Advances in Sustainable Entrepreneurship

A special issue of Administrative Sciences (ISSN 2076-3387).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 August 2015) | Viewed by 40192

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Alanus University, Alfter (Bonn), Germany
Interests: sustainable entrepreneurship; sustainability management; stakeholder theory; corporate sustainability

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Sustainable Entrepreneurship has the potential to contribute to the solution of environmental and social problems through entrepreneurial activity. Thereby, it aims at societal transitions towards more sustainability. Despite the enormous potential of sustainable entrepreneurship, the academic debate in this field has just begun to evolve, and, consequently, more research to advance the concept of sustainable entrepreneurship is needed.

With reference to Dean and McMullen (2007, p. 58), sustainable entrepreneurship can be defined as an innovative “process of discovering, evaluating, and exploiting economic opportunities that are present in market failures which detract from sustainability“. It is not distinct from phenomena such as social and environmental entrepreneurship, but offers a sustainability perspective on these concepts (Thompson et al., 2011) and is therefore not restricted to profit-oriented organizations.

Among the papers published in the field of sustainable entrepreneurship, only a few quantitative analyses and literature reviews can be found, but there is also need for more qualitative, conceptual, and theoretical advances on sustainable entrepreneurship.

The Special Issue aims at addressing this need for high quality research on sustainable entrepreneurship. It welcomes contributions on the following non-conclusive list of topics:

-          Sustainable entrepreneurship and innovation

-          Financing sustainable entrepreneurship

-          Entrepreneurial growth

-          Characteristics of sustainable entrepreneurs

-          Theories in sustainable entrepreneurship

-          Links and (dis)similarities to sustainability management

-          Sustainable entrepreneurship and public policy

-          Evaluating sustainable ventures

-          Transformative aspirations of sustainable entrepreneurship

-          Sustainable entrepreneurship and stakeholder theory

-          Sustainable business models

-          Literature reviews on sustainable entrepreneurship

-          …

Submissions addressing further issues related to sustainable entrepreneurship (including transdisciplinary approaches) are explicitly welcome.

Please note: Eventhough Administrative Science is an Open-Access Journal, no Article Processing Charges (APC) apply for Submissions to this Special Issue.

Jacob Hörisch
Guest Editor

References:

Belz, F. M.; Binder, J. K. (2015): Sustainable Entrepreneurship: A Convergent Process Model. Business Strategy and the Environment, OnlineFirst.

Dean, T. J.; McMullen, J.S. (2007): Toward a theory of sustainable entrepreneurship: Reducing environmental degradation through entrepreneurial action.  Journal of Business Venturing 22 (1),  50–76.

Honig, B.; Karlsson, T. (2013): An Institutional Perspective on Business Planning Activities for Nascent Entrepreneurs in Sweden and the US. Administrative Sciences 3 (4), 266–289.

Hörisch, J.; Freeman, R. E.; Schaltegger, S. (2014): Applying Stakeholder Theory in Sustainability Management: Links, Similarities, Dissimilarities, and a Conceptual Framework. Organization & Environment 27 (4), 328–346.

Hörisch, J.; Johnson, M. P.; Schaltegger, S. (2014): Implementation of Sustainability Management and Company Size: A Knowledge-Based View. Business Strategy and the Environment, OnlineFirst.

Schaltegger, S.; Wagner, M. (2011): Sustainable entrepreneurship and sustainability innovation: categories and interactions. Business Strategy and the Environment 20 (4), 222–237.

Thompson, N.; Kiefer, K.; York, J.G (2011): Distinctions not dichotomies: Exploring social, sustainable, and environmental entrepreneurship. In: G. T. Lumpkin and J. A. Katz (Eds): Social and sustainable entrepreneurship. Bingley, United Kingdom: Emerald, 201–229.

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Administrative Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • sustainable entrepreneurship
  • sustainability oriented innovation
  • sustainability transitions
  • environmental entrepreneurship
  • social entrepreneurship
  • sustainable development
  • sustainability management
  • sustainable business models
  • sustainable ventures
  • entrepreneurial growth

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Editorial

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152 KiB  
Editorial
Entrepreneurship as Facilitator for Sustainable Development? Editorial for the Special Issue “Advances in Sustainable Entrepreneurship”
by Jacob Hörisch
Adm. Sci. 2016, 6(1), 4; https://doi.org/10.3390/admsci6010004 - 18 Mar 2016
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 5397
Abstract
In his quote from the 1940s, Joseph Schumpeter highlights the enormous transformative potential of entrepreneurship.[...] Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Sustainable Entrepreneurship)

Research

Jump to: Editorial

588 KiB  
Article
The Dilemma of Incumbents in Sustainability Transitions: A Narrative Approach
by Karoline Augenstein and Alexandra Palzkill
Adm. Sci. 2016, 6(1), 1; https://doi.org/10.3390/admsci6010001 - 25 Dec 2015
Cited by 38 | Viewed by 10412
Abstract
In the context of the larger sustainability discourse, “sufficiency” is beginning to emerge as a new value throughout Western societies, and the question asked in this article is: Can we observe and conceptually identify opportunities to link successful business strategies of incumbents to [...] Read more.
In the context of the larger sustainability discourse, “sufficiency” is beginning to emerge as a new value throughout Western societies, and the question asked in this article is: Can we observe and conceptually identify opportunities to link successful business strategies of incumbents to principles of sufficiency? Thus, how feasible is sustainable entrepreneurship for incumbents? In this paper, a conceptual approach is developed combining insights from sociology, transition research, management and sustainable entrepreneurship research with a focus on narratives as a translation mechanism in situations where tensions emerge between corporate narratives and unexpected societal trends, e.g., the emergence of sufficient lifestyles. It will be shown that even though these are still a niche phenomenon, a focus on corporate narratives is an important element in understanding the role of incumbents in transitions to sustainability. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Sustainable Entrepreneurship)
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155 KiB  
Article
The Role of Sustainable Entrepreneurship in Sustainability Transitions: A Conceptual Synthesis against the Background of the Multi-Level Perspective
by Jacob Hörisch
Adm. Sci. 2015, 5(4), 286-300; https://doi.org/10.3390/admsci5040286 - 17 Nov 2015
Cited by 83 | Viewed by 12024
Abstract
This paper conceptually synthesizes prior studies on sustainable entrepreneurship against the background of the multi-level perspective. It thereby relates separate streams of literature on sustainable entrepreneurship, sustainability transformations and ecopreneurship, which have previously not been systematically connected and synthesized, to the multi-level perspective. [...] Read more.
This paper conceptually synthesizes prior studies on sustainable entrepreneurship against the background of the multi-level perspective. It thereby relates separate streams of literature on sustainable entrepreneurship, sustainability transformations and ecopreneurship, which have previously not been systematically connected and synthesized, to the multi-level perspective. The paper furthermore provides suggestions on how the multi-level perspective can be advanced based on the inspirations of these previously only sparsely-connected streams of literature. Finally, implications for entrepreneurs, academia and politics are presented: means to increase the contribution of sustainable entrepreneurship to sustainability transitions are suggested, and the importance of growth and degrowth is discussed in the context of sustainable entrepreneurship. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Sustainable Entrepreneurship)
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561 KiB  
Article
The Rationality and Irrationality of Financing Green Start-Ups
by Linda Bergset
Adm. Sci. 2015, 5(4), 260-285; https://doi.org/10.3390/admsci5040260 - 10 Nov 2015
Cited by 32 | Viewed by 11294
Abstract
Green start-ups contribute towards a transition to a more sustainable economy by developing sustainable and environmentally friendly innovation and bringing it to the market. Due to specific product/service characteristics, entrepreneurial motivation and company strategies that might differ from that of other start-ups, these [...] Read more.
Green start-ups contribute towards a transition to a more sustainable economy by developing sustainable and environmentally friendly innovation and bringing it to the market. Due to specific product/service characteristics, entrepreneurial motivation and company strategies that might differ from that of other start-ups, these companies might struggle even more than usual with access to finance in the early stages. This conceptual paper seeks to explain these challenges through the theoretical lenses of entrepreneurial finance and behavioural finance. While entrepreneurial finance theory contributes to a partial understanding of green start-up finance, behavioural finance is able to solve a remaining explanatory deficit produced by entrepreneurial finance theory. Although some behavioural finance theorists are suggesting that the current understanding of economic rationality underlying behavioural finance research is inadequate, most scholars have not yet challenged these assumptions, which constrict a comprehensive and realistic description of the reality of entrepreneurial finance in green start-ups. The aim of the paper is thus, first, to explore the specifics of entrepreneurial finance in green start-ups and, second, to demonstrate the need for a more up-to-date conception of rationality in behavioural finance theory in order to enable realistic empirical research in this field. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Sustainable Entrepreneurship)
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