I handed in the final version of my second article. The first version is of september 2014, so it has seen a lot of revisions over the years. I really did my best to go into the needed details and I hope my promotor(s) will like this version, so I can start with searching a scientific magazin to get it published.
This is the abstract:
“This article explores the development of strong and weak ties in the social network of nascent student entrepreneurs and the role the five mechanisms of social networking play in the process of opportunity recognition and resource mobilization, through a longitudinal case study among seventeen student start-ups in the period 2009-2013.
Recent studies have focused on which networks would help entrepreneurs to become successful and what would be the best mix of strong ties and weak ties to build an organization upon. Only a few studies focused on how networks develop over time and the role the mechanisms of social networking play in this development.
All student entrepreneurs started their businesses in the last two years of their bachelor education. As part of their 6 month elective minor program each of them started a new business. They were interviewed directly after they had started their businesses and their activities were monitored while they were developing their businesses and networks over a period of three years.
This study adds to the current social network literature by analyzing how student entrepreneurs use the mechanisms of social networking while working on the entrepreneurial process of opportunity recognition and finding resources and especially make use of the advantages of being a student and being part of the network and resources of the university.”
The last weeks I also interviewed nine employees of the three companies I am going to write my next article about. I hope this time I won’t last that long to produce a version that can be published.