2,156 research outputs found
Conversations with a ‘Small-Town’ Criminal Entrepreneur: A Case Study
No full textPurpose
Building on previous work from Frith, McElwee, Smith, Somerville and Fairlie this chapter further explores entrepreneurship as practiced by an entrepreneur (who is also a drug dealer) in a rural, UK, northern, small-town context and how he does ‘strategy’.
Methodology/approach
This research was conducted in a broadly grounded approach using a conversational research methodology (Feldman, 1999). A series of conversations were conducted with a career drug dealer, guided by a very basic agenda-setting question of ‘how do you earn money?’ Emergent themes were explored through further conversation before being compared with literature and triangulated with third party conversations.
Research limitations/implications
Implications for research design, ethics and the conduct of such research are identified and discussed. As a research project this work is protean and as a case study the generalisations that can be made from this piece are necessarily limited. Access to and ethical approval for research directly with illegal entrepreneurs is fraught with difficulty in the risk-averse environment of academia. This limits the data available directly from illegal entrepreneurs. The credibility of data collected from third parties is limited by their peripheral interest in and awareness of entrepreneurship discourse, entrepreneurial life themes and the entrepreneurial dimension to crime, as well as by the structural bias implicit in the fact that many of these third parties deal only with what might be termed the unsuccessful entrepreneurs (i.e., those that got caught!) Findings represent a tentative indication of potential themes for further research
Stolen to Order! Tractor Theft as an Emerging International Criminal Enterprise
No full textPurpose
To explore and document the emerging international market for stolen tractors and plant in the United Kingdom. Whilst this may appear to be a criminological problem relating specifically to rural crime, it is a sophisticated international criminal business organised by traditional organised crime groups (OCGs) such as the Italian, Polish and Turkish Mafia’s in conjunction with a network of criminal entrepreneurs.
Methodology/approach
Using annual statistical data provided by National Farmers Union (NFU) Mutual and Plant and Agricultural National Intelligence Unit (PANIU) and other material sourced using documentary research techniques supplemented by qualitative interviews with industry specialists we present 10 micro-case studies of rural OCGs engaged in this lucrative enterprise crime. The data is verified and authenticated using narrative inquiry techniques.
Findings
There is an entrepreneurial dimension to the crime because traditional criminal families with knowledge of rural areas and rural social capital form alliances with OCGs. The practical utility of the NFU model of entrepreneurial alliances with interested parties including the police is highlighted.
Research limitations/implications
Implications for research design, ethics and the conduct of such research which are identified and discussed. These include the need to develop an investigative framework to protect academic researchers similar to guidelines in place to protect investigative journalists.
Practical implications
An investigative framework and the adaption of the business model canvass (Osterwalder & Pigneur, 2010) to cover illegal business models are proposed.
Social implications
Suggestions are provided for the need to legislate against international criminal conspiracies.
Originality/value
Uses a mixture of entrepreneurship and criminological theories to help develop an understanding of the problem from an investigative perspective
Business support for farmers: an evaluation of the Farm Cornwall project
No full textPurpose – The purpose of this paper is to present an account of a Farm Support Project in Cornwall which provides support, advice and an outreach facility for farmers in the Penwith district of Cornwall. It also discusses how effective such schemes are, particularly in an external environment which poses threats to the farm sector in the UK. Three kinds of questions about the nature of farming and the status of farmers are posed. The first set of questions includes polarisations about the hegemonic position of farmers. Second, macro-economic, and thus policy, questions concerning the economic “footprint” of the farmer and the farm's relationship with the economy are posed in Cornwall. The third set of questions concerns the economic role and entrepreneurial capability of the farmer in Cornwall.
Design/methodology/approach – A desk study of the scheme's objectives, a literature review, and interviews with 27 stakeholders were reported on specifically the results of the interviews.
Findings – The Penwith Scheme encompasses an integrated approach to providing business support to farmers including: sign-posting specialist advisers, the facilitation of training assistance with major grant applications, the development of “social capital” through to help in accessing sources of social support.
Research limitations/implications – Farm Cornwall is a unique example of support to farmers. Replication of such a scheme across other rural regions and indeed other business sectors is possible and desirable but would require a full appraisal of the efficacy of regional and local business support to rural business.
Practical implications – Policy and practical implications for this scheme and others are described.
Originality/value – The novel aspect of the paper is that it describes a useful business support mechanism which has utility for a range of stakeholders involved in supporting the development of rural enterprises
Publication trends and patterns in entrepreneurship
No full textPurpose - This paper considers the models, methodologies, techniques and data utilised in articles published in The International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation over the period 1999-2003, in an attempt to determine theoretical and methodological trends and themes emerging from within the literature. Design/methodology/approach - The paper considers articles published in the journal from multiple perspectives including: methods of data analysis, epistemological frameworks deployed, dominant academic disciplines and geographical location of the authors. Topic areas and keywords associated with each article are examined in order to identify particular foci for publication and to broadly determine the "topography" of published output. Findings - The broad publication profile was of more quantitative than qualitative papers, with some consideration of policy issues. Research limitations/implications - Analysis is confined to an example of one journal in the field and thus its comparative validity is limited. Practical implications - A very useful account of publication trends in the discipline. The article is of value to academics who are seeking to publish. Indicates the methodological trends that are utilised in the discipline. Originality/value - This is an innovative investigation into publication trends in the discipline.</p
Editorial:Introducing the ‘Festschrift’ in honour of the founding editor – Professor Gerard McElwee
No full textThis special issue consists of an editorial, a commentary by Professor Gerard McElwee and five empirical papers, as detailed below. To make room for the studies presented below there is no teaching case in this issue.
Professor Gerard McElwee is the founder and first Editor of The International Journal of Entrepreneurship & Innovation. This special issue is designed as a ‘Festschrift’1 to honour his editorial stewardship of the journal and to mark his own approaches to researching entrepreneurship. Indeed, under his tireless and patient guidance, the journal has gone from strength to strength to become internationally recognised. Gerard continues to have a distinguished academic career, which has included chairs at Nottingham Trent, Sheffield Hallam, the University of Huddersfield and now York St Johns. Through his editorship and his work with his peers and students, Gerard has demonstrated a passion and proven track record of doctoral supervision in several countries, and has examined many PhDs. He has encouraged many early career researchers to publish in IJEI. In addition, he is a Fellow of the Institute for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (ISBE) and formerly ran the Rural Entrepreneurship track at its annual conference, while chairing that special interest group. During his career, Gerard became known by peers for his patient approach of encouraging and supporting new scholars and peers, alongside his infectious humour and sagacious advice on all aspects of scholarship. Gerard retired from his editorial role in 2020 and Professor Laura Galloway and Dr Deema Refai are the new joint editors. We at the journal feel it is a relevant time to mark his achievements and editorship
Exploring Criminal and Illegal Enterprise: New Perspectives on Research, Policy & Practice
No full textPurpose: David Peace’s Red Riding quartet ( 1974; 1977; 1980; 1983 ) was published in the UK between 1999 and 2002. The novels are an excoriating portrayal of the violences of men, focusing on paedophilia and child murder, the hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper and, predominantly, the blurring of boundaries between the activities of police officers, criminals and entrepreneurs. This chapter aims to examine the way in which the criminal entrepreneur draws on socially constructed ideas of masculinity and the capitalist ideal in order to establish identity. This will be achieved through an examination of John Dawson, a character central to the UK Channel Four/Screen Yorkshire’s Red Riding Trilogy, the filmed version of the novels, first screened in 2009. The central role of networks of powerful men in creating space for the criminal entrepreneur and the cultural similarities between police officers and criminal entrepreneur will be explored.Methodology/approach: Using the research approach of bricolage, the chapter provides a reflexive commentary on the films, drawing on a number of other texts and sources, including news accounts of featured events and interviews with the author David Peace and the series co-producer Jamie Nuttgens – an analysis of the texts, using a framework suggested by van Dijk (1993) and McKee (2003) features.Findings: The centrality of the idea of hegemonic masculinity to the activities of both police officers, and criminals and businessmen and Hearn’s (2004) assertion that the cultural ideal and institutional power are inextricably linked are examined through an analysis of the role of Dawson (and his three linked characters in the novels) in the Red Riding Trilogy.Research limitations/implications: The chapter provides an analysis of one film series but could provide a template to apply to other texts in relation to topic.Social implications: The social implications of the findings of the research are discussed in relation to work on the impact of media representations (Dyer, 1993; Hall, 1997).Original/value: It is intended that the chapter will add to the growing body of academic work on the criminal entrepreneur and the ways in which media representation of particular groups may impact on public perception and construction of social policy
Interview with Philip Gerard
No full textInterview with Philip Gerard, author and professor of creative writing at UNCW. Here, he discusses his background and education, the founding and structure of UNCW's MFA in Creative Writing program, and the concerns of memoir and creative nonfiction
Understanding Enterprise Culture:The Fashioning of Enterprise Activity Within Small Businesses
No full textThis paper represents an attempt to make visible the impact of enterprise culture on small business enterprise activity.
In doing this it sets out to explore understandings of the enterprise culture phenomenon, by subjecting the conventional conceptualization to critical scrutiny. In particular it queries the way in which the accepted understanding of this phenomenon conceives of the state as an entity involved in a direct, causal prohibitory relationship with individual units such as small businesses.
An alternative understanding of enterprise culture which focuses on attempts by the state to strategically manage the enterprise activities of small businesses without annihilating their existence and their autonomy is proposed.
This alternative suggests that our understanding of enterprise culture should focus on the strategic practices and activities required of small businesses to ensure competitive advantage and the optimal performance of the market economy.
Empirical data drawn from interviews with Irish small business entrepreneurs are presented. These centre on their reaction to the Irish state policy of selectivity, understood as the targeting of state resources at small businesses most likely to grow successfully, through the development of a strategic orientation in their business dealings.
It is widely acknowledged that the likelihood of business failure is connected to a lack of managerial attention to business strategy. This paper demonstrates how an enterprise policy such as selectivity aims to ensure competitive advantage through the development of a strategic mindset on the part of small business entrepreneur
Philip Gerard, 25th Annual ODU Literary Festival
No full textPhilip Gerard has published fiction and nonfiction in numerous magazines, including New England Review, Bread Loaf Quarterly, Creative Nonfiction, Hawaii Review, Hayden\u27s Ferry Review, and The World & I. He is the author of three novels: Hatteras Light, Cape Fear Rising, Desert Kill; two books of nonfiction, Brilliant Passage...a schooning memoir and Creative Nonfiction - Researching and Crafting Stories of Real Life, and Writing a Book that Makes a Difference. His most recent book is Secret Soldiers, about the first and last battlefield deception outfit ever authorized by the U.S. Army. Gerard has written shows for public television and radio. He teaches creative writing at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington
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