Montpellier Research in Management

Entrepreneurship

The Entrepreneurship and SMEs Group is led by Olivier TORRES and Annabelle JAOUEN (MBS). It brings together faculty members from various disciplines, including entrepreneurship, public management, strategy, human resource management, and management. The focus is on entrepreneurship in the broadest sense of the term, extending beyond mere business creation. The group is also cosmopolitan, rich in cultural diversity.

The Entrepreneurship group focuses on the act of entrepreneurship itself, examining it from the perspective of entrepreneurs (health, profiles, behaviors), support structures, and the ecosystem in which they operate (business models, performance, processes, selection, coopetition, competitiveness clusters, stakeholder strategies, governance), and the companies themselves (sustainable development, corporate social responsibility).

The Entrepreneurship Group focuses its research efforts on three major, non-mutually exclusive areas: the Entrepreneurial Support Lab (1), sustainable development and health (2), and entrepreneurship and innovation (3).

Research Topics

Topic 1: Entrepreneurial Support Lab

The Entrepreneurial Support Lab is a group that has already been identified as part of the Labex Entreprendre initiative. It is divided into two thematic areas.

– The first focuses on entrepreneurial support provided by support organizations in the broadest sense of the term. The goal is to explore evolving business models and new forms of support. Incubators (the Anglo-Saxon definition of the term) have become businesses like any other. Navigating the balance between cooperation and competition, their strategies are constantly evolving and challenging their business models. New tools must be developed to maintain a high level of performance in an ecosystem transformed by the arrival of new private players. Alongside the study of support structures’ business models, new forms of support are being explored, such as those provided to specific target populations (artist-entrepreneurs) or to companies characterized by core values such as liberation or sustainable development (liberated companies, sustainable companies).

– The second theme focuses on entrepreneurial ecosystems and the pursuit of opportunities. Opportunity pursuit depends in part on the nature of entrepreneurial ecosystems, which offer conditions that are more or less conducive to such efforts. This program examines the emergence and development of entrepreneurial ecosystems. Many actors are developing initiatives to foster innovation and entrepreneurship, thereby giving rise to micro-ecosystems. The challenge is to better understand the ecosystem strategies implemented by these actors. This program also addresses the pursuit of opportunity in various contexts, such as local governments, the internationalization of eco-SMEs, business succession, and poverty. The goal is to better understand the determinants of the pursuit of opportunity from both individual and collective perspectives.

Theme 2: Sustainable Development and Health

The second focus area is titled "Sustainable Development and Health." It is also divided into two subthemes.

– The first focuses on studies of executives’ occupational health and its managerial and entrepreneurial implications. The goal is to generate actionable knowledge about executives’ health. Cohorts of several hundred business leaders have been established; these enable us to monitor their health and continuously update databases, which serve as the raw material for research questions. One of the ongoing research projects aims to define the concept of“salutopreneurialcapital” (a portmanteau of“salutogenic” and “entrepreneurial”) and to demonstrate its positive impact on both entrepreneurship (by drawing on concepts such as entrepreneurial orientation and entrepreneurial vigilance) and on health (measured using both Pines’ burnout scale and Cohen’s GHQ-12).

– The second research area focuses on CSR and sustainable development in SMEs. It examines how SME executives perceive sustainable development (SD), as well as the factors driving their commitment to SD initiatives and the resulting performance. The aim is, on the one hand, to examine the links between executives’ perceptions and their responsible actions. The objective is to observe and understand managers’ decision-making and learning processes regarding sustainable development and to identify discrepancies between what they think, say, and do. These studies, which prioritize qualitative methodologies, focus in particular on the determinants of responsible engagement as well as on the observation of specific populations and contexts (such as women entrepreneurs and networks). Another focus is on studying the influence of personal, organizational, and environmental factors on corporate behavior, control and reporting practices, as well as the forms and level of performance in its broadest sense. These studies are part of surveys conducted across a dozen countries within the International Observatory of Sustainable Development in SMEs® (LabEx Entreprendre). CSR issues are also central to this research initiative. CSR is assessed in particular through the beliefs, values, worldviews, and perceptions of executives, and through the impact these dimensions may have on the company’s management system and the development of socially responsible practices.

Theme 3: Entrepreneurship and Innovation

Finally, the third research area, Entrepreneurship and Innovation, is based on research into new entrepreneurial behaviors: types of entrepreneurs and innovations, entrepreneurial contexts, and individual and collective behaviors. Several levels of analysis are maintained: individual (entrepreneurs, owner-managers, teams, family businesses, etc.), organizational (small businesses, cooperative enterprises, etc.), and the aggregate level (regions, industries). The program also examines motivations for entrepreneurship, modes of entrepreneurship and market entry (new firms, takeovers, internationalization, etc.), entrepreneurial behavior, strategic entrepreneurship, and the outcomes of entrepreneurship.

Group leaders

Olivier TORRES
Group Director
Contact

Jean-Marie COURRENT
Assistant Director
Contact

Permanent Members

Associate Members

Doctoral students

Major Conferences on Entrepreneurship and Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises

  • AIMS – International Association for Strategic Management,
  • AOM (ENT Div.) – Academy of Management – Entrepreneurship Division,
  • BCERC – Babson College Entrepreneurship Research Conference,
  • CAEI – Conference of the Academy of Entrepreneurship and Innovation,
  • CIFPME – International Francophone Conference on Entrepreneurship and SMEs,
  • ECSB – European Council of Small Business,
  • EURAM – European Academy of Management,
  • ICSB – International Council of Small Business,
  • IECER – Interdisciplinary European Conference on Entrepreneurship Research,
  • NCSB – Nordic Conference on Small Business Research,
  • RENT – Research in Entrepreneurship and Small Business.

Leading Journals in Entrepreneurship and SMEs

  • E&I – Entrepreneurship and Innovation (unclassified journal),
  • ERD – Entrepreneurship and Regional Development (CNRS: 3, HCERES: B),
  • ET&P – Entrepreneurship Theory & Practice (CNRS: 1, HCERES: A),
  • FBR – Family Business Review (CNRS: 2, HCERES: A),
  • IJEI – International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation (CNRS: 4, HCERES: B),
  • ISBJ – International Small Business Journal (CNRS: 2, HCERES: A),
  • JBV – Journal of Business Venturing (CNRS: 1, HCERES: A),
  • JIE – Journal of International Entrepreneurship (CNRS: 3, HCERES: B),
  • JSBM – Journal of Small Business Management (CNRS: 2, HCERES: A),
  • RE – Journal of Entrepreneurship (CNRS: 4, HCERES: B),
  • RFG – Revue Française de Gestion (CNRS: 4, HCERES: B),
  • RIPME – International Journal of SMEs (CNRS: 4, HCERES: B),
  • SBE – Small Business Economics (CNRS: 2, HCERES: A),
  • SEJ – Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal (CNRS: 2, HCERES: A).

Conferences:

Videos:

Articles:

Theses:

Bernard Marie AUGUSTIN

Subject: The Impact on the Health of Business Leaders (SMEs/Micro-Enterprises) in the Context of Insolvency Proceedings (Reorganization, Judicial Liquidation)

Thesis keywords: Corporate executives’ health, Insolvency proceedings, Emotions, Affectivity

Thesis advisor: Olivier TORRES

Thesis advisor: Charles PUEL

Constance BANC

Topic: Strategy and Performance in Innovation and Entrepreneurship Ecosystems

Thesis keywords: Innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem, entrepreneurial support, performance, ecosystem strategy,

Thesis advisor: Karim MESSEGHEM

Alexandre BENZARI

Subject: Technostress & Health: A Comparative Study of the Effects of Technostress on the Health and Work Performance of Employees and Entrepreneurs.

Thesis keywords: Technostress – Health – Work performance – Employees – Entrepreneurs – Effects

Thesis advisor: Olivier Torres

Co-advisor: Anis Khedhaouria

Marcela Contreras-Cruz

Subject: Collective Pursuit of International Business Opportunities by Eco-SMEs

Thesis keywords: Eco-SMEs, collective strategies, international entrepreneurship, networks

Thesis advisor: Karim MESSEGHEM

Thesis co-advisor: Alexis CATANZARO

Véronique CSANYI-VIRAG

Topic: “To what extent do women in the construction trades adopt strategic behaviors that promote inclusion?”

Thesis keywords: Inclusion, Diversity, Women,

Thesis advisor: Marion POLGE

Michèle EL-KHOURY

Topic: Support for Business Restructuring: A Critical Analysis, Methods, and Challenges

Thesis keywords: Support for liberation, liberated company, organizational agility, theory of paradoxes, critical approaches,

Thesis advisor: Sylvie SAMMUT

Co-advisor: Annabelle JAOUEN

Mireille HERAL

Topic: Supporting Eco-SMEs in the Global Market: The Case of Collaborative Strategies

Thesis keywords: International business support, eco-SMEs, collaborative strategies, international entrepreneurship, networks,

Thesis advisor: Karim MESSEGHEM

Thesis co-advisor: Alexis CATANZARO

Emna MAALOUL

Topic: The Development of CSR in Tunisian SMEs in the Context of Post-Revolutionary Social Dialogue.

Thesis keywords: CSR – SMEs – Disengagement – Social dialogue

Thesis advisor: Jean-Marie COURRENT

Co-advisor: Olfa ZERIBI BEN SLIMANE

Amandine MAUS

Subject: Toward a New Business Model for Entrepreneurial Support?

Thesis keywords: Entrepreneurship, Forms of entrepreneurial support, Generation Y, public support structures, private incubators, performance

Thesis advisor: Sylvie SAMMUT

Charlotte MOYSAN

Topic: An Analysis of the Effectiveness of Preventive Measures on the Health of SME Executives in Insolvency Proceedings (Reorganization and Judicial Liquidation)

Thesis keywords: Insolvency proceedings – Healthcare – Entrepreneurs – SMEs – Business failure – Filing for bankruptcy

Thesis advisor: Olivier TORRES

Ouafa OUALFI

Topic: Support Strategies and Practices of European Academic Incubators and the Performance of Academic Spin-offs

Thesis keywords: Academic incubators, academic spin-offs, entrepreneurial support, incubator performance.

Thesis advisor: Karim MESSEGHEM