Title: The role of storyboards and scrapbooks in propagating entrepreneurial value in family business settings

Authors: Robert Smith

Addresses: Aberdeen Business School, Robert Gordon University, AB10 7QE, Aberdeen, UK

Abstract: The concepts of entrepreneurial narrative and biography are an emerging field of entrepreneurship research, but there is more to entrepreneurial narrative and biography than written words. Consequentially, this research paper considers the use of scrapbooks and storyboards as active narrative tools for propagating value in family business narratives by conducting a semiotic analysis of a storyboard displayed within a family business in rural Scotland. The use of scrapbooks and storyboards are purposeful activities which form part of a biographical process imparting a sense of continuity linking history, possible futures and tradition. This study extends the analysis of entrepreneurial narrative by considering a different narrative dimension, namely that of scrapbooks and storyboards and makes a contribution to the extant literature of entrepreneurship and small business by highlighting the necessity of conducting empirical research into narrative forms such as storyboards and scrapbooks and their impact upon the biographical process in business.

Keywords: entrepreneurial narrative; entrepreneurial identity; family business; storyboards; rural Scotland; entrepreneurship; scrapbooks; family firms; small business; biography.

DOI: 10.1504/WREMSD.2011.040808

World Review of Entrepreneurship, Management and Sustainable Development, 2011 Vol.7 No.3, pp.260 - 271

Published online: 31 Jan 2015 *

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