Entrepreneuring As Performance: Understanding Entrepreneurship As a Process of Becoming
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AIR, C. 2020. Entrepreneuring as performance: understanding entrepreneurship as a process of becoming. Robert Gordon University, PhD thesis. Hosted on OpenAIR [online]. Available from: https://openair.rgu.ac.uk Entrepreneuring as performance: understanding entrepreneurship as a process of becoming. AIR, C. 2020 Copyright: the author and Robert Gordon University This document was downloaded from https://openair.rgu.ac.uk Entrepreneuring as performance: Understanding entrepreneurship as a process of becoming CAROL AIR PhD 2020 i Entrepreneuring as performance: understanding entrepreneurship as a process of becoming. Carol Air A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the Robert Gordon University for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. June 2020 ii iii Acknowledgements There is no such thing as a solo performance in life and as a social performance, this thesis is no exception. While this work bares my name, there is no way it could have been completed without the generosity of many others and I gladly take this opportunity to thank the stars of the cast. I am indebted to my supervisor Professor Alistair Anderson for his generosity of knowledge, expertise and patience. Without his tireless enthusiasm for the subject of entrepreneurship and tremendous teaching ability, this would be a much lesser work. I very much enjoyed our many discussions throughout the process, they have without doubt contributed greatly to my development as a scholar. Thank you very much Alistair. Thanks also goes to Dr Simon Fraser, whose attention to detail in the latter stages of the work ensured that my creative “slap dashery” did not mar the final output. Thank you, Simon. I would also like to thank my line manager, Dr Moira Bailey for providing much needed space during the writing up phase of this project. There were times where juggling work and research seemed impossible as I am sure you are aware. Thank you for your support Moira. Without the backing of Robert Gordon University’s staff doctorate scheme, this work would not have been possible. It is through their complete understanding of the importance of staff development for the university, and wider education sector that it exists. Thank you very much for the opportunity. Special thanks go to the twenty musicians come entrepreneurs who gave so generously of their time and personal experience. It is through your trust in my ability to interpret your words with honesty and respect that this work crackles with life. I hope my “story of stories” does your personal memories justice. Lastly, but by no mean least, my heartfelt thanks go to my partner and to my son. They are the ones who have shared in the full range of backstage performances required to complete a PhD. There is no doubt in my mind that without their love and support throughout this process, these words would never have been committed to paper. iv v Abstract This research sought to explain how musicians became entrepreneurs in the city of Dundee by considering the career transitions of twenty musicians come entrepreneurs. It focussed on exploring processes of becoming from their early childhood, throughout their music careers, to current endeavours as entrepreneurs in the city. This pre-start-up exploration was adopted out of curiosity, but also addressed a call to focus on situations, experiences and relationships that contribute to the making of an entrepreneur (Berglund 2015). The initial problem was concerned with culture to commerce transitions, as at first glance, music and entrepreneurship appear to occupy diametrically opposite spheres in terms of practice, ethos and institutional engagement. From a phenomenological perspective, life histories were employed to capture stories that uncovered processes of entrepreneurial becoming. Process theory allowed data to be interpreted as an unfolding story and guided development of a directional, descriptive framework (Langley 1999). Context was also important, and Zilber et al.’s, (2008) three level framework was adapted to allow exploration of micro, meso and macro social processes. These organising tools reduced complexity in the analysis phase of the research and enabled a collective story of stories to emerge. Findings confirmed that becoming entrepreneurial is not bound by business parameters and that processes of becoming entrepreneurial can start early in life. Entrepreneuring is rooted in past experience and in this case, by developing and building on a listening grammar early in life. Through musical development, attitudes, non-formal learning, tacit knowledge and practice were linked to entrepreneuring, that is, activities that could be named in entrepreneurial terms. It was not merely a case of music being entrepreneurship, but rather an unfolding of entrepreneurial becoming over time. This brought to the fore, questions of what differentiates the entrepreneur from anyone else (Moroz and Hindle 2011). To conclude, it was found that the key differentiating factor was the nature of the dialectic between actor and audience, and so processes of becoming were linked to social performance. In short, entrepreneurial becoming is performed experience. vi Table of Contents Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................................... iv Abstract………………………………………………………………………………………....vii List of tables ................................................................................................................................. xi List of figures .............................................................................................................................. xii Chapter 1: Introduction ............................................................................................................. 1 1.1. Development of the Research and Rationale ......................................................................... 2 1.2. The Philosophical Position ..................................................................................................... 4 1.3. The Research Questions ......................................................................................................... 5 1.4. Outline of the Chapters ........................................................................................................ 10 Chapter 2: The Research Approach ........................................................................................ 12 2.1. A Synopsis on Phenomenology ........................................................................................... 14 2.2. Research Rationale ............................................................................................................... 15 2.2.1. Phenomenology in Studies of Music ............................................................................. 18 2.2.2. Phenomenology in Studies of Entrepreneurship ........................................................... 20 2.3. Doing Phenomenology ......................................................................................................... 22 2.4. Criticisms of Phenomenology .............................................................................................. 23 2.5. Linking Phenomenology and Process Theory ...................................................................... 24 2.6. Culture and Interpretivism ................................................................................................... 27 2.7. Chapter Summary ................................................................................................................ 28 Chapter 3: The Concept of Context and the City of Dundee ................................................ 30 3.1. Development and Structure of the Reviews ......................................................................... 30 3.2. The Concept of Context ....................................................................................................... 32 3.2.1. Context in Entrepreneurship Research .......................................................................... 32 3.3. A Micro, Meso, Macro Framework ..................................................................................... 33 3.4. The City of Dundee .............................................................................................................. 35 3.4.1. A Historical Context ..................................................................................................... 36 3.4.2. Poverty as Context ........................................................................................................ 39 3.4.3. Change as Context ........................................................................................................ 40 3.4.4. Culture as Context ......................................................................................................... 41 3.4.5. Popular Music in Dundee .............................................................................................. 42 3.5. Chapter Summary ................................................................................................................ 45 vii Chapter 4: Literature Review - Popular Music...................................................................... 46 4.1. Popular Music ...................................................................................................................... 47 4.2. Musical Identity ..................................................................................................................