Dear All, Please consider submitting to the International Small Business Journal Special Issue on Entrepreneurial Orientation:
Guest Editors:
Vishal K. Gupta, University of Mississippi, USA
William J. Wales, University of Albany, USA
Lou Marino, University of Alabama, USA
Galina Shirokova, St. Petersburg University, Russia
This special issue seeks to develop new insights and to advance extant research on international, global, and cross-cultural issues in Entrepreneurial Orientation (EO) research. This special issue is motivated by (a) the strong and consistent interest in EO scholarship among organizational researchers, and (b) the underrepresentation of many international aspects pertaining to this influential strategic orientation in the existing literature. Areas of research that would benefit from additional investigation include the need for new insights aimed at enhancing our understanding of how, why, and to what effect global, cross-cultural organizations manifest an entrepreneurial orientation (Covin & Lumpkin, 2011) as well as the unique, emergent phenomenon of an international entrepreneurial orientation (IEO) (Covin and Miller, 2014).
The last few years have witnessed a significant increase in academic research examining EO, with scholarship on this topic being regularly published internationally and presented at conferences in organizational studies (Covin and Miller, 2014; Wales, Gupta, and Mousa, 2013). As a central firm-level strategic orientation in the literature, research on EO continues to grow in popularity (Wales, 2016). Nonetheless, it has been subjected to criticism on several fronts, including its theoretical foundations (Edmond & Wiklund, 2010), measurement confusion (Covin & Wales, 2011; George & Marino, 2011), limited operationalization (Miller, 2011; Wales, Wiklund, & McKelvie, 2015), ethnocentric bias (Gupta & Gupta, 2015), sampling constraints (Dess, Pinkham, & Yang, 2011), and performance implications (Andersen, 2010), among other concerns. In effect, extant research on EO has produced significant knowledge accumulation, but many concerns hinder the full potential of EO as an international strategic orientation. These concerns must be addressed for research to progress (Gupta & Gupta, 2015).
Thus, we are at a crossroads in the literature where recognition of these myriad complexities is beginning to amass (Wales, 2016; Wales et al., 2013). If the EO concept is to continue advancing, these issues, among others, demand greater attention and focus, suggesting that it is time for special attention, consideration, and emphasis on EO as an internationally relevant, globally distributed, and cross-culturally sensitive strategic orientation. It seems timely to investigate rigorous new conceptions of EO, and new forms of product-market entry that entrepreneurially oriented firms may undertake in a global context (Wales, Wiklund, and McKelvie, 2015). In terms of IEO, the impact of future research depends upon scholarly ability to assimilate and build upon the lessons learned from more than 30 years of research on EO and strategic orientation more broadly, within both domestic contexts and beyond. For instance, how
does IEO differ from EO, what elements of exporting, off-shoring, expatriation, or expansion characterize or shape an IEO, what are other antecedents or consequences of IEO?
This special issue seeks to serve a timely need to develop critical aspects of EO research in the global context. Globalization and the growing popularity of entrepreneurship worldwide have motivated interest in understanding the manifestation and application of EO in other countries (Wales et al., 2013). Moreover, the multi-level nature of the EO concept as a pervasive organizational phenomenon lends itself well to investigations in a variety of settings and in a myriad of ways both within and across international firms (Wales, Monsen, & McKelvie, 2011). We foresee this special issue as illuminating, addressing, and advancing crucial areas of study in the EO literature, especially those that have remained under-examined. Such areas include:
The identification and incorporation of specific institutions, institutional theories, and institutional considerations which influence the manifestation and consequences of EO
Cultural, regional, and localization factors that influence EO's impact as a driver of organizations internationalization intensity and performance
The reciprocal influence that international activities may have upon firm EO
Temporal examinations of EO's impact on internationalization over time
Comparative research into how the manifestation of EO occurs, and with what effects, within lesser studied national, regional, or cultural contexts
Time compression diseconomies, resource allocation decisions, and curvilinear effects associated with EO within contexts such as 'born global' organizations
Potential associations between country zeitgeist and EO
Specifying and examining broader international consequences of EO beyond increases (or decreases) in financial performance as firms internationalize
The linkage between EO, internationalization activities, and firm survival
The challenges on measuring EO in an international context
EO in the context of multi-national, multi-divisional firms and business groups.
Qualitative studies examining, for instance, the impact of homogeneity (vs. heterogeneity) of EO beliefs and behaviors across international sub-units
Foreign strategic alliances, joint ventures, and off-shoring activities as relevant factors to the manifestation or consequences of EO within SBUs
Expatriate factors and firms' ability to develop and exploit their EO internationally
Identifying new culturally specific dimensions and operationalizations of EO
Examining EO in conflict environments and settings with norms of corruption and illegality
Investigating the relationship between EO and country-of-origin effects
In addressing these issues we seek novel contributions, including conceptual and theoretical papers, incisive reviews, empirical investigations, and research-based qualitative studies, which address the above issues as well as other questions that can advance the international literature on EO.
As such, this special issue is also a celebration of the 30-year anniversary of Covin and Slevin's (1989) foundational work that paved the way for a systematic investigation of EO. Only
submissions that meet the special issue requirement of clear international, global, and cross-cultural relevance will be considered.
The paper submission deadline is 10 November 2017. The Special Issue is scheduled to be published in March 2019. Papers must be original and comply with ISBJ submission guidelines. Please refer
http://isb.sagepub.com/ for submission guidelines and a link to the on-line submission system. In the online system please ensure you submit your paper within Manuscript Type: Special Issue: Entrepreneurial Orientation