Knowledge that Transforms

This case tells the story of an entrepreneur couple who launched an upscale retail coffee business in a mid–sized college town in the Midwest. Barista's enjoyed immediate and overwhelming market acceptance and was even named “Entrepreneur of the Year,” yet had tremendous difficulty in obtaining expansion capital. The choice of legal advisor also proved to have enormous impact on the future viability of the business. Written from the perspective of the entrepreneurs, the case provides unique insight regarding the importance of cultivating the effective professional relationships needed for business success.

La Vida Local is a small organic food delivery business which was started with an investment of under $1,000. In 2008, less than 2 years after its inception, the company is grossing over $80,000. Profits, however, are minimal. Although Julie LaPorte, the owner/operator, is more interested in facilitating the consumption of organic foods than making money, she is exhausted. She wants to hire an employee to help out, but to do so she needs to find a way to generate more profits and to overcome her own desire to keep tight control over operations.

As the global economic downturn entered the last quarter of 2009, Jordan Baltimore, a young but experienced entrepreneur, had to consider alternative funding for his start–up company, Oyster Digital Media. He had planned for venture capital to develop his “Oysters”—electronic shelf tags for retail stores. He was ready to launch his business just as funding became scarce and uncertain. Should he continue to try for venture capital? Angel investors or Friends–and–Family were alternatives, but they could involve less money and delay.

The above article from Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, “Technological turbulence and the impact of exploration and exploitation within and across organizations on product development performance,” by Ulrich Lichtenthaler, published online on April 2012 in Wiley Online Library, DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-6520.2012.00520.x, has been retracted by agreement between the author, the Executive Editor, D. Ray Bagby, and Wiley Periodicals, Inc. The retraction has been agreed before print publication based on discussions about the presentation of the empirical results.

Article manuscripts are rarely accepted before being improved by their authors in response to editor recommendations. Therefore, authors who succeed in publishing their research in prestigious entrepreneurship journals must master the art of responding to critiques and critics while maintaining the integrity of their submissions. This article presents the results of a survey of editors to give authors authoritative guidelines for revising the presentation of their research so that their findings are more fully developed, accurately conveyed, and ultimately publishable. In a survey of 18 editors and associate editors of six top academic journals with missions to advance entrepreneurship, the editors identify major problems that authors face and proffer possible solutions.