Entrepreneurial Process and Social Networks ─ A Dynamic Perspective

Entrepreneurship is undoubtedly a social process and creating a firm requires both the mobilization of social networks and the use of social capital. This book addresses the gap that exists between the need to take these factors into consideration and the understanding of how network relationships are developed and transformed across the venturing process.Expert contributions from key scholars in the field illustrate how social networks evolve across entrepreneurial stages, using studies from different regions across the world. Offering a comprehensive understanding, they emphasize the role of formal networks created inside professions and firms. Also examined is the impact of context, including both family and internationally variable institutions, that can help entrepreneurs to access resources and competencies useful for their projects. The book concludes by emphasizing the various research challenges: which theories are useful for our endeavours and which new methods can be used to understand the dynamics of the venturing process?Dynamic and eminently practical, this book will be invaluable to scholars and students studying the entrepreneurial process and the impact of social networks. It will also prove a useful tool in aiding entrepreneurs to optimize the development of their networks and better manage their entrepreneurial processes.

Edited by Alain Fayolle, Professor of Entrepreneurship and Director, Entrepreneurship Research Centre, EMLYON Business School, France, Sarah L. Jack, Lancaster University, UK, Wadid Lamine, Toulouse Business School and Didier Chabaud, the University of Avignon, France