Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal Launch Conference - Oakbrook Illinois, July 15-18, 2007
Conference Welcome
Dan Schendel
Michael A. Hitt
Co-Editors, Strategic
Entrepreneurship Journal
The SEJ Launch Conference was held in Oak Brook, IL, on July 15-18, 2007 and was generously supported by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. The major purpose was to define the aims and scope of the journal in the sense of topics, of which we have selected ten, to establish the territorial boundaries that we believe help define strategic entrepreneurship. These ten are not mutually exclusive, disjoint topics, but overlap and interrelate.
The two and one-half day conference was comprised of ten sessions, plus ample opportunity to interact in an informal atmosphere of a reception on Sunday, an evening of food on the hotel grounds outdoors on Monday evening, and a Tuesday event in the Sears Tower in downtown Chicago. We wrapped up the conference with a luncheon on Wednesday.
Interactive Idea Exchange
We wanted moderators, authors, discussants, editors and editorial board members and other attendees to interchange their ideas, learn from one another, and in the end, influence the material that will appear in the defining Volume 1 of the SEJ. Here is how we think that can work:
SEJ Contents
Volume 1 of the SEJ will contain the invited papers, revised, extended and influenced by the product of the conference and the revision work that will follow it. In addition, it will also contain appropriate comments around each of the ten topic sessions. Moderators, discussants and editors will contribute this material as appropriate and as determined by the Co-Editors.
Sessions.
The conference began with the sessions. The order of these session presentations was largely determined by the schedules of busy persons. Of course, there was no optimal flow, but we strongly believed that entrepreneurship as a process begins with imagination, ideas, innovation, and invention, and you can see that reflected in the ten topics, and we also believe these four words, all of which begin with an “i”, represent some sort of process, not necessarily conducted within a single person, or at one instant in time, although that certainly happens, but also occurs through organization and management of complex systems.
Session Participants and Their Roles.
Each session was presented by a panel. The panel was composed of a Moderator, who was the leader of the discussion, not just as an MC, but as a commentator and arbiter of specific issues that should be discussed and given priority in the 105 minutes that was devoted to each session topic. At least two presenters had time to present issues that each (and their co-authors) developed in their respective papers. The presenters did not present their papers in their entirety, but presented only the most significant issues that were developed in their papers, and which they believed helped define the topic and thereby a research agenda. The discussants were reviewers and commentators on the nature of the topics presented, or on topics which they believe should have been presented at the session.
Beyond the time allotted to each member of the panel to present and comment, the Moderator engaged the audience in the topic conversation to the extent possible. All sessions were recorded, not for publication, but for use by the authors and editors in revising and preparing the material for inclusion in Volume 1. The Moderator and Discussants were invited, as deemed appropriate by the Co-Editors to prepare written comments for Volume 1 of the SEJ.
Interaction
Above all, we wanted the entire conference to be interactive, one that involved every attendee who wished to make a contribution on the topic under discussion. It was the responsibility of the Moderator to help insure that interaction, and the Moderator in effect helped the presenters by insuring the comments were positive and constructive, and of value to the development of the topic itself.
Paper Revisions
When the conference ended, the work of the paper authors will be to revise their papers in light of oral and written comments made to them through the editor charged with handling the paper and accepting it for publication in Volume 1. Two requirements expected to be met for publication: 1) timeliness, and 2) quality. In terms of timeliness, the finished paper was expected by October 1, 2007 for further editorial processing and printing. From the end of the conference until October 1, any requirements placed on the paper by the editor should be completed and the paper made ready for acceptance on the basis of content, and for the necessary copy editing to make the paper ready for printing.
Volume 1 will appear in two special issues. The material it contains will be copyrighted, with the Strategic Management Society as the copyright holder. The material will be published by John Wiley and Sons, Inc. in both print and electronic form. All SMS members will receive the SEJ along with the institutional and individual subscribers, all expected to be about 4000 in print volume.
Importance of Roles
To make this work well and efficiently, everyone must play their role as outlined above. A role for everyone in attendance was to do the best job they could of familiarizing themselves with the papers that were electronically presented in draft form to them prior to the conference. To play our roles well, all of us in attendance needed to be prepared for a positive, constructive conversation about strategic entrepreneurship and its future.