Recursive and Discursive Model of and for Entrepreneurial Action

• Author: Joseph Pistrui,Dimo Dimov
• Published date: 01 March 2020
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/emre.12360
• Date: 01 March 2020

Recursive and Discursive Model of and for

Entrepreneurial Action

DIMO DIMOV

1,2

and JOSEPH PISTRUI

3

1

School of Management,University of Bath, Claverton Down, Bath BA2 7AY, UK

2

Reykjavik University, Iceland

3

College of Business, IE University, Maria de Molina6, 1st Floor, Madrid 28006, Spain

This paper proposes a model of entrepreneurial action that integrates three distinct elements. First, it brings

together action and time to articulate a recursive relationship between perception and action, mediated by

consequences. Second, it brings together action and context to ground the entrepreneur’s perceptions and actions

in a mesh of social orders and practices. Third, it articulates the content of perceptions and actions as discursive

entries and exits in a social language game of giving and asking for reasons. We discuss a number of implications

for a systematic understanding of different manifestations of entrepreneurship.

Keywords: entrepreneurial action; recursive model; discourse; first-person; second-person; practice theory

Introduction

One of the pillarsof our understanding of entrepreneurship

is that it involves action.Entrepreneurship –viewed as the

creation of future goods and services (Venkataraman,

1997) or new economic activity (Davidsson, 2003) –

entails a sense of purpose, and it is logical to embodysuch

purpose in the a ctions of particular individ uals. As we

juxtapose the broader task of entrepreneurship with the

specificityand situational natureof individual action, three

main ideas have unfolded in our understanding of

entrepreneurial action, reflected in somewhat different

research conversations.

The first idea relatesto the fact that action is embodied,

namely, done by individuals, and is thus a reflection of

their mental states and processes. In this regard,

entrepreneurial action has been defined as ‘behavior in

response to a judgmental decision underuncertainty about

a possible opportu nity for profit’(McMullen and

Shepherd, 2006, p. 134). The behavior in questionentails

investing one’s time, talent, and or treasure in pursuit of a

new course of action(Shepherd et al., 2007). In this sense,

the judgment is about whether to undertake such

investments and is underpinned by certain beliefs –

namely, propositional attitudes about current and future

states of affairs –and motivations. Beliefs in turn rest on

perceptions of current and future state of affairs.

The second idea reflects the sense that action is

embedded in a broader entrepreneurial journey that

transpires over time and unfolds in unpredictable ways

(McMullen and Dimov, 2013). The journey pits the

purpose of the entrepreneurial agents against the

complexityof an environment that consists of otheragents

and purposes. What we describe as the task of

entrepreneurship, for example, a new product or a new

venture –is in facta complex task that cannot be executed

in one go, but in small steps.And with each step, the world

does not stand still –other agents execute their own

projects, events happen.

The third idea emphasizes that action occurs in context

that influences it by shaping in an implicit way the

perceptions, aspirations, and possibilities of the

entrepreneurial agent (Welter, 2011; Baker and Welter,

2018). Indeed, according to Max Weber (1922/1991, p.

4), ‘an Action is “social”if the acting individual takes

account of the behavior of others an d is thereby oriented

in its course.’Entrepreneurial action is directed at others

and its success entails commitments by them. It is also

formulated in a social, discursive context in which the

entrepreneur needs to communicate what he or she does

in order to gain legitimacy or obtain resource

commitments.

All these ideas are important and represent different

ways of looking at entrepreneurial action, tantamount to

Correspondence: Dimo DIMOV, University of Bath, UK and Reykjavik

University, Iceland, School of Management, Claverton Down, Bath BA2

7AY, UK. E-maild.p.dimov@bath.ac.uk

DOI: 10.1111/emre.12360

©2019 European Academy of Management

European Management Review, Vol. 17, –, (2020)

267 277