Editorial

Citation

Jones, P. (2014), "Editorial", International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, Vol. 20 No. 5. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEBR-06-2014-0117

Editorial

Article Type: Editorial From: International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour & Research, Volume 20, Issue 5

This issue represents my first opportunity to write an editorial as the new Editor-in-Chief (EiC) for the International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour and Research (IJEBR). I would like to begin by thanking my predecessor Professor David Rae who has stood down to take on the role of the Dean of Shannon School of Business at Cape Breton University, Nova Scotia, Canada. David's work marks him out as a great innovator and visionary in entrepreneurial learning and he has made a significant contribution to the development and positioning of the journal in his time as EiC. The editorial team as a whole would like to offer their thanks and best wishes in his new role within which I am sure he will be a great success. I would also like to acknowledge the considerable contribution and efforts of the editorial team namely the co-editors Dr Richard Tunstall, Dr Martina Battisti and the Assistant Editor Dr Martin Hannibal. Moreover, my gratitude to Annie Simmons (Managing Editor) and Patti Davis (Publisher) for their considerable support and infinite patience. Looking forward, the focus of IJEBR will remain unchanged namely on publishing original research related to the human and social dynamics of entrepreneurship, and entrepreneurial management in small and growing organisations, at an international level.

The recent Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2014 exercise impacted significantly upon this journal in terms of the number of submissions it received. The pressure on UK Business Schools to adhere to the Association of Business Schools (ABS) journal ranking system meant that journals such as IJEBR and the Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development suffered unduly as a result. Post REF, we face a brave new world with the promise of a new journal ranking system before the end of the year. However, currently the Entrepreneurship discipline remains a poor relation in terms of the number of entrepreneurship journals that are ranked within the ABS system (18). Of these, only two are ranked at ABS level four, five at level three and five at ABS level two. In comparison, the traditional disciplines of Economics (136) and Accounting (35) have far greater representation within ABS. Indeed, even “newer” business disciplines such as Marketing (54), Finance (64) and Tourism (24) demonstrate greater representation within the ABS system. The Entrepreneurship discipline is a growing and global discipline which requires more internationally recognised journals. The challenge for IJEBR therefore is to meet this call and to improve its ranking against ABS and other journal ranking systems. To achieve this aim, several enhancements will be undertaken.

The Journal Advisory Board (JAB) will be reconstituted whereby all members will be expected to contribute actively to the further development and direction of the journal. Members of JAB will be selected from the global community of entrepreneurship academics who have made a significant contribution to the field. Furthermore, a Journal Review Board (JRB) will be established. The purpose of this JRB is to act as high quality reviewers to paper submissions and increase the efficiency of papers through the editorial system. The role of JRB will be promoted through Emerald and applications invited for consideration by the editorial team.

The journal will seek to further develop the partnership between IJEBR and the Institute for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (ISBE). ISBE is the most significant UK-based learned society and professional membership organisation dedicated to furthering the research, policy, education and practice for entrepreneurship and small business. Several members of the editorial board have long standing associations with ISBE and we expect our relationship to prosper to the benefit of both parties. We would seek to develop “Best Paper” special issues in conjunction within the annual ISBE conference and members of the IJEBR editorial team providing specialist “Journal Reviewing:” and “Writing for Academic Journal” master classes. Such activities will enhance the ISBE conference but will also promote IJEBR and develop potential reviewer and author competencies.

The Journal will seek to more actively embrace social media to publicise and promote its activities through several media platforms. The editorial board, JRB, JAB and Emerald will all contribute to this agenda. This activity will further develop the IJEBR network as a global community playing a leading role in the furtherance of entrepreneurship research.

This issue features five papers which extend the knowledge of entrepreneurial behaviour and innovation. The paper by Rieple, Chang and Benamraoui examines the use of income generation projects as a pedagogic method to assess students learning about social enterprises. The results demonstrated that students developed an understanding concerning social enterprises diverse stakeholder environment, market needs, social enterprises ideological foundations, resource mobilisation processes and performance measurement – both social and financial. Moreover, they developed skills in reflection and self-awareness, communication, empathy and the generation of new ideas. The second paper by Feldman considers the perspective of academic faculty entrepreneurs, and the learning experiences that contributed to their development from traditional faculty member to faculty entrepreneurs. The data analysis process revealed themes which offer insights on the learning experiences, contextual factors and patterns of behaviour that helped the participants to develop and persist as faculty entrepreneurs which included understanding the University's organisational environment, developing expertise in a specific subject and applying effectual reasoning.

The third paper by Padilla-Meléndez, Aguila-Obra, Rosa and Lockett explored the characteristics of the entrepreneur in social economy enterprises in Spain. The study identifies the importance of degree level education towards innovative activity within social economy enterprises. The study recognises that the key challenge for regional policy makers is to look beyond the formal education system to promote innovation skills programmes for social and economic impact. The fourth paper by Fisher, Maritz and Lobo evaluates the insights of founding entrepreneurs to understand what they consider as indicators for achieving entrepreneurial success. Using this information, the construct of entrepreneurial success is conceptualised and a scale developed for use in testable models. The final paper by Kasperova and Kitching proposes a novel conception of embodied entrepreneurial identity highlighting the role of the non-linguistic. The implications for research of one particular group, namely entrepreneurs with impairments is considered. The approach highlights the role of the body and embodied non-linguistic practices, such as movement, posture, gestures and facial expressions in the formation of identity. Recognising entrepreneurs as differently-abled agents, possessing particular embodied properties and powers, is crucial for understanding identity and action.

In conclusion, we thank all the authors and reviewers for their efforts in developing these studies to a satisfactory outcome. Looking forward, we draw readers attention to the open call for a Special Issue on “Entrepreneurial Learning within the small business experience: a context for change”, which builds on the growing interest in this topic evidenced from the recent ISBE conference track and Special Interest Group. We invite readers to submit contributions for this issue, as well as regular issues. Please do not hesitate to contact me or other members of the editorial board if you feel you can contribute to the further development of the journal.

Paul Jones