IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jobuve/v20y2023ics2352673423000513.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Exceptionality in entrepreneurship: Systematically investigating outlier outcomes

Author

Listed:
  • Clark, Daniel R.
  • Crawford, G. Christopher
  • Pidduck, Robert J.

Abstract

Entrepreneurship is the study of ordinary people doing extraordinary things: outliers in society, seeing and enacting new venture opportunities, while most others do not. Historically, the field of entrepreneurship has been dominated by competing homogeneity and heterogeneity perspectives. Extending current heterogeneity trends in the domain, this article builds the case for the benefits of examining the exceptional of the exceptional: entrepreneurs that produce extraordinary results. We argue that outlier entrepreneurs are not aberrations or empirical nuisances to be explained away or “fixed” through statistical wizardry. Rather, in most entrepreneurship phenomenon, those extremely high performing and disproportionately influential cases are “the goal” of entrepreneurship, and exactly where valuable theory-building potential lies. Building on several growing conversations in entrepreneurship research, we introduce why some phenomenological domains share characteristic potential for generating important insights using an outlier approach and present a set of methodological tools to tackle them.

Suggested Citation

  • Clark, Daniel R. & Crawford, G. Christopher & Pidduck, Robert J., 2023. "Exceptionality in entrepreneurship: Systematically investigating outlier outcomes," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 20(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jobuve:v:20:y:2023:i:c:s2352673423000513
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jbvi.2023.e00422
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352673423000513
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jbvi.2023.e00422?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Wei Yu & Johan Wiklund & Ana Pérez-Luño, 2021. "ADHD Symptoms, Entrepreneurial Orientation (EO), and Firm Performance," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 45(1), pages 92-117, January.
    2. Glavas, Charmaine & Mortimer, Gary & Ding, Han & Grimmer, Louise & Vorobjovas-Pinta, Oscar & Grimmer, Martin, 2023. "How entrepreneurial behaviors manifest in non-traditional, heterodox contexts: Exploration of the Daigou phenomenon," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 19(C).
    3. Christopher J. Boudreaux & Boris N. Nikolaev & Randall G. Holcombe, 2018. "Corruption and destructive entrepreneurship," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 51(1), pages 181-202, June.
    4. Brownell, Katrina M. & McMullen, Jeffery S. & O'Boyle, Ernest H., 2021. "Fatal attraction: A systematic review and research agenda of the dark triad in entrepreneurship," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 36(3).
    5. Smith, Brett R. & McMullen, Jeffery S. & Cardon, Melissa S., 2021. "Toward a theological turn in entrepreneurship: How religion could enable transformative research in our field," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 36(5).
    6. Wiklund, Johan & Patzelt, Holger & Dimov, Dimo, 2016. "Entrepreneurship and psychological disorders: How ADHD can be productively harnessed," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 6(C), pages 14-20.
    7. Mohammad Keyhani & Moren Lévesque & Anoop Madhok, 2015. "Toward a theory of entrepreneurial rents: A simulation of the market process," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(1), pages 76-96, January.
    8. Wiklund, Johan & Yu, Wei & Tucker, Reginald & Marino, Louis D., 2017. "ADHD, impulsivity and entrepreneurship," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 32(6), pages 627-656.
    9. Jeffery S. McMullen & Katrina M. Brownell & Joel Adams, 2021. "What Makes an Entrepreneurship Study Entrepreneurial? Toward A Unified Theory of Entrepreneurial Agency," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 45(5), pages 1197-1238, September.
    10. William J. Baumol & Melissa A. Schilling & Edward N. Wolff, 2009. "The Superstar Inventors and Entrepreneurs: How Were They Educated?," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(3), pages 711-728, September.
    11. Kuckertz, Andreas & Scheu, Maximilian & Davidsson, Per, 2023. "Chasing mythical creatures – A (not-so-sympathetic) critique of entrepreneurship's obsession with unicorn startups," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 19(C).
    12. Abd Hamid, Hamizah & Pidduck, Robert J. & Newman, Alexander & Ayob, Abu Hanifah & Sidek, Farhana, 2023. "Intercultural resource arbitrageurs: A review and extension of the literature on transnational entrepreneurs," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).
    13. Lebotsa, Moshoko Emily & Sigauke, Caston & Bere, Alphonce & Fildes, Robert & Boylan, John E., 2018. "Short term electricity demand forecasting using partially linear additive quantile regression with an application to the unit commitment problem," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 222(C), pages 104-118.
    14. Crawford, G. Christopher & Aguinis, Herman & Lichtenstein, Benyamin & Davidsson, Per & McKelvey, Bill, 2015. "Power law distributions in entrepreneurship: Implications for theory and research," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 30(5), pages 696-713.
    15. Lundmark, Erik & Westelius, Alf, 2019. "Antisocial entrepreneurship: Conceptual foundations and a research agenda," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 11(C), pages 1-1.
    16. Greg Fisher & Regan Stevenson & Emily Neubert & Devin Burnell & Donald F. Kuratko, 2020. "Entrepreneurial Hustle: Navigating Uncertainty and Enrolling Venture Stakeholders through Urgent and Unorthodox Action," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(5), pages 1002-1036, July.
    17. Bort, James & Totterman, Henrik, 2023. "The growth aspirations of underdog entrepreneurs," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).
    18. Christopher Crawford, G. & McKelvey, Bill & Lichtenstein, Benyamin B., 2014. "The empirical reality of entrepreneurship: How power law distributed outcomes call for new theory and method," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 1, pages 3-7.
    19. Michael Crum & Thomas Nelson & Johan de Borst & Paul Byrnes, 2022. "The use of cluster analysis in entrepreneurship research: Review of past research and future directions," Journal of Small Business Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 60(4), pages 961-1000, July.
    20. David P. Baron, 2018. "Disruptive Entrepreneurship and Dual Purpose Strategies: The Case of Uber," Strategy Science, INFORMS, vol. 3(2), pages 439-462, June.
    21. Deniz Ucbasaran & Paul Westhead & Mike Wright, 2008. "Opportunity Identification and Pursuit: Does an Entrepreneur’s Human Capital Matter?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 30(2), pages 153-173, February.
    22. Mafico, Nkosana & Krzeminska, Anna & Härtel, Charmine & Keller, Josh, 2021. "The mirroring of intercultural and hybridity experiences: A study of African immigrant social entrepreneurs," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 36(3).
    23. Adam Maidman & Lan Wang, 2018. "New semiparametric method for predicting high‐cost patients," Biometrics, The International Biometric Society, vol. 74(3), pages 1104-1111, September.
    24. Robert J. Pidduck & Daniel R. Clark, 2021. "Transitional entrepreneurship: Elevating research into marginalized entrepreneurs," Journal of Small Business Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 59(6), pages 1081-1096, November.
    25. Bakker, Rene M. & McMullen, Jeffery S., 2023. "Inclusive entrepreneurship: A call for a shared theoretical conversation about unconventional entrepreneurs," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 38(1).
    26. Isabella Hatak & Manling Chang & Rainer Harms & Johan Wiklund, 2021. "ADHD symptoms, entrepreneurial passion, and entrepreneurial performance," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 57(4), pages 1693-1713, December.
    27. Truong, Anh Tran Tram, 2023. "Entrepreneurial identity play through cross-cultural experience: Insights from returnees," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 20(C).
    28. Friederike Welter & Ted Baker & David B. Audretsch & William B. Gartner, 2017. "Everyday Entrepreneurship—A Call for Entrepreneurship Research to Embrace Entrepreneurial Diversity," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 41(3), pages 311-321, May.
    29. Baron, Robert A. & Tang, Jintong & Tang, Zhi & Zhang, Yuli, 2018. "Bribes as entrepreneurial actions: Why underdog entrepreneurs feel compelled to use them," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 33(6), pages 679-690.
    30. Danny Miller & Isabelle Le Breton-Miller, 2017. "Underdog Entrepreneurs: A Model of Challenge–Based Entrepreneurship," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 41(1), pages 7-17, January.
    31. Lanivich, Stephen E. & Smith, Adam & Levasseur, Ludvig & Pidduck, Robert J. & Busenitz, Lowell & Tang, Jintong, 2022. "Advancing entrepreneurial alertness: Review, synthesis, and future research directions," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 1165-1176.
    32. David B. Audretsch, 2017. "Entrepreneurship and universities," International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 31(1), pages 4-11.
    33. Tobias Kollmann & Julia Christofor & Andreas Kuckertz, 2007. "Explaining individual entrepreneurial orientation: conceptualisation of a cross-cultural research framework," International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 4(3), pages 325-340.
    34. Booyavi, Zahra & Crawford, G. Christopher, 2023. "Different, but same: A power law perspective on how rock star female entrepreneurs reconceptualize “gender equality”," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 19(C).
    35. Davidsson, Per, 2015. "Entrepreneurial opportunities and the entrepreneurship nexus: A re-conceptualization," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 30(5), pages 674-695.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Pidduck, Robert J. & Hechavarria, Diana & Patel, Ajay, 2024. "Cultural tightness emancipation and venture profitability: An international experience lens," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Pidduck, Robert J. & Hechavarria, Diana & Patel, Ajay, 2024. "Cultural tightness emancipation and venture profitability: An international experience lens," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).
    2. Bort, James & Totterman, Henrik, 2023. "The growth aspirations of underdog entrepreneurs," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).
    3. Abd Hamid, Hamizah & Pidduck, Robert J. & Newman, Alexander & Ayob, Abu Hanifah & Sidek, Farhana, 2023. "Intercultural resource arbitrageurs: A review and extension of the literature on transnational entrepreneurs," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).
    4. Arslan, Ahmad & Kamara, Samppa & Tian, Anna Yumiao & Rodgers, Peter & Kontkanen, Minnie, 2024. "Marketing agility in underdog entrepreneurship: A qualitative assessment in post-conflict Sub-Saharan African context," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    5. Gala, Kaushik & Valladares, Carlos D. & Mueller, Brandon A., 2023. "Students' assumptions of Entrepreneurs’ performance: The paradox of excess entry and missed opportunity," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 20(C).
    6. Hunt, Richard A. & Lerner, Daniel A. & Johnson, Sheri L. & Badal, Sangeeta & Freeman, Michael A., 2022. "Cracks in the wall: Entrepreneurial action theory and the weakening presumption of intended rationality," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 37(3).
    7. Daniel R. Clark & Robert J. Pidduck & G. T. Lumpkin & Jeffrey G. Covin, 2024. "Is It Okay to Study Entrepreneurial Orientation (EO) at the Individual Level? Yes!," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 48(1), pages 349-391, January.
    8. Artamoshina, Polina & Shirokova, Galina & Osiyevskyy, Oleksiy & Bodolica, Virginia, 2023. "ADHD symptoms of CEOs and business model innovation in the SME context," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    9. Rajah, Nasir & Bamiatzi, Vassiliki & Williams, Nick, 2021. "How childhood ADHD-like symptoms predict selection into entrepreneurship and implications on entrepreneurial performance," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 36(3).
    10. Yu, Wei & Stephan, Ute & Bao, Jia, 2023. "Childhood adversities: Mixed blessings for entrepreneurial entry," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 38(2).
    11. Glavas, Charmaine & Mortimer, Gary & Ding, Han & Grimmer, Louise & Vorobjovas-Pinta, Oscar & Grimmer, Martin, 2023. "How entrepreneurial behaviors manifest in non-traditional, heterodox contexts: Exploration of the Daigou phenomenon," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 19(C).
    12. Truong, Anh Tran Tram, 2023. "Entrepreneurial identity play through cross-cultural experience: Insights from returnees," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 20(C).
    13. Saiyed, Abrar Ali & Wierenga, Marleen & Fernhaber, Stephanie A. & Nummela, Niina, 2023. "From grassroots to international markets: A qualitative study of marginalized entrepreneurs in India," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(5).
    14. Khurana, Indu & Tamvada, Jagannadha Pawan & Audretsch, David B., 2023. "The weaker sex? A tale of means and tails," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 20(C).
    15. Le Breton-Miller, Isabelle & Miller, Danny, 2023. "Contradiction and disaggregation for family firm research," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 14(1).
    16. Shirokova, Galina & Shakina, Elena & Bacon-Gerasymenko, Violetta & Wales, William, 2022. "Entrepreneurial orientation as a mediator of ADHD – Performance relationship: A staged quasi-replication study," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 17(C).
    17. Jiang, Yiqi, 2024. "Childhood financial difficulty and entrepreneurial intention: The roles of work-family conflict and openness to experience," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
    18. Warnick, Benjamin J. & Kier, Alexander S. & LaFrance, Emily M. & Cuttler, Carrie, 2021. "Head in the clouds? Cannabis users' creativity in new venture ideation depends on their entrepreneurial passion and experience," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 36(2).
    19. Gish, J. Jeffrey & Wagner, David T. & Grégoire, Denis A. & Barnes, Christopher M., 2019. "Sleep and entrepreneurs' abilities to imagine and form initial beliefs about new venture ideas," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 34(6).
    20. Menzies, Jane & Chavan, Meena & Jack, Robert & Scarparo, Simona & Chirico, Francesco, 2024. "Australian indigenous female entrepreneurs: The role of adversity quotient," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jobuve:v:20:y:2023:i:c:s2352673423000513. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-business-venturing-insights .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.