Towards a dynamic learning perspective of entrepreneurship

This conceptual paper introduces a dynamic learning perspective of entrepreneurship that builds upon existing ‘dominant’ theoretical approaches to understanding entrepreneurial activity. As many aspects of entrepreneurial learning remain poorly understood, this paper presents key conclusions from in-depth empirical work and synthesises a broad range of contributory adult, management and individual learning literatures to develop a robust and integrated conceptualisation of entrepreneurial learning. Three interrelated elements of entrepreneurial learning are proposed – dynamic temporal phases, interrelated processes and overarching characteristics. The paper concludes by demonstrating how a ‘learning lens’ can be applied to create further avenues for research in entrepreneurship from a learning perspective.