Public Entrepreneurship as Social Creativity

Abstract

The article begins with an overview of the innovation process and the entrepreneurial process, each treated as separate but interrelated phenomena. The innovation process tracks the evolution of a new idea through time, whereas the entrepreneurial process tracks the activities that entrepreneurs develop to promote and defend the idea against its detractors. The model of innovation and entrepreneurship introduced distinguishes between individual and collective entrepreneurship and identifies two types of collective entrepreneurship: team entrepreneurship and functional entrepreneurship. A Minnesota case study demonstrates the power of both team and functional entrepreneurship. It also illustrates how important the linkages are between the entrepreneurs and their larger community. An innovative idea's development and survival depends on an "ecology of organizations" that provide "venture" capital for analysis and experimentation. The vast networks of contacts and associations represent a form of social capital just as important as the community's economic capital. In this case, both aspects of social creativity-the community resources and the network of social relations-were found to be instrumental in passing and implementing the first public school choice program in the country.

Entrepreneurship in Peace Operations

“…Kiva also appears to be an example of collective entrepreneurship as both entrepreneurs collectively moved the new idea through the various stages of the innovation process. And judging by the initial descriptions drawn from their website, Kiva provides some evidence of functional entrepreneurship-in-country partners who are important functional specialists as idea generators, champions, advocates, administrators, and evaluators joining the entrepreneurs to help establish the new businesses (Roberts, 1992(Roberts, , 2007Roberts & King, 1996). More systematic data gathering and analysis will be required to determine the extent to which Kiva is an example of both collective and functional entrepreneurship.…”

“…The entrepreneurial vector tracks the agents of change who galvanize support for and counter resistance to the innovative idea as it moves through time. The unit of analysis for the entrepreneurial process is the entrepreneur and the relational network of activities he/she develops in support of the innovative idea (Roberts, 1992(Roberts, , 2007Roberts & King, 1996).…”

“…intellectuals, advocates, champions, administrators, and evaluators) as shown in Figure 2. Probing collective entrepreneurship more deeply, we find its expression can take one of two forms: team entrepreneurship or functional entrepreneurship (Roberts, 1992(Roberts, , 2007Roberts & King, 1996). Team entrepreneurship occurs when multiple entrepreneurs join forces and work together to push an idea through all phases of the innovation process.…”

“…Functional entrepreneurship, on the other hand, occurs without the presence of a single entrepreneur. It occurs when experts from different functional areas of expertise coordinate their efforts and resources in order to push a new idea into practice (Roberts, 1992(Roberts, , 2007Roberts & King, 1996).…”

“…Studies of public-and private-sector entrepreneurs underscore the importance of a relationally rich community base from which entrepreneurs need to draw in order to develop and sustain their new ideas (Bollier, 1991;Downs, 1976;Gray, 1973;Kenny, 2000;Lee, Miller & Hancock, 2000;Rogers, 1995;Saxenian, 1996;Walker, 1969). Described as an ecology of organizational support (Roberts, 2007) and as incubators of entrepreneurship (Bird, 1989, p. 157), government organizations, non-profits, and research centres provide critical 'social venture capital' that is needed to encourage and promote both public and private entrepreneurship and innovation. The same relational theme surfaces in the reconstruction and development literature, but it is framed as the need for 'bridging social capital'-the cooperative interactions across ethnic, national, and religious lines that are necessary for reconstruction and development to occur (Brinkerhoff & Mayfield, 2005;Coletta & Cullen, 2000;Gittell & Vidal, 1998;Wollcock & Narayan, 2000).…”