A longitudinal case study of an entrepreneurial networking process

Aalto University, P.O. Box 11000, FI-00076 Aalto www.aalto. fi Author Raija Leskinen Name of the doctoral dissertation A Longitudinal Case Study of an Entrepreneurial Networking Process Publisher Aalto University School of Economics Unit Department of Management and International Business Series Aalto University publication series DOCTORAL DISSERTATIONS 32/2011 Field of research Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management Purpose – The aim of this research is to deepen the understanding of the entrepreneurial networking process from the individual ́s point of view. It explores the dynamics between individual and collective processes in the entrepreneurial networking process from the individual ́s point of view by outlining some important factors that enhance relationships and may affect the success or failure of the networking process. The key research question is: How does the entrepreneurial networking process evolve? It is argued that by carefully introducing the essential elements, concepts and properties our knowledge of approaches to entrepreneurship and network research expands in new directions. It enhances the vision of the need to broaden our horizons a more complex reality and the human actor as a creator of this reality in the entrepreneurial networking process. The aim is to open new doors to studying the dynamics of individual and collective processes as well as their interaction/dialogue during the entrepreneurial networking process. Theories and methods – The overview and the three articles of the dissertation are grounded in concepts and theories related to and intertwined with academic literature: that of entrepreneurship, organization management and social sciences. All three articles are based on the same case study; an entrepreneurial networking project during the period 2006-2008 on 25 firms operating on the service market. The overview and the three articles emphasize the networking process approach from the individual ́s point of view. Article summaries – The dissertation includes three articles: A) Entrepreneurs as human actors in the networking process (Leskinen, 2010); B) innovation and learning through dialogue in the entrepreneurial networking process (Leskinen, forthcoming 2011); C) success in the female entrepreneurial networking process (Leskinen, 2011). Key contributions – The dissertation makes two main contributions bringing the human behavioural approach to the networking process research, developing and refining entrepreneurial networking process frameworks from the individual ́s point of view. More specifically, the key theoretical contributions of the dissertation and articles are 1) a description of the phenomenon characterizing entrepreneurial networking 2) a framework describing the entrepreneurial networking process in the interplay of entrepreneurial profiling and organizational factors (dialogue, trust and commitment), 3) a description of a new concept e.g. the entrepreneur as human actor in the networking process, 4) an investigation of the factors (dialogue, commitment, trust) of the networking process, 5) an investigation of learning and innovation through dialogue in the networking process, 6) a description of theoretical propositions and empirical results related to success in the female entrepreneurial networking process.