Entrepreneurship Theory 19.4. - 22.4.2022
Time and place: 19 – 22 April 2022; Aalto University, School of Business, Ekonominaukio 1, PO Box 21210, Aalto, 00076, Finland. The exact classroom will be confirmed closer to the starting date of the course.
Learning goal and objectives: In this doctoral course, students will gain a deeper understanding of entrepreneurship theory. Specifically, students will gain an overview of the main research traditions and current themes in entrepreneurship research and learn about the different theoretical perspectives commonly applied in the literature. Students will be able to identify research problems and under-explored phenomena in the entrepreneurship literature and be better equipped to develop theoretically motivated research questions for generating novel contributions. They will also learn to use theories from other disciplines, such as psychology, sociology, and geography, for studying entrepreneurship as a multifaceted phenomenon and pronouncedly multi-disciplinary field of scholarly inquiry. Students will gain insights into different styles of theorizing and gain deeper insight into the process of publishing different types of entrepreneurship research with a particular focus on making a theoretical contribution. Students will discuss their research ideas with peers and experienced entrepreneurship scholars, and collectively brainstorm about potential ways to advance their ongoing research. Finally, students will be able to build and strengthen their research network and move from generating research ideas to writing a short academic – review, theoretical or empirical – paper of topical interest which can be applied to their doctoral thesis work.
Instruction and examination: All contact teaching (including lectures, class discussions, presentations, and teamwork sessions) will be organized as part of the four-day course workshop in April 2022. Upon notification of acceptance to the course, students will receive a more detailed syllabus which outlines the learning content and goals, individual and group assignments as well as the schedule of lectures, presentations, guest speakers, group discussions, social events, and submission deadlines. As general information, prior to the four-day workshop students will need to read a small selection of (~five) academic articles, and two paper proposals of other course participants. Before the course, students are also expected to (virtually) meet with three/four other course participants to discuss one scientific article of interest and to prepare a short team reflection about the article (in form of 3-5 power-point slides). Importantly, students are required to submit a paper proposal (1500-2500 words) by 1 April 2022. The team reflections and paper proposal will be briefly presented during the course workshop. Building on the paper proposal and feedback received during the course, students will write a short academic paper of interest (minimum of 6000 words, excl. reference list) to be submitted by 31 May 2022. The paper will be evaluated and graded by the instructor.
Credits: 6 ECTS
Grading: 1-5 (sufficient knowledge, satisfactory, good, very good, or excellent). 75% of the grade will be based on a short academic paper; 15% on paper proposal work and presentation; and 10% on team presentation. Participation in the four-days course workshop is mandatory to pass the course.
Prerequisites: The course is designed as cross-disciplinary and accessible to doctoral students from diverse backgrounds. However, it is especially useful for students interested in doing conceptual and/or empirical research in the broader field of entrepreneurship, and those interested in applying entrepreneurship in adjacent fields such as organization and management studies, international business, marketing, business ethics and business history.
Admittance: Maximum number of participants is 25. Deadline for course applications is 11 February 2022. Applications should use the following application form and be sent by email to the instructor: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . The acceptance notifications, accompanied with the specific course syllabus, will be emailed to the applicants by 18 February 2022.
Course application form:
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Instructor: Associate Professor, Dr. Ewald Kibler, Aalto School of Business, Ekonominaukio 1, PO Box 21210, Aalto, 00076, Finland; Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , AaltoWebsite: ewald kibler; Publications: GoogleResearchProfile / ResearchGateProfile
Ewald Kibler is Professor (Associate) at Aalto School of Business (BIZ) and serves as Academy of Finland Researcher (until 2023). He received his M.A. in Sociology from the University of Graz, Austria, and his Ph.D. in Economic Geography from the University of Turku, Finland. Ewald’s research combines quantitative and qualitative methods and is pronouncedly multi-disciplinary, applying theories from psychology, sociology, and geography. His research interests include, for instance, new venture formation and legitimation; entrepreneurial imaginations and failure; social and sustainable business venturing, regional and institutional embeddedness of entrepreneurship; entrepreneurship in crisis and extreme settings, late-career entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial wellbeing; entrepreneurial discourse and narratives; cultural entrepreneurship and institutional work. Ewald’s research has been published in a number of top-tier academic journals, such as the Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Discoveries; Journal of Business Venturing, Entrepreneurship Theory & Practice, Research Policy, Human Relations, Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, International Small Business Journal, Regional Studies, and Journal of Economic Geography. Ewald was awarded the Researcher of the Year (2019) at Aalto BIZ and his work was featured at the Financial Times’ Top-100 list of Research with Social Impact and at several Best Papers proceedings of academic conferences (e.g. AoM, Babson). Ewald is Editorial Review Board Member of the leading entrepreneurship journals Journal of Business Venturing, International Small Business Journal, and Entrepreneurship Theory & Practice for which he also received an Outstanding Reviewer Award. He also regularly serves as peer-reviewer for established management journals, such as the Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Journal of Management Studies, and Organization Studies, and frequently collaborates with policy-makers, including advising ILO, the OECD, and the European Commission on entrepreneurship matters.
Course coordinator and contact information: Associate Professor, Dr. Ewald Kibler, Professor (Associate), Aalto School of Business, Ekonominaukio 1, PO Box 21210, Aalto, 00076, Finland; Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.