Understanding entrepreneurial opportunities through metaphors : A narrative approach to theorising family entrepreneurship

Discua Cruz, Allan and Hamilton, Eleanor and Jack, Sarah (2021) Understanding entrepreneurial opportunities through metaphors : A narrative approach to theorising family entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship and Regional Development, 33 (5-6). pp. 405-426. ISSN 0898-5626

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Abstract

The concept of opportunity is central to entrepreneurship theory. This article contributes to theorizing family entrepreneurship across generations by examining how entrepreneurial opportunities are constructed, communicated, and acted upon at the intersection between family and business. Drawing on the experiences of four families in different business sectors in Honduras, the study adopts a narrative perspective and argues that metaphors of entrepreneurial opportunity can enrich our understanding of family entrepreneurship. Findings also suggest that metaphors play a role in developing entrepreneurial legacy. This study of metaphors of opportunity, and how they might entail entrepreneurial legacy, opens up new avenues for theorizing intergenerational family entrepreneurship. In examining the metaphors referring to entrepreneurial practices developed and repeated in the family, this study contributes to understanding family entrepreneurship as a social and discursive process where meanings and values are communicated and maintained in everyday interactions.