How actors move from primary agency to institutional agency: A conceptual framework and empirical application

This article contributes to the understanding of actors and agency in the theorization of institutional work. We analyse institutional work as a specific kind of social action that involves exercising institutional agency (with an articulate awareness of institutions) as opposed to primary agency (taking institutions for granted). We propose a conceptual framework for combining a view of actors, who have agency and may engage in institutional work, with a view of actors as socially constructed, in line with critical-realist ontology. Applying this framework to the empirical case of the Spanish social movement 15M, we examine how actors moved from having primary agency to having institutional agency and how organization mattered for this process. We find that organizing by experienced organizers, the founding of new organizations and prefigurative organization were of crucial importance for the increase in institutional agency

Mapping the (In)visible College(s) in the Field of Entrepreneurship

Despite the vitality and dynamism that the field of entrepreneurship has experienced in the last decade, the issue of whether it comprises an effective network of (in)formal communication linkages among the most influential scholars within the area has yet to be examined in depth. This study follows a formal selection procedure to delimit the ‘relational environment’ of the field of entrepreneurship and to analyze the existence and characterization of (in)visible college(s) based on a theoretically well-grounded framework, thus offering a comprehensive and up-to-date empirical analysis of entrepreneurship research. Based on more than a thousand papers published between 2005 and 2010 in seven core entrepreneurship journals and the corresponding (85 thousand) citations, we found that entrepreneurship is an (increasingly) autonomous, legitimate and cohesive (in)visible college, fine tuned through the increasing visibility of certain subject specialties (e.g., family business, innovation, technology and policy). Moreover, the rather dense formal links that characterize the entrepreneurship (in)visible college are accompanied by a reasonably solid network of informal relations maintained and sustained by the mobility of ‘stars’ and highly influential scholars. The limited internationalization of the entrepreneurship community, reflected in the almost total absence of non-English-speaking authors/studies/outlets, stands as a major quest for the field.Invisible College; Entrepreneurship; Bibliometrics

A missing operationalization: entrepreneurial competencies in multinational enterprise subsidiaries

We seek to provide a comprehensive operationalization of firm-specific variables that constitute multinational enterprise subsidiary entrepreneurial competencies. Towards this objective, we bring together notions from the fields of entrepreneurship and international business. Drawing on an empirical study of 260 subsidiaries located in the UK, we propose a comprehensive set of scales encompassing innovativeness, risk-taking, proactiveness, learning, intra-multinational networking, extra-multinational networking and autonomy; which capture distinct subsidiary entrepreneurial competencies at the subsidiary level. Research and managerial implications are discussed

Corporate entrepreneurship: Linking strategic roles to multiple dimensions of performance

Using data from a large European financial services firm which engaged in an entrepreneurial initiative to enhance its competitiveness, this paper explores the strategic role of middle managers in the context of corporate entrepreneurship and its link to multiple dimensions of performance. The findings indicate that middle managers’ role can be decomposed along four reliable and stable dimensions that are consistent with those suggested by the literature. Building on a stakeholder approach, the paper relates the identified roles to multiple dimensions of performance, namely to financial performance, customer satisfaction and employee satisfaction. Canonical correlation analysis –a useful and powerful method to explore relations among multidimensional variables– indicates a significant but weak relationship.corporate entrepreneurship; strategic roles; middle managers;

Corporate Entrepreneurship: An Empirical Study of the Importance of Strategic Considerations in the Creation of Radical Innovation

The recognition of the importance of entrepreneurial dynamics in corporate context is increasingly acknowledged in both entrepreneurship and strategic management literature, as firms today face a reality in which frame-breaking innovation is an important element of survival. From this understanding, the concept of Strategic Entrepreneurship (SE) has arisen, arguing a logic of focusing on the intersections between the two fields. This paper sets out to explore the SE construct empirically. Through seven case studies evolving around radical technological innovations, evidence is found of the importance of incorporation of strategic considerations taking place at several different levels of the organization, in order to obtain a desirable balance between entrepreneurial and strategic forces. An Integrative Model of Strategic Entrepreneurship is suggested based on this evidence.strategic entrepreneurship, radical innovation, case studies

Human Resource Management Challenges in a Slovenian Social Enterprise: A Case Study

There is a growing number of studies exploring social enterprise in order to increase the understanding of business sustainability and resilience in the social economy. However, little is known about how social enterprises or social entrepreneurs emerging from not-for-profit sectors have faced human resource management (HRM) challenges in practice. In this study, we focus on a hospitality social enterprise founded by social workers in Slovenia as a single case study. Through a series of combined interview and observation methods, we investigate the HRM challenges this social entrepreneur faced when pursuing sustainable social business. We uncovered four strategic and HRM challenges that contribute to the existing body of knowledge in the social enterprise literature. This study paves the way for future studies to focus on HRM in social enterprise

Corporate Entrepreneurship: Building a Knowledge-Based View of the Firm

Increasing globalisation and dynamism in the economy has made it necessary for established companies to regenerate themselves and renew their ability to compete. This is the goal of Corporate Entrepreneurship (CE) activities, which involve extending the firm’s domain of competence and corresponding opportunity set, through internally generated new resource combinations. The purpose of this study is to contribute to the understanding of the way the process of CE is developed within the organizations. In order to achieve this, a model relating key components of the CE process (opportunity, initiative and capability) to five phases of knowledge creation taken from Nonaka & Takeuchi is proponed.organizational knowledge creation; corporate entrepreneurship; knowledge-base view; innovation; development of capabilities