The entrepreneur as hero and jester: enacting the entrepreneurial discourse

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Description/Abstract

Employing a social constructivist perspective, we argue that entrepreneurs are uniquely empowered by entrepreneurial discourse to bring about creative destruction. Analysis of the representation of entrepreneurship in the media suggests that entrepreneurs have a distinct presence in society that is shaped by cultural norms and expectations which present an entrepreneurial identity. But identity has two facts, the general, identified as "what" and the individual identity as "who". We explore the identity play of one flamboyant entrepreneur, Michael O'Leary, to show how he employs the entrepreneurial discourse to establish a unique entrepreneurial identity that is used to strategic advantage.