Figure 4.4. The dialogic individual/value creation as an open system
Julien 2001). Moreover, this system is a complex type 9 (or ‘transcendental’) system in the sense given by Boulding (1956) and Le Moigne (1990). This system is capable of learning and creating; it is also capable of intention and may transform itself. Numerous works (Vesper, 1989; Woo et al. 1990) have shown how the strategies, or the projects themselves, may change in a significant manner even in the early stages of the process. As we have previously mentioned, this system is an open system. It interacts with its environment. It is also subjected to it and can be stimulated by the networks and milieus with which it interacts (Johansson, Karlsson and Westin 1994; Conti, Malecki and Oinas 1995). The system also draws resources and opportunities from its environment. To a certain extent, it can choose its environment and adjust it (Marchesnay and Julien 1989). The object studied in the field of entrepreneurship can thus be represented by Figure 4.4, with the
individual/new value creation dialogic in its centre.
This representation includes the main dimensions of the phenomenon, such as they have been highlighted by numerous researchers, and particularly Gartner (1985): the individual, the object created (creation and/or innovation), the environment and the process. The main difference lies in considering the individual and the object created as a dialogic, and placing this dialogic at the centre of our representation. In the following chapters, we explore both elements of the dialogic in more detail: the individual and new value creation. This