Summary and scope
Artificial intelligence (AI) and data-driven business opportunities are emerging as transformative forces in today’s dynamic business landscape. AI, data, and algorithms are reshaping industries, redefining business strategies, and opening new avenues for entrepreneurial growth and innovation. As AI continues to evolve and be democratized, its impact on entrepreneurship is profound, creating opportunities and challenges for businesses of all sizes. We invite you to contribute to our upcoming book, exploring how an economy driven by data, algorithms, and intelligent machines influences entrepreneurship. We seek case studies highlighting how small businesses and startups use AI and data science to drive growth, innovate, and navigate the challenges of modern markets. The cases will serve as valuable resources for teaching and learning in business education, particularly in entrepreneurship, innovation, strategy, and technology management courses.

This book (serving as a second volume to Cases on Digital Entrepreneurship: How Digital Technologies are Transforming the Entrepreneurial Process in Existing Businesses and Startups ) follows our first book addressing digital entrepreneurship and will provide case studies in various industries of entrepreneurial venture that have used and are using AI to drive their businesses to success. The cases in this book will serve as teaching and learning tools, not only for Professors and students, but also for entrepreneurs themselves. Cases will be drawn from various sectors, parts of the world, on ventures of different size (micro, small and medium) and type (small businesses, start-ups).

Submission guidelines and important dates
We are open to including different types of cases, including case histories, as long as they include open situations where students must make decisions and suggest proposals. We seek agile cases (3000-5000 words, all included) with the following structure:

• Abstract
• Case learning objectives (a bullet list of 3 to 5 points immediately after the abstract)
• Introduction (Opening story)
• Business and Industry Overview
• Problem description
• Student Challenge (e.g., discussion questions, assignments, etc.)
• References
• Appendixes

We will prefer cases that include visuals and links to video materials and that require students to combine data-driven and analytical reasoning with more creative thinking styles. Each case author will also be responsible for constructing a teaching note (max 3000 words and for instructor’s use only) with the following structure:

• Case summary for instructors
• Teaching Objectives
• Teaching Strategy and assignment suggestions (differentiated for undergraduate and graduate courses)
• Reference and additional materials (videos are encouraged)

The deadline for submission is December 30th, 2024. All cases will be reviewed, and authors will be notified on or before April 1st, 2025. Revised cases will have to be submitted by June 1st, 2025.

To submit your cases or for any questions, please email the editors:
Dr. Carmine P. Gibaldi; gibaldic@stjohns.edu or Dr. Luca Iandoli: iandolil@stjohns.edu

See the full call for cases (pdf)

Guest Editors:
Kisito F. Nzembayie (Trinity College Dublin, Ireland) (kfutonge@tcd.ie) (co-corresponding GE)
Gustav Hägg (Malmö University, Sweden) (gustav.hagg@mau.se)
Magnus Klofsten (Linköping University, Sweden) (magnus.klofsten@liu.se)
Agnieszka Kurczewska (University of Lodz, Poland, and Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway) (agnieszka.kurczewska@uni.lodz.pl)
Pierluigi Rippa (University of Naples Federico II, Italy) (pierippa@unina.it)
David Urbano (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain) (david.urbano@uab.cat) (co-corresponding GE)

Scope of the special issue

Recent global events have brought to the forefront the reality of living in turbulent times, characterized by frequent and impactful unexpected occurrences often referred to as “Black Swan” events by Taleb (2007). These events, characterized by their radical and uncertain nature, hold profound and enduring implications for societies and the intricacies of economies. They significantly disrupt entrepreneurship by unsettling supply chains, altering financial flows, shifting investment patterns, and challenging established long-term strategies that may no longer be applicable. Moreover, these events are becoming increasingly commonplace (Krammer, 2022), necessitating a reevaluation of established theoretical assumptions about entrepreneurship (Sharma et al., 2022). In particular, assumptions based on stable macro-environmental conditions are becoming less dependable. The recurrent turbulence can be attributed, in part, to the interconnectedness of modern economies, which are highly vulnerable to global disruption. This interconnectedness is driven predominantly by digital technologies that have effectively compressed spatial and temporal boundaries (Nambisan, 2017). Within this context, digital entrepreneurship (DE) has emerged as a crucial driver of economic growth and resilience. It serves as an avenue for adaptation and survival (Zahra et al., 2023). Nonetheless, the ways in which entrepreneurs leverage DE in various contexts to mitigate risks and seize opportunities during turbulent periods remain inadequately explored and understood.

The role of DE solutions in ensuring economic continuity has become more evident, particularly in societies equipped to harness enabling technologies effectively. However, the theoretical understanding of DE remains limited, offering insufficient insights into how it enhances resilience both at organizational and societal levels (Nambisan, 2017; Kraus et al., 2019; Beliaeva et al., 2019). The field of entrepreneurship research has struggled to keep pace with the rapid evolution of emerging trends like artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and advancements in cloud computing. As technology continues to advance faster than theory, research must urgently bridge the growing knowledge gaps (Giuggioli & Pellegrini, 2022). The introduction of large AI language models, such as ChatGPT, towards the end of 2022 has brought about unanswered questions concerning the convergence of emerging digital technology changes, entrepreneurship, and the new normal of significant turbulence. For instance, existing research on entrepreneurial agency primarily revolves around human actors in venture emergence, leaving us grappling with understanding the role of computational agencies that increasingly emulate human intelligence. Consequently, this special issue aims to address knowledge gaps across three interlinked lines of inquiry: the digital entrepreneurial process and its consequences, digital entrepreneurial ecosystems, and the impacts of high-impact environmental turbulence.

A central challenge in addressing these knowledge gaps lies in the lack of clarity and conceptual ambiguity between DE and Entrepreneurship in the Digital Age (EDA). Often, the distinction between DE processes and other forms of EDA is overlooked, despite DE being a distinct and highly influential form of EDA with extensive repercussions. As highlighted by von Briel et al. (2018), not all digital technology-enabled entrepreneurial endeavors are equal. Building on this premise, we advocate for a more precise conceptualization of DE as the pursuit of opportunities rooted in digital artifacts (Ekbia, 2009) and digital platforms (Tiwana et al., 2010; Parker et al., 2016; Constantinides et al., 2018) as the core of new venture ideas and market offerings (Nzembayie & Buckley, 2022, p. 4). Meanwhile, digital infrastructures (Tilson et al., 2010) primarily function as external facilitators for various EDA forms, including DE (Davidsson, 2015), as well as other forms like digital academic entrepreneurship (Rippa & Secundo, 2019).

It’s important to note that our conception of DE goes beyond new venture creation solely in startup environments. DE also manifests within established firms as digital intrapreneurship (Klofsten et al., 2021). This more precise conceptualization allows research to explore the distinct roles, mechanisms, and consequences of the interrelated digital technology typologies on entrepreneurial processes. Recognizing their unique characteristics and technology affordances (i.e., action potential) (Gibson, 1977; Majchrzak & Markus, 2012; Autio et al., 2018) is crucial, as their impact on entrepreneurial processes cannot be equated.

By establishing conceptual clarity, we provide a framework for contributions that avoids the pitfalls of vague interpretations. We propose four primary theoretical lenses that can guide inquiries into the identified themes. First, institutional theory can shed light on the antecedent factors that foster the necessary conditions for digital entrepreneurial activity and their impact on societal development (Aparicio et al., 2016; Urbano et al., 2019). Second, the theory of technology affordances and constraints (Gibson, 1977; Majchrzak & Markus, 2012; Autio et al., 2018) can offer insights into the relationship between digital entrepreneurial actors and their technological agency. Third, the Technology, Agency, Context, and Time (TACT) framework, combined with the context (Welter & Smallbone, 2011) and ecosystem approach (Spigel, 2017; Stam & van de Ven, 2021; Zahra et al. 2023;) and the recently developed External Enablement theory (Davidsson et al., 2020), can identify and explain the causal mechanisms through which digital technology changes interact with actors to shape digital entrepreneurial processes. Finally, dynamic capabilities theory (Teece et al., 1997) can be valuable in elucidating how digital intrapreneurship is utilized to enhance organizational resilience in the face of ecosystem and environmental turbulence.

Submission deadline for full papers is February 1, 2025. A Paper Development Workshop (PDW) is planned to be organized during the ECSB RENT Conference in November 2024. Participation in the PDW is not mandatory but highly recommended. Further information about the PDW will be provided later.

Please see full details of the call HERE.

Guest editors:
Maura McAdam: Dublin City University Business School (maura.mcadam@dcu.ie)
Kathleen Randerson: Audencia Business School (kathleenranderson@yahoo.fr)
Cyrine Ben Hafaïedh: IESEG School of Management (c.benhafaiedh@ieseg.fr)

Scholars are invited to contribute to a Special Issue on “Digital Entrepreneurship: Taking Stock and Moving Forward” on ISBJ, set to be published in September 2026. This issue aims to advance the discourse on digital entrepreneurship by addressing critical yet unexplored dimensions, including its paradoxes, dark sides, and unintended consequences. 

The issue will explore themes such as ethical dilemmas, the impact on work-life balance, the digital divide, and the role of social media entrepreneurs.

Deadline to submit a manuscript: February 9, 2025 

For more details: McAdam et al., 2024 – ISBJ SI Proposal [Web Version] (sagepub.com)

Guest editors:
Gary Chapman, University of Nottingham, gary.chapman@nottingham.ac.uk
Robert Wapshott, University of Nottingham, robert.wapshott@nottingham.ac.uk
Annalisa Caloffi, University of Florence, annalisa.caloffi@unifi.it
Hanna Hottenrott, Technical University of Munich & ZEW, hanna.hottenrott@tum.de
Oliver Mallett, University of Stirling, oliver.mallett@stir.ac.uk

Introduction Background and Focus of the Special Issue:
In supporting small firms to innovate, grow and succeed, governments – and other actors – around the globe have long provided a range of business support (Chapman and Hottenrott, 2024; Mallett and Wapshott, 2020; Jurado and Battisti, 2019). The support on offer is wide-ranging and multi-faceted, including access to finance (Cowling and Dvouletý, 2023), innovation subsidies and grants (Caloffi et al., 2022; Chapman and Hewitt-Dundas, 2018; Hottenrott and Richstein, 2020) and a range of business advice services (Antcliff et al. 2021; Arshed et al., 2021; Bennett and Robson, 1999). The actors providing the support are increasingly wide-ranging (Hunt and Kiefer, 2017),
including national, local, regional, and international government agencies, universities, large businesses, independent consultants, social enterprises and venture capitalists.

Despite the substantial public and private resources devoted to business support across the globe, important unanswered questions and long-standing concerns surrounding its accessibility, design, and effectiveness remain. For example, Hamilton et al., (2024) highlight that differences, on the basis of gender, persist in access to resources and networks. From a historical perspective, Mallett et al., (2024) illustrate the difficulties in implementing innovative solutions to design more effective and inclusive forms of support. More widely, scholars including Curran (2000) and Fotopoulos and Storey (2019) have questioned the overall effectiveness of support interventions.

For this special issue, we invite contributions that advance these ongoing and crucial debates  surrounding the accessibility, design, and effectiveness of different types of business support for entrepreneurs and small firms. These debates include the centrality of business support to the context in which entrepreneurs operate and to prominent debates around research and development, productivity, place-based interventions, inclusivity and practitioner-oriented enterprise education. The audience will include researchers in these areas but also policymakers – and other actors – who are seeking to design, change and deliver more effective, inclusive and accessible business support.

Themes and Questions to be Addressed:
The special issue aims to advance understanding of the accessibility, design and effectiveness of different types of business support. An indicative list of questions that could be explored in the special issue may include:

• Accessibility: Who accesses different forms of business support and who does not? For what reasons and with what implications for business support effectiveness? How does accessibility vary across the types of business support and actors involved in its provision? How can the accessibility of business support be improved?
• Design: What business support is available and what forms does it take across a variety of contexts? How has business support developed over time, and with what implications for support provision today? How can governments and other actors design more inclusive, accessible and effective forms of business support? What factors inhibit the implementation of effective business support?
• Effectiveness: How effective are different forms of business support for supporting smaller firms’ growth, performance, behaviour, survival, innovation and other outcomes? Under what conditions are different forms of business support effective? How do the impacts vary when smaller firms receive multiple forms of business support simultaneously? How do the impacts vary across the different actors involved in the provision of different forms of business support?

Contributions could feature detailed quantitative, qualitative or mixed methods analyses of how different support interventions are associated with outcomes, detailed empirical or theoretical evaluations of programmes and lessons learned, fresh theoretical perspectives on the field, critical analyses of how practices may exclude, and more.

Key dates:
The deadline for submission of papers is June 27, 2025. The Special Issue is scheduled to be published in December 2026. Papers must be original and comply with ISBJ submission guidelines.

Please refer http://isb.sagepub.com/ for submission guidelines and a link to the on-line submission system. In the online system please ensure you submit your paper within Manuscript Type: “Special Issue: Business Support for Entrepreneurs and Small Firms: Access, Design, and Impacts”.

Questions and informal enquiries should be directed to: Dr. Robert Wapshott robert.wapshott@nottingham.ac.uk

Call for papers (pdf)