Mapping the aliran of the academic discipline of entrepreneurship: A ...

on learning by ‘the firm’ whereas in Graphic 4p there is significantly more emphasis on
organizational learning.
Graphic
4q
Learning by ‘the firm’
COHEN Levinthal 1990
KANTER
HAMEL Prahalad
1989 -
1990
1994 -
1996
ADMIN SCI QUART,
V35,
WHEN GIANTS
LEARN DA
COMPETING
FUTURE
68
23
23
Absorptive capacity; A new
perspective on learning and
innovation
When giants learn to dance:
The definitive guide to
corporate success
Competing for the future
4.3.8.2.05 Other articles by some of the same authors listed in Graphic 4q such as
Prahalad and Hamel [1990] (16) ‘The core competence of the corporation’ and Levinthal
and March [1993] (20) ‘The myopia of learning’ could be expected to focus on learning by
the firm or corporation; they are in fact more focused on organizational learning. Both of
these articles are included in Graphic 4p.
4.3.8.2.06 The third shape that needs to be discussed relates to use of the word
‘business’ in the aliran. A word count from the aliran titles shows 37 appearances of the
word business. 30% of these related to ‘small businesses’ 25% to ‘new businesses’, 20%
involved generic use of the word and the balance involving miscellaneous applications
such as gender, strategy and ethnic / immigrant.
4.3.8.2.07 The aliran suggests that the ‘shape’ of the entrepreneurial vehicle tends
towards being either organizations, firms or businesses. There is minor use of the term
‘corporation’. Organizations seem to be treated generically as a shape with little reference
as to size and may have a time limited function within the discipline with a greater focus
on organizational learning as it pertains in some manner to entrepreneurship. The
relationship between small business, corporate and the entrepreneurial firm is discussed in
the next section on size.
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