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The Social Network and Entrepreneurial Process: A Sociotechnical Approach
Author(s) -
Lamine Wadid
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
thunderbird international business review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.553
H-Index - 37
eISSN - 1520-6874
pISSN - 1096-4762
DOI - 10.1002/tie.21907
Subject(s) - sociotechnical system , process (computing) , social network (sociolinguistics) , knowledge management , actor–network theory , focus (optics) , entrepreneurship , conceptual framework , business , social network analysis , sociology , industrial organization , marketing , process management , computer science , social media , social capital , social science , physics , finance , world wide web , optics , operating system
Most new studies of entrepreneurial networks focus either on the characteristics of the social links at a given point in time during the new venture creation process or on the network's overall contribution. Few examine how a network evolves over time. Entrepreneurial networks are made up of human and nonhuman entities and are two‐dimensional, with both social and material dimensions. These two elements are often analyzed individually, particularly in the area of entrepreneurship, where social and technical aspects are separated. In this study, we contribute to filling this research gap using actor‐network theory ( ANT ). We show how this conceptual framework can contribute to improving our understanding of the entrepreneur's social network dynamics. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc .