Social Ontology:
Implications for Entrepreneurship Theory, Research, and Practice
AOM 2014 Professional Development Workshop
Saturday, 2 August 12:30 PM - 2:30 PM
Sheraton Philadelphia Downtown Hotel
Salon 10
Sharon Alvarez, Denver University
Jay Barney, University of Utah
Teppo Felin, Oxford University
Dev Jennings, University of Alberta
Peter Klein, University of Missouri
Russ McBride, University of Utah
William Schulze, University of Utah
Jana Thiel, ESADE
Randy Westgren, University of Missouri
Robert Wuebker, University of Utah
The social sciences broadly, and the management sciences specifically, explore the realm of human social institutions. Everything that entrepreneurship, organizations, and strategy scholars study - teams, markets, firms, contracts, et cetera - function within, and must be understood in relationship to, this broader context.
A growing collection of work draws from social ontology to re-conceptualize human social institutions and their application to research in entrepreneurship, organizations, and strategy. While the traditional focus of social ontology has been the "mode of existence of social entities such as governments families, cocktail parties, summer vacations, trade unions, baseball games, and passports" (Searle, 2010:161), management scholars have begun to extend these insights to develop theory about the emergence and continued existence of human social institutions - within which markets, opportunities for entrepreneurial profit, work teams, firms, industries, corporations, et cetera are nested.
This workshop offers an introduction to and structured discussion about social ontology with the scholars developing work in this area, and by the editors of the journals that shape, support, and promote its development in entrepreneurship, organizations, and strategy. We will accomplish this objective in three "acts" - a primer on social ontology; presenting exemplary research in entrepreneurship employing insights from social ontology; a dialogue about the implications of entrepreneurship pedagogy infused with social ontology; and a semi-structured question-and-answer session exploring the implications for teaching and practice.
In our first act, we introduce social ontology - its origins, distinctions, applications, and implications for entrepreneurship - in a brief presentation by Russ McBride, a former doctoral student of John Searle, social ontology's progenitor. Following an introduction to social ontology, examples of work drawing from social ontology to explore questions of interest to entrepreneurship scholars will be presented. Finally, in a semi-structured panel discussion format, we will further consider the implications of social ontology to the broader field of management, paying particular attention to its impact on our interpretation of practice and pedagogy.
We have allotted ample time for a Q&A session between panelists and participants, focusing on exploring the contributions that a perspective on entrepreneurship enervated by insights from social ontology can provide, as well as practical application for theory development and empirical work.
We hope to see you there!
Presentation Agenda
Russ McBride, University of Utah
Social Ontology: Overview and Implications
Randy Westgren, University of Missouri
The Social Ontology of Collective Entrepreneurship
Jana Thiel, ESADE Business School
Entrepreneurial Creation and Entrepreneurial Action
Sharon Alvarez, Denver University
Entrepreneurship in Cuba: The Case of the Paladares
William Schulze, University of Utah
Social Ontology and Entrepreneurship Pedagogy
Dev Jennings, University of Alberta
Discussant and Panel Moderator
Distinguished Panelists
Jay Barney, University of Utah
Teppo Felin, Oxford University
Peter Klein, University of Missouri