Entrepreneurial learning behaviour of community insiders
International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research
ISSN: 1355-2554
Article publication date: 30 April 2021
Issue publication date: 1 March 2022
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of the present paper is to explore entrepreneurial learning at the centre of communities of practice.
Design/methodology/approach
Learning perspectives from the community of practice concept are applied to interpret and discuss results from an in-depth empirical investigation using a novel qualitative method, the Zaltman metaphor elicitation technique (ZMET), to study the entrepreneurial learning behaviour of ten coaches in a student venture incubator. The coaches are students with a certain level of entrepreneurial experience. Given their coaching roles and practices, the coaches are considered “community insiders”.
Findings
The findings show how the socially situated entrepreneurial learning of community insiders could be considered an adaptive process following multiple learning trajectories depending on with whom and about what the entrepreneur involves in social relationships.
Practical implications
Policy makers seeking to facilitate communities of practice should enable learning activities for community insiders and organic development in addition to networking events and support for the entire ecosystem in order to enable bridging of communities of practice.
Originality/value
The present paper focuses on the entrepreneurial learning of community insiders using a novel qualitative method, ZMET. The paper empirically demonstrates that community insiders learn through an adaptive process and participation in multiple communities of practice. This is both in interaction with the nascent entrepreneurs whom they coach as well as when interacting with other community insiders.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This paper forms part of a special section “Entrepreneurial Learning: The implications of Social Relationships and the Practice of Entrepreneurship”, guest edited by Allan Macpherson, Lisa Anderson, Kiran Trehan and Dilani Jayawarna.
Citation
Haneberg, D.H. and Aaboen, L. (2022), "Entrepreneurial learning behaviour of community insiders", International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, Vol. 28 No. 2, pp. 306-324. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEBR-04-2020-0255
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited