Generational relations and entrepreneurialism in organizations are attracting increasing attention from organizational scholars. This article bridges these areas of interest, by examining how entrepreneurial identity is shaped by generational encounters within a small organization context. In so doing, it contributes to ongoing challenges to the scientistic orthodoxy regarding the formation of entrepreneurial persons. Evidence from an ethnographic study of two joint ownermanagers in the port fendering industry is presented. Wenger’s ‘community of practice’ framework is used to show that generational encounters, through their influence on self-identity, are an important social context of the decision to embark on an entrepreneurial career. By emphasizing micro-socially situated aspects of identity formation, this article provides an interactionist complement to recent accounts of entrepreneurs and identities as being (re)produced by discourses that have hegemonic effects.
Ackroyd, S. (1996) ‘ Review Article: The Quality of Qualitative Methods: Qualitative or Quality Methodology for Organization Studies? ’, Organization3(3): 439–451 .
2.
Allvin, M. and Sverke, M. (2000) ‘ Do New Generations Imply the End of Solidarity? Swedish Unionism in the Era of Individualization ’, Economic and Industrial Democracy21(1): 71–95 .
3.
Argyris, C. and Schon, D. A. (1974) Theory in Practice: Increasing Professional Effectiveness. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass .
4.
Bowen, D. and Hisrich, R. (1986) ‘ The Female Entrepreneur: A Career Development Perspective ’, Academy of Management Review11(2): 393–407 .
5.
Bygrave, W. (1989) ‘ The Entrepreneurial Paradigm (I): A Philosophical Look at its Research Methodologies ’, Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice14(1): 7–26 .
6.
Chell, E. , Haworth, J. and Brearley, S. (1991) The Entrepreneurial Personality: Concepts, Cases and Categories. London: Routledge .
7.
Cohen, L. and Musson, G. (2000) ‘ Entrepreneurial Identities: Reflections from Two Case Studies ’, Organization7(1): 31–48 .
8.
Collins, R. (2000) ‘ Situational Stratification: A Micro-Macro Theory of Inequality ’, Sociological Theory18(1): 17–43 .
9.
Corsten, M. (1999) ‘ The Time of Generations ’, Time & Society8(2): 249–272 .
10.
Curran, J. and Burrows, R. (1987) ‘Ethnographic Approaches to the Study of the Small Business Owner’, in K. O’Neill , R. Bhambri , T. Faulkner and T. Cannon (eds) Small Business Development. Avebury: Aldershot .
11.
Czarniawska, B. (1998) A Narrative Approach to Organization Studies. London: Sage .
12.
Demartini, J. R. (1985) ‘ Change Agents and Generational Relationships: A Reevaluation of Mannheim’s Problem of Generations ’, Social Forces64(1): 1–16 .
13.
Down, S. (1999) ‘ Owner-Manager Learning in Small Firms ’, Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development6(3): 1–14 .
14.
Eyerman, R. and Turner, B. S. (1998) ‘ Outline of a Theory of Generations ’, European Journal of Social Theory1(1): 91–106 .
15.
Fine, G. A. (1996) ‘ Justifying Work: Occupational Rhetorics as Resources in Restaurant Kitchens ’, Administrative Science Quarterly41: 90–115 .
16.
Fournier, V. and Grey, C. (1999) ‘ Too Much, Too Little and Too Often: A Critique of du Gay’s Analysis of Enterprise ’, Organization6(1): 107–128 .
17.
Fournier V. and Lightfoot, G. (1997) ‘Identity Work and Family Business’, in M. Ram , D. Deakins and D. Smallbone (eds) Small Firms: Enterprising Futures. London: Paul Chapman .
18.
Giddens, A. (1991) Modernity and Self-identity: Self and Society in the Late Modern Age. Cambridge: Polity Press .
19.
Goffman, E. (1972) Encounters: Two Studies in the Sociology of Interaction. London: Penguin .
20.
Gray, C. (1998) Enterprise and Culture. London: Routledge .
21.
Hobbs, D. (1988) Doing the Business: Entrepreneurship, the Working Class, and Detectives in the East End of London. Oxford: Clarendon Press .
22.
Holliday, R. (1995) Investigating Small Firms: Nice Work?London: Routledge .
23.
Käarreman, D. and Alvesson, M. (2001) ‘ Making Newsmakers: Conversational Identity at Work ’, Organization Studies22(1): 59–89 .
24.
Kondo, D. K. (1990) Crafting Selves: Power, Gender, and Discourses of Identity in a Japanese Workplace. Chicago: University of Chicago Press .
25.
Laferrère, A. (2001) ‘ Self-employment and Intergenerational Transfers: Liquidity Constraints and Family Environment ’, International Journal of Sociology31(1): 3–26 .
26.
Lave, J. and Wenger, E. (1991) Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press .
27.
Lowe, G. and Rastin, S. (2000) ‘ Organizing the Next Generation: Influences on Young Workers’ Willingness to Join Unions in Canada ’, British Journal of Industrial Relations38(2): 203–222 .
28.
Mannheim, K. (1952 [1928]) ‘The Problem of Generations’, in Essays on the Sociology of Knowledge. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul .
29.
Mead, G. (1967) Mind, Self and Society. Chicago: University of Chicago Press .
30.
Parker, M. (1997) ‘Dividing Organizations and Multiplying Identities’, in K. Hetherington and R. Munro (eds) Ideas of Difference: Social Spaces and the Labour of Division. Oxford: Blackwell .
31.
Parker, M. (2000) Organizational Culture and Identity: Unity and Division at Work. London: Sage .
32.
Peterson, M. and Meckler, M. (2001) ‘ Cuban-American Entrepreneurs: Chance, Complexity and Chaos ’, Organization Studies22(1): 31–57 .
33.
Pialoux, M. and Beaud, S. (2000) ‘Permanent and Temporary Workers’, in P. Bourdieu et al. The Weight of the World: Social Suffering in Contemporary Society. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press .
34.
Pilcher, J. (1994) ‘ Mannheim’s Sociology of Generations: An Undervalued Legacy ’, British Journal of Sociology45(3): 481–495 .
35.
Raijman, R. (2001) ‘ Determinants of Entrepreneurial Intentions: Mexican Immigrants in Chicago ’, The Journal of Socio-Economics30: 393–411 .
36.
Ram, M. (1994) Managing to Survive: Working Lives in Small Firms. Oxford: Blackwell .
37.
Ram, M. (2000) ‘ Hustling, Hassling and Making It Happen: Researching Consultants in a Small Firm Context ’, Organization7(4): 657–677 .
38.
Reynolds, P. (1991) ‘ Sociology and Entrepreneurship: Concepts and Contributions ’, Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice16(2): 47–70 .
39.
Scott, J. (2000) ‘ Is it a Different World to when you were Growing Up? Generational Effects on Social Representations and Child-rearing Values ’, British Journal of Sociology51(2): 355–376 .
40.
Shapero, A. and Sokol, L. (1982) ‘The Social Dimensions of Entrepreneurship’, in C. Kent , D. Sexton and K. Vesper (eds) Encyclopedia of Entrepreneurship. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall .
41.
Strauss, A. (1993) Continual Permutations of Action. New York: de Gruyter .
42.
Thomas, R. and Linstead, A. (2002) ‘ Losing the Plot? Middle Managers and Identity ’, Organization9(1): 71–93 .
43.
Tulgan, B. (1996) Managing Generation X: How to Bring Out the Best in Young Talent. Oxford: Capstone .
44.
Watson, T. (1994) In Search of Management: Culture Chaos and Control in Managerial Work. London: International Thomson Business Press .
45.
Watson, T. (1997a) ‘ Theorizing Managerial Work: A Pragmatic Pluralist Approach to Interdisciplinary Research ’, British Journal of Management8: 3–8 .
46.
Watson, T. (1997b) ‘The Labour of Division: The Manager as “Self” and “Other”’, in K. Hetherington and R. Munro (eds) Ideas of Difference: Social Spaces and the Labour of Division. Oxford: Blackwell .
47.
Weber, F. (2001) ‘ Settings, Interactions and Things: A Plea for Multi-integrative Ethnography ’, Ethnography2(4): 475–499 .
48.
Wenger, E. (1998) Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning and Identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press .
