Maura Mcadam

• Phd
• Professor at Dublin City University

The study relies on a feminist poststructuralist investigation of 28 women digital entrepreneurs in the constrained pandemic context to develop an analytical framework that utilises discourse analysis and the conceptualisation of a postfeminist sensibility in women’s digital entrepreneurship. The research shows how women mobilise elements of postfe...

Purpose This paper explores the ways women entrepreneurs in male-dominated industries do identity work in order to gain legitimacy. In particular, we consider such identity work as a process being prompted by their direct environment, while demonstrating the gendered structural power relations in these women’s entrepreneurial contexts. We use a pos...

Purpose This paper investigates the intersectionality of entrepreneurial masculinity within the context of venture accelerators. As such, it aims to shed light on how intersecting factors influence the construction and expression of masculinity among male entrepreneurs in venture accelerators. Design/methodology/approach This research is based on...

Purpose There is a gap in understanding with regards to the discrimination and prejudice experienced by gay entrepreneurs. To address this, an intersectional perspective is adopted to facilitate a better understanding of how lesbian and gay entrepreneurs may experience heterosexism. Design/methodology/approach This qualitative study uses semi-stru...

Purpose This conceptual, multi-voiced paper aims to collectively explore and theorize family entrepreneuring, which is a research stream dedicated to investigating the emergence and becoming of entrepreneurial phenomena in business families and family firms. Design/methodology/approach Because of the novelty of this research stream, the authors as...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the identity work undertaken by female next generation to navigate (in)visibility in family businesses with male successors. To enhance understanding of gendered identity work in family businesses, the authors offer important insights into how female next generation use (in)visibility to establish leg...

This paper explores the coping strategies utilized by Muslim women entrepreneurs in the country‐specific context of crises‐laden Lebanon. In so doing, we capitalize on a qualitative interpretative methodology, drawing upon in‐depth, semi‐structured interviews. We present empirical evidence detailing how women entrepreneurs utilize Muslim feminism a...

We use concepts from rhetorical history and mnemonic communities to expand on the notion of “intermarriage” in a family business as the merger of shared histories among family members, nonfamily members, and individuals from other families and suggest that a common mnemonic narrative defines the parameters of the family business rather than the str...

The aim of this paper is to explore how entrepreneurial behaviours are transmitted and embedded across generations within a Transgenerational Entrepreneurial Family (TEF). Although extant family business research has acknowledged the importance of learning in facilitating the transference of values, norms and attitudes, we know little about how lea...

Purpose This study focuses on the lived experiences of early-stage women founders in a venture accelerator context. In particular, this work explores how gender shapes entrepreneurial self-efficacy (ESE) development in early-stage female founders in the venture accelerator context. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative, feminist-sensitive rese...

Our article conceptualizes the experiences of women entrepreneurs through exploring how they negotiate an entrepreneurial identity in liminal digital spaces. Providing empirically textured narrative portraits of women’s experience of transitioning from employment to a digital entrepreneurial career, this article counters the ascendant rhetoric cele...

Entrepreneurship and innovation are social and relational processes that occur in diverse contexts involving multiple stakeholders. Recently, research in entrepreneurship has begun to explore entrepreneurial processes through the lens of gender. However, unlike its entrepreneurship counterpart, innovation research has paid limited attention to gend...

Informed by contributions of Professor Alistair Anderson to the social perspective of entrepreneurship, rooted in social relationships and social capital, this article examines how members of an online community collectively interpret and negotiate the challenges of pursuing entrepreneurship alongside parenthood. This article adopts a multi-staged...

Following Alistair Anderson’s legacy of entrepreneuring as a process of becoming, this paper engages with entrepreneuring as emancipation in a family business context. Over a period of seven years, we witnessed the journey of a family business successor engaged in a challenging process of power transfer, ultimately leading him to leave the successi...

Although digital entrepreneurship has been posited as a “great leveller”, little is known about how women experience the transition into digital entrepreneurial careers, nor the coping strategies they employ in order to navigate digital work environments. To address this, we undertake a qualitative study using a liminality lens to explore how women...

This paper explores how Islam is understood by Muslim women entrepreneurs and considers its influence on their entrepreneurial experiences in the country-specific context of Lebanon. In so doing, we adopt a qualitative interpretative approach, drawing upon 21 in-depth, semi-structured interviews with women entrepreneurs. Accordingly, we present emp...

Purpose There is a significant gap in understanding with regards to the role of cultural context in family business research. This paper aims to address this by exploring the critical and pervasive influence of culture in shaping the entrepreneurial behaviours of family businesses based in Saudi Arabia. Design/methodology/approach The authors adop...

Within both academic and practitioner spheres, there has been increasing attention paid to the passing on of values within family businesses from one generation to the next. Values such as loyalty, trust, respect, honesty and entrepreneurial know-how not only define the family business’s culture but also enhance its longevity and prosperity. Howeve...

Within this paper, we take a micro level perspective to explore how ecosystem stakeholder motives have impacted value creation and value capture processes within the University Technology Transfer (UTT) business model over time. To achieve this, we adopt a longitudinal qualitative methodology comprising of case study evidence of two differing bound...

Purpose The aim of this paper is to explore how Arab Muslim women entrepreneurs construe success, their identity as successful and the influence of Islam on these construals in the country-specific context of Lebanon. Design/methodology/approach To achieve our aim, a qualitative interpretative methodology, drawing upon 25 in-depth, semi-structured...

Although some scholarly attention has been devoted to the role of religion in entrepreneurship, there is a scarcity of research that focuses on the influence of Islam in the family business domain in general and the impact of Islamic concepts on the ethical behavior of Muslim family firms in particular. In addressing this, we reveal how the founder...

The aim of this paper is to explore how entrepreneurial behaviours are transmitted and embedded across generations within a Transgenerational Entrepreneurial Family (TEF). Although extant family business research has acknowledged the importance of learning in facilitating the transference of values, norms and attitudes, we know little about how lea...

The original version of this article unfortunately contained a mistake. The co-author's name Caren Crowley and Richard T. Harrison were missing in the published paper.

Despite an expanding body of literature on business models, there is little acknowledgment of the role of SME heterogeneity and context in business model development. In order to address this, within this special issue, we move away from a “one size fits all” approach by recognising the heterogeneity of SMEs and implications of heterogeneity for bu...

This paper explores the approaches of identity construction used by Chinese daughters while negotiating the successor-leader role within family businesses. A qualitative interpretivist approach was adopted to understand daughters’ views on gender, family business leadership and succession, as well as the approaches adopted to negotiate the role of...

With the focus on events and outcomes shaping most of the existing family business research on intra-family succession, the subtleties of the incumbent–successor relationship and the dynamic nature of succession as a process of becoming is somewhat neglected. In particular, we have limited understanding of how successor identities are constructed a...

Digital entrepreneurship has been described as a “great leveler” in terms of equalizing the entrepreneurial playing field for women. However, little is known of the emancipatory possibilities offered by digital entrepreneurship for women constrained by social and cultural practices such as male guardianship of female relatives and legally enforced...

In this article, we argue that entrepreneurship is a socio-spatial embedded activity and that the social construction of gender, time, space, economy and culture is manifest in the masculinities that are ascribed a normative role in entrepreneurship development policies. Drawing on feminist approaches to articulate and perform resistance to the heg...

Researchers have argued that family firm innovation is paradoxical in nature, in that family firms often display less innovation than their nonfamily counterparts, yet they are able to be more innovative. The aim of this article is to unpack this paradox by exploring how differences in family firms’ ability (discretion and resources) and willingnes...

The term “business incubator” (BI) has become an accepted neologism among academics, practitioners, and policymakers. This is despite the lack of an agreed definition amongst scholars of what exactly constitutes a BI. Using a systematic literature review methodology, we identify and analyze definitions of BIs used in published academic research pap...

The aim of this special issue is to enhance knowledge and understanding of the distinctive, paradoxical landscape of the family business. In particular, it investigates the strategies used by family businesses to manage such tensions and to navigate this landscape where numerous paradoxes relating to family businesses have been identified. Moores a...

This paper examines the emergence of digital entrepreneurship in the context of emerging economies. Given that these economies generally lack a well-developed institutional framework, we draw on the concept of institutional voids as our theoretical lens. We argue that digital entrepreneurship facilitates the navigation and bridging of socio-cultura...

Women are under-represented in successful entrepreneurial ecosystems and the creation of women-only entrepreneurial networks has been a widespread policy response. We examine the entrepreneurial ecosystem construct and suggest that it, and the role networks play in entrepreneurial ecosystems, can be analysed in terms of Bourdieu’s socio-analysis as...

Entrepreneurial behaviour is central to understanding how entrepreneurs create, develop, maintain and grow new organisations. Despite the importance of entrepreneurial behaviour as a theoretical construct to understand the process of entrepreneurship, extant research is fragmented and lacks a coherent framework as to how entrepreneurial behaviour i...

Despite increased academic attention paid to migration flows in Europe, the gendered nature of transnational migrant entrepreneurial journeys within the context of a family business remains under‐researched. We address this gap by investigating how transnational spaces allow women to challenge dominant ideas about their roles, and to claim legitima...

This edited collection draws together cutting edge perspectives from leading scholars on the increasingly prominent discussion of entrepreneurial behaviour. Exploring various aspects of human behaviour, the authors analyse the antecedent influences and drivers of entrepreneurial behaviour in different organisational settings. This collection is of...

Networking is generally seen as an important mechanism for small scale and rural enterprises to overcome their relative disadvantage by leveraging knowledge and resources. Communities of practice (CoP) are a type of network where close relationships develop around a shared identity and understanding. However, a commonly occurring critique of the Co...

In this study, we explore how organizational learning (OL) manifests at multiple levels within a transgenerational entrepreneurial family business, in terms of learning outcomes and transgenerational entrepreneurship. We draw upon Crossan, Lane and White's (1999) 4I organizational learning framework, as a means to enhance process-based understandin...

This paper investigates the intergenerational development of the business model construct within transgenerational entrepreneurial families (TEFs) over a four-year period, using a longitudinal multiple case study methodology comprising 48 interviews, 390 archival sources and 25 observational instances of four TEF firms. As a result of our longitudi...

Despite increased academic attention paid to the influx of migrants from Eastern Europe to the UK, the gendered nature of migrant entrepreneurial journeys within the family business context remains under-researched. We aim to address this gap by investigating how transnational spaces enable women to challenge the dominant ideas about their roles, a...

This article explores how greater engagement with industry and end users has influenced the University Technology Transfer Business Model. In order to achieve this, they adopted a qualitative methodology which draws upon case study evidence of two case universities located in a particular region. The findings, represented in a conceptual framework...

Given recent demands for more co-creational university technology commercialisation processes involving industry and end users, this paper adopts a micro level approach to explore the interaction between Quadruple Helix stakeholders within the university technology commercialisation process using a stakeholder lens. To explore this research questio...

Within recent years, there has been a rapid expansion of the University's role in economic development. This has resulted in University Technology Transfer (UTT) taking place within an increasingly complex network of regional stakeholders. This complexity has resulted in quadruple helix models where the triple helix model of academia, industry and...

From a macro perspective, it is widely acknowledged that University incubation models within a region are important stimulants of economic development through innovation and job creation. With the emergence of quadruple helix innovation ecosystems, universities have had re-evaluate their University incubation activity and models to engage more full...

Increased complexity in large design and manufacturing organisations requires improvements at the operations management (OM)–applied service (AS) interface areas to improve project effectiveness. The aim of this paper is explore the role of Lean in improving the longitudinal efficiency of the OM–AS interface within a large aerospace organisation us...

Despite recent expansion in the literature on entrepreneurial leadership, this has not been matched with the development of appropriate theoretical frameworks, theory building, and conceptual analyses, including the analysis of gender. In this paper, we provide the foundation for a more robust and extensive gendered study of entrepreneurial leaders...

McAdam M., McAdam R., Dunn A. and McCall C. Regional horizontal networks within the SME agri-food sector: an innovation and social network perspective, Regional Studies. This paper aims to explore how regional horizontal networks within the small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) agri-food sector develop innovative capability and outcomes through t...

Within the management literature, there is an emergent discourse on horizontal collaboration among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), whereby individual rivalries are overcome by the need for more resources and innovation, leading to increased competitiveness through joint product development. In particular, a number of these horizontal col...

Universities are in a current state of transition, whereby they are expected to develop a wide range of relationships with stakeholders in order to enhance regional innovation systems. However, despite external environmental pressures commonly regarded as one of the main drivers of business model evolution, there is a lack of studies that explore b...

While there is a substantial body of literature exploring the influence of business incubation upon early stage firms, this debate remains almost entirely gender blind. This article challenges this assumption by adopting a feminist perspective to reveal business incubation as a gendered process shaping the identity work undertaken by women seeking...

This article explores the gender dynamics of a copreneurial relationship in which the normative gendered order is transposed such that the female partner acts as the lead entrepreneur. This transposition is analysed as an ideological dilemma, given the tensions arising from the conflicting gendered spousal positioning within the business and marita...

Our introduction provides the foundation and background for this special issue on open innovation. Since the beginning of the 21st century, innovation has evolved from being the artefact of an individual or internal process within firms to an interactive process between firms and/or in collaboration with knowledge-creating institutions at both the...

Purpose Women‐owned businesses are frequently described as under‐performing in that the majority remain small and marginal. The authors dispute this description; within this paper, it is argued that such performance profiles reflect the constrained performance of most small firms. The assertion that women owned firms under‐perform reflects a gender...

Female entrepreneurship, and, in particular, the contribution of their ventures to aggregate economic activity has gained increasing attention over recent years in terms of theory, practice and policy. This concise book explores how women fit into the contemporary entrepreneurial discourse by recognizing that gender intersects with, and influences,...

University science incubators (USIs) are sites where new entrepreneurial firms can be nurtured from initial conception through to commercial viability, usually over a period of around three years. Evidence suggests that USIs are an effective support mechanism for new ventures originating from nearby universities through the provision of facilities,...

The increasing importance placed upon regional development and the knowledge-based economy as economic growth stimuli has led to a changing role for Universities and their interaction with the business community through (though not limited to) the transfer of technology from academia to industry. With the emergence of Local Enterprise Partnerships...

For high-technology entrepreneurs, attaining an appropriate level of investment to support new ventures is challenging as substantial investment is usually required prior to revenue generation. Consequently, entrepreneurs must present their firms as investment ready in the context of an uncertain market response and an absence of any trading histor...

We explore the influence of sex role attribution and associated gendered ascriptions upon the entrepreneurial experiences of a female high-technology business owner operating within the context of business incubation. Our literature analysis and empirical evidence suggest that stereotypical gendered expectations surrounding incubated high-technolog...

Purpose – An investigation of how women construct their entrepreneurial identities as owners of high growth technology ventures within the context of business incubation. Methodology/approach – A qualitative case study approach is adopted to enable the development of an in-depth and nuanced picture of high technology business incubation. Findings –...

The increasing emphasis on academic entrepreneurship, technology transfer and research commercialisation within UK universities is predicated on basic research being developed by academics into commercial entities such as university spin-off companies or licensing arrangements. However, this process is fraught with challenges and risks, given the d...

Successful research commercialisation within the university domain is predicated upon basic research being developed into technology that will attract funding, ultimately resulting in entities such as University spin-out companies or licensing arrangements. This development process involves considerable risk and uncertainty and may require substant...

Abstract This paper explores a key,area of policy and research; that of the start up and,growth patterns of new firms owned by female entrepreneurs in the field of Science, Engineering and Technology (SET) located within business incubators. A feminist perspective is adopted which analyses the existing literature pertaining to women’s experiences a...

Purpose – Research to date has identified incubator units as an effective mechanism for supporting the growth and development of small entrepreneurial firms. Advantages are gained not only from the provision of appropriate facilities and external managerial expertise on site, but also from the opportunity to develop entrepreneurial networks facilit...

University Science Park incubators (USIs) have emerged as a means by which Government, academia and business can develop high technology business firms (spin out HTBFs) from initial conception through to becoming established small firms, which are ready to move beyond the Science Park confines. Although there is considerable literature on how USIs...

Business incubator units are an effective support mechanism for new entrepreneurial firms in that they provide basic facilities, office space, administrative staff and expert managers during the volatile start-up and growth process. This enables entrepreneurs to reduce operating costs and focus their attention upon product development.There are als...

While the technology aspects of university incubators in university science parks (USPs) receive considerable attention and development, as the primary force in the creation of incubator businesses, the business and social inputs (entrepreneurial networks) are less well defined. Anchoring to the resource-based view of the firm (RBV), it is argued t...

Within the current literature it is generally agreed that university incubator units offer considerable advantages to new, growth-orientated firms in the provision of shared facilities such as offices, administrative staff and access to university research and grant support. Moreover, in recent years the networked incubator has emerged as an effect...

Small and Medium ,sized Enterprises (SMEs) are the cornerstone of Europe's competitive position and job creation. They represent a dynamic and heterogeneous community, which is confronted by many ,challenges. These include increased competition ,resulting from ,the completion,of the ,European internal market and ,growing ,demands ,from customers ,a...