Achieving legitimacy in entrepreneurship education: a case study

Available on the publisher's website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1142/S0218495812500203 [copyright World Scientific Publishing Company]International audienceThis paper examines the legitimating process of a French higher education institution entirely dedicated to entrepreneurship. Management and entrepreneurship education strive both for academic and market legitimacies. We think entrepreneurship education is confronted with an additional challenge: building political legitimacy. We analyze the "extreme case" study of Advancia, a Paris business school. We examined the business school's legitimation process over a period of six years, from 2004 to 2010. This "extreme case" may be informative for other business schools willing to reach academic, market and political legitimacies while at the same time trying to develop a coherent and stable global strategy in a competitive higher education landscape. This is the first article dealing with the topic of legitimacy acquisition processes, with the aim of emphasizing the institutionalization of entrepreneurial mindset in French entrepreneurship higher education

Émancipation, participation et contre-participation entrepreneuriales, le cas de la population homosexuelle

Cet essai modélise les jeux de pouvoir et de contre-pouvoir visant le contrôle des identités sexuelles en entrepreneuriat. À ce jour, la discipline évite de traiter de modèles économiques inspirés par la libération homosexuelle. Pour en restreindre l’intérêt dans le champ de la création de la valeur, elle présente l’entrepreneuriat comme un refuge pour les salariés homosexuels discriminés. Toutefois, les études en histoire et sciences politiques montrent que, par leur militantisme, ces entrepreneurs ont ouvert un marché alternatif viable et participé à l’élaboration de l’agenda inclusif. Outre les deux imaginaires entrepreneuriaux homosexuels du refuge et du militantisme, cet essai met en évidence l’existence d’une dynamique de contre-participation, celle du queering entrepreneurial qui remet en cause les acquis des politiques identitaires et de l’agenda inclusif. Afin de garantir un renouvellement de l’esprit entrepreneurial, le queering défensif cherche à préserver l’expérience (unique) de production de soi comme entrepreneur homosexuel. Le queering offensif propose des modèles économiques dont le ressort central est, non de proposer une alternative comme les fondateurs du marché homosexuel, mais de remettre en cause le régime hétéronormatif.This essay models power and counter-power games aimed at controlling sexual identities in entrepreneurship. To date, the discipline has avoided dealing with economic models inspired by homosexual liberation. In order to limit its interest in the field of value creation, it presents entrepreneurship as a refuge for discriminated homosexual employees. However, studies in history and political science show that, through their activism, these entrepreneurs have opened up a viable alternative market and participated in the development of the inclusive agenda. In addition to the two queer entrepreneurial imaginaries of refuge and activism, this essay highlights the existence of a counter-participatory dynamic, that of entrepreneurial queering that challenges the gains of identity politics and the inclusive agenda. In order to guarantee a renewal of the entrepreneurial spirit, defensive queering seeks to preserve the (unique) experience of producing oneself as a queer entrepreneur. Offensive queering proposes economic models whose core is not to propose an alternative like the founders of the queer market, but to challenge the heteronormative regime.Este ensayo modela los juegos de poder y contrapoder del control de las identidades de género en el empresariado. Hasta la fecha, la disciplina ha evitado ocuparse de los modelos de negocio inspirados en la liberación gay. Para limitar su interés en el ámbito de la creación de valor, presenta el espíritu empresarial como un refugio para los empleados homosexuales discriminados. Sin embargo, los estudios de historia y ciencia política demuestran que, a través de su activismo, estos empresarios han abierto un mercado alternativo viable y han participado en el desarrollo de la agenda inclusiva. Además de los dos imaginarios empresariales queer de refugio y activismo, este ensayo destaca la existencia de una dinámica contrapartida, la del queering empresarial, que desafía los logros de la política de identidad y la agenda inclusiva. Para asegurar la renovación del espíritu empresarial, el queering defensivo busca preservar la experiencia (única) de producirse a sí mismo como empresario queer. El queering ofensivo propone modelos económicos cuyo núcleo no es ofrecer una alternativa como los fundadores del mercado queer, sino desafiar el régimen heteronormativo

FEMALE ENTREPRENEURS' AUTHORITY: IS THE CREATIVE ASPECT OF AUTHORITY A MASCULINE FICTION IN MANAGERIAL AND ENTREPRENEURIAL PARADIGMS?

Authority is the confirmation of the control an individual has over norms and codes (Sennet, 1981). It stimulates the development of social capital. Gender shapes authority. Bourdieu (1994) stresses that in traditional societies men can interpret and produce norms whereas women reproduce them and consequently may experience difficulties in constructing their authority. Butler (1990) confirms that this dichotomy is still effective in post-modern contexts.In the literature on women entrepreneurs, scholars stress their lack of social capital as an impediment to growing the business and suggest that they should follow the male model (Aldrich et al., 1997; Ban et al., 1996). However, if one examines carefully the process of production of social capital, one would see that it is the result of a strict gender labor-division. In spite of their agentivity, female entrepreneurs fail to overcome this. Many of them may thus be tempted to adapt male patterns of authority.The present study examines how women entrepreneurs and minority business owners assimilate authority that is encapsulated in the traditional male entrepreneurial discourse. Then it analyses the perception of women entrepreneurs on authority and its impact on their style of internal management and their strategies of networking. The results reveal that either female entrepreneurs adopt authority as a repressive tool of management that helps them to develop their social capital in restricted circles of influence or they scorn authority as the display of norms that may endanger the reputation of their firms and their social influence without proposing a clear alternative. Apparently, women entrepreneurs deny the creative aspects of authority that Sennet and his Foucaldian followers have detected in managers' behaviors in the context of organizational sociology.

La vigilance entrepreneuriale : La fatigue comme antécédent

International audienc

La vigilance entrepreneuriale : La fatigue comme antécédent

International audienc

Faire école en entrepreneuriat

Au sein d’une politique de très large diffusion de l’enseignement entrepreneurial en France, le modèle d’une école d’entrepreneuriat n’est-il pas, aujourd’hui, considéré comme un luxe ? S’agit-il de sensibiliser ou de former une nouvelle génération d’entrepreneurs ? Quelle place est faite à l’entrepreneuriat au sein de la course à l’excellence académique ? Le marché de la formation entrepreneuriale est-il assez mûr pour faire naître les talents pérennes, dont notre économie a tant besoin ? Le cas d’Advancia rend compte d’une expérimentation qui, de 2004 à 2010, a parié sur un modèle pédagogique d’école du tout entrepreneuriat. Cet article analyse comment, en dépit de résultats quantitatifs et qualitatifs de très bonne tenue, ce modèle pédagogique n’a pas été jugé viable. L’étude de ce cas pédagogique met en perspective les attentes et les contradictions françaises en matière de formation entrepreneuriale

Communication and Entrepreneurship: Influence Tactics in Business Support Situations

International audienceSecuring and improving the start-up process requires matching communicational strategies with business support objectives and situations. Over a period of five years, we did field research in a business incubator in the Paris area to identify the communicational strategies that business support professionals use in order to influence nascent entrepreneurs' attitudes and behaviors. We categorized these strategies as persuasion, engagement, criticism, and provocation. We assessed their impact in terms of commitment, compliance, and resistance

L’intention entrepreneuriale des femmes : le cas de l’Égypte

Mueller (2004) démontre que les intentions entrepreneuriales des femmes sont moindres que celles des hommes surtout dans les pays en voie de développement. Qu’en est-il dans un pays en économie de transition, comme l’Égypte ? Tout en relançant le questionnement de Mueller (2004), cette étude articule une comparaison sexuée et une approche genrée pour mieux comprendre le rôle des rapports hommes/femmes dans la formation de l’intention entrepreneuriale féminine dans une culture donnée. Grâce à une recherche quantitative menée en 2010 auprès de 320 étudiants égyptiens francophones au Caire, les auteurs ont pu démontrer que les étudiantes égyptiennes ont fortement le désir d’entreprendre et de concrétiser assez rapidement leurs projets, qu’elles sont assez confiantes dans leurs compétences à créer et conscientes des obstacles qu’elles rencontreront. La recherche révèle également certaines ambivalences des projets entrepreneuriaux des jeunes égyptiennes liées aux rapports de genre. Notre recherche complète ainsi les conclusions de Mueller (2004) et Langowitz et Minitti (2007). Nous pouvons arguer du fait que dans un pays en économie de transition le déséquilibre des motivations entrepreneuriales des femmes et des hommes est limité.Mueller (2004) demonstrates that women’s entrepreneurial intentions are lower than those of men especially in developing countries. What about a country in an economy of transition, such as Egypt?, Furthering Mueller’s exploration, we try to articulate in this paper a sex-based comparison and a gender-based approach to better understand the difference between male and female entrepreneurial intentions in the Egyptian culture. Thanks to a quantitative research led in 2010 among 320 French-speaking Egyptian students in Cairo, we are able to demonstrate that female Egyptian students have a strong desire to undertake and to implement rather quickly their projects. Also, they are quite confident in their entrepreneurial skills and aware of obstacles that they will meet. Nevertheless, the study reveals certain Egyptian male students’ ambivalences towards their entrepreneurial future that unveil a set of important gender issues. Therefore, the present study completes Mueller’s (2004) and Langowitz and Minitti (2007) conclusions, we can argue then that in a developing country, the imbalance between men and womens’ entrepreneurial motivations is limited.Mueller (2004) demuestra que la intención emprendedora en las mujeres es menor que en los hombres, sobre todo en países en vías de desarrollo. ¿Qué ocurre en un país con una economía de transición como Egipto? Al mismo tiempo que relanza la problemática de Mueller (2004), este artículo expone una comparación según el sexo y un enfoque según el género para comprender mejor el papel de las relaciones hombres/mujeres en el nacimiento de la intención emprendedora en mujeres de una cultura dada. Gracias a una investigación cuantitativa realizada en 2010 entre 320 estudiantes egipcios francófonos de El Cairo, pudimos demostrar que las estudiantes egipcias tienen un fuerte deseo de crear empresas y de concretar rápidamente sus proyectos, que tienen suficiente confianza en sus capacidades para crear y que son conscientes de los obstáculos que encontrarán. La investigación revela también ciertas ambivalencias de los proyectos de creación de empresas de las jóvenes egipcias vinculadas al género. Nuestra investigación completa de esta manera las conclusiones de Mueller (2004) y Langowitz y Minitti (2007). Podemos argumentar que en los países con economías de transición, el desequilibrio de la motivación emprendedora entre hombres y mujeres es limitado

"How to Do Things with Words": The Discursive Dimension of Experiential Learning in Entrepreneurial Mentoring Dyads

International audienceThe purpose of this article is to assess the mentoring impact in an experiential learning entrepreneurship program. We did three-year participant observation in the major business school incubator of the Paris area with the aim to identify the interpersonal communicational strategies that mentors, which are confirmed entrepreneurs, use in order to influence nascent entrepreneurs' attitudes and behaviors in dyadic interaction. These communicational strategies are categorized as persuasion, engagement, criticism, and provocation. An additional two-year field research allowed us to assess the impact of these communicational strategies at the individual (commitment, compliance, resistance) and the enterprise levels (business launching and fund-raising)

"How to Do Things with Words": The Discursive Dimension of Experiential Learning in Entrepreneurial Mentoring Dyads

International audienceThe purpose of this article is to assess the mentoring impact in an experiential learning entrepreneurship program. We did three-year participant observation in the major business school incubator of the Paris area with the aim to identify the interpersonal communicational strategies that mentors, which are confirmed entrepreneurs, use in order to influence nascent entrepreneurs' attitudes and behaviors in dyadic interaction. These communicational strategies are categorized as persuasion, engagement, criticism, and provocation. An additional two-year field research allowed us to assess the impact of these communicational strategies at the individual (commitment, compliance, resistance) and the enterprise levels (business launching and fund-raising)