ENTREPRENEURSHIP: METAPHORS AND RELATED CONCEPTS

Kimmo Hyrsky
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Kimmo Hyrsky: School of Business and Economics, University of Jyväskylä, Finland

Journal of Enterprising Culture (JEC), 1998, vol. 06, issue 04, 391-412

Abstract: In past research there has been continuous controversy over the definition of entrepreneurship and the identification of entrepreneurs. By combining the ideas of entrepreneurship and linguistics, this paper takes a different approach to examining entrepreneurial definitions. An exploratory analysis of entrepreneurial metaphors and concepts is conducted to study informants' perceptions of these two terms. The sample consists of 751 respondents from Scandinavia, Ireland, Australia and Canada. In the quantitative analysis of entrepreneurial concepts, respondents defined the terms 'entrepreneur' and 'entrepreneurship' with suggested conceptual equivalents. In the metaphor analysis, informants came up with metaphorical expressions of entrepreneurship. Particular attention was paid to looking for differences in conceptualizations between (1) entrepreneurs and non-entrepreneurs, (2) males and females, and (3) Scandinavians and native English speakers. Entrepreneurial respondents perceived the concepts of entrepreneurship more positively than other respondents. The same applied to differences between females and males respectively. In the cross-cultural comparison, the Scandinavians seemed to have a more positive picture of entrepreneurship than their English-speaking counterparts. As regards the entrepreneurial metaphors, they are grouped into the following semantic categories: Machine(ry) and other Physical Objects, Warfare and Adventure, Sports and Games, Creativity and Activity, Nature, "Disease", Food Items, and Special Features.

Date: 1998
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DOI: 10.1142/S0218495898000229

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