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ABSTRACT
In this paper the authors offer design theory as an alternative to both existing entrepreneurship processes and a theory of entrepreneur ship, consistent with the most commonly accepted definition of entrepreneurship. Design theory acknowledges and is built upon, social constructionist theory, is prescriptive, creative, and content free. The design theory framework is discussed in an entrepreneurial context, and two real-world cases, one from a professional design company, and one from an undergraduate entrepreneurship program are recounted to demonstrate the efficacy of the framework.
INTRODUCTION
Entrepreneurship as a field of studyhas often been in search of a defining framework. Without a defining framework, a field suffers from a lack of focus in its scholarship and application of knowledge generated. Entrepreneurship often borrows theories from other disciplines. Because of this, we discuss theories used in entrepreneurship as opposed to theories of entrepreneurship. One group of theories brought into the entrepreneurship field in its early scholarly development focused on entrepreneurial motivation. Maslow's (1968) hierarchy of needshas been used to explain the motivations of some entrepreneurs, and need for achievement (McClelland, 1961) is another classic concept that has been used to explain why some people but not others choose to become entrepreneurs. Other examples of motivational theories applied to entrepreneurship include disadvantage theory (Evans & Leighton, 1989) and vocational choice (Holland, 1985). As a group these theories give some insight into who becomes an entrepreneur and why they do so. However, they give no explanation into the processes that entrepreneurs use to select their competitive spaces, develop their business ideas, or launch and grow their businesses. Other theories seek to explain where business ideas come from and how they develop. For example, population ecology theory posits that ideas are fairly random in how they arrive. Many ideas are tried, most fail, and a few succeed (Aldrich & Martinez, 2001). Businesses are the market selected result of the successful idea. This explanation gives us a reasonable description of what happens that allows for new businesses to come into existence, but does not address the issue of how it happens.
If entrepreneurship is to establish itself with other social sciences, it must define its domain of scholarly inquiry. Recognizing this obstacle to furthering research in entrepreneurship, Shane and...