Metaphor use in the entrepreneurial process

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to critically investigate the use of metaphor in the entrepreneurial process. In particular, the paper focuses on how metaphors are used in the construction of the environment, a precondition for the creation of business opportunities. Design/methodology/approach – This paper reports on a two‐day meeting between Light, a management consultancy firm, and Epsilon one of their clients. The data are drawn from a larger ethnographic study within Light. The consultants and their clients are followed in their daily work. The focus was on how metaphor use influenced their organisational practices. Findings – Investigating the play of metaphors in Epsilon, it is shown how the firm's environment is created; a pre‐condition for understanding how entrepreneurial opportunities are created. It is shown how use of metaphor, understood as a mode of interpretation, is taking place over time, and how it is part of a relational, context‐dependent process. Research limitations/implications – The present study provides new ways of understanding the use of metaphor in the entrepreneurial process. It also indicates the need for a continued focus on language use in the entrepreneurial process. One limitation is that not all aspects of metaphor use are investigated. Practical implications – This research can help to influence practitioners to pay more attention to the use of metaphors, not only as a tool for creative thinking or the questioning of embedded assumptions, but also as a mode for interpreting, structuring and producing images of the environment and the organisation. Originality/value – This paper contributes to development of influences from the linguistic turn to entrepreneurship studies by exploring metaphor theory. One result of this focus on language is an increased sensitivity to metaphor use in the entrepreneurial process.