Off the Beaten Path: New Perspectives on the Role of Context for Entrepreneurship and Innovation
| dc.contributor.advisor | Saunders, William Chad | |
| dc.contributor.author | Piercey, Philip James | |
| dc.contributor.committeemember | Keyhani, Mohammad | |
| dc.contributor.committeemember | Kwon, Seok-Woo | |
| dc.contributor.committeemember | Bagga, Charan Kamal | |
| dc.contributor.committeemember | Siepel, Josh | |
| dc.contributor.committeemember | Saunders, William Chad | |
| dc.date | 2025-06 | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2025-01-06T21:11:26Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2025-01-06T21:11:26Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2024-12-24 | |
| dc.description.abstract | This thesis presents new ways of examining the underlying conditions that characterize geographic contexts of entrepreneurship and innovation. Regionalist approaches currently predominate research into the geography of innovation modes. In contrast, this thesis’ first study applies a spatial approach that highlights the role of geographic distance. Logistic regression tests of 4887 Canadian small firms indicate that the learning activities of the science-technology-innovation (STI) mode and the external dimension of the doing-using-interacting (DUI) mode are more likely at close distances from metropolitan regions. Whereas these activities rely on external interactions, the internal activities associated with the DUI mode appear comparatively viable in non-proximal locations. The second study introduces an event-based investigation of entrepreneurial ecosystem evolution. Prior research in this area has been feature-oriented, involving relatively stable aspects of ecosystems. Through its emphasis on discontinuities, event-based research can address the dynamic and chaotic nature of entrepreneurial ecosystems. This study collected social media discourse data to investigate how a potential triggering event, the acquisition of a unicorn firm (i.e., those with an estimated value of $1 billion or more), influenced attitudes in two Canadian ecosystems. Quantitative sentiment analysis and qualitative thematic analysis are combined to reveal that unicorn firm acquisitions are understood via meta-narrative frames. These shape attitudes toward entrepreneurship and the event itself, thereby providing a microfoundations explanation of entrepreneurial ecosystem evolution. Advisory services are a staple among entrepreneurship support organizations, particularly as a means of orienting entrepreneurs to local contexts. The third study sheds light on the discursive processes that engender the use of advice in entrepreneurial decision-making (i.e., advice-taking). Data capturing interactions between advisors and nascent entrepreneurs enabled a qualitative analysis of dialogues from 30 nascent entrepreneurs in Alberta, Canada. The findings first provide a grammatical model of advice sequences. Analysis of these sequences suggest that while iterative co-creation of advice contributes to advice-taking, this outcome can be achieved through alternative sequences as well. The importance of responses, learning signals, and the order of discursive moves, is explained. | |
| dc.identifier.citation | Piercey, P. J. (2024). Off the beaten path: new perspectives on the role of context for entrepreneurship and innovation (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/1880/120339 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | |
| dc.publisher.faculty | Haskayne School of Business | |
| dc.publisher.institution | University of Calgary | |
| dc.rights | University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission. | |
| dc.subject | innovation modes | |
| dc.subject | events | |
| dc.subject | evolution | |
| dc.subject | entrepreneurial ecosystems | |
| dc.subject | advice | |
| dc.subject | nascent entrepreneurs | |
| dc.subject | distance | |
| dc.subject.classification | Business Administration--Management | |
| dc.title | Off the Beaten Path: New Perspectives on the Role of Context for Entrepreneurship and Innovation | |
| dc.type | doctoral thesis | |
| thesis.degree.discipline | Haskayne School of Business: Management | |
| thesis.degree.grantor | University of Calgary | |
| thesis.degree.name | Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) | |
| ucalgary.thesis.accesssetbystudent | I require a thesis withhold – I need to delay the release of my thesis due to a patent application, and other reasons outlined in the link above. I have/will need to submit a thesis withhold application. |