International Entrepreneurship is Phenomenal!

Marian V Jones – University of Glasgow, ScotlandNicole Coviello – Wilfred Laurier University, CanadaYee Kwan Tang – University of Nottingham, Ningbo, China

Comments and Reflections on the Field

International Entrepreneurship is Phenomenal!

“Phenomenal” in Scottish vernacular means:

Extraordinary, exceptional, unique, extra special, unparalleled,

and “pure dead brilliant”

Not Everyone Agrees with that!

Recent review papers did NOT however, describe IE as phenomenal and in fact, were rather critical

Keupp and Gassmann (2009) describe IE as:

• Fragmented, inconsistent, lacking unifying paradigms, and hindered in its development by its phenomenological (not phenomenal) basis.

Coombs et al. (2009) conclude that:

• “--- a theoretical paucity summarises the present state of research [in IE]”

WELL!A flurry of e-mails, telephone calls, jungle drums and other exchanges ripped around the global IE community:What? Can this be true? Who says so? Why do they

say that? Who ARE they? Is that justified? What is the basis for their statements? Will people believe them? Is this the new gospel on IE? Can that really be our field that they are writing about? How did they come to those conclusions? Oh deary, deary, me! Have we learned nothing in over two decades?

And finally, productively: What can we do about it?

Write a Rejoinder?

• Well, that was a thought, however to make a proper rejoinder we knew we would also have to review the literature.

• To do so, we (Jones, Coviello and Tang) began by researching extant knowledge on the purpose and methodology of review, before designing, conducting and delivering our own review.

Why? We were deeply uncomfortable with the process of review

reported in Keupp and Gassmann (2009), and some of its rather damning conclusions.

While writing a rejoinder was tempting we believed it more productive to offer an alternative review.

Presentation Outline

1. What is a literature review?2. Introducing our review3. The process4. Derived themes and ontological classification5. Interpretation and evaluation6. Implications and lessons for future IE research

1) What is a Literature Review?

7

A Traditional Perspective

A literature review is:“The selection of available documents (both published and

unpublished) on the topic, which contain information, ideas, data and evidence written from a particular standpoint to fulfill certain aims or express certain views on the nature of the topic and how it is to be investigated, and the effective evaluation of these documents in relation to the research being proposed”

( Hart, C. 1998, p13).

However…“—traditional literature reviews frequently summarise highly

unrepresentative samples of studies in an unsystematic and uncritical fashion”

(Petticrew & Roberts 2006: 5)

Types of Literature Review

Narrative Review: “The process of synthesising primary studies and exploring heterogeneity descriptively, rather than statistically” Critical Review: “A critical evaluation of the literature according to argument, logic and/or epistemological or ontological traditions of the reviewed subject”.Systematic Review: “A review that strives to comprehensively identify, appraise and synthesise all relevant studies on a given topic” Meta-Analysis: “A review that uses a specific statistical technique for synthesising the results of several studies into a single quantitative estimate (i.e. a summary of effect size)” (Petticrew & Roberts 2006: 19)

Variations of systematic reviews include various content analytical approaches, meta-synthesis, and also thematic and other interpretive approaches.

2) INTRODUCING OUR REVIEW

Assumptions and Purpose

• Assumptions based on the normal science model (that hitherto unexplained phenomena, lead to debate, exploration, theory building then hypothesis testing) underpin criticisms of theoretical paucity, fragmentation, inconsistency and a lack of paradigmatic and methodological unity when applied to a field of study.

• To assess the state of development of International Entrepreneurship by examining what the field is actually concerned with i.e. its subject matter

• To organise its subject matter chronologically and thematically as indicated by the literature in context

• To highlight inconsistencies, misconceptions and interim debates as interesting developments towards theoretical maturity.

International Entrepreneurship Research (1989-2009): A Domain Ontology and

Thematic Analysis

Contributions • Identifies and inventories the subject matter with which IE is

concerned: a domain ontology• Identifies and illuminates interim debates, assumptions, and

inconsistencies towards a better understanding of IE theorising.• Provides a thematic articulation (and map) of the field and a

platform dataset to support future research.• Follows best practice and guidelines for systematic review.• Advances protocols for the search/exclusion process and also for

the analysis and validation processes

Practical Issues

The search and analysis:• Involved 3 researchers: two senior, one junior• Commenced June 2009 completed April 2011• Involved virtually every evening and weekend for the three

researchers during that period, plus around 30% of office hours.• Generated around 800+ e-mails, 50 working spreadsheets,

numerous grey hairs, etc.• Was not funded.

3) OUR REVIEW PROCESS

Procedures (summarised)

A. Methodological Procedures for Search, Selection and Exclusiona) Criteria for delineating the parameters of IE, and inclusionb) Exclusion criteria by theoretical relevancec) Search method and scope: keyword search of citation, abstract & titled) Focused manual search of selected journalse) Reading, checking, and comparing with extant reviewsf) Repeat search when literature suggests broadening the field

B. Procedures for Thematic Analysis and Ontological Organisationa) Data organisationb) Theme identification and codingc) Ontological organisationd) Thematic and ontological interpretation and validatione) Quality checking against established practice

Work-in-Progress (extract)

4) DERIVED THEMES, AND ONTOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION

Derived Themes as Aggregated to Thematic Area

Type A: Entrepreneurial Internationalization (1989)

• Venture Type• Internationalization• Networks & Social Capital• Organizational Issues• Entrepreneurship

Type B International Comparisons of Entrepreneurship (1990)

• Cross-country research• Cross-cultural research• Combined

Type C: Comparative Entrepreneurial Internationalization (2001)• Venture Type• Internationalization Patterns and Process• Internationalization Influences• Organizational Issues

The Thematic Map

Data -> thematic grouping –> thematic area ->Type

Type<-Thematic Area<-Thematic Grouping<-Data

Domain Ontology for Type A: Entrepreneurial Internationalisation

Author Table (Extract)

5) INTERPRETATION AND EVALUATION

Summary Comments

• IE is not one single amorphous domain, rather it consists of a number of articulate areas.

• Several areas are show increasing coherence and consistency as debates advance

• There are a great many inconsistencies in definitions, labels, vocabulary, approaches etc. On this we agree with K&G and others

• However:• The positive side of this is that there are important interim debates that

are becoming more refined and tighter as the field develops• While we did not at this stage analyse the data for theoretical models, we

found plenty of instances of theory building and model development• The paper, contains an extensive list of issues, debates and suggestions

for future research.

6) IMPLICATIONS FOR FUTURE IE RESEARCH

Contributions and Implications

• We constructed the JBV review as a repository of extant IE knowledge 1989-2009.

• We offer this as an alternative review to K&G 2009; Coombs et al. 2009 providing a full thematic analysis of the domain subject matter.

• We highlight interim debates, inconsistencies, and misconceptions as positive aspects of theoretical and methodological development, and flag areas and questions for future research.

• Explicit contributions include a methodological template for field reviews, identification of the field parameters (to 2010), a thematic map of the field, and ontological classification.

• We intended that the JBV article be used as a research tool for IE researchers, on the basis of which other analytical reviews, research proposals and reports may be built. Please use it for your own purposes (please remember to cite for content, methodology, analytical approach and templates etc. as appropriate –thank you)

Our Contribution

JBV November 2011Jones, M.V., Coviello, N., and Tang, Y.K. 2011. International Entrepreneurship Research (1989-2009): A Domain Ontology and Thematic Analysis. Journal of Business Venturing 26 (6), 632-659.

Currently online:Jones, M.V., et al., International Entrepreneurship Research (1989-2009): A Domain Ontology and Thematic Analysis, J. Bus. Venturing 2011) doi:10.1016/j.jbusvent.2011.04.001

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusvent.2011.04.001

Thank You