Institutional entrepreneurship as emancipating institutional work

Entrepreneurship plays an important role in the modern global economy; the share of products of small and medium enterprises in the gross product and exports not only of the developed but also of developing countries is growing. Innovation processes cover all sectors of the economy, and more and more people are involved in entrepreneurial activity, which contributes to the penetration of entrepreneurial thinking and business values in all areas of the socioeconomic life of society. The Institute of Entrepreneurship plays an increasingly prominent role in the institutional environment of socio-economic systems. This actualizes the problem of studying the relationship of the institution of entrepreneurship with the institutions of law, culture, management. This requires a methodology that allows you to explore the impact on the institute of entrepreneurship not only economic, but also non-economic factors. The methodology of the “old” institutionalism possesses such a tool, it is structural modeling (pattern modeling), which allows to explore the diversity of interrelationships of the institution of entrepreneurship with other components of the institutional and economic environment. The article explored the features of the development of the institution of entrepreneurship in Russia, established the relationship between the institution of entrepreneurship, values, motives and incentives for entrepreneurial activity, built a structural model of the institution of entrepreneurship based on the methodology of the old institutionalism (pattern modeling). The structural model of the institution of entrepreneurship reveals the relationship between the institution of entrepreneurship, the values of entrepreneurial activity, its motives and incentives; as well as the relationship between the institution of entrepreneurship with the institutions of governance, cultural and religious institutions, legal institutions and society.

We propose studying institutional change and the role of organizations behind it in real-time as the process unfolds and midstream without knowing the success or failure of the project.Our approach is in contrast to most analyses of institutional change that rely on retrospective accounts of successful institutionalization projects. This past methodology runs the risk of `sampling on the dependent variable,' limiting knowledge of the institutional change process to a narrow slice of successful cases. The context for this new approach to institutional change is the development of ‘American-style’ employee stock options (ESOPs) in German venture capital contracts from 1997 to 2000. We examine the attempts of ‘institutional entrepreneurs’ (German law firms) to alter the existing institutional environment to implement American-style ESOPs for their clients (venture capital firms and entrepreneurs). In contrast to past research on institutional change, our analysis reveals a more complex picture of the process of competition and collective action in leading to change. Our approach highlights the conflicting motives of organizational actors as they battle for and against institutional change.

Purpose– This paper aims to investigate how sports science was institutionalised and rapidly deinstitutionalised within a Premier League football club. Institutional theory has been critiqued for its lack of responsiveness to change, but recent developments within institutional theory such as the focus on deinstitutionalisation as an explanation of change, the role of institutional entrepreneurs and the increasing interest in institutional work facilitate exploration of change within institutions.Design/methodology/approach– The authors deploy a longitudinal case study which ran from 2003-2011. Data was collected via observations, semi-structured interviews and through extensive literature reviews.Findings– Via this longitudinal case study, the authors illustrate that the antecedents of deinstitution can lie in the ways by which an institution is established. In doing so, they highlight the paradoxical role potentially played by institutional entrepreneurs in that they can (unwittingly) operate as agents of institutionalisation and deinstitutionalisation. Their study suggests that the higher the performance imperative within a field, the more likely the institution as a generic concept will be deinstitutionalised and the more likely to be appropriated and customised in order to gain inimitability and thus competitive advantage. Finally, the authors make an additional contribution by integrating the affective aspects of institutional work to their analyses; stressing the role played by emotions.Research limitations/implications– As with many case studies, the ability to generalise from one case, however detailed, is limited. However, it provides evidence as to the paradoxical role that can be played by institutional entrepreneurs – especially in highly competitive environments.Practical implications– The study suggests that the HR function has a potential role to play with regards to institutional continuity through a focus on leader and institutional entrepreneur succession planning.Originality/value– The paper makes an original contribution by highlighting both institutional and deinstitutional work within a single case. It highlights the paradoxical nature of institutional entrepreneurs in highly competitive environments and illustrates the importance of emotion to institutional maintenance and deinstitution.

This thesis is a report of a theory-driven approach designed to evaluate the role of ‘institutional entrepreneurs’ in developing adaptive not-for-profit healthcare organisations.Thesis aim and objectives:The aim of this thesis was to seek the program theories that describe how, why and under what circumstances institutional entrepreneurs might build adaptive not-for-profit healthcare organisations; to examine the strategies they use, under which circumstances they are used, the projected outcomes of those strategies, and the underlying mechanisms driving adaptive change.Methods:This thesis is a realist evaluation, which involved two parts: (1) a rapid realist review to develop initial program theories, and (2) a realist evaluation of a case study to test and refine those theories. Part 1 was a rapid realist review of the relevant literature supplemented by six rounds of Delphi discussions with an Expert Reference Group (n=8) over a period of approximately 10 months. This was followed by Part 2, a realist evaluation case study of not-for-profit disability service providers in Queensland preparing for a large-scale mandated reform— the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). Data comprised of two rounds of realist, semi-structured interviews (n=39) and documentation review over a period of approximately 12 months.Findings:Eight program theories describing strategy-context-mechanism-outcome (SCMO) configurations were rigorously developed, tested and refined over the course of the study drawing on rich data. My contribution to the theory of institutional entrepreneurship and discourse of adaptive capacity is based on taking a forward-looking perspective. I provide strong evidence to demonstrate how the strategic work of institutional entrepreneurs before change can build adaptive organisations, thereby ensuring that organisations are ready to respond to disturbances in the field. The study’s final findings are presented under the themes of 1) Emergence, 2) Execution, and 3) Engagement, to show how such strategic work ensures that not-for-profits exhibit appropriate adaptive characteristics, including openness to change, learning, social networks, innovation, and collective leadership. Institutional entrepreneurs’ structural and content legitimacy are important, and can foster greater support and trust from staff towards new institutional logics and the legitimacy of change itself. Skilful rhetoric can overcome conditions of coercive pressure, institutionalised practices, and ongoing changes in the field by influencing individuals’ perceptions of adaptive change. The extent to which adaptive capacity penetrates into the culture of the organisation depends on the network of groups and individuals involved in its promotion.Conclusions:Addressing a need for greater adaptability in not-for-profit healthcare organisations, this thesis highlights the important role of institutional entrepreneurship to this area of inquiry. Practical implications can be drawn from the theoretical propositions uncovered in this thesis, regarding the use of strategies by institutional entrepreneurs wishing to prepare their organisations for ongoing change in the not-for-profit healthcare sector. The realist approach to inquiry has offered more useful focus areas for developing adaptive capacity, in that institutional entrepreneurs can make informed decisions based on the findings about what is likely to “work” in their unique situation. Organisational structure, historical factors, and the motivations and interactions of staff are factors that need to be taken into consideration in adaptive capacity building efforts.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of institutional entrepreneurship in opportunity formation and opportunity exploitation in developing emerging strategic new industries. Design/methodology/approach – The paper reviews the focal literature focussing on institutional entrepreneurs’ role in opportunity formation with special attention to opportunities for institutional entrepreneurs in emerging economy. A multi-method approach consisting of historical case studies and event sequencing is applied to track the historical development of the solar energy industry in two case contexts and to investigate the role of institutional entrepreneurs in this process. Findings – Investigation of two cases illustrates that different types of institutional entrepreneur, as represented by individual entrepreneurs and local government, in the context of massive institutional change – such as the Grand Western Development Program and the Thousand Talents Program in China – have varied effects on triggering and inducing institutional change and innovation to explore and exploit opportunities in emerging new industries. Practical implications – The significance of local context for the nature and scope of institutional entrepreneurship in emerging economy is worthy of further research. The top-down process of institutional innovation dominated by local government might cause myopic outcome and distortion of market opportunities. Indigenous individual entrepreneurs with well-accumulated political capital and strong perceived responsibility could be the main actors to introduce incremental institutional change by combining bottom-up and top-down processes and promoting sustained new industry development through creating and seizing institutional opportunities and market opportunities. Originality/value – This paper illustrates the close relationship between institutional environment and opportunity formation in emerging economies, contributes to the understanding of contextualizing institutional entrepreneurs in different regional contexts and discloses the problems involved in local government acting as an institutional entrepreneur.

This study examines the intergenerational collective action processes within the Kurdish diaspora, which emerged as a result of Kurdish migration to Switzerland for political reasons over the past 40 years. Forty individuals aged 18 to 72 were interviewed, and the data underwent qualitative analysis. The wide age range of participants allowed for insights into how the collective action processes of Kurds in the diaspora have evolved across generations. Thematic analyses revealed key factors such as intra-family socialization, cultural continuity, social space, emotional dynamics, and current political developments. The findings indicate that family interactions, discussions, and role modeling play a critical role in shaping the political consciousness and identities of younger generations. The use of the Kurdish language and participation in cultural activities emerge as significant elements in resisting assimilation and preserving ethnic identity. Additionally, media consumption was found to play an important role in politically informing the diaspora community and enhancing participation in actions. Emotional responses, such as anger towards political oppression and feelings of injustice, are highlighted as decisive in the intergenerational transmission of collective actions. This study contributes to the understanding of how diaspora communities sustain their identity, collective action, and resistance processes.

This article aims to analyze the production process of nonviolent collective action in a Afro-Colombian community in response to the social, political, environmental, labor conflicts that have jeopardized their stay in the territory. The artvile presents elements of analysis of ethnographic work conducted by the author in 2012 and 2013 in the municipality of Santander de Quilichao are presented. The theoretical development of the paper takes the concept proposed by Elisabeth Wood on “social processes of the Civil War” (2010) to establish correspondences between social dynamics generated by conflict –increased since 2008 in the region– and processes of collective action and identity agency of Afro-Colombians. Some of these conflicts are territorial tensions between different social actors in the processes of legalization and expansion of ethnic territories, mining, the process of Land Consolidation; and the strengthening of interethnic organizational alliances, and organizational process of black communities in the area. Under these conditions, the narratives of “ancestral”, “being black” and “autonomy” have become guiding axes of collective action that legitimizes the territorial presence of the study community and its demand in the access to rights such as collective ownership and consultation.

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to enrich empirical studies on institutional entrepreneurship (IE), more specifically those focusing on the role of the IE in building a new field (here the orphan drug [OD] field). This research addresses the main paradoxes of IE theories: a deterministic vs free agent point of view; an individual hero vs a collective action approach; and a change vs reproduction perspective.Design/methodology/approach– A case study of the role of an IE in the building of the OD field in Europe conducted through interviews with the main actors and in-depth documentary research.Findings– The case highlights the IE resources as products of a dynamic historical process driven by values; the process of building the field as an interaction between framing issues, mobilizing agents and resources, transforming a policy window into a political opportunity. It relativizes the IE role: an indispensable catalyst of collective action that can also reinforce the hegemonic bloc while changing the rules.Originality/value– The paper highlights the necessity of longitudinal analysis to address the agent/structure paradox.

Despite the relevance of the topic, an exhaustive psychosocial reflection on the processes that may facilitate patients' protest is still missing. The chapter provides a theoretical and empirical overview of psychosocial pathways for patients' collective action. Five core factors are reviewed: perceived injustice, group efficacy, group identification, moral convictions and social embeddedness. Each of them provides a different explanation of collective action processes and is examined for its potential impact among patients. The chapter closes suggesting some core elements for a theoretical explanation of patients' collective action and its relationship with patient engagement. Practical and theoretical implications of patients' collective action are discussed to identify new directions for future research and interventions.

Sport clubs traditionally focus on essential tasks such as organising local competitions, facilitating youth sport, and managing their volunteers. This primary focus can sometimes make it challenging to prioritise additional social initiatives such as developing more inclusive sports programs for disadvantaged communities. Despite the inherent difficulties, expanding the scope of sport clubs to embrace social inclusivity can significantly enhance their impact on both members and their local neighbourhoods. Central to addressing this social challenge are institutional entrepreneurs, who serve as exemplary sports clubs advocating the integration of both traditional responsibilities and social values within the sports sector. Recognising the pivotal role played by institutional entrepreneurs, this study aimed to delve deeper into the specific environmental characteristics and actions that trigger sport clubs to become an institutional entrepreneur. For this purpose, we applied the entrepreneurial model of Battilana, Leca & Boxenbaum (2009) . Employing a single-case study design, we focused on a Belgian amateur soccer club, conducting a comprehensive investigation through 22 semi-structured interviews. The findings yielded multiple interesting insights such as the role of the external environment (i.e., the competitive dynamics of soccer and the demographic shift in the club's neighbourhood) in initiating entrepreneurial initiatives. Furthermore, the role of an intrapreneur emerged from the data and proved to be a decisive characteristic in catalysing the call for advocating social values within the club. Consequently, this study contributes to the discussion on how entrepreneurial actions, initiated by the intrapreneur, can bring about social change in the field of sport clubs.

Purpose – This chapter examines how informal and formal entrepreneurial institutions are influenced by economic crises. These institutions act as the foundation for many, if not all, entrepreneurial activities, but they are highly vulnerable to change during times of crisis.Design/methodology/approach – This chapter uses a case study of software entrepreneurs in Ottawa, Canada, to better understand the influence of the 2001 and 2008 recessions on the social and economic aspects of entrepreneurship. This case is examined through a set of 39 semi-structured interviews with entrepreneurs, investors, and economic development officers.Findings – While informal entrepreneurial institutions have adapted to a changing economic environment, formal institutions and government programs have so far failed to do this. This results in less effective entrepreneurship support programs.Research limitations/implications – As with other qualitative case studies, these findings are not generalizable to other regions. This chapter calls for further research is needed to better understand the social forces behind institutional change.Practical implications – This chapter argues that entrepreneurship support programs must be customized to the informal social institutions that underlie all entrepreneurial behavior and practices. This alignment potentially increases the usefulness of such programs to entrepreneurs.Originality/value of the paper– While entrepreneurship in Ottawa has been carefully studied, there has been very little work examining how technology entrepreneurship in Ottawa has fared after the decline of the telecommunications market. This chapter is useful to both entrepreneurship scholars as well as practitioners and policy makers interested in how entrepreneurial institutions react to crises.

Institutional entrepreneurship in sustainable urban development: Dutch successes as inspiration for transformation

Three-quarters of the poorest households in the world live in rural areas and are dependent on shared access to natural resources for their food security and livelihoods. However, certain features of these natural resources make their management problematic, especially the high degree of interdependence among resource users, creating incentives to overuse resources and underinvest in their sustainability. Hence, much research has focused on the role of collective management of natural resources in supporting sustainable rural livelihoods. This focus has also influenced the design of rural development and conservation programs, assuming that local people who use and rely on natural resources are in the best position to manage them. Yet interventions to promote collective management of natural resources have often failed due to excessively top-down, prescriptive approaches that ignore local institutional contexts. Hence there is a need to understand better the processes of local collective action. These issues are especially relevant in Bangladesh’s coastal zone, where pressure on land, water, and other natural resources is intense and increasing. The coastal zone plays an important economic role through crop production and aquaculture, and supports the environmentally-significant Sundarban mangrove forest. Yet it is also highly vulnerable, facing problems of salinization, waterlogging, flooding, riverine erosion, erratic rainfall, sea-level rise, and cyclone-related disasters. Development interventions in this zone have also had mixed consequences. The complex, interrelated nature of land, water, fisheries, forests, and infrastructure, the high degree of interdependence between resource users, and the shared exposure to natural hazards and climate trends mean that local processes of collective action play a crucial role in sustaining lives and livelihoods. The aim of this research was to explore the nature and role of local collective action in managing natural resources and enhancing the livelihood security of rural households and communities in coastal Bangladesh. A version of the Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) Framework was used. This provides a general set of interrelated variables to systematically examine a diversity of cases, while allowing for different theoretical explanations in each case. The elements of the Framework are: (1) contextual factors (attributes of resources, attributes of resource users, and governance arrangements); (2) the action arena or “action situation”, in which various actors, using their assets and governed by “rules in use”, engage in patterns of interaction to pursue their goals; (3) the outcomes of this interaction for (a) resource status and trends, (b) livelihood assets and adaptive capacity, and (c) institutional arrangements and governance. The Framework can be applied to different scales and time-frames, encompassing both one-off local episodes of collective action and repeated, long-term interactions leading to institutional change. A qualitative, case-study approach based was used. Four cases of collective action were examined in two villages in Dacope Sub-District, Khulna District, in the vulnerable south-west coastal region. Mixed methods were used during two periods of fieldwork, including group discussions, key informant interviews, personal narratives, direct observation, photography, and informal conversations. The cases were different “action situations” in which some or all villagers acted collectively, whether on their own initiative or in response to an external intervention, to better manage their resources and sustain their livelihoods: (1) locally-initiated collective action to end large-scale shrimp farming and return to smallholder cropping; (2) collective water resource management through locally-formed committees; (3) a social forestry activity initiated by the Department of Forestry; (4) collective response to cyclone-related disasters, organised through the government-initiated Cyclone Preparedness Program (CPP). The cases were analysed using particular theories relevant to each one but within the overarching structure of the IAD Framework. The analysis of shrimp farming drew on concepts of exclusion, counter-exclusion, and the powers of exclusion. The water resource management case was analysed in terms of the tension between formal and substantive approaches to economic institutions. The social forestry case was assessed in terms of the “community-based resource management” paradigm. The cyclone response case was analysed using the Pressure and Release (PAR) Model. The IAD Framework was then used to conduct a cross-case analysis and evaluate the outcomes in terms of the impacts on resource sustainability, livelihood security and adaptive capacity, and shifts in institutions and governance. The analysis showed that certain features of the action situations contributed to successful collective action in the shrimp farming and water management cases, and helped explain the failure of the social forestry initiative and the partial success of the collective response to cyclones. Locally-initiated collective action that accommodated different interests, roles, and social norms was more likely to have positive and sustained outcomes, while external interventions that followed centrally-conceived templates (though they mandated local participation) were unlikely to achieve desired outcomes. Yet the analysis concluded that local collective action was more complex than suggested by the quest for “design principles” in mainstream institutionalism, and that a substantive, socio-historical approach consistent with critical institutionalism was more reflective of local realities.

Although existing studies highlight that new institutional logics are grounded in pre-existing norms and beliefs in society, few studies have examined how a society’s gendered expectations can shape and constrain the development of a new logic. To address this gap, I focus on the first American movement for bird conservation from 1889 to 1920 and the movement participants’ responses to women’s institutional entrepreneurship. Specifically, I investigate a mechanism that is responsible for the slow expansion of the new logic and that perpetuates gender inequality throughout the bird conservation movement: deviance neutralization. This is an individual strategy to counteract perceived deviance from gender norms by living up to society’s gendered expectations. When female participants introduce a new technology-based practice and hold leadership positions that enable them to further the movement, movement participants see the women’s entrepreneurial action as deviance from generally expected feminine qualities. To neutralize such deviance, movement participants are less likely to promote what these women campaign for, environmentalism. I test this mechanism using an event count analysis of individual contributions, by article count, to the movement’s bimonthly magazine that shared the movement’s vision with the public. I find that the more women implemented a new practice and the more women occupied official positions, the fewer contributions participants were likely to make to the magazine. The findings of this study extend current understanding of institutional entrepreneurship using the lens of gender, and the mechanism of gender inequality in even progressive movements. They also have practical implications for addressing deviance neutralization today.

Collective action procedures exist in many jurisdictions. The European Commission's policy goal is to harmonize collective redress in consumer and competition law, to improve access to justice, and to enhance deterrence against unlawful commercial practices. A European collective action process should include sufficient safeguards against abusive litigation, without compromising the procedure's effectiveness. This article considers which safeguards might be appropriate, drawing on comparative examples from national civil justice systems within and outside the European Union. It concludes that national idiosyncrasies as well as Commission policy aims should inform the design of a European collective action mechanism. Abusive litigation will not be prevented if safeguards are weak or poorly targeted, but highly restrictive safeguards will create insurmountable barriers to justice; both approaches could undermine existing national collective action processes. An ill-conceived collective action process could exacerbate rather than ameliorate disparities in access to justice across Member States. Alternative dispute resolution schemes may allow a more flexible approach, accommodating national differences, and so could potentially be effective in delivering the Commission's primary policy aims in a coherent way.