ABOUT THE CONFERENCE

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The 9th version of this Conference aims to make new connections across different scholarly fields that employ a practice theory perspective. It aims to advance our understanding of entrepreneurship-as-practice, foster network ties, facilitate collaborative writing relationships, and build a strong community of practice scholars.

This year we will focus on the intersection of entrepreneurship-as-practice with other practice approaches in management and organization scholarly community, and the broader contribution this can make to our approaches to and understanding of entrepreneurship and practice.

 

The conference includes keynote speakers, round table discussions, parallel presentations, a popular Paper Development Workshop, and many opportunities to get to know one another.

 

Confirmed keynote speakers for the conference include: Social Practice Theory Keynotes by Elizabeth Shove, Lancaster University and Allison Hui, Lancaster University. Entrepreneurship as Practice by Sarah Jack, Lancaster University, Sara Dodd, University of Strathclyde and William B. Gartner, Babson College. Strategy as Practice by Richard Whittington, University of Oxford. Information Management As Practice by David Allen,  University of Leeds.

 

The 9th version of this Conference will take place in-person only University of Leeds, UK.

 

BACKGROUND

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The practice tradition (also known as practice-based studies, the practice approach or the practice lens) forefronts the notion that practices and their connections are fundamental to all social phenomena (Rouse, 2006; T. Schatzki, Knorr-Cetina, & Savigny, 2001). For entrepreneurship it means that people “perform” ventures, startups and firms on an everyday basis through materially accomplished and ordered practices (Chalmers & Shaw, 2017; Hill,2018; Johannisson, 2011; Vincent & Pagan, 2019). This is to say that descriptions and explanations of entrepreneurship—such as, recognizing, evaluating and exploiting opportunities—are incomplete without the ‘alternate’ description and explanation of how entrepreneurial life is actually lived in and through practices (Gross, Carson, & Jones, 2014; Keating, Geiger, & Mcloughlin, 2013). The term ‘practice’, therefore, does not refer to an ‘empty’ conceptual category of ‘what entrepreneurs think and do’ (Sklaveniti & Steyaert, 2019), but encompasses the meaning-making, identity-forming and order-producing interactions (Chia &Holt, 2006; Nicolini, 2009) enacted by multiple entrepreneurial practitioners and situated in specific (historical) conditions. Therefore, practice theories orient entrepreneurship scholars to take seriously the practices of entrepreneuring as they unfold and are experienced in real-time rather than as they are remembered. Simply put, practice scholars are concerned with the ‘nitty-gritty’ work of entrepreneuring—all the meetings, the talking, the selling, the form-filling and the number-crunching by which opportunities actually get enacted (Matthews, Chalmers, & Fraser, 2018; Whittington, 1996).

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For background and information on EaP literature, prior conferences, media and other pertinent materials, please go to: https://www.entrepreneurshipaspractice.com.

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​The Conference aims at educating interested scholars as well as helps to develop empirical and conceptual papers regarding the ‘practice turn’ taking place in entrepreneurship studies. Building on the first (February 2016 at VU Amsterdam), second (February 2017 at University College Dublin Quinn School of Business), third (April 2018 at Linnaeus University), fourth (April2019 at Nantes Business School), fifth and sixth (virtual events), seventh (April 2022 at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam), and eighth (Leuphana University) Entrepreneurship-as-Practice (EaP) conferences, this conference will be held at University of Leeds.

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FURTHER INFORMATION

Location:

This year we are holding the EAP conference event, including accommodations and meals (excluding the gala dinner) at Weetwood Hall Estate (https://weetwood.co.uk/). Weetwood Hall Estate is a beautiful four-star hotel in Leeds, nearby the University campus. It is set within nine acres of beautiful woodlands and gardens and built around a 17th Century Jacobean Manor House. The hotel is steeped in rich history with parts of the property dating back as far as 1540.

 

Confirmed speakers:

We are happy to announce a wonderful group of scholars including, including Richard Whittington (Saïd Business School, University of Oxford), Sarah Jack (Lancaster University), Sara Dodd (University of Strathclyde), Allison Hui (Lancaster University), Elizabeth Shove (Lancaster University), and William Gartner (Babson College)– along with the organizing team (Orla Byrne (University College Dublin), Richard Tunstall (University of Leeds), Bruce Teague (Florida Gulf Coast University) and Neil Thompson (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam)

 

How to join:

There are three routes for you to join the Conference:

 

1. Submit paper to Paper Development Workshop. We welcome submission to our popular PDW sessions. The abstract is due 19th January. Please include Title, Author Names and Institutions, and you are submitting to the PDW. The abstract is maximum 500 words. Please submit the abstract to eap9conf@gmail.com. Upon acceptance, please notify if you plan to join. Early bird registration and final registration deadline see below. Deadline of the full paper is March 14th, 2024 to eap9conf@gmail.com. Full papers are 10,000 words maximum including references. 

2. Submit abstract to Emerging paper parallel presentation sessions. The presentation sessions gives scholars an opportunity to give and receive feedback on developing ideas or ongoing work, but are not yet ready to develop a full paper for the PDW. Early bird registration and final registration deadline see below. Deadline for the abstracts is March 8th, 2024. Please include Title, Author Names and Institutions, and you are submitting to the Emerging Paper Parallel Sessions. The abstract is maximum 500 words. Please submit the abstract to eap9conf@gmail.com. Upon acceptance we will communicate your date and time for your presentation.

3. No paper, no problem. We welcome scholars of all levels, who have an interest in EAP. The conference includes many opportunities to learn from keynote speakers, have roundtable discussions, and network with EAP scholars. You can also participate as an audience in the presentations and give feedback to PDW papers. We will have special breakfast mentoring sessions for PhDs and early career scholars. See registration deadlines below.

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Key Dates:

January 1st, 2024           General registration opens                 

January 19th, 2024          Abstract submission deadline for PDW                 

January 26th, 2024          Notification of acceptance to PDW

February 3rd, 2024          Early-bird registration deadline

March 8th, 2024               Abstract submission to presentation session deadline

March 9th, 2024               Notification of acceptance to presentation session

March 9th, 2024               Registration deadline (All participants)

March 14th, 2024             Full paper submission deadline (those accepted to PDW) 

April 3 – 5th, 2024            Conference Dates

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Conference Costs:

This year we are pleased to offer an all-inclusive rate! This includes three-night accommodation, all meals, including a gala dinner and demonstration at the Royal Armouries Museum (https://royalarmouries.org) + registration fee. Travel is not included.

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£610 Early Bird Rate (until 3rd February 2024) 

£660 Regular Rate (After 3rd February 2024)

£510 PhD Student Early Bird Rate (until 3rd February 2024) 

£560 PhD Student Regular Rate (After 3rd February 2024)

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Conference Costs (no accommodation):

Regular registration includes all meals, including a gala dinner and demonstration at the Royal Armouries Museum (https://royalarmouries.org) + registration fee. Accommodation and travel is not included. 

The deadline for registration is 9th March 2024.

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£412 Regular Rate

£312 PhD Student Regular Rate 

Accommodation (alternative)

For those who are not participating in the all-inclusive rates, we have organized reduced rate accommodation (starting at £85 per night) at Weetwood Hall Estate (Conference venue), please ring: 0113 230 6000 or email sales@weetwood.co.uk 

Other hotels close to the venue: Village Leeds North - £105 per night - please visit the following link:

Village Leeds North
reservations.travelclick.com

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Travel options:

​Air:

• Leeds-Bradford International Airport has daily flights from Amsterdam Schipol

• Manchester Airport Train Station to Leeds (Direct) – 56 miles – 1 hour and 10 minutes

• Airport and is 10 minutes by taxi (4.5 miles from conference hotel).

 

 

Train

• London King’s Cross Station to Leeds (Direct) 200 miles – 2 hours 20 minutes

• Edinburgh to Leeds (Direct) 223 miles – 3 hours (train)

• Manchester Airport Train Station to Leeds (Direct) – 56 miles – 1 hour and 10 minutes

• Leeds train station is 10 minutes by taxi to the conference hotel.

 

Registration:

You can register by clicking here

 

Academic enquiries (submission of abstracts and full papers)

eap9conf@gmail.com

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Administrative queries (questions about accommodation, registration, travel, etc.)

EAP9Admin@leeds.ac.uk

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References:

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• Chalmers, D. M., & Shaw, E. (2017). The endogenous construction of entrepreneurial contexts: A practice-based perspective. International Small Business Journal: Researching Entrepreneurship, 35(1), 19–39. https://doi.org/10.1177/0266242615589768

• Chia, R., & Holt, R. (2006). Strategy as Practical Coping: A Heideggerian Perspective. Organization Studies , 27(5), 635–655. https://doi.org/10.1177/0170840606064102

• Dodd, S. Anderson, A. &  Jack, S. (2023) “Let them not make me a stone”—repositioning entrepreneurship, Journal of Small Business Management, 61:4, 1842-1870

• Gross, N., Carson, D., & Jones, R. (2014). Beyond rhetoric: re-thinking entrepreneurial marketing from a practice perspective. Journal of Research in Marketing and Entrepreneurship, 16(2), 105–127. https://doi.org/10.1108/JRME-01-2014-0003

• Hill, I. (2018). How did you get up and running? Taking a bourdieuan perspective towards a framework for negotiating strategic fit. Entrepreneurship and Regional Development, 30(5–6), 662–696. https://doi.org/10.1080/08985626.2018.1449015

• Hui, A., Schatzki, T. R., & Shove, E. (2017). The nexus of practices : connections, constellations, practitioners. London: Routledge.

• Johannisson, B. (2011). Towards a practice theory of entrepreneuring. Small Business Economics, 36(2), 135–150. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-009-9212-8

• Keating, A., Geiger, S., & Mcloughlin, D. (2013). Riding the Practice Waves: Social Resourcing Practices During New Venture Development. Entrepreneurship: Theory and Practice, 38(5), 1–29. https://doi.org/10.1111/etap.12038

• Matthews, R. S., Chalmers, D. M., & Fraser, S. S. (2018). The intersection of entrepreneurship and selling: An interdisciplinary review, framework, and future research agenda. Journal of Business Venturing, In Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusvent.2018.04.008

• Nicolini, D. (2009). Zooming in and out: studying practices by switching theoretical lenses and trailing connections. Organization Studies, 30(12), 1391–1418.

• Rouse, J. (2006). Practice theory. In D. M. Gabbay, P. Thagard, & J. Woods (Eds.), Handbook of the Philosophy of Science (Vol. 15, pp. 500–540). Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-044451542-1/50020-9

• Schatzki, T., Knorr-Cetina, K., & Savigny, E. von. (2001). The practice turn in contemporary theory. (T. R. Schatzki, K. Knorr-Cetina, & E. von Savigny, Eds.). London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0956-5221(03)00029-0

• Sklaveniti, C., & Steyaert, C. (2019). Reflecting with Pierre Bourdieu: Towards a reflexive outlook for practice-based studies of entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship and Regional Development, (forthcoming), 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1080/08985626.2019.1641976

• Teague, B., Tunstall, R., Champenois, C. and Gartner, W.B. (2021), "Editorial: An introduction to entrepreneurship as practice (EAP)", International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, Vol. 27 No. 3, pp. 569-578, https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEBR-04-2021-872

• Neil A. Thompson, Karen Verduijn & William B. Gartner (2020) Entrepreneurship-as-practice: grounding contemporary theories of practice into entrepreneurship studies, Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, 32:3-4, 247-256, DOI: 10.1080/08985626.2019.1641978

• Vincent, S., & Pagan, V. (2019). Entrepreneurial agency and field relations: A Realist Bourdieusian Analysis. Human Relations, 72(2), 188–216. https://doi.org/10.1177/0018726718767952

• Whittington, R. (1996). Strategy as practice. Long Range Planning, 29(5), 731–735. https://doi.org/10.1016/0024-6301(96)00068-4

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