“How to Do Things with Words”: The Discursive Dimension of Experiential Learning in Entrepreneurial Mentoring Dyads

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to assess the mentoring impact in an experiential learning entrepreneurship program. We did three‐year participant observation in the major business school incubator of the Paris area with the aim to identify the interpersonal communicational strategies that mentors, which are confirmed entrepreneurs, use in order to influence nascent entrepreneurs' attitudes and behaviors in dyadic interaction. These communicational strategies are categorized as persuasion, engagement, criticism, and provocation. An additional two‐year field research allowed us to assess the impact of these communicational strategies at the individual (commitment, compliance, resistance) and the enterprise levels (business launching and fund‐raising).

Notes

1. A nascent entrepreneur is defined as “an individual who is in the process of starting a business, has committed resources to do it and expects to own at least part of it” (Langowitz and Minniti 2007, p. 346).

2. The pragmatic philosophical and linguistic tradition distinguishes among the intended effects (“illocutionary acts” in Austin's terms 1962) and the achieved effects (“perlocutionary acts,” ibid.) of communicative actions. Achieved effects correspond to the impact and outcomes of communication at the receiver level, in terms of cognitions, emotions, and subsequent actions.

3. The business school we researched elaborates specific pathways between the academic curricula and the school incubator. For instance, undergraduate and graduate students have the opportunity to do their internship in the school incubator, and can therefore launch their own venture while still at school. Graduate students may also integrate the school incubator after graduation. The school business incubator delivers degrees and ECTS credits.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Miruna Radu lefebvre

Miruna Radu Lefebvre is Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship at Audencia, France (AUDENCIA PRES LUNAM). She published qualitative and quantitative research on persuasive communication and entrepreneurship. Her main focus of interest is communication as strategical behavior.

Renaud Redien‐Collot

Renaud Redien‐Collot is Professor of Entrepreneurship and Head of the International Relations Department at Novancia, France. His main publications are dedicated to gender and leadership, minority entrepreneurship, entrepreneurship education, and intrapreneurial innovation.