Creating New Knowledge
Academic Research Matters
If we want to push the frontiers of what is known, we often engage in academic research. When there is a topic you do not understand or a new idea brought into a conversation, the understanding of the topic is advanced when someone says, "There's a study that says..."
We are in the process of designing, executing, and delivering those studies at the intersection of faith and entrepreneurship. We have completed multiple studies published in leading academic journals, based on the Financial Times Top 50 business journals. We are also creating pathways for other academics around the world to more actively participate in the research - through an academic research conference, a PhD seminar, and a postdoctoral program on faith and entrepreneurship.
We are creating academically rigorous, practically relevant research and research pathways at the intersection of faith and entrepreneurship.
Read recent L.I.F.E. Research Lab publications below.
L.I.F.E Research Lab Publications
Now we see in the mirror, dimly: From organizational identity opacity to transparency of a faith-based accelerator.
Jones, J., Smith, B. & Conger, M. (2017). Now we see in the mirror, dimly: From organizational identity opacity to transparency of a faith-based accelerator. Frontiers of Entrepreneurship Research – Best Paper Proceedings.
Why believe? The promise of research on the role of religion in entrepreneurial action.
Smith, B., Conger, M., McMullen, J. & Neubert, M. (2019). Why believe? The promise of research on the role of religion in entrepreneurial action. Journal of Business Venturing Insights, 11: e00119.
Bridging worlds: The intersection of religion and entrepreneurship as meaningful heterodoxy. Journal of Business Venturing Insights.
Smith, B.R., Gumusay, A.A., & Townsend, D.M. (2023)
Toward a theological turn of entrepreneurship: How religion could enable transformative research in our field.
Smith, B., Cardon, M. & McMullen, J. (2021). Toward a theological turn of entrepreneurship: How religion could enable transformative research in our field. Journal of Business Venturing, 36.
Navigating the highs and lows of entrepreneurial identity threats to persist: The countervailing force of a relational identity with GodSmith, B., Lawson, A., Jones, J., & Dubard-Barbosa, S.
Brett R. Smith, Amanda Lawson, Saulo Dubard Barbosa, Jessica Jones
Trying to serve two masters is easy, compared to three: Identity multiplicity work by Christian impact investors.
Smith, B., Lawson, A., Jones, J., Holcomb, T., & Minnich, A., (2022). Trying to serve two masters is easy, compared to three: Identity multiplicity work by Christian impact investors. Journal of Business Ethics.
Current Projects
Identity and Organizations
Identity and Organizations. Smith, B., Lawson, A., Jones, J., Conger, M., & Dubard-Barbosa, S.
Faith and Family Business.
Faith and Family Business. Lawson, A. & Smith, B.
Identity and Timing in Entrepreneurship
Identity and Timing in Entrepreneurship. Smith, B., Peets, B., Lawson, A. & Conger, M.
Academic Research Bibliography
Practitioner Resource Guide
Companion Publications
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Business Horizons
A bimonthly publication from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University that aims to identify important business issues/problems and recommends solutions to address them, striking a balance between practitioner and academic audiences.
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Harvard Business Review
A library of academic and practitioner articles covering a vast range of subjects related to business, including topics of identity, management, diversity, and culture.
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Entrepreneurial Exchange
A peer-reviewed journal out of the Schultze School of Entrepreneurship at University of St. Thomas that focuses on academic research and experience-grounded studies for the purpose of creating relevant and practical knowledge.
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L.I.F.E. Research Conference
Videos from the inaugural conference are available on our YouTube channel. Hear keynote addresses from Jeffrey McMullen and Roy Suddaby, along with six different panel sessions on a variety of research topics.
Featured Work
Navigating the highs and lows of entrepreneurial identity threats to persist: The countervailing force of a relational identity with God
Brett R. Smith, Amanda Lawson, Saulo Dubard Barbosa, Jessica Jones
While an economic paradigm has been productive for entrepreneurship, religion has been proposed as an alternative rationality to advance research in our field. To extend a theological turn in entrepreneurship and identity research, our study inductively develops a conceptual model that explains how individuals navigate entrepreneurial identity threats based on the interaction between a relational identity with God (RIG) and an entrepreneurial identity to persist in entrepreneurial action. Our study suggests this can happen when entrepreneurs engage in inter-identity work mechanisms - affirming and humbling - to mitigate these identity threats. Specifically, a relational identity with God acts as a countervailing force to an entrepreneurial identity during times of identity threats to generate inter-identity meaning change, resulting in interidentity stability and entrepreneurial persistence. Through our study, we advance knowledge on the theological turn in entrepreneurship and identity by inductively developing theory on a new religious identity construct (RIG), elaborating theory of inter-identity work by shifting the focus from structural to content changes, and extending theory on entrepreneurial action, persistence, and well-being based on theological rather than economic considerations.