IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/entthe/v28y2003i1p1-22.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Social Networks and Entrepreneurship

Author

Listed:
  • Arent Greve
  • Janet W. Salaff

Abstract

We study network activities of entrepreneurs through three phases of establishing a firm in four countries. Entrepreneurs access people in their networks to discuss aspects of establishing and running a business. We find that entrepreneurs build networks that systematically vary by the phase of entrepreneurship, analyzing number of their discussion partners, and the time spent networking. Entrepreneurs talk with more people during the planning than other phases. Family members are present in their networks in all phases, particularly among those who took over an existing firm. However, women use their kin to a larger extent than men, and even more than men when they take over an existing firm. Experienced entrepreneurs have the same networking patterns as novices. Moreover, these networking patterns are the same in all countries. However, there are country differences in size of discussion networks and time spent networking.

Suggested Citation

  • Arent Greve & Janet W. Salaff, 2003. "Social Networks and Entrepreneurship," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 28(1), pages 1-22, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:entthe:v:28:y:2003:i:1:p:1-22
    DOI: 10.1111/1540-8520.00029
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1111/1540-8520.00029
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/1540-8520.00029?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gry Agnete Alsos & Lars Kolvereid, 1998. "The Business Gestation Process of Novice, Serial, and Parallel Business Founders," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 22(4), pages 101-114, July.
    2. Johannisson, Bengt, 1988. "Business formation -- a network approach," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 4(3-4), pages 83-99.
    3. Tiessen, James H., 1997. "Individualism, collectivism, and entrepreneurship: A framework for international comparative research," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 12(5), pages 367-384, September.
    4. Eric L. Hansen, 1995. "Entrepreneurial Networks and New Organization Growth," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 19(4), pages 7-19, July.
    5. Larson, Andrea, 1991. "Partner networks: Leveraging external ties to improve entrepreneurial performance," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 6(3), pages 173-188, May.
    6. Andrea Larson & Jennifer A. Starr, 1993. "A Network Model of Organization Formation," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 17(2), pages 5-15, January.
    7. Greve, Arent, 1995. "Networks and entrepreneurship -- an analysis of social relations, occupational background, and use of contacts during the establishment process," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 11(1), pages 1-24, March.
    8. McGrath, Rita Gunther & MacMillan, Ian C., 1992. "More like each other than anyone else? A cross-cultural study of entrepreneurial perceptions," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 7(5), pages 419-429, September.
    9. Judith B. Kamm & Aaron J. Nurick, 1993. "The Stages of Team Venture Formation: A Decision-making Model," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 17(2), pages 17-27, January.
    10. Reynolds, Paul & Miller, Brenda, 1992. "New firm gestation: Conception, birth, and implications for research," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 7(5), pages 405-417, September.
    11. Zhao, Liming & Aram, John D., 1995. "Networking and growth of young technology-intensive ventures in China," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 10(5), pages 349-370, September.
    12. Birley, Sue, 1985. "The role of networks in the entrepreneurial process," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 1(1), pages 107-117.
    13. W. Gibb Dyer Jr. & Wendy Handler, 1994. "Entrepreneurship and Family Business: Exploring the Connections," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 19(1), pages 71-83, October.
    14. McGrath, Rita Gunther & MacMillan, Ian C. & Scheinberg, Sari, 1992. "Elitists, risk-takers, and rugged individualists? An exploratory analysis of cultural differences between entrepreneurs and non-entrepreneurs," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 7(2), pages 115-135, March.
    15. Cooper, Arnold C. & Folta, Timothy B. & Woo, Carolyn, 1995. "Entrepreneurial information search," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 10(2), pages 107-120, March.
    16. Aldrich, Howard & Kalleberg, Arne & Marsden, Peter & Cassel, James, 1989. "In pursuit of evidence: Sampling procedures for locating new businesses," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 4(6), pages 367-386, November.
    17. Reginald A. Litz, 1997. "The Family Firm's Exclusion from Business School Research: Explaining the Void; Addressing the Opportunity," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 21(3), pages 55-71, April.
    18. Paul Westhead & Marc Cowling, 1998. "Family Firm Research: The Need for a Methodological Rethink," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 23(1), pages 31-56, October.
    19. Sue Birley & Dan Muzyka & Caroline Dove & Gerda Rossell, 1995. "Article Commentary: Finding the High-Flying Entrepreneurs: A Cautionary Tale," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 19(4), pages 105-111, July.
    20. William B. Gartner & Kelly G. Shaver & Elizabeth Gatewood & Jerome A. Katz, 1994. "Finding the Entrepreneur in Entrepreneurship," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 18(3), pages 5-9, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Susanna Slotte–Kock & Nicole Coviello, 2010. "Entrepreneurship Research on Network Processes: A Review and Ways Forward," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 34(1), pages 31-57, January.
    2. Newbert, Scott L. & Tornikoski, Erno T. & Quigley, Narda R., 2013. "Exploring the evolution of supporter networks in the creation of new organizations," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 28(2), pages 281-298.
    3. T. K. Das & Bing-Sheng Teng, 1998. "Time and Entrepreneurial Risk Behavior," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 22(2), pages 69-88, January.
    4. Scott Newbert & Erno Tornikoski, 2012. "Supporter networks and network growth: a contingency model of organizational emergence," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 39(1), pages 141-159, July.
    5. Hoang, Ha & Antoncic, Bostjan, 2003. "Network-based research in entrepreneurship: A critical review," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 165-187, March.
    6. Lechner, Christian & Dowling, Michael & Welpe, Isabell, 2006. "Firm networks and firm development: The role of the relational mix," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 21(4), pages 514-540, July.
    7. Heidi Forsström-Tuominen & Iiro Jussila & Sanjay Goel, 2017. "The Start of Team Start-Ups: Collective Dynamics of Initiation and Formation of Entrepreneurial Teams," Journal of Enterprising Culture (JEC), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 25(01), pages 31-66, March.
    8. Christophe Estay & Manzoom Akhter, 2019. "Le développement international des entreprises nées globales : l'importance du réseau social," Post-Print hal-02872778, HAL.
    9. Tornikoski, Erno T. & Newbert, Scott L., 2007. "Exploring the determinants of organizational emergence: A legitimacy perspective," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 22(2), pages 311-335, March.
    10. Thommie Burström & Jussi Harri & Timothy. L. Wilson, 2018. "Nascent Entrepreneurs Managing in Networks: Equivocality, Multiplexity and Tie Formation," Journal of Enterprising Culture (JEC), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 26(01), pages 51-83, March.
    11. Thorsten Semrau & Arndt Werner, 2014. "How Exactly Do Network Relationships Pay Off? The Effects of Network Size and Relationship Quality on Access to Start–Up Resources," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 38(3), pages 501-525, May.
    12. Diego Matricano, 2018. "Grey vs. Young Entrepreneurs: Are They Really That Different in Terms of Entrepreneurial Intentions? Empirical Evidence from Italy," International Journal of Business and Management, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 13(2), pages 1-76, January.
    13. Helen Haugh, 2007. "Community–Led Social Venture Creation," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 31(2), pages 161-182, March.
    14. Susan Müller & Alyssa Lara Kirst & Heiko Bergmann & Barbara Bird, 2023. "Entrepreneurs’ actions and venture success: a structured literature review and suggestions for future research," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 60(1), pages 199-226, January.
    15. Per Davidsson, 2023. "Making contributions: personal reflections from the co-creative evolution of entrepreneurship research," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 61(4), pages 1391-1410, December.
    16. T Quince, 2001. "Entrepreneurial Collaboration: Terms of Endearment or Rules of Engagement?," Working Papers wp207, Centre for Business Research, University of Cambridge.
    17. Per Davidsson & Jan Henrik Gruenhagen, 2021. "Fulfilling the Process Promise: A Review and Agenda for New Venture Creation Process Research," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 45(5), pages 1083-1118, September.
    18. Lorraine Uhlaner & Roy Thurik, 2010. "Postmaterialism Influencing Total Entrepreneurial Activity Across Nations," Springer Books, in: Andreas Freytag & Roy Thurik (ed.), Entrepreneurship and Culture, chapter 0, pages 301-328, Springer.
    19. Hans Löfsten & Anders Isaksson & Heikki Rannikko, 2023. "Entrepreneurial networks, geographical proximity, and their relationship to firm growth: a study of 241 small high-tech firms," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 48(6), pages 2280-2306, December.
    20. Denis A. Grégoire & Martin X. Noël & Richard Déry & Jean–Pierre Béchard, 2006. "Is There Conceptual Convergence in Entrepreneurship Research? A Co–Citation Analysis of Frontiers of Entrepreneurship Research, 1981–2004," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 30(3), pages 333-373, May.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:sae:entthe:v:28:y:2003:i:1:p:1-22. 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: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    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.