Dan Wadhwani

Management and organization studies have long been interested in the social contexts and enduring consequences of individual and collective action. Yet it remains challenging to empirically observe both the situated nature of actions and their ultimate consequences. In this paper, we describe microhistory as an approach to theorizing that links the lived experience of individuals to their particular context in time and to their consequences on the continuity and change of social structures over time. It does so by reflexively employing dual temporal frames, a microtemporal frame suited for empirically grounded study of individuals in their moment in time, and a macrotemporal frame reflecting the researcher’s viewpoint and capable of identifying longitudinal changes in broader social structures constituting context and consequences over time. We describe the epistemology, method, and form inherent in theorizing with microhistory and consider its potential for management researchers as a complementary approach to grounded studies and longitudinal studies.

We articulate the value of historical methods and reasoning in strategic entrepreneurship research and theory. We begin by introducing the papers in the special issue, contextualizing each within one of five broader methodological
approaches, and elaborating on the applicability of each to other topics in entrepreneurship research. Next, we use the papers to induce a framework for integrating history into entrepreneurship theory. The framework demonstrates how historical assumptions play a formative role in operationalizing time and context in entrepreneurship research. We then show how variations in these treatments of time and context shape theoretical claims about entrepreneurial opportunities, actions, and processes of change. We conclude by discussing why this may be a particularly opportune time for strategic entrepreneurship research to develop a deeper historical sensibility.