Embracing entrepreneurial action through effectuation in social enterprise

Abstract

Purpose Mainstream entrepreneurship research tends to adopt either the causation or effectuation perspective in their studies. Yet, the social enterprise literature has largely focussed on the bricolage perspective to explain social entrepreneurial action. The authors argue that when investigating legitimacy driven opportunity pursuit of an enterprise’s pre-emergence stage, all three perspectives of causation, effectuation and bricolage are required. The purpose of this paper was to address the research question how does effectuation determine entrepreneurial action in the pre-emergence of a social enterprise? Design/methodology/approach An in-depth single case study approach was used based on the data provided by the founding entrepreneur of Good-Faith Learning social enterprise in Australia. Findings The results demonstrated the complementary evolution of the three perspectives. In the following sequence, the effectuation, causation and bricolage actions were identified during the pre-emergence stage of the Good-Faith Learning social enterprise. Specifically, the input–process–output perspective of the study confirmed that the initial stage reflects on the effectual means linked to the causation-based strong articulation of the social vision and mission. The process stage dominates the bricolage approach to resourcing leading to effectual outcomes subsequently. Further, the specific actions of the pre-emergence stage are comprised legitimacy driven symbolic management approaches conveying the entrepreneur’s credibility and commitment, professional organising through website, gut-instinct based team selection, and organisational achievement. Research limitations/implications The future research may conduct multiple case study analysis with multiple respondents to observe the consistency or deviations of the patterns identified in this study. Originality/value This single case study demonstrates the complementary existence of causation, effectuation and bricolage elements in entrepreneurial actions in a single social enterprise context and advances the social entrepreneurship literature.

Entrepreneurial action: A bibliometric study on the international scientific production

“…Other works also sought to discern entrepreneurial action in social ventures (Meek et al, 2010;Weerakoon et al, 2019;Alonso et al, 2020;García-Morales et al, 2020;Nsereko, 2021;Kimmitt et al, 2022) and the influence of time on the emergence of entrepreneurial action (McKelvie et al, 2011;Greenman, 2013;Morales et al, 2019;Dimov & Pistrui, 2020;Wood et al, 2021).…”

“…In this context, it is worth mentioning the identification of the situational nature of entrepreneurial action (Greenman, 2013;Morales et al, 2019;Dimov & Pistrui, 2020;McKelvie et al, 2011;Wood et al, 2021); its manifestation in different contexts (Dean & McMullen, 2007;Weerakoon et al, 2019;Alonso et al, 2020;García-Morales et al, 2020;Nsereko, 2021;Lacerda & Andrade, 2021) and the adoption of the phenomenon as part of the social environment and present in our daily lives (Sarasvathy, 2001;Watson, 2013;Spedale & Watson, 2014).…”

Ação empreendedora: Um estudo bibliométrico sobre a produção científica internacional

“…Outros trabalhos também buscaram discernir a ação empreendedora em empreendimentos sociais (Meek et al, 2010;Weerakoon et al, 2019;Alonso et al, 2020;García-Morales et al, 2020;Nsereko, 2021;Kimmitt et al, 2022) e também a influência do tempo na emergência de uma ação empreendedora (McKelvie et al, 2011;Greenman, 2013;Morales et al, 2019;Dimov & Pistrui, 2020;Wood et al, 2021).…”

Institutional channeling and opportunity recognition: heterogeneous knowledge corridors as pathways to social entrepreneurship

“…This deficiency is particularly salient in the social entrepreneurship literature, where the assumption that entrepreneurs are primarily motivated by pursuing opportunities to generate financial value for themselves, employees and investors is challenged by the desire of some entrepreneurs to engage in social entrepreneurship – the pursuit of opportunities that create novel solutions to societal issues such as poverty, human trafficking, animal abuse and pollution (Austin et al , 2006; Cajaiba-Santana, 2014; Cherrier et al , 2018; Schweitzer et al , 2015; Zahra et al , 2009). However, while efforts to identify the factors that enable some entrepreneurs to recognize opportunities that generate both economic and social value are progressing (Diochon and Ghore, 2016; Bhardwaj et al , 2021; Henry, 2015; Kucher, 2018; Phillips et al , 2015; Weerakoon, Gales, McMurray, 2019; Zeyen et al , 2013), more work is needed to understand how the macro-level factors in entrepreneurs’ environments interact with individual opportunity recognition to influence social entrepreneurs.…”