Caroline Wigren

Challenging the importance of size as determinant for CSR activities

Purpose – This paper aims to contribute to the development and understanding of corporate social responsibility (CSR) by discussing two interrelated characteristics of current literature: a tendency in discourses to portray CSR as equal to the societal activities displayed by and demanded from large, multinational firms; and an increasing focus on and description of “small firm CSR” in research. These two characteristics instigate a limited approach to the meaning of CSR and an unjust dichotomization of CSR based on firm size are posited. A distinction that risks stimulating an un‐nuanced CSR discourse.Design/methodology/approach – From reviewing the field, it has been concluded that firm size should not be a feasible main criterion when trying to understand or predict CSR behavior. From examples of far‐reaching CSR activities in the small business community and local initiatives by large firms, the distinctions suggested in the current discourse do not appear in practice are shown.Findings – Additional f...

The dynamics of community identity making in an industrial district: the Spirit of Gnosjö revisited

The Dynamics of Community Identity Making in an Industrial District : the Spirit of gnosjo Revisted

How women entrepreneurs build embeddedness: a case study approach

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine how women entrepreneurs are building embeddedness into male-gendered fields and how they are creating embedding in such fields in practice. Design/methodology/approach The qualitative methodology and three indicative case stories within gastronomic industry are illustrated and analysed. Findings The contribution of this study lies in the examination of the multifaceted embedding building process from dis-embedded, marginalised and suppressed position by women entrepreneurs. This was achieved with the help of building embedding through two strategies: sameness, that is, becoming one of the boys and then becoming a challenger, thereby enhancing their professional position. Research limitations/implications The study is subject to limitations; a small sample is not suited for the generalizability of results. The most important implication of this study is the identification of the process of building embeddedness as the most critical resource for women’s entrepreneurship that should be supported by the scholarly and business community. Originality/value The theoretical framework developed for this study laid the foundation for developing literature on the embeddedness of women’s entrepreneurship and how the process of creating embedding becomes instrumental in business ownership.

Lifestyle entrepreneurship as a political act: contextualized entrepreneurship

Although entrepreneuring seems to offer many business opportunities, we know surprisingly little about why people end up with the businesses they do, and what role personal ideology plays in the process of business creation. To address these questions, our study explores the contextualized entrepreneurship of two gastronomic entrepreneurs who have chosen to set up their ventures in the periphery of southern Sweden. To understand entrepreneurs and the appeal of their enterprises, we argue for the need to focus on both the professional and the personal situation of the entrepreneur. Running a firm is, for many entrepreneurs, a lifestyle choice. It therefore makes sense to emphasize the relation between not only the venture and the context but also the individual entrepreneur and the context; the purpose of this study is to explore the role lifestyle choice plays in the venture creation process. Qualitative research methods, combining extensive media-related document analysis with semi-structured interviews,...

Ethnographic approaches to entrepreneurship and small business research : What lessons can we learn?

Professor Paul Reynolds said in a speech that entrepreneurs quickly learn how to tell the polished stories about their journeys when they are asked by researchers and journalists about what they ha ...