Evolutionary awareness: Darwin among the organizational sciences

The purpose of this paper is to propose that organizational scientists can address this problem by embracing “evolutionary awareness” (EA). EA builds on theories and constructs developed in the evolutionary sciences that serve to add depth to theory building. Design/methodology/approach: The design of the paper is first to introduce the concept of EA and identify its four key constructs. Next, the authors apply EA to three areas of research within organizational science: human motivation, interpersonal communication and leadership. The authors’ intent is to show that EA constructs extend and deepen traditional organizational science theorizing. Thereby, the authors show that the problems noted above, i.e., lack of depth and maturing theories, can be addressed by embracing EA. Findings: The findings are that EA substantially enhances and freshens theorizing in the organizational sciences in the areas of human motivation, communication and leadership. By extension, other areas of interest will also benefit by embracing the EA perspective. Research limitations/implications: The implications of the research are many. Organizational scientists can advance theory building, research and practical prescriptions by embracing EA. They can also engage in interdisciplinary research programs with scholars in the evolutionary sciences eager to see their work having practical implications. The limitation of this work is that the authors were only able to show a limited application of EA to three areas of interest to organizational science scholars. Practical implications: The practical implications of this research are potentially far reaching. At this very moment, scholars in a wide array of disciplines are re-casting their views of humanity, cognition, values and other constructs based on the acceptance of evolution and its primary mechanism, variation and selection based on consequences. These changes will usher in new ideas about leadership, work-life balance, organizational purpose and many others. Social implications: A much-needed “consilience” across the human sciences through embracement of the EA perspective may provide insights that will advance human flourishing in organizations and beyond. The authors believe that an increasingly veridical understanding of humanity will produce substantial social impact. Originality/value: This work will provide an encompassing perspective that will assist organizational scholars in advancing their theory building and research questions. A much-needed “consilience” across the human sciences may provide insights that will advance human flourishing in organizations and beyond

Who intends to enroll in entrepreneurship education? Entrepreneurial self-identity as a precursor

Entrepreneurial self-identity is attracting increasing attention as a potentially relevant variable in explaining the entrepreneurial process. So far, most research treats entrepreneurial self-identity as a consequence of, or, at the most, as being developed through the start-up process. In this paper, in contrast, we analyze its role as a previous element that helps determine the entrepreneurial intention of individuals, the perceived usefulness of entrepreneurship education and, indirectly, their interest in participating in entrepreneurship education courses. Our hypotheses are tested on a sample of Italian university students and graduates (N=88) with no previous participation in entrepreneurship education or self-employment experience. The results clearly support the proposed model. The implications of these results, if further confirmed, are highly relevant. They indicate that there is a strong risk of self-selection bias in most entrepreneurship education evaluation studies. This is due to an element of reversed causation in which participants who already exhibit a higher entrepreneurial self-identity are more interested in entrepreneurship. At the same time, these results also suggest that professionals and public decision-makers involved in fostering entrepreneurship should pay attention to the development of this entrepreneurial self-identity in childhood and adolescence