Look Who Is Talking … and Who Is Listening: Finding an Integrative "We" Voice in Entrepreneurial Scholarship. (September 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Dimov, Dimo; Schaefer, Reiner; Pistrui, Joseph
• Is Part Of: Entrepreneurship theory and practice. Volume 45:Number 5(2021)
• Page Start: 1176
• Page End: 1196
• Publication Date: 2021-09
• Subjects: philosophy -- second-person stance -- entrepreneurial behavior -- rigor and relevance; Small business -- Periodicals; New business enterprises -- Periodicals; Entrepreneurship -- Periodicals; 658.421
• DOI: 10.1177/1042258720914507
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1042-2587

Abstract

This paper explores the relationship between the study of entrepreneurs and the entrepreneurs we study. While scholars typically adopt a detached, third-person stance for the purpose of explaining and predicting entrepreneurial action, entrepreneurs instead operate in a first-person stance of deciding what to do. The two stances cannot be reduced to one another. We argue that an engaged dialog—a second-person stance—can bring scholars and entrepreneurs together into a unifying practical decision-making perspective. By working to develop this integrative voice in scholarship, we can collapse the dualism of rigor and relevance.