We Cannot Direct the Wind, but We Can Adjust the Sails: Prosocial Ventures’ Responses to Potential Resource Threats

Abstract

One of entrepreneurs’ key tasks is mobilizing resources from external resource holders. Although we know how entrepreneurial ventures gain initial access to resources, we do not yet fully understand how they maintain their resource mobilization, particularly in the face of potential threats. During our 11-month study of prosocial ventures that emerged to alleviate the suffering of refugees in Germany, four attacks on the European public occurred that were allegedly committed by refugees. These attacks disrupted the German welcoming culture for refugees, potentially threatening the legitimacy of the prosocial ventures’ core activities. Thus, the attacks provide a starting point for examining how new prosocial ventures are able to maintain access to resources in the face of the potential withdrawal of resource holders. Theorizing from our data, we identify three distinct approaches to explain how prosocial ventures responded to the potential threat undermining the legitimacy of their activities to maintain access to resources. These approaches differ in their initial resource mobilization (i.e., based on the venture’s goal for alleviating suffering), threat appraisals, and responses to maintain resource mobilization in the face of the potential delegitimization of their core activities. Our model provides novel insights into resource mobilization and prosocial venturing.

Me-Search for Generating Ideas for Entrepreneurial Theorizing

“…Through this highly creative and relatively costless process, researchers are likely to identify a research opportunity that they are already somewhat capable of undertaking and motivated to pursue. For instance, both Shepherd and Williams (2014), Williams and Shepherd (2016) and Mittermaier et al (2021Mittermaier et al ( , 2022 used their me-search to help people in need by combining it with their existing knowledge elements on startups, entrepreneurial action, and cognition to generate research opportunities on compassionate venturing, resilience, and resource acquisition. This approach to identifying a research opportunity also shed light on other knowledge elements these authors needed to obtain to develop and communicate conceivable theoretical models-a process that continues today.…”

Managing Trade-Offs in Entrepreneurial Theorizing

“…Both Lévesque and Stephan (2020) and McMullen and Dimov (2013) stressed the importance of such a time-based approach for generating research with high potential to contribute to the knowledge of entrepreneurial phenomena. Indeed, numerous studies have incorporated time (e.g., Bakker & Shepherd, 2017;Mittermaier et al, 2021), explored processes (e.g., Burton et al, 2016;Powell & Baker, 2017), and delineated trajectories (e.g., Henfridsson & Yoo, 2014;Preller et al, 2020;Williams & Shepherd, 2021) to contribute to the entrepreneurship literature. As one example, Burton et al (2016: 237) problematized entrepreneurial careers by incorporating time and establishing their paper's contribution:…”

Writing Entrepreneurial-Theorizing Outcomes

“…Indeed, contextualization is a significant issue that goes beyond the scope of this chapter (see Chapter 4). For more on this topic, we refer interested readers to the following paper on the entrepreneurial context (e.g., Welter, 2011) as well as to further examples of context in the foreground (e.g., Bakker & Shepherd, 2017;Hsu et al, 2016;Mittermaier et al, 2021a) and in the background (e.g., McKelvie et al, 2018;Wiklund & Shepherd, 2005).…”