Capturing the complexity and ambiguity of academic fields: Determining consensual definitions for small business research, entrepreneurship and their shared interface

Abstract

Small business management and entrepreneurship are clearly related phenomena but certainly not synonymous. We seek to capture and disentangle this complex relationship between both fields by employing a large-scale survey of small business and entrepreneurship scholars and a content analysis of published research from both areas, from which we derive an implicit consensual definition of each field and the interface between them. Our findings suggest the presence of a relatively strong common bond within the fields that enables researchers to reflect multiple perspectives, while still maintaining each field’s distinctiveness.