Entrepreneurship and strategy: Analyzing themes from bibliometric studies in the light of the concept of strategic entrepreneurship

Abstract

Entrepreneurship and strategy have common interests of research and they are close fields of studies; however, it is important to know the boundaries of each research field to preserve the identity of each discipline, as well as to advance in the comprehension of the strategic entrepreneurship domain. This research aims to identify common and distinct themes between entrepreneurship and strategy to understand the boundaries of each discipline, the interfaces between them, as well as contribute to the discussion of the strategic entrepreneurship concept. A scoping literature review was carried out about bibliometric studies on entrepreneurship, strategy, and entrepreneurship and strategy together. From 62 bibliometric studies in entrepreneurship, 18 in strategy, and 22 in entrepreneurship and strategy, a thematic analysis was performed. Entrepreneurship bibliometric resulted in 25 themes, strategy in 9 themes, and 12 in entrepreneurship and strategy together. This research presents a theoretical contribution to the field of research in entrepreneurship, strategy, and strategic entrepreneurship. Comparing the bibliometric studies in each field evidenced what are the themes focused on each discipline. To the concept of strategic entrepreneurship, results of this research contribute to advance in the comprehension of what can be entrepreneurship and what can be strategy in the concept, as the gap of studies. Furthermore, this study provides inputs about contexts of study to strategic entrepreneurship, such as familiar, social, and sustainable ventures.