Entrepreneurial Metaphors and Concepts: An Exploratory Study

Abstract

IN THE PAST RESEARCH THERE HAS BEEN continued controversy over the definition of entrepreneurship and the identification of entrepreneur. By combining the ideas of entrepreneurship and linguistics, this paper takes a new approach to examining the definitions. An exploratory analysis of entrepreneurial metaphors and concepts is conducted to achieve this goal. In a quantitative analysis of entrepreneurial concepts respondents defined the terms 'entrepreneur' and 'entrepreneurship' with suggested conceptual equivalents. In an analysis of metaphor, informants formed metaphoricalexpressions of entrepreneurship. The sample consisted of 751 respondents from Finland, Sweden, Norway, Ireland, Canada and Australia. Entrepreneurs perceived the concepts more positively than other respondents. The same applied to differences between females and males respectively. In a cross-cultural comparison, the Scandinavians held more favourable views than their English-speaking counterparts. This might reflect the current, very positive socio-economic climate in Northern Europe towards entrepreneurial activities. As to the entrepreneurial metaphors, they were grouped into following semantic categories: 'Machine (ry) and other PhysicalObjects', 'Warfare and Adventure', 'Sports andGames', 'Creativity and Activity', 'Nature', 'Disease', Food Items', and 'Special Features'. The metaphorical statements revealed the paradoxical nature of respondents' perceptions of entrepreneurs and their ventures. A majority of the metaphors contained very positive, even idealistic images. Especially in the Finnish sample they seemed to conjure up glorifying images of entrepreneurs as some kind of modern day heroes whose independent and industrious actions are of priceless value to society. At the same time, there were numerous metaphors with negative, cynical or downgrading undertones. The critical observations often highlighted egotistic qualities associated with entrepreneurs.

The moral space in entrepreneurship: an exploration of ethical imperatives and the moral legitimacy of being enterprising

“…Metaphors are important signifiers in the discourse because by explaining one thing, entrepreneurship, in terms of other things, they can transfer values. The recent examples of metaphor analysis by Koiranen (1995); Hyrsky (1999Hyrsky ( , 1998 warrior, battler). Each metaphor ascribed qualities likely to be associated with success and achievement, but also implicitly transfers meanings from one realm to another.…”

“…Thus to be metaphorically described as a sportsman carries with it value judgments and implications of fair play. Instructively both Koirenan (1995) and Hyrsky (1999) encountered some examples of more negative entrepreneurial metaphors which were associated with dishonesty. This association confirms that the socially constructed "heroic" entrepreneur is not hegemonic, but that judgments about morality impinge on the constructs.…”

The Emotional Intelligence of Entrepreneurs

“…Economists have traditionally viewed the entrepreneur as the creator of new enterprises (Low and Macmillan, 1988;Rumelt, 1987;Schumpeter, 1934), and have linked wealth creation directly to entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial processes (Schumpeter, 1934(Schumpeter, , 1950. Significant attention has been given to the entrepreneurial activities fueling the last major economic expansion period of the late twentieth century (Birch, 1979;Birley, 1987;Norton, 2001;Reynolds, 1987;Schoonhoven and Romanelli, 2001) and to understanding, defining and describing entrepreneurs (Hyrsky, 2000;Low and Macmillan, 1988;Stewart, Watson, Carland, and Carland, 1998).…”

Entrepreneurship as Elixir and Mutagen

“…Typically, these metaphors centered on discontinuity and the joys and tribulations of the process of creation. In a similar study, Hyrsky (1999) explored metaphors employed by North Europeans to capture the essence of entrepreneurial activity. These metaphors tended either to present glorifying images or to convey negative, cynical and downgrading undertones.…”

“…For example, some scholars have studied the metaphors for entrepreneurship used by entrepreneurs (Koiranen, 1995;Hyrsky, 1999;Dodd, 2002) and non-entrepreneurs (Koiranen, 1995;Hyrsky, 1999). Others have studied the metaphors media use to portray entrepreneurs (Nicholson & Anderson, 2005).…”