Laetitia Gabay-Mariani, Bob Bastian, Andrea Caputo and Nikolaos Pappas
Entrepreneurs are generally considered to be committed in order to strive for highly desirable goals, such as growth or commercial success. However, commitment is a…
Abstract
Purpose
Entrepreneurs are generally considered to be committed in order to strive for highly desirable goals, such as growth or commercial success. However, commitment is a multidimensional concept and may have asymmetric relationships with positive or negative entrepreneurial outcomes. This paper aims to provide a nuanced perspective to show under what conditions commitment may be detrimental for entrepreneurs and lead to overinvestment.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a sample of entrepreneurs from incubators in France (N = 437), this study employs a configurational perspective, fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA), to identify which commitment profiles lead entrepreneurs to overinvest different resources in their entrepreneurial projects.
Findings
The paper exposes combinations of conditions that lead to overinvestment and identifies five different commitment profiles: an “Affective profile”, a “Project committed profile”, a “Profession committed profile”, an “Instrumental profile”, and an “Affective project profile”.
Originality/value
The results show that affective commitment is a necessary condition for entrepreneurs to conduct overinvesting behaviors. This complements previous linear research on the interdependence between affect and commitment in fostering detrimental outcomes for nascent entrepreneurs.
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Laetitia Gabay-Mariani and Jean-Pierre Boissin
In line with an emerging body of literature questioning student entrepreneurs’ practices, and recent calls to bridge the intention-action gap, this contribution aims to identify…
Abstract
Purpose
In line with an emerging body of literature questioning student entrepreneurs’ practices, and recent calls to bridge the intention-action gap, this contribution aims to identify profiles of commitment among nascent entrepreneurs, and their relationship with the performance of entrepreneurial behaviors.
Design/methodology/approach
Relying on Meyer and Allen's multidimensional model, the authors build an empirical taxonomy regarding affective and instrumental forms of commitment experienced by nascent entrepreneurs (n = 328) operating within French higher education.
Findings
The authors identify three commitment profiles – weak, affective and total – associated with distinct levels of advancement and investment in the entrepreneurial process. This analysis leads them to map out the entrepreneurial process followed by nascent entrepreneurs with three main thresholds: the initial threshold, the resonance threshold and the irreversibility threshold.
Research limitations/implications
The work contributes to an emerging field of research dedicated to student entrepreneurship. It highlights the existence of different trajectories among nascent entrepreneurs, but also to different ways of being tied to them. It also enriches more broadly the understanding of the entrepreneurial process, especially its volitional phase.
Practical implications
The results are also important to guide public action, especially to design relevant support programs accounting for nascent entrepreneurs' diversity.
Originality/value
This is the first research to identify profiles of nascent student entrepreneurs based on the way they feel tied to their project, but also to the broader project of becoming entrepreneurs.
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Laëtitia Gabay-Mariani and Anne-Flore Adam
This chapter seeks to advance ongoing research concerning entrepreneurial commitment. While the concept of commitment has been addressed time and again in organizational…
Abstract
This chapter seeks to advance ongoing research concerning entrepreneurial commitment. While the concept of commitment has been addressed time and again in organizational literature, few entrepreneurship scholars have used it to understand entrepreneurial behaviors. In line with recent developments in entrepreneurial psycho-social literature (Fayolle & Liñán, 2014; Adam & Fayolle, 2015; Van Gelderen, Kautonen, Wincent, & Biniari, 2018), this conceptual chapter aims to advance understanding of the concept of commitment in the context of emerging organizations. Building on Meyer and Allen’s three-component model of commitment (TCM), it addresses how this multidimensional concept, developed in the organizational setting, is a lens through which one can investigate volitional phases of the entrepreneurial process (Van Gelderen, Kautonen, & Fink, 2015). Our work also explores how the TCM could be specifically adapted for emerging organizations, drawing on its main evolutions and re-conceptualizations since the 1990s. In this way, it uncovers potential avenues for further research on how to operationalize entrepreneurial activity. In doing so, it enhances knowledge of the entrepreneurial process and can improve training and support techniques for nascent entrepreneurs. It also contributes to broader discussions on the TCM and how it should be adapted in order to foster self-determined processes.
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Stéphane Foliard, Sandrine Le Pontois, Caroline Verzat, Saulo Dubard-Barbosa, Moshen Tavakoli, Fabienne Bornard, Michela Loi, Laetitia Gabay-Mariani, Joseph Tixier, Christian Friedman, Olivier Toutain, Julie Fabri, Christel Tessier and Jose Augusto Lacerda
The development of qualitative research methods addresses the need to explore, understand and interpret complex and subjective phenomena across various fields of study. These…
Abstract
The development of qualitative research methods addresses the need to explore, understand and interpret complex and subjective phenomena across various fields of study. These methods are guided by methodological frameworks, and data collection involves taking several precautions for observation or interviews. While these guidelines facilitate an emphasis on the objective aspects of discourse, accounting for subjectivity and emotions proves more challenging. However, these subjectivity and emotions are deemed as significant sources of information. In this chapter, we propose an innovative data collection method centred around creating collages and engaging in group discussions to decipher their meaning. Collage serves as a visual medium, and we recommend utilising semiotic analysis tools to comprehend its significance. To gain a more precise understanding of the value of collage as a data collection method, we studied a collage workshop organised by CREE. Through image analysis and exchanges, our findings reveal that collage acts as a physical medium that fosters exchanges, deepens ideas and restricts digressions. Additionally, collage allows for the expression and discussion of emotions linked to the image rather than the individual. The space of intersubjective reflexivity facilitated by collage enables a profound comprehension, critical assessment and augmentation of ideas and the interpretation of emotions without compromising the sensitivity of the author. This chapter’s main contribution is evidently manifested here.