Entrepreneurial behaviour in a large traditional firm: exploring key drivers

Innovative use of resources to pursue opportunities has become vital for all organizations. Even large traditional firms operating in stable and mature markets increasingly stress entrepreneurial initiative as a key element in their strategic long-term orientation. While traditional management literature has identified contextual features that foster entrepreneurial activity, little research has looked at why -in the same objective organizational context- some managers act entrepreneurially and others do not. I recognize the importance of context in shaping managerial behaviour. However, while differences in the behavioural context might explain variance in entrepreneurial behaviour between companies, they fail to explain variance within the same company. Drawing on literature in entrepreneurship, strategic management, organizational behaviour and social cognitive theory, I present a model on the micro-foundations of entrepreneurial behaviour in large traditional organizations. I propose that entrepreneurial behaviour is largely affected by managers' subjective interpretations of their supportive context and their set of cognitive and emotional characteristics. Furthermore -acknowledging a proactive role of individuals in controlling their own behaviour and cognition- I introduce entrepreneurial self-efficacy beliefs -defined as managers' perceived capability to perform entrepreneurial tasks- as a critical influencer of actual entrepreneurial behaviour. I empirically test this model and use structural equation modeling (SEM) to analyze data from 150 middle managers of a large European financial service company striving to become "entrepreneurial". Preliminary findings reveal that managers' subjective interpretations of their sociopolitical support and access to resources significantly stimulate entrepreneurial behaviour. Contrary to the predictions of the literature, individual cognitive and emotional characteristics do not affect entrepreneurial behaviour directly, but are critical in shaping managers' perceptions of their "playground for action". Furthermore, findings suggest that managers' entrepreneurial self-efficacy beliefs are a powerful predictor of entrepreneurial behaviour. They are critical to translate perceptions of context and individual characteristics into behaviour, and represent an important cognitive and motivational device to steer and regulate entrepreneurial behaviour. Based on an explorative yet rigorous research design, this study broadens our understanding of the main determinants of entrepreneurial behaviour within established organizations and consolidates various streams of literature. Last but not least, it offers valuable insights for managerial practice on how to encourage entrepreneurial behaviour across multiple levels of the organization.Entrepreneurship; intrapreneurship; emotional intelligence

Social entrepreneurship: Taking stock and looking ahead

This essay sets out to take stock of existing endeavors to conceptualize Social Entrepreneurship. We illustrate the context-specific nature of the phenomenon and derive implications for fostering social entrepreneurship as a positive force for social and economic development. The paper has two main objectives: first, to stimulate a productive agenda for future research that goes beyond questions of 'who' and 'what' by pursuing the important considerations of 'where', 'why' and 'how'; and second, in so doing, to generate real insights for advances in both theory and practice.social entrepreneurship; institutions; capitalism;

Opening the black box: Applying a people perspective to examine the origins of unit performance

This paper sets out to identify the origins of performance differences between units within the same organizational and industry context. Building on and reconciling diverse research streams, it empirically tests the effect of strategic, individual and context factors on profit growth. The study complements traditional research in strategy by advancing a "people-oriented perspective". More in particular, it centers on middle managers and emphasizes the importance of their actions aligned with strategy, their demographic characteristics, and their immediate competitive environment in stimulating performance. Data on 119 managers and units of a European financial services firm suggest that how managers enact strategy, who they are, and where they are significantly affect the performance of their units.unit performance; enacted strategy; middle managers; demographics;

Research on corporate unbundling: A synthesis

Unbundling operations, understood as the parent company's disposal and sale of assets, facilities, product lines, subsidiaries, divisions and business units, are emerging as a central topic of research in several areas. Yet a synthesis is still lacking, and differences in the terminology have created confusion. This paper stimulates and facilitates future research by unpacking the nature of unbundling operations. We suggest that outcomes of unbundling may be mediated by variables, such as factors at process and management level, which have been greatly neglected in existing research. The paper builds a framework on antecedents, process and outcomes of unbundling by integrating empirical findings and theoretical contributions. Furthermore, it identifies gaps in the existing literature and offers suggestions for future research on unbundling.Corporate strategy; restructuring; divestiture; divestment;

How intentions to create a social venture are formed. A case study

This exploratory study on one social entrepreneur challenges existing knowledge on the intention formation process of entrepreneurship. Drawing from social and cognitive psychology, we adapt an intention-based model from entrepreneurship and translate it to social entrepreneurship. Building on our findings, we argue that social entrepreneurs - like traditional entrepreneurs - experience perceptions of feasibility and desirability, and a propensity to act. However, complementing research on traditional entrepreneurs, we suggest that, in a preceding stage, social entrepreneurs develop social sentiments. Furthermore, we identify willpower, support, and the construction of opportunity as important antecedents of perceptions of feasibility and desirability, and propensity to act.social entrepreneurship; intention; cognition;

Social entrepreneurship: How intentions to create a social enterprise get formed.

Social entrepreneurship has raised increasing interest among scholars, yet we still know relatively little about the particular dynamics and processes involved. This paper aims at contributing to the field of social entrepreneurship by clarifying key elements, providing working definitions, and illuminating the social entrepreneurship process. In the first part of the paper we review the existing literature. In the second part we develop a model on how intentions to create a social venture -the tangible outcome of social entrepreneurship- get formed. Combining insights from traditional entrepreneurship literature and anecdotal evidence in the field of social entrepreneurship, we propose that behavioral intentions to create a social venture are influenced, first, by perceived social venture desirability, which is affected by attitudes such as empathy and moral judgment, and second, by perceived social venture feasibility, which is facilitated by social support and self-efficacy beliefs.entrepreneurship; social enterprise;

Social entrepreneurship. The contribution of individual entrepreneurs to sustainable development

Social entrepreneurship is a phenomenon that has resisted attempts to establish a clear definition. A focus on organizational structures and/or what constitutes a worthy social cause has created a diverse set of terminology. Observing the positive social impact of entrepreneurs catering to basic needs, this paper recognizes their unique role in efficiently contributing to the achievement of sustainable development goals. From this perspective, the term "social" can be much better defined. The frameworks proposed in this paper should guide much-needed further research and facilitate decision making about more focused support from a financial as well as a learning perspective.Social entrepreneurship; sustainable development; value creation; needs;

Emergence of social enterprises and their place in the new organizational landscape, The

Recent dynamics in the social and economic environment have facilitated the emergence of new-hybrid-organizational forms, a phenomenon that has been frequently associated with the blurring of boundaries among the for-profit, public and nonprofit sectors. Focusing on social enterprises, a particular type of hybrid organizations emerging in the nonprofit sector, this paper suggests that the appearance of hybrid organizational forms triggers behavioral changes at the micro-the organizational-level, but hardly affects sector boundaries. The paper offers a fresh conceptualization of social enterprises, and furthermore presents an original way to classify traditional and new organizational forms according to economic, public and social authority. The new organizational landscape is illustrated.social enterprises; new organizational forms; non-profit sector; social authority;

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;

Organizational mechanisms of inclusive growth: A critical realist perspective on scaling

We investigate the challenge how the outcomes of innovation for inclusive growth, the novel organizational recipes, can be scaled to match the dimension of poverty. We conceptualize scaling as sustained event regularities between doing A and expected outcomes B. Building on a critical realist perspective, we develop an analytical framework of organizational closure and apply it to an extreme case, an organization with an inclusive growth model that has sustained event regularities for more than two decades. Our analysis reveals closure as an organizational competence with important implications for achieving scale in the context of poverty. We develop of a number of propositions between the link of organizational closure and scaling with implications for practice and further academic research.Organizational closure; social entrepreneurship; counterfactual analysis; retroduction;