identities are multiple and produced in dialogue with others, and respond to
a discourse, socially constructed through language and embedded in powerful relations.
Entrepreneurial identities ‘become’, instead of ‘are’; their becoming is negotiated with various
constituencies (-> kiesdistricten).
Aalten emphasizes that the Dutch traditional cultural system forces female entrepreneurs to
develop strategies to retain a ‘feminine’ and a ‘business-like’ character at the same time,
because it is not self-evident that these two go together. In contrast, Ogbor notes that wones
who construct their entrepreneurial identities are often inclined to go through processes of
masculinization.
Multiple identities can be theorized as the result of identity work that is performed by subjects
in relation to dominant discourses, structural constraints and various relevant others.
While masculinization and westernization may give FEMTOs space as entrepreneurs, these
processes leave the gendered and ethnocentric discourses on entrepreneurship intact.
Having to deal with the prescriptions and regulations from two different cultural contexts
requires hard identity work by these FEMTOs. From our study, three different types of identity
work emerge that differ in the degree of conformity. These can all be deployed by the same
person:
1. Staying within the gendered limits prescribed by ethnic communities. Foucault’s term
‘conformist selves’ which highlights the self-disciplining impact of surveillance systems
which tie individuals to their identities might apply here.
2. To cross lines for Turks and Moroccans, and for females to identify with
entrepreneurship. Accordingly, our FEMTOs sometimes denounce their feminity
and/or their ethnicity to construct an entrepreneurial identity.
3. A development of hybrid ethnic identities and a reshaping of gender identities that
leads to a break with the ethnocentrically and gendered entrepreneurship discourse.
1
, Entrepreneurial and innovative competences, are they the same?
Santandreu-Mascarell, Garzon and Knorr
This paper aims to study competencies between two groups of professionals: employees in
innovative companies and entrepreneurs. Therefore, the following questions arise: Are these
two types of competences the same? Do innovative companies demand an entrepreneurial
profile? Are entrepreneurs’ companies spontaneously innovative?
Innovation and entrepreneurship are interlinked because innovation is the specific tool of
entrepreneurs, the means by which they exploit changes as an opportunity for a different
business or service. Szerb describes an entrepreneur as someone who is profit and growth
oriented, can bear calculated risk, and who has innovative vein.
According to Hage and Aiken (1970), high levels of innovation are related to the following
characteristics:
. High complexity in the professional training of employees.
. High percentage of decentralized power.
. Low level of formal structure.
. Low stratification of compensation in the distribution of compensations.
. Low volume of production (the focus being on quality not quantity).
. Low emphasis on efficiency versus cost of production or service provided.
. High level of employee satisfaction.
There are 30 competences for entrepreneurs, which can be grouped into ten PECs:
. Opportunity seeking and initiative.
. Risk taking.
. Demand for efficiency and quality.
. Persistence.
. Commitment to the work contract.
. Information seeking.
. Goal setting.
. Systematic planning and monitoring.
. Persuasion and networking.
. Independence and self-confidence.
The bold marked PECs describe individuals within the organization that are able to work in
teams, are committed to their work, seek information and new opportunities, and are able to
take risks in innovative ventures. However, there are characteristics that entrepreneurs have
and that organizations that want to be innovative are not seeking. These are: goal setting,
systematic planning and monitoring, demand for efficiency and quality and persistence. If
employees had these characteristics and could apply them, they would have an optimum work
strategy that would include goals, a plan on how to achieve them, as well as the best and more
efficient strategic planning to achieve them. This would allow them to be persistent despite
difficulties. Finally, we found that there is a competency that innovative organizations need
but entrepreneurs may not have, this is previous experience in the field.
2
, Networking by Entrepreneurs: Patterns of Tie–Formation in Emerging Organizations
Elfring and Hulsink
There are two conflicting patterns of network development of founding entrepreneurs that
emerge from existing literature. One of them evolves from an identity-based network
dominated by strong ties into an intentionally managed network rich in weak ties. The other
involves the opposite, with weak ties dominating in the emergence phase and some of them
developing into strong ties, the latter of which are characteristic of the early growth phase.
Network ties enhance the ability of entrepreneurs in key entrepreneurial processes, such as
spotting opportunities, acquiring resources and gaining legitimacy. Developing innovative
solutions requires a high proportion of weak ties and a diverse network rich in structural holes.
We propose two initial founding conditions to enhance our understanding of the antecedents
of network development. First, with regard to initial network condition, Hite and Hesterly
conclude that ‘not all emerging firms are equally endowed in terms of initial network
connections and these differences matter’. The following categories can be distinguished:
independent start-ups; spin-offs; and incubator-driven companies. The second initial founding
condition is the type of innovation introduces by the start-up. We distinguish incremental and
radical innovations.
The strength of ties is defined by Granovetter as the intensity and diversity of relationships,
i.e. the difference between strong and weak ties, on the basis of four criteria: the frequency
of contact, the emotional intensity of the relationships, the degree of intimacy, and reciprocal
commitments between the actors involved. While weak ties provide access to novel industry
information and new business contacts, strong ties are relationships that can be relied on in
both good and bad times.
In this study, we have explored how entrepreneurs shape their surrounding networks. One of
the results is the recognition of three distinct patterns of network development. The first one
is network evolution, a pattern that is observed mainly among industry insiders, such as spin-
offs and incubatees pursuing incremental innovations. It involves a development from a
network dominated by strong ties towards a network with a growing share of weak ties.
Strong ties are important in the emergence phase, in that they provide access to resources
and offer trusted feedback. The second pattern is one of network renewal, which is associated
with insiders like spin-offs and incubatees pursuing radical innovation. Here, weak and strong
ties are both important in the emergence phase, without either of them playing a dominant
role. Weak ties are important in the search for new information concerning the further
development of the business plan. Strong ties provide legitimacy and trusted feedback, as well
as offering a certain degree of focus in the search for weak ties that may provide new
information. The third and final pattern of network development is that of network revolution,
a pattern that is predominantly associated with relative outsiders pursuing radical
innovations. This pattern is characterized by a large number of weak ties in the emergence
phase, which is the result of a frantic search for private information on business opportunities
and access to ties in the inner circles of the IT industry.
3
, The results confirm that network overload may pose serious problems with regard to network
renewal and, in particular, network revolution. Managing weak ties is more difficult and time-
consuming that dealing with strong ties. Dealing with network overload can be done in two
ways. First, we add the important role of dropping ties as a means of reducing network
overload, without introducing the problem of dependency. Second, our research highlights
the significance of the way network ties and legitimacy influence each other.
The underlying concept of ties is one of pipes through which resources may flow, and the
reason why that flow is taking place is social obligation.
4
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