Journal of Entrepreneurial Innovations

SPECIAL ISSUE GUEST EDITORS:
Prof Chux Gervase Iwu and Dr Ntandoyenkosi Sibindi

SUPERVISING EDITOR:
Prof Zivanayi Nyandoro

Context
Both entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship education have been difficult to define. This is because there seems to be specific ways of looking at them. These ways include but not limited to the region (part of the world) (Kuckertz, Berger, & Prochotta, 2020; Flamini, Pellegrini, Manesh, & Caputo, 2021) you refer to, as well as the objective (reason for) of the definition (Alberti, Sciascia, & Poli, 2004). Considering the earlier  characterization, it can be argued that the role of entrepreneurship in an economy is said to differ according to regions, especially if evidence of entrepreneurial practice in developing economies is linked chiefly to growth in self-employment, and reduction in poverty. In developed economies, entrepreneurship is considered instrumental to the development and growth of innovative industries (Adusei, 2016; Crudu, 2019). Nonetheless, African entrepreneurship is said to be crucial to the growth of its economy despite its link to survivalist intent more than creative innovation. The question therefore is to what extent does the practice of entrepreneurship in Africa contribute to its economy if not much creative innovation flows from it? Furthering this perspective is the recent argument of the likes of Amjad, Rani, and Sa’atar, (2020); Mohamed, and Ali, (2021) who suggest a renewed thinking about entrepreneurship education. This renewed thinking about entrepreneurship education should focus on how it is taught/delivered and at what point in the levels of education it should start?

Some scholars (Ramaprasad, 1983; Zimmerman & Cuddington, 2007) have argued that the absence of a definition of a concept makes it difficult to understand how best to ‘practice’ it. Could this be the reason why entrepreneurship is yet to have an aligned pedagogy that is universally accepted? Could this also be the reason why entrepreneurship as a discipline is yet as attractive as ‘established’ economic and management sciences disciplines such as Marketing, Human Resource Management, Finance and Accounting?

Among many other tools for economic development, entrepreneurship education remains an important tool for entrepreneurship development in any economy. Currently, the way entrepreneurship is taught at universities and colleges is criticized for numerous reasons including the poor uptake of entrepreneurship as a career by graduates of entrepreneurship. A corollary to this is that entrepreneurship as a discipline is yet as attractive as ‘established’ economic and management disciplines such as Marketing, Human Resource  Management, Finance and Accounting. Again, most entrepreneurship education patterns are driven by  Western pedagogy leaving one to wonder whether the obvious lack of attraction and uptake of entrepreneurship as a career are linked to the dearth of African-oriented definition of entrepreneurship education. One equally wonders whether the development of an Africa-oriented definition of entrepreneurship education is necessary.

We believe this special issue will benefit every discipline. Entrepreneurs are found in all fields of study. Lately, medical science has begun teaching medical administration and management that includes aspects of entrepreneurial behavior.

This special issue seeks to close the gap on the following:
• Can there be a definition of entrepreneurship education that is unique to Africa?
• Is it possible to find a better way to teach entrepreneurship?
• At what level should entrepreneurship education start?
• What opportunities exist to make entrepreneurship education an attractive field of study?

In line with closing the above gaps, the call contributes to:
• Critiquing the current teaching styles of entrepreneurship
• Suggest creative ways of teaching entrepreneurship
• Offer contemporary expectations of entrepreneurship education
• Clarify whether the teaching of entrepreneurship should lead to a productive enterprise

Keywords
Entrepreneurship; Entrepreneurship Development; Entrepreneurship Education; Entrepreneurial Ecosystems, Higher Education; Basic Education; Curriculum and lecturer-competency; Entrepreneurship Intention; Socio-cultural orientations

Deadline for submission of papers: June 30, 2023
Expected publication date : The Special Issue operates on a rolling publication format. Once a paper is successfully reviewed, it will be released. The final publication date is September 30, 2023.

References
Adusei, M. (2016). Does entrepreneurship promote economic growth in Africa?. African Development Review, 28(2), 201-214.
Alberti, F., Sciascia, S., & Poli, A. (2004, July). Entrepreneurship education: notes on an ongoing debate. In Proceedings of the 14th Annual IntEnt Conference, University of Napoli Federico II, Italy (Vol. 4, No. 7).
Amjad, T., Rani, S. H. B. A., & Sa’atar, S. B. (2020). Entrepreneurship development and pedagogical gaps in entrepreneurial marketing education. The International Journal of Management Education, 18(2), 100379.
Crudu, R. (2019). The role of innovative entrepreneurship in the economic development of EU member countries. Journal of Entrepreneurship, Management and Innovation, 15(1), 35-60.
Flamini, G., Pellegrini, M. M., Manesh, M. F., & Caputo, A. (2021). Entrepreneurial approach for open innovation: opening new opportunities, mapping knowledge and highlighting gaps. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, 28(5), 1347-1368
Kuckertz, A., Berger, E. S., & Prochotta, A. (2020). Misperception of entrepreneurship and its consequences for the perception of entrepreneurial failure–the German case. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, 26(8), 1865-1885.
Mohamed, N. A., & Ali, A. Y. S. (2021). Entrepreneurship education: systematic literature review and future research directions. World Journal of Entrepreneurship, Management and Sustainable Development.
Ramaprasad, A. (1983). On the definition of feedback. Behavioral science, 28(1), 4-13.
Zimmerman, C., & Cuddington, K. (2007). Ambiguous, circular and polysemous: students’ definitions of the “balance of nature” metaphor. Public Understanding of Science, 16(4), 393-406.

ABOUT THE JOURNAL OF ENTREPRENEURIAL INNOVATIONS (JEI)
The Journal of Entrepreneurial Innovations (JEI) is a free-access, free to publish online journal that is published by the School of Business & Finance (SBF) at the University of the Western Cape. The JEI specialises in publishing research and analyses pertaining to entrepreneurship trends and particularly innovations in the small, medium, and micro enterprises (SMMEs).
By definition, entrepreneurship is a cross-disciplinary concept; as such, JEI encourages authors to position their research from multi- and inter-disciplinary perspectives. JEI seeks to enhance scholastic discourse in the numerous disciplines that affect SMMEs and entrepreneurship. This includes accounting, finance, general management, leadership, microfinance, entrepreneurship, small business management, management information systems, business law, marketing, project management, poverty alleviation, sustainable development, and ethics, among others. Above all, the journal seeks to provide greater dissemination of information and knowledge in these disciplines.

JEI’s Publication policy
JEI is a double blind peer-reviewed journal that is published as an open-access online journal. One volume constituting three issues (March, July, October) is published once a year.
The types of papers published include:
a. Research papers: these report on empirical scientific studies that provide new insights into theory, practice as well as methodologies applied to reach and verify findings of important concerns within emerging markets. Although there are no strict length requirements that are stipulated for this type of publications, research papers usually range from 5, 000 words to 7, 000 words (approx. 7 - 12 manuscript pages). JEI imposes a word limit of 10, 000 words per manuscript.
b. Conceptual papers: conceptual papers (i.e., ideas, concepts, or frameworks not yet empirically tested) are also encouraged. Submissions of this nature often includes the examination of novel theories, concepts, and ideas. The length of conceptual papers usually does not vary from research papers and can range from 5, 000 words to 7, 000 words (approx. 7 - 12 manuscript pages).
c. Reviews: the journal also seeks to publish reviews of various publications including books, articles, and other contemporary phenomena. Generally, reviews are shorter in length, at approximately 2 to 4 manuscript pages.
d. Technical Reports: are usually written for a non-academic audience such as business managers and practitioners. The emphasis of technical reports is to encourage the dissemination of practical knowledge, which is of great importance but rarely published. These publications typically range from 2 to 5 pages.
e. Case studies: these are specific in-depth analyses of individual phenomena, businesses, or events. Case studies allow for a detailed introspection into a single phenomenon that facilitates problem solving.
f. Conference Special Issues: in certain instances, approved conference proceedings will be published in the Journal of Entrepreneurial Innovations as a Special Issue. All papers presented at such conferences will be published after going through the normal (double-blind) review process.
g. Doctoral proposals: as a means to promote the publication of research and scientific material of new and upcoming scholars, JEI encourages doctoral students to publish their research proposals. This is a unique offering for PhD students; this is particularly true given that PhD candidates in the developing world have limited research experience and not too many options to publish their work, this journal provides this platform as a research mentorship and training platform. Qualified supervisors will provide constructive feedback and the concerned candidates will be afforded the opportunity to improve on their proposals and theses. Specific guidelines are provided for Doctoral proposals, as these tend to be considerably short publications in the region of about 1, 500 and 3, 000 words.

For more information, please contact the Editorial Office on jei@uwc.ac.za.

Thank you very much.
Editor
Prof. Richard Shambare
Editor
Prof. Zivanayi Nyandoro