Abstract
PurposeDoing business in depleted contexts requires the adoption of an unconventional strategic orientation based on the involvement of the local community and driven by the attainment of economic, environmental and social goals. Previous studies have explored the specific nature of community enterprises (CEs); notwithstanding, little attention has been paid to the understanding of the strategic posture adopted by community entrepreneurs to overcome difficulties and make the business up. In this vein, the study aims to investigate how CEs operating in depleted contexts manage to survive, by successfully achieving multiple – conflicting – goals.Design/methodology/approachThe authors adopted the Humane Entrepreneurship (HumEnt) framework as a form of institutional entrepreneurship where resources are leveraged to evolve the institutional context. This research adopts the case study strategy, focusing on Italian rural CEs.FindingsThe HumEnt approach, which takes into account both economic and non-economic and altruistic values of entrepreneurs, turned as better suited – compared to other approaches – to explain why people try to make business in such high-risk contexts. Second, the holistic approach of the HumEnt framework allowed catching up the particular mechanism that has enabled the CEs to obtain positive achievement.Originality/valueThe adoption of the HumEnt perspective enabled us to understand better the way CEs may survive and even grow where other initiatives have failed.
Highlights
Community enterprises (CEs) are firms that pursue economic, social and environmental goals for the well-being of their community of reference (Johannisson, 1990; Gordon, 2002; Tracey et al, 2005; Peredo and Chrisman, 2006; Somerville and McElwee, 2011).© Nicoletta Buratti, Massimo Albanese and Cecile Sillig
Building on previous literature that has conceptualized Humane Entrepreneurship (HumEnt) as a novel firm strategic posture able to combine different strategic orientations (Parente et al, 2018), this study tries to interpret the very nature of Community Entrepreneurship
Through the analysis of two Italian CEs, we aimed to answer the following research question: how are social, environmental, and financial goals uniquely interwoven by community entrepreneurs in enacting Humane Entrepreneurship?
Summary
Community enterprises (CEs) are firms that pursue economic, social and environmental goals for the well-being of their community of reference (Johannisson, 1990; Gordon, 2002; Tracey et al, 2005; Peredo and Chrisman, 2006; Somerville and McElwee, 2011).© Nicoletta Buratti, Massimo Albanese and Cecile Sillig. The authors want to express their gratitude to Dr Eric Liguori and to the anonymous reviewers for comments and suggestions that much helped improving this manuscript. Earlier versions of this study were presented at the ICSB Conference - Humane Entrepreneurship from Research to Practice (Washington), and the SIMA 2020 Conference - Grand Challenges: Companies and Universities working for a better society (Pisa). Useful insights from participants enabled us to improve our work. The authors are grateful to Oreste Torri, Erika Farina an Simona Magliani for the time they have dedicated to them
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