A Narrative Perspective on International Entrepreneurship: Comparing Stories From the United States, Spain, and China

Sean D. Williams; Gisela Ammetller; Inma Rodriguez-Ardura; Xiaoli Li

doi:10.1109/tpc.2016.2608179

IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication Dec 2016

A Narrative Perspective on International Entrepreneurship: Comparing Stories From the United States, Spain, and China

Sean D. Williams ; Gisela Ammetller Universitat Oberta de Catalunya ; Inma Rodriguez-Ardura ; Xiaoli Li University of Dayton

Abstract

Research problem: This study investigates entrepreneurship as a rhetorical practice and seeks to illustrate how narratives of individuals from different cultures create a discourse of entrepreneurship. We offer theoretical and methodological considerations for comparative international analyses in entrepreneurship research. Research questions: (1) How do the stories that are told by entrepreneurs from different cultures reveal their values? (2) What can those stories tell us about entrepreneurship in different cultures? Literature review: An emerging stream of authors proposes to study entrepreneurship from individual narratives, but studies on entrepreneurship rhetorics are scarce, seldom use an international approach, and rarely cover the cultural aspects. Methodology: We collected entrepreneurial narratives in the US, Spain, and China, and deployed a novel two-fold method to retain cultural nuances and validate translation accuracy. Narrative data were studied based upon the coding, constant comparison, and memo writing used in grounded theory. Results and conclusions: We identify three core metaphorical devices used by participants to structure their entrepreneurial journeys (action and learning, autonomy and money, and exceptionalism and networks), and we suggest that the use of these metaphorical pairs varies both within and across cultures. These findings offer preliminary evidence, for the first time in the literature, that building a rhetorical understanding of entrepreneurship requires that we consider two axes: the individual and the cultural.

Journal: IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
Published: 2016-12-01
DOI: 10.1109/tpc.2016.2608179
CompPile: Search in CompPile ↗
Open Access: Closed
Topics: rhetorical criticism discourse analysis professional writing qualitative research book reviews
Export: BibTeX RIS

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (3)

Spinuzzi et al. (2025)

“The City Residents Do Not Get Involved”: Understanding Barriers to Community P…

IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
Cabezas et al. (2020)

Editing the Pitch: Patterns of Editing Strategies of Written Pitches in a Chile…

IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
Williams et al. (2020)

Narratives of International Women Entrepreneurs: An Exploratory Case Study of I…

IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication

Cites in this index (0)

No references match articles in this index.

Also cites 41 works outside this index ↓

10.4135/9781446250563.n2

↗
10.1080/13216597.2003.9751953

↗
10.1111/j.1468-4446.2004.00037.x

↗
10.1017/CBO9780511557842

↗
10.1086/209409

↗
10.1016/j.jbusvent.2003.06.001

↗
10.2307/2393432

↗
10.2307/2079346

↗
10.4337/9781845421472.00012

↗
gannon (2010)

10.4135/9781452224886

Understanding Global Cultures Metaphorical Journeys Through 29 Nations Cluster of Nations Continents and Diversity ↗
10.1177/0022022112443733

↗
10.2307/1556421

↗
10.4337/9781849808019

↗
10.1057/palgrave.jibs.8400153

↗
10.1016/j.respol.2012.03.013

↗
10.1016/j.jbusvent.2006.10.003

↗
10.1007/s10843-008-0035-5

↗
10.1057/palgrave.jibs.8490906

↗
10.1007/s10843-009-0037-y

↗
boyd (1994)

The influence of self-efficacy on the development of entrepreneurial intentions and actions

Entrep Theory Pract ↗
10.2307/1251757

↗
10.1111/j.1540-6520.2008.00280.x

↗
10.1111/j.1540-6520.2007.00179.x

↗
10.1037/0021-9010.90.6.1265

↗
10.1016/0883-9026(85)90012-6

↗
10.1016/S0883-9026(97)00029-3

↗
10.2307/1251854

↗
10.4337/9781845421472

↗
10.1177/002188638602200207

↗
10.1023/A:1014887523110

↗
10.1057/jibs.2013.15

↗
10.1177/0149206313486259

↗
10.1007/s10843-006-5872-5

↗
10.1016/0883-9026(93)90029-5

↗
gartner (1992)

Acting as if: Differentiating entrepreneurial from organizational behavior

Entrep Theory Pract ↗
10.1177/0266242604042379

↗
10.1177/0266242606063432

↗
10.1177/0266242611401796

↗
10.1177/1470595805054494

↗
10.1007/s11575-006-0099-1

↗
10.1123/ssj.17.1.44

↗

CrossRef global citation count: 16 View in citation network → Build reading path →

A Narrative Perspective on International Entrepreneurship: Comparing Stories From the United States, Spain, and China

Abstract

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (3)

Cites in this index (0)

Related Articles