Title: Why we know what we know about entrepreneurial teams? Unlocking implicit assumptions in entrepreneurial team research

Authors: Bisrat Agegnehu Misganaw

Addresses: Department of Innovation and Economic Organisation, BI Norwegian Business School, Nydalsveien 37, 0484 Oslo, Norway

Abstract: Although literature concerning entrepreneurial teams has increased over the last couple of decades, the development of theories that can explain entrepreneurial teams appears to be scant. Based on an extensive and systematic literature review, this paper identifies three interrelated implicit assumptions embedded in current research on entrepreneurial teams. These assumptions partially hinder the development of a comprehensive theory as it relates to entrepreneurial teams. The three assumptions are: 1) entrepreneurial teams can only be studied in relation to the ventures they established; 2) all entrepreneurial teams are the same; 3) there is always a lead entrepreneur in entrepreneurial teams. Changing these assumptions in future research may contribute to the effort of developing alternative theories that help to explain entrepreneurial teams and the phenomena of team entrepreneurship.

Keywords: entrepreneurial teams; implicit assumptions; systematic literature review.

DOI: 10.1504/IJESB.2018.090218

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, 2018 Vol.33 No.3, pp.354 - 379

Received: 15 Jan 2016
Accepted: 29 Jun 2016
Published online: 06 Mar 2018 *

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