Social Entrepreneurial Ventures Research Articles

Using Social Media for Opportunity Exploration in Social Entrepreneurial Ventures

Using Social Media for Opportunity Exploration in Social Entrepreneurial Ventures

Unfolding the determinants of university students’ intentions toward digital social entrepreneurship

Digital social entrepreneurship is increasingly receiving recognition in emerging economies to maximize societal benefit. The objective of this study is to examine the factors determining students’ intentions toward digital social entrepreneurial ventures. The targeted population was students of various programs, namely business, humanities, science, tourism, and pharmacy, of private and public universities in Bangladesh. This study is quantitative and exploratory in nature, whereas online self-administered questionnaires were prepared to collect data from 433 students in Bangladesh between January and June 2023. The model was tested and the hypotheses were confirmed at the 5% significance level using SPSS v26.0; a Cronbach’s alpha (α) value of 0.70 or higher was considered adequate for measuring reliability. The results show that students’ innovativeness, social pro-activeness, and risk-taking motive positively affect their intention toward digital social entrepreneurial intention. These results may aid in developing successful plans and regulations to support the expansion of digital social entrepreneurial intention in Bangladesh by the government, non-governmental organizations, the neighborhood, civil society, and researchers.

Agency theory and social entrepreneurship: An axe that needs sharpening

Social entrepreneurship is a recent strategy for addressing public policy concerns that have traditionally been viewed as falling within the State's ambit. This article exposes the inadequacy of agency theory for interpreting how parties coexist within a multi-stakeholder service delivery configuration under the rubric of social entrepreneurship. Using the case of Teach for America, the article explores the criticisms that traditionally trained teachers direct towards the organization's members but does not take a side on whether these criticisms are justified. Rather, it prosecutes the case that, absent a frame of reference (e.g., appropriately adapted agency theory) for exposing the interests of disparate stakeholders to a social entrepreneurship venture, misaligned interests manifest as ill-founded mutual critique, often as argumentum ad hominem denunciations.

Unlocking the Factors That Motivate Social Entrepreneurs to Engage in Social Entrepreneurship Projects in Tanzania: A Qualitative Case Study

Social entrepreneurial ventures thrive on diverse motivations, evolving through stages. This research delved into the dynamic shifts in motivations guiding social entrepreneurs across projects and initiatives in Tanzania. Despite numerous attempts by scholars to study and theorize the motivations of social entrepreneurs, there remains a significant gap in understanding the primary focus of social entrepreneurs’ involvement in various social entrepreneurship projects. This research aimed to address this knowledge gap by exploring the motivations that drive social entrepreneurs in Tanzania to engage in social entrepreneurship ventures. The study specifically investigated the CHEMA and Gongali Model cases. The respondents consisted of 20 social entrepreneurs, with 9 from CHEMA and 11 from the Gongali Model. The findings highlight the influence of personal experiences and backgrounds in establishing innovative social enterprises, emphasizing the importance of achieving successful outcomes. The study suggests that social entrepreneurs are motivated not only by their individual needs and goals but also by the satisfaction derived from witnessing the positive impact of their work on others. Successful entrepreneurship, the study argues, requires a focus on effecting changes at both the macro and micro levels. When the intended purpose of social entrepreneurs is achieved, it serves as a significant indicator of success. The report delves deeper into how these findings influence the overall infrastructure and mindset of social entrepreneurs in Tanzania. This research introduces a novel motivational model and connects it with critical success characteristics in social innovation projects, contributing to the advancement of social entrepreneurship research. Additionally, it proposes fundamental innovations in governance and operations within the field of social entrepreneurship. From the organizational context perspective, the findings contribute to a better understanding of the factors that contribute to the formation and growth of social enterprises in Tanzania.

Equity, Empowerment, and Social Justice: Social Entrepreneurship for Formerly Incarcerated Individuals

The high incarceration rate and systemic racism in the United States, along with entrenched social barriers, highlight the need for creative solutions to help formerly incarcerated individuals (FIIs) reintegrate successfully. This paper highlights social entrepreneurial ventures (SEVs) as powerful agents of social change, underscoring the significance of holistic approaches in successful reentry and transformation of FIIs. We delve into the potential of SEVs as catalysts for social justice within the critical HRD (CHRD) framework, examining SEV’s role in advancing learning, challenging power dynamics, empowering marginalized communities, and propelling grassroots-led social change. In doing so, we also emphasize the significance of experiential learning and dialog in cultivating collective knowledge and action within these social movements. We analyze the structural, organizational, and individual factors that demonstrate how HRD and social entrepreneurship complement and broaden modes of engagement. Ultimately, we highlight the promising synergy between SEVs and the CHRD perspective, presenting a transformative approach for both HRD scholars and practitioners and argue that by embracing the values of empowerment, equity, and social justice, HRD can play a pivotal role in fostering more inclusive, equitable, and empowering organizational landscapes.

Antecedents of women’s social entrepreneurship: values development and the perceived desirability and feasibility of social venture creation

PurposeThis paper aims to identify the values antecedents of women’s social entrepreneurship. It explores where and how these values emerge and how they underpin the perceived desirability and feasibility of social venture creation.Design/methodology/approachValues development across the life-course is interrogated through retrospective sense-making by thirty UK-based women social entrepreneurs.FindingsThe findings express values related to empathy, social justice and action-taking, developed, consolidated and challenged in a variety of experiential domains over time. The cumulative effects of these processes result in the perceived desirability and feasibility of social entrepreneurial venture creation as a means of effecting social change and achieving coherence between personal values and paid work, prompting social entrepreneurial action-taking.Originality/valueThis paper offers novel, contextualised insights into the role that personal values play as antecedents to social entrepreneurship. It contributes to the sparse literature focussed on both women’s experiences of social entrepreneurship generally, and on their personal values specifically.

Enabling social entrepreneurship: examining the impact of state, market and religious factors

PurposeThe study examines how the interactions among three prominent institutional logics—state, market and religion—fundamentally shape the patterns of individuals’ engagement in social entrepreneurship (SE).Design/methodology/approachThe study develops a configurational theoretical framework and uses fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis to test the hypotheses by gathering data on social ventures from 35 countries from the World Values Survey and Global Entrepreneurship Monitor.FindingsThe results show that the prevalence of social entrepreneurial ventures is enabled by different combinations of logics of action, governance mechanisms, strength of religious beliefs and religious pluralism.Originality/valueThis research reveals that the relationship between institutional logic profiles and SE is contingent on the coherence between different institutional logics.

Collective action in social entrepreneurial ventures: the role of shared meaning

PurposeSocial entrepreneurs engage in collective action to adapt and solve social problems in complex environments. Through collective action, they mobilise and access resources to create positive social change in local communities. While previous studies explain the role of social identity in promoting cooperation, this paper aims to examine shared meaning as a predictor of collective action in social entrepreneurial ventures (SEVs). This study was conducted among founders of SEVs focusing on their engagement in collective action.Design/methodology/approachThe study adopted a cross-sectional survey to achieve its objectives. The population comprised 558 SEVs registered with the Kampala Capital City Authority in Uganda. A sample size of 226 social ventures was determined using Krecjie and Morgan and participants were selected using the simple random sampling technique. The questionnaires were distributed by two research assistants, and 210 completed questionnaires were returned. Structural equation modelling was used to analyse survey data and test the study hypotheses.FindingsThe study findings show that shared meaning in the form of teamwork and group efficacy predict collective action in SEVs.Research limitations/implicationsThe results have implications for social entrepreneurship researchers, practitioners and policymakers. Firstly, creating social ties by belonging to different groups in the community creates common understanding among social entrepreneurs and other actors fostering cooperation to solve problems in the local community. Secondly, understanding each other’s perspective well enough facilitates a shared view of social problems for combined action.Practical implicationsSEVs should provide relevant information using the right channels in local communities to promote collaboration. Failure to use the right communication channels may prevent collective action. Managers in social ventures should allow for open information sharing between themselves and the partners that they work with to address social problems. This enables them to share both the good and bad feedback. It also enables the growth of teams and improves how they work. The teams should be developed with specific responsibilities so that everyone is clear on what they should do while addressing social problems.Originality/valueThe researchers argue that shared meaning develops when social entrepreneurs interact with the local community and other stakeholders prompting joint action to address social problems. This study extends knowledge on collective action using the activity domain theory.

Global Enterprises: contemporarisation of khadi products in India

Theoretical basis This paper aims to explain the theory of stakeholder, value chain analysis and triple bottom line sustainability approach. Research methodology The present case was developed from both primary and secondary data sources. The primary sources included visits to Global Enterprises and collected data through a structured interview. The secondary sources included enterprise annual reports and websites. Case overview/synopsis This case presents the innovative approach adopted by a for-profit social enterprise, utilizing locally available resources, changed products and an improved business model to deliver the desired social impact. It highlights the challenges social entrepreneurs face and how the people at the grass-root level are uplifted through the success of a social entrepreneurial venture. The case study is based on an interview conducted with the founder and managing director of Global Enterprises and other stakeholders (farmers, women artisans and employees). An interview schedule was used for conducting the interviews. The researchers tried to understand the business model deployed, stakeholders involved, challenges faced, competencies needed and strategic decisions made by the social entrepreneur that helped the enterprise become sustainable. The social problems identified by the entrepreneur include unavailability of quality raw material at a reasonable price on time; financial scarcity and massive dependence on non-institutional financial sources; lack of product development, market research and production; and the high price of handmade products compared to factory-made products. The case explains how the entrepreneur addressed the problems of cotton farmers, women artisans and local youths through his enterprise. The case also explains how he could make a social venture sustainable in the long run. Complexity academic level This case targets graduate-level students and is designed to be taught in Entrepreneurship, Social entrepreneurship, Rural entrepreneurship, Business administration and Entrepreneurship development. It can also be used for other programmes, where problem identification, opportunity recognition, stakeholder analysis and porter's value chain analysis are taught.

Empirical Study to Understand the Social Entrepreneurial Intention Towards Technology Management in Social Entrepreneurial Ventures

The purpose of this research is to investigate the social entrepreneurial intentions (SEI) towards the implementation of technology management (TM) in social entrepreneurial ventures (SEV). Drawing on the technology acceptance model (TAM) and resource base view theory, hypotheses were developed. Data were collected from 640 social entrepreneurs (SE) from various industries (IT/software-based market, production, manufacturing, etc.) in Pakistan. SPSS-AMOS was used for a two-step approach of structural equation modeling. Results were determined by using confirmatory factor analysis and the measurement model fit. The significance of the theoretical relationship was assessed using the structural model. The findings of the study reveal the relationship between competitive advantage, and TM perceived usefulness was positively supported. Additionally, the internal resources show a positive relationship between TM perceived usefulness. Further, the TM perceived usefulness has a positive relation towards SEI. The research significantly contributes to the domain of SEI.

“Who Are My Customers?”: The Case of Social Marketing a Social Entrepreneurship Venture in India

“Who Are My Customers?”: The Case of Social Marketing a Social Entrepreneurship Venture in India

Sustainability and Triple Bottom Line Planning in Social Enterprises: Developing the Guidelines for Social Entrepreneurs

The article aims to discuss why and how the triple bottom line (TBL) approach can be adapted to manage the sustainability performance in social enterprises and thus assist the social entrepreneurs, who hold the central position in the process of social enterprise development. A system model based on design models such as the "Design of Results" and the "Cogniscope" was produced through the synthesis of multiple conceptual approaches following a systematic review protocol guided by the PRISMA Statement (‘‘Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses’’). While extending the CogniScope' systems theory and practice in the context of S-ENT accountability, the article proposes the four phases (discovery, diagnosis and design, implementation, and measurement) for planning and organizing TBL efforts within social enterprises. The outcomes of the study will aid the S-ENT practitioners in the design and implementation of TBL framework in managing the sustainability performance of social entrepreneurship ventures. The applicability of the TBL approach can be explored and developed by subsequent work in different social entrepreneurship contexts.

MITTI Café: enabling disability inclusion in India through scalable business model

Study level/applicability The case can be used at undergraduate and postgraduate level, in management development programmes or in Executive Education programmes. Subject area Social entrepreneurship, social inclusion, business model innovation, sustainability, strategy design and strategy execution. Case overview The case explores the development of MITTI Café, an organisation that trains and employs individuals with intellectual, physical and/or psychiatric disabilities to work in inclusive kitchens and cafes in India. The protagonist is the founder of the café, Alina Alam, who has won several international awards for her work. The case highlights Alam’s approach and how she is trying to challenge societal and business perspectives relating to disability. From 2017 to 2021, Alam has scaled and operationalised the business, building her core team, leveraging several partnerships with stakeholders and putting into place offerings, processes and procedures that created a sustainable business model and blueprint.MITTI Café aligns itself with several of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with sustainability and social impact at the core of its strategy. As Alam considers the future in July 2021, what else needs to be taken into consideration to scale either within India or abroad? Expected learning outcomes Following reading and exploring the case, students should be able to identify how social exclusion and inclusion manifests in a business context, and how social entrepreneurship ventures such as MITTI Café can address this challenge; identify capabilities in the context of people with disabilities; recognise how stakeholder relationships can be leveraged as a force for good and for growth, and address SDGs through social enterprise; identify and categorise resources and capabilities within organisations; evaluate opportunities for growth and scale. Social implications The case explores how the protagonist is challenging the concept of “ability” and through her work with the differently abled providing scalable opportunities for social inclusion and dignity. Supplementary materials Teaching notes are available for educators only. Subject code CSS 11: Strategy.

Contribution of Social Entrepreneurship to Sustainable Community Development in Zimbabwe. A Case of Virtuous Women Trust Operating in Harare

The cross-sectional study was aimed at assessing the contribution of social entrepreneurship to sustainable community development in Zimbabwe using case study approach. The behavioural theory of social entrepreneurship and the community development theory guided the study. Mixed research methods were used guided by the pragmatist research philosophy. A case study was used with a sample of 80 participants selected from four farming communities in and around Harare using stratified random sampling and judgement sampling techniques. Data collection was done through questionnaires and interviews. Data analysis was done using SPSS version 25.0 for quantitative data, NVIVO and thematic analysis for qualitative data. The findings indicate that there is limited knowledge of social entrepreneurship concept amongst research participants. However, there was greater appreciation of the sustainable community development concept. The findings also revealed that there are some challenges for the social entrepreneurship ventures and the communities that retard sustainable community development in the country. The study recommends proper information dissemination channels, more capacity building initiatives through specific grants to support social entrepreneurship organisations and the crafting of an Act that guides social entrepreneurship ventures independent of other NGOs.

Creating change through social entrepreneurship: the case of girls’ school dropouts in Uganda

Subject area This case focusses on social innovation and social entrepreneurship in Africa, specifically looking at behavioural characteristics of social entrepreneurs, their motivations to create social value and the application of personal initiative theory. The case discusses the self-starting proactiveness and innovation traits of the social entrepreneur. The social business model canvas will be used to analyse the social enterprise’s business model. Study level/applicability Students of social entrepreneurship, development studies, sustainable livelihoods and asset-based development. It is useful for customised or short programmes on social entrepreneurship or for students with a background in business wanting to understand social enterprise as a vehicle for social and economic change. As such, this case is written for Business Management and Entrepreneurship undergraduates or students of elective courses in social entrepreneurship (“understanding” and “remembering” learning activities under Bloom’s taxonomy). When personal initiative theory is used, the case provides an initial understanding of social entrepreneurship in a less developed context for post-graduate students and may be used for higher-order learning activities (“analysing” and “applying”). Case overview The case tells the story of Dr Engr Moses Musaazi, who is a Social Entrepreneur and Managing Director of Technology for Tomorrow (T4T). Troubled with the persistent social problems in his country. Musaazi, through T4T, strived for social innovations to reduce school dropouts of Ugandan girls. While exploring Moses’ journey for solving persistent social problems through social innovations, students will be able to understand, remember, analyse and apply Dees’ (2001) social entrepreneurial behaviours and Santos’ (2012) theory of social entrepreneurship. The case discusses what motivates African social entrepreneurs to start a social venture (Ghalwash, Tolba, & Ismail, 2017). Students will apply personal initiative theory to identify the social entrepreneurial behaviours displayed in the creation of social ventures. To exemplify and analyse the different components of social ventures’ business model, the social business model canvas by Sparviero (2019) will be introduced. Expected learning outcomes The teaching objectives are Objective 1. Students are able to remember, understand, identify and apply the social entrepreneurial behaviours as defined by Dees (2001) and the elements of Santos’ (2012) theory of social entrepreneurship to Dr Moses Musaazi’s case as a social entrepreneur. Objective 2. Students remember, understand and identify what motivates social entrepreneurs in less developed economies to create social value (Ghalwash et al., 2017). Objective 3. Early-stage postgraduate students are able to apply and analyse (also evaluate and create for higher-level post-graduates) personal initiative theory to explain the emergence of social entrepreneurial behaviour and especially how innovation, self-starting and proactiveness may lead to social entrepreneurial venture start-up (Frese, Kring, Soose, & Zempel, 1996). Objective 4. Students use the social business model canvas (Sparviero, 2019) as a tool to understand, analyse and improve a social-enterprise business model. Supplementary materials Supplementary learning materials are provided in the Teaching Note (Table 1). Table1, which includes videos and their description. Also, a link to Uganda’s sustainable development index is provided (the focus is sustainable development goals [SDGs] 3: Good health and well-being, SDG 4: Quality Education, SDG 5: Gender equality, SDG 10: Reduced inequalities). Subject code CSS 3: Entrepreneurship.

Measuring Social Entrepreneurship: Identifying and Assessing the Performance of Social Entrepreneurial Ventures

This paper integrates previous research identifying and assessing the performance of social entrepreneurial ventures to develop four new scales following psychometrically sound procedures. Our scales effectively capture economic and social salience as well as financial and social organisational outcomes satisfaction. These new scales provide researchers valid tools to identify social entrepreneurial ventures as well as distinctive forms of organisational performance (i.e. social and financial). The analysis provides strong evidence of content validity, reliability, convergent and discriminant validity, and criterion-related validity for each of the four new scales. These measures represent an important step forward in the evolution of quantitative research focussed on social entrepreneurship.

Social entrepreneurship and digital platforms: Crowdfunding in the sharing-economy era

Though crowdfunding is no longer an atypical fundraising mechanism, its practical use remains limited, particularly when it comes to social entrepreneurship, owing to the numerous challenges unique to social-entrepreneurial ventures. By combining existing research on social entrepreneurship, value cocreation, the sharing economy, and digital platforms, this work offers practical insights into how existing platforms can be used for crowdfunding financial resources, sourcing creative ideas, collaborating, and gathering an array of nonfinancial resources. Additionally, this article discusses the ideal digital platform solution and explains how a multifaceted, multiuse digital platform can be created and utilized by new social ventures for meeting a multitude of needs. By focusing on a mission of social change and by understanding how digital platforms can avail crowdfunding, social entrepreneurs can overcome legitimacy issues and lack of traditional funding avenues. This taps into many of the typical aspects of the sharing economy: the benevolence of the actors, use of the internet for facilitation, and the motivation to engage in a new way of doing things. Thus, this article adopts a multidisciplinary view in exploring how crowdfunding can be coupled with the remobilization of idling resources using digital platforms to support social-entrepreneurial ventures in a myriad of ways.

Elucidating technology-based social entrepreneurs’ scale and scope perspectives: a study of environmental and organizational variables

PurposeThe purpose of this paper was to ascertain how social entrepreneurs were required to recognize their new ventures’ scope and scale of operations. The firm boundary was based upon two dimensions, namely, the scope of the offering and its scale. The objective of this research was to ascertain the thinking regarding this of social entrepreneurs engaged through technology-based social entrepreneurship (TBSE).Design/methodology/approachThis study conducted an in-depth interview of 26 technology entrepreneurs engaged in social entrepreneurship ventures in India. The interview was carried out based upon a semi-structured open-ended questionnaire. This study undertook thematic and relational content analysis to develop a model of technology-based social entrepreneurs’ venture scoping and scaling.FindingsThis study found that the antecedent variables were the level of support perceived by social entrepreneur from government and at the industry level. Furthermore, the variables’ entrepreneurial and market orientation of social entrepreneurs were found to be the independent variables. These four variables in turn determined the explorative and exploitative horizon of the technology-based social entrepreneurs. Finally, an interplay of these variables ascertained the perspectives of social entrepreneurs engaged in TBSE regarding the notion of their firm’s scope and scale.Research limitations/implicationsThe theoretical insights developed in this research study provided an integrated theoretical perspective accommodating both environmental perspectives (industry support and government support) and organizational perspectives (entrepreneurial and market aspects). This was in context of TBSE.Practical implicationsThe insights from this research study could provide a robust and comprehensive understanding to social entrepreneurs regarding the strategic thinking towards scale and scope for a technology-based social venture.Originality/valueTo the best of the author’s knowledge, this study was one of the first theoretical works in TBSE towards scaling versus scoping perspectives.

Positive Deviance Traits and Social Entrepreneurship for Women Empowerment Amid COVID-19

Purpose: The threat of the COVID-19 pandemic persists despite concerted global efforts to contain it. So also is its impact on social entrepreneurs. One of the main questions being, what is the extent to which small businesses overcome the imminent economic recession amid the threat of COVID-19? Many small businesses have already closed operations due to the countrywide lockdown in India and the resultant cash flow constraints. The government has introduced loan guarantee schemes as a way of support, but it is not sufficient for operational expenses. This study examines the survival traits of positive deviance and social entrepreneurial roles that may be pertinent to women’s empowerment, concerning the challenges that have emerged from the pandemic. Methodology: Case study methodology was adopted, engaging Rosenblatt’s Transactional Theory to collect qualitative data, which are part of the narratives based on the experiences of a focus group within the social entrepreneurial venture, called Pipal Tree, while a descriptive approach was deployed to isolate and analyze the relevant survival traits, that is, leadership, multidimensional resourcefulness, altruism, innovation, norm-violation and labelling/stigmatization. Findings: The findings revealed that every trait—that is, leadership, multidimensional resourcefulness, altruism, innovation, norm-violation, and labelling/stigmatization—could potentially play an important role and contribute towards the sustainability of social entrepreneurs to empower women amidst the pandemic. The paper observed that ultimately this insight might be relevant to social entrepreneurs, managers and policymakers in developing effective survival strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic. Originality values: This is a conceptualization and empirically based study that engaged in primary data collection, analysis and interpretation supported with literature evidence. As well as insights on the literature and methodology development, its unique contributions also include conceptualizing the phenomenon and strategy development. Additionally, it promotes diversity and inclusivity, as well as highlighting inequality. Social implication/Practical values: This study can serve as a guide towards addressing social issues relating to global social entrepreneurship policy-making. As such, it would be a powerful tool for women empowerment, policymakers, not-for-profit organizations, civil society and social entrepreneurs in the post-COVID-19 global environment. Theoretical contributions: This study has added the literature to the existing theory relating to social deviance, social entrepreneurship and women empowerment, thereby advancing knowledge. Highlighting issues about how humanity responds to this strange new threat from the COVID-19 pandemic is critical to saving lives. The new knowledge gained will often equip social entrepreneurs to capture new ways of survival (innovative ways) in complex and new challenges to cope with post-COVID-19 socio-economic circumstances. These benefits gained may be beneficial not only in Jharkhand India but nationally as well as globally. The authors also made an addition to the definition of positive deviance. Practical contributions: The study contributes towards enabling social entrepreneurs to cope in uncertain situations, which is critical to survival most challenging or crises and not just in entrepreneurship—so in critical decision-making, problem-solving, diversity management, gender equity, human rights advancement through women empowerment, business setting and expansion, in helping weakness into strengths and ensuring a level playing ground and inclusivity. Women empowerment can be a positive strength in policy formulation and implementation processes. These kinds of reflections from the perspective of women are significant, relevant and valuable in a post-pandemic environment across the Jharkhand India region and are transferable elsewhere across the globe.

Antecedents and Practices of External Goal Adoption: The Case of Social Ventures and the UN SDGs

As societal grand challenges become more pressing, organizations are exposed to a normative con-text of increasing ethical, social, and environmental concerns of stakeholders and related calls to take greater responsibility in tackling global problems. With the introduction of the Sustainable De-velopment Goals (SDGs), organizations world-wide are now confronted with a set of predefined, external sustainability goals at the institutional level. The SDGs thereby offer the chance to mobilize and engage stakeholders to work together towards common societal goals, especially in the case of organizations such as social entrepreneurial ventures (SEVs) that place societal goals at the center of their organizational practices. In this study, we explore how SEVs enact SDGs in practices of goal adoption. Drawing on a qualitative study of 35 SEVs, our findings reveal four distinct ap-proaches: resisted, necessity-driven, pragmatic, and strategy-making goal adoption. Across these approaches, we find distinct ethical reasoning as a motivation informing goal adoption and link it to the orientation of collaborative efforts. In doing so, our study contributes to theory on organization-al goals by explaining how some organizations adopt external goals from institutional sources (while others do not) and by delineating how external goal adoption materializes differently in or-ganizational practices.