1,720,996 research outputs found
Entrepreneurial Finance, Crowdfunding, and Language: From Social to Financial Support
No full textConsidering language a relevant strategic instrument that entrepreneurs and managers can use to seek external resources, this book investigates and discusses whether and under which conditions language strategies can facilitate entrepreneurs’ social support and legitimation as well as access to external resources. This book systematically integrates language into the entrepreneurial finance literature and develops a new and more comprehensive framework that relates crowdfunding to language strategies. Therefore, readers will comprehend how language choices, frames and narratives influence companies’ ability to secure social and financial support, and therefore sustain the development of their venture. Overall, this book provides insights into how entrepreneurs can use language as a strategic tool for accessing resources and support from external stakeholders, thereby considering, alongside traditional economic approaches, institutional processes of meaning-making
Impact of COVID-19 on digital transformation: an empirical analysis of manufacturing companies
Full text linkPurpose of the paper: This study explores whether and how the restrictions resulting from COVID-19 crisis have affected digital transformation (DT) measured by the adoption of data-driven decision-making (DDD) and structured management (SM) practices. Methodology: On the basis of an original survey of 102 manufacturing firms located in Lombardy, we explore the DDD and SM practices before and during the lockdown, which began on 8 March 2020. The factors explaining heterogeneous responses to the crisis, namely, institutional logic, firm size, technological sectors, and family business, are also considered. Findings: We find that during the lockdown, firms suffered a setback in the use of DDD and SM. However, there is a significant heterogeneity in the response across firms. The factors considered in our study poorly explain this heterogeneity in DDD. Meanwhile, all factors, except institutional logic, effectively explain the differences in SM. Research limits: This study provides a preliminary and descriptive analysis. Further analysis is needed to better identify causality and co-factors. Practical implications: DT could be particularly sensitive to crisis, and crisis response varies across different dimensions of DT (i.e. DDD and SM) and types of firms. This implies that a variety of firms may benefit from DT but that DT requires specific managerial attention. Originality of the study: This study employs an original dataset that sheds new light on how the pandemic has affected DT. It focuses on one of the largest European manufacturing regions which was severely hit by the first wave of the pandemic
Revitalizing Urban Places: How Prosocial Organizations Acquire Saliency in the Eyes of Resisting Stakeholders
Full text linkProsocial organizations represent key actors in the quest to promote positive change, foster social impact, and revitalize cities. Notwithstanding their importance in tackling the increasing challenges threatening our society (e.g., pollution, socio-economic inequalities), these actors may not be perceived as salient in the eyes of different stakeholders, and thus their work may be jeopardized by multiple forms of resistance. Scant attention in research has been devoted to understand how prosocial organizations may acquire saliency and navigate these forms of resistance while pursuing urban revitalization. We address this gap by engaging in a qualitative investigation of a Sicilian cultural center. We found that the prosocial organization in our study could navigate different occurrences of resistance and acquire saliency by enacting mechanisms that leveraged the engagement of supporting stakeholders and the idiosyncratic characteristics of place. Our study contributes to the literature about urban revitalization, prosocial organizations, and stakeholder theory—while also complementing research investigating the role of place in management
Innovating for social good: digital transformation and crisis-based entrepreneurial opportunities
No full textPurpose: This research explores how Social Organizations (SOs) leverage digital transformation during crises, focusing on the COVID-19 pandemic. It examines the links between digital innovation, business model adaptation, and social impact, offering frameworks for resilience in challenging contexts. Design/methodology/approach: The research employs qualitative methodologies to analyze data from 481 project proposals submitted by Italian SOs in response to a crisis-oriented grant initiative during the COVID-19 pandemic. The methodological approach combines systematic coding procedures and analytical frameworks, validated through expert consultation to ensure methodological rigor. Findings: The analysis identifies four strategic approaches to digital transformation: product reconfiguration, business model adaptation, organizational change, and network development. These findings reveal varying digital adoption capabilities among SOs, emphasizing the need for context-specific implementation strategies. Research limitations/implications: The research scope is limited by its focus on Italian SOs, potentially affecting result generalizability. Future research directions should encompass cross-cultural comparative analyses and longitudinal investigations of digital strategy evolution. Practical implications: The research provides strategic frameworks for organizational leaders implementing digital transformation initiatives. Additionally, it offers guidance for policy development and investment allocation in supporting SO digital capability development. Social implications: The integration of digital transformation strategies with social objectives enables SOs to enhance service delivery effectiveness, improve accessibility, and strengthen inclusive practices, ultimately amplifying their societal impact potential. Originality/value: This study addresses how SOs manage digital transformation and entrepreneurial opportunities during crises, contributing to literature by integrating digitalization, entrepreneurial management, and business model innovation perspectives
When Actors Meet Institutions: Institutional Entrepreneurship, Institutional Logics and Hybrid Organizations
No full textThis paper proposes a contingency theory of institutional
entrepreneurship. Institutional entrepreneurship has emerged to
explain how agency can be incorporated within institutional theory.
Following existing literature on the “paradox of embedded agency”,
we build on the definition of the conditions that enable actors to
pursue their best interests by creating, modifying or disrupting
existing institutions, namely the position in the organizational field, in
the organizational hierarchy and in the intraorganizational network.
We discuss the existence of different kinds of institutions, each
requiring for individuals a specific amount of resources (ability) and
interest (willingness) for change. We build on the categorization of
institutions related to the actors who make the rule (being that the
state or some other entity) and to the way in which such rule is
enacted and throught which is enforced (centralized or
decentralized), thus identifying public-centralized, private-centralized
and private-decentralized institutions. We propose for each kind of
institution the enabling conditions that, by providing for both the
ability and willingness, make an individual more likely to promote
divergent change.
The process of emergence of social enterprises has been relatively
overlooked by organizational and management literature.
Nonetheless, to address many of the contemporary societal challenges
and promote social change, these organizational forms have recently
been flourishing. We theoretically explore how such process of
creation unfolds, identifying the external challenges these
organizations face and the strategies they need to pursue to enable
their emergence. Through anecdotal evidence, we suggest that this
process may call first for the deinstitutionalization of existing
institutional logics and then for a legitimacy building at three levels
(pragmatic, moral and cognitive). We discuss contributions for
research related to institutional logics, social and institutional
entrepreneurship and liability of newness for a new organizational
form.
Building on extant literature on institutional logics, we investigate the
effect of logic multiplicity on organizational mission performance. In
particular, we theorize that - irrespectively of the nature of the logics
at play - an increase in their sheer number triggers negative effects
for organizational mission performance, in view of the challenges
caused by logics’ jurisdictional overlap and degree of centrality.
However, we also argue that this negative effect applies up to a
certain point, after which positive effects on organizational mission
performance may spur from the possibility to recombine the many
more organizational elements brought by the higher number of logics
at hand, increasing innovation. Also, we see whether the efficiencyenhancing
elements of being a for-profit affect the concave
relationship between logic multiplicity and performance discussed
above. We examine these three points in the context of the US
healthcare industry by looking at over 300 long-term care California
hospitals between 2008-2013. Our results show for hybrid
organizations a concave relationship between the number of logics
they incorporate and their mission performance, pointing first at the
negative and then at the positive effects of logic multiplicity. These
findings contribute to literature on institutional logics, paradox theory
and hybrid organizations.This paper proposes a contingency theory of institutional
entrepreneurship. Institutional entrepreneurship has emerged to
explain how agency can be incorporated within institutional theory.
Following existing literature on the “paradox of embedded agency”,
we build on the definition of the conditions that enable actors to
pursue their best interests by creating, modifying or disrupting
existing institutions, namely the position in the organizational field, in
the organizational hierarchy and in the intraorganizational network.
We discuss the existence of different kinds of institutions, each
requiring for individuals a specific amount of resources (ability) and
interest (willingness) for change. We build on the categorization of
institutions related to the actors who make the rule (being that the
state or some other entity) and to the way in which such rule is
enacted and throught which is enforced (centralized or
decentralized), thus identifying public-centralized, private-centralized
and private-decentralized institutions. We propose for each kind of
institution the enabling conditions that, by providing for both the
ability and willingness, make an individual more likely to promote
divergent change.
The process of emergence of social enterprises has been relatively
overlooked by organizational and management literature.
Nonetheless, to address many of the contemporary societal challenges
and promote social change, these organizational forms have recently
been flourishing. We theoretically explore how such process of
creation unfolds, identifying the external challenges these
organizations face and the strategies they need to pursue to enable
their emergence. Through anecdotal evidence, we suggest that this
process may call first for the deinstitutionalization of existing
institutional logics and then for a legitimacy building at three levels
(pragmatic, moral and cognitive). We discuss contributions for
research related to institutional logics, social and institutional
entrepreneurship and liability of newness for a new organizational
form.
Building on extant literature on institutional logics, we investigate the
effect of logic multiplicity on organizational mission performance. In
particular, we theorize that - irrespectively of the nature of the logics
at play - an increase in their sheer number triggers negative effects
for organizational mission performance, in view of the challenges
caused by logics’ jurisdictional overlap and degree of centrality.
However, we also argue that this negative effect applies up to a
certain point, after which positive effects on organizational mission
performance may spur from the possibility to recombine the many
more organizational elements brought by the higher number of logics
at hand, increasing innovation. Also, we see whether the efficiencyenhancing
elements of being a for-profit affect the concave
relationship between logic multiplicity and performance discussed
above. We examine these three points in the context of the US
healthcare industry by looking at over 300 long-term care California
hospitals between 2008-2013. Our results show for hybrid
organizations a concave relationship between the number of logics
they incorporate and their mission performance, pointing first at the
negative and then at the positive effects of logic multiplicity. These
findings contribute to literature on institutional logics, paradox theory
and hybrid organizations.LUISS PhD Thesi
Let’s Talk Stigma Out: An Interaction-Based Process of Stigma Recognition and Removal within Organizational Fields
Full text linkStigma is relational and intersubjective, as it depends on how stigmatizing audiences and stigmatized actors make sense of it. However, little research has investigated the nuances of the interaction process through which stigma comes to be recognized and eventually removed. We address this puzzle by studying stigma in the field of cooperatives in the Lazio region of Italy. Following the involvement of one cooperative in illegal activities, cooperatives in the region were stigmatized by its exchange partners: nonprofit organizations and local governments. Cooperatives’ initial strategy to remove stigma led their exchange partners to change their perception of the root causes of the stigma affecting cooperatives. Cooperatives recognized this change through interaction with their exchange partners and therefore adapted their stigma-related strategy. This process successfully removed the stigma and transformed the way in which cooperatives engaged in exchanges with their partners. Building on this evidence, we develop an interaction-based process model of stigma recognition and removal that reconnects and extends the research streams on stigma and organizational fields
Being for Profit, Non-profit, or Both? The Risk Advantage of Social Enterprises in the Face of Shocks
No full textSocial enterprises experience tensions triggered by the incorporation of both a commercial and a socio-environmental logic. This may threaten their functioning during ordinary times. Yet, in the face of shocks, their dual nature may prove an advantage compared to their for-profit and non-profit counterparts. Building on research on institutional logics and uncertainty, we theorize that these organizations, in view of the knowledge, resources, competencies and relations they possess in both economic and social domains, face less risk compared to for profit and non-profit organizations when shocks call them to deal with unexpected demands from both spheres. We believe such theorization could talk to literature on hybrid organizations and risk, on for-profit and non-profit organizational forms, and on ethical issues in the creation of social impact
The U‐shaped effect of logic multiplicity on organizational performance: Evidence from the US healthcare industry
Full text linkWe investigate the effect of logic multiplicity on organizational performance and hypothesize that logics may impact performance in view of their sheer number. We further propose that the market logic embedded in the for-profit legal form can positively moderate the impact of multiple logics on performance. To explore this empirically, we gathered panel data for 336 California general acute care hospitals whose performance can be broadly identified as their ability to provide quality healthcare and measured via their risk-adjusted death rates. The study confirms our hypotheses and suggests that, once the heterogeneous nature of logics is accounted for, their sheer number plays a role in explaining the residual variance, because increasing means-related logic multiplicity may reshape the way logics interact and ultimately impact performance. We contribute to the literature on institutional logics by providing a view of logics multiplicity instrumental to the improvement of organizational performance
Digitalization in the agri-food industry: the relationship between technology and sustainable development
No full textPurpose: Digitalization is becoming the subject of considerable interest in the literature. This is in view of its relevance in addressing social problems and contributing to the development of communities and societies. In the agri-food-industry, digitalization is also expected to contribute significantly to solve several challenges the sector is facing at this moment, such as the increasing food demand and resource use. However, the effects of advanced technologies are less a function of the technologies themselves than of how they are used by people. The study analyses the dominant challenges faced by firms in the agri-food industry in the usage and adoption of digital technology. Also, they show how these challenges impact on the sustainable development of digital technology for firms in the industry and provide avenues for future research. Design/methodology/approach: The authors propose a structured literature review aiming to investigate the following research question: what are the main challenges faced by firms within the agri-food industry in the adoption of smart technologies? Findings: Results illustrate the dominant challenges faced by firms in the agri-food industry in the usage and adoption of digital technology. Also, they show how these challenges impact on the sustainable development of digital technology for firms in the industry and provide avenues for future research. Originality/value: So far, in the context of digitalization in the agri-food industry, various researchers have analysed different kinds of challenges to the adoption of smart technologies. This work reviews these contributions to create a clear reference framework of the challenges faced by agri-food firms while providing future avenues of research and implications at a policymaking, economic-managerial and socio-environmental level
Environmental orientation, regional innovation, and equity crowdfunding campaigns’ outcomes: Evidence from two Italian platforms
No full textThe purpose of this paper is to examine how the crowdfunding campaigns success and long-term corporate failure are affected by the campaigns and firms’ environmental orientation, as well as by the regional innovation level. This study reveals that environmental orientations (of both campaigns and firms) are linked with higher campaign success, while only firm environmental orientation is linked with a lower probability of long-term corporate failure. Additionally, we find that regional levels of innovation are negatively linked with the probability of campaign success
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