Social bricolage in the aftermath of war

ABSTRACT

While social bricolage has emerged as a key theoretical frame for understanding how social entrepreneurs mobilize and deploy resources to create social value under situations of resource scarcity, there is scant knowledge about social bricolage in post-conflict settings characterised by extreme resource paucity and adversity. Drawing on field research in post-conflict northern Uganda, we show how groups of disenfranchised young people use social bricolage to create social change in a volatile situation marked by extreme resource deprivation and a plethora of challenges arising in the aftermath of war. Based on empirical data, we outline three key practices of social bricolage employed to cope with resource scarcity, extended crisis and volatility. First, we unravel the practice of securing resources and creating social value by mobilizing peers. Second, we show how pluriactivity is used to stretch and make the most of scarce resources in a shifting environment. Third, we illuminate the practice of rekindling pre-war cultural resources to reunite fragmented communities. By illuminating these practices and showing how the context of the post-conflict developing country setting influences the dynamics of ‘making do with resources at hand’, we seek to extend social bricolage theory.     

Waste Livelihoods Amongst the Poor – Through the Lens of Bricolage

This paper examines two social enterprises and 25+ informal economy micro‐entrepreneurs in Kenya who utilize waste materials to generate income, considered through the conceptual lens of bricolage. Waste materials can all be considered as sources of free or discounted materials that in resource‐constrained and poor communities might be leveraged to generate income in the absence of employment. This paper explores three key themes that emerge from the research findings, namely the various strategic dimensions of the cases, the networks and social capital they leverage and how these livelihood models relate to various dimensions of bricolage such as improvisation, making do and the process of ‘fiddling’ or recombining resources. The findings also suggest that differing waste livelihoods have different rates of return, or profitability, and differing input requirements of capital, skills and knowledge. The paper also stresses the role of boundary spanning organizations such as NGOs and hybrid/social enterprises. © 2016 The Authors. Business Strategy and the Environment published by ERP Environment and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.     

Innovation for Inclusive Business: Intrapreneurial Bricolage in Multinational Corporations

It is often argued that multinational corporations (MNCs) are in a unique position to innovate business models that can help to alleviate poverty. This empirical study into intra‐organizational aspects of pro‐poor business innovation in two MNCs suggests, however, that certain elements of their management frameworks – such as short‐term profit interests, business unit based incentive structures, and uncertainty avoidance – may turn into obstacles that prevent MNCs from reaching their full potential in this respect. We introduce the concept of intrapreneurial bricolage to show how middle manager innovators may promote pro‐poor business models despite these obstacles. We define intrapreneurial bricolage as entrepreneurial activity within a large organization characterized by creative bundling of scarce resources, and illustrate empirically how it helps innovators to overcome organizational constraints and to mobilize internal and external resources. Our findings imply that intrapreneurial bricolage may be of fundamental importance in MNC innovation for inclusive business. In addition to the field of inclusive business, this study has implications for the study of bricolage in large organizations and social intrapreneurship, as well for managerial practice around innovation for inclusive business.     

Sharing my way to success: A case study on developing entrepreneurial ventures using social capital in an OSS community

While Open Source Software (OSS) communities provide opportunities for knowledge creation, we have a limited understanding of how entrepreneurs leverage OSS communities for their entrepreneurial ventures. Using social capital theory in a mixed methods case study, we compare entrepreneur and non-entrepreneur behaviors to investigate how entrepreneurs build social capital within an OSS community. This study shows that entrepreneurs differentiate themselves from non-entrepreneurs by focusing on cognitive and relational capital building activities, which in return makes it possible for them to leverage their social capital to influence and shape the environment in which they are operating. Our findings suggest that entrepreneurs strategically select which activities within the community to expend their limited resources on (e.g., developing code over participating in email conversations) and build their social capital more through their actions than through their words (e.g., showing their commitment to the community through code commits, bug fixes, and documentation). Given the liabilities of newness and smallness as well as other challenges faced by entrepreneurs, applying an open innovation strategy in OSS communities could be one approach where entrepreneurs, by developing and freely revealing their intellectual property to the community, share their way to success via OSS-infused entrepreneurial business ventures.     

创业拼凑与机会开发过程模型--基于大学生创业的单案例分析

在"双创"教育的指引下,越来越多的大学生投身到创业活动之中,如何提高大学生创业存活率成为理论界与实践界关注的焦点。本文以一家大学生新创企业为例,采用纵向案例研究构建了大学生创业情境下"机会-资源一体化"过程模型,揭示了大学生新创企业利用创业拼凑进行机会开发的微观机制。研究发现在探索期,新创企业以资源为导向,采用物质拼凑和技能拼凑,实现"发现型机会"的开发;在稳定期,新创企业以机会为导向,采用网络拼凑和技能拼凑,实现"发现+创造型"机会的开发;在发展期,新创企业以顾客为导向,采用客户拼凑和技能拼凑,实现"创造型机会"的开发。研究结果可为揭示创业拼凑内部机理的形成提供方向,也可为从校园走出的大学生新创企业利用手边资源、开发有潜力的创业机会、实现企业可持续发展提供有益的借鉴和启示。     

Bricolage,collaboration and mission drift in social enterprises

Abstract

Increasingly, social enterprises are relying on collaboration with partners to tackle the resource constraints that they face. In this research we focus on the strategy of bricolage to explore whether and how the different types of partner becoming involved may impact on the mission of social enterprises. Grounded in resource dependency and transaction cost theories, we explore how power asymmetry and the nature of involvement may impact on the outcomes of bricolage. Our findings demonstrate that in the more integrated relationships with high power asymmetry, more instances of mission drift might be observed compared to when social enterprises develop the more collaborative or complementary nature of partnerships with symmetrical power dependency, or when the partners’ involvements are mainly transaction-based.     

Leveraging entrepreneurial ecosystems as human resource systems: A theory of meta-organizational human resource management

Entrepreneurs require human resources to establish and scale their ventures; however, constraints often prevent entrepreneurs from investing in formal human resource systems. How entrepreneurs overcome human resource challenges by leveraging their entrepreneurial ecosystems as informal inter-organizational talent management systems has been overlooked by scholars. We propose a model of entrepreneurial ecosystem human resource management, theorizing that ecosystem participants collectively perform the human resource management function for entrepreneurship communities. Drawing from economic rents theory, we explain how entrepreneurial ecosystems encourage a form of meta-organizational human resource management that allows ecosystem participants to coordinate talent acquisition, learning and development, performance management and rewards, and retention. Coordinated entrepreneurial ecosystems improve entrepreneurial performance by sourcing talent, onboarding selected members, enculturating ecosystem values, developing entrepreneurial skills, and retaining human resources, which in turn generates rents. We discuss how our theory catalyzes research at the HR and entrepreneurial ecosystems interface and reveals insights for practitioners.     

The importance of ‘fitting in’: collaboration and social value creation in response to community norms and expectations

Abstract

This article explores the effects of embeddedness in communities upon entrepreneurial practices. Based on the lived experiences of 10 craft entrepreneurs, this study reveals that within certain contexts, such as craft communities, entrepreneurs are expected to exhibit high levels of camaraderie and generosity, which leads them to create social value by supporting their peers and freely sharing their resources. Entrepreneurs achieve ‘fitting in’ not only by learning accepted norms, but also by performing strategic actions which allow them to temporarily adapt their conduct to meet the expectations of community members. Thus, this study exposes a largely concealed element of social entrepreneurial practice. This article also reveals that embeddedness in communities can lead entrepreneurs to collaborate with potential competitors. Craft entrepreneurs share their economic, cultural, social and symbolic capital in order to support and help revitalise their communities, to perpetuate their respective industries and to sustain a genuine interest in hand-crafted products. They consider such supportive behaviour a social responsibility that is shared among community members and a task that is passed from one generation to the next. Thus, this article reveals that collaboration and social value creation can be embraced in response to community norms and expectations.     

Board interlocks and greenhouse gas emissions

Using resource dependence theory, we analyze board interlocks, their industry origin, and their relationship to firms' greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Interlocks create connections by having board members from one firm sit on other firms' boards, providing an avenue for sharing information and resources to aid in knowledge transfer and capability development. As firms face challenges for improved GHG emissions performance, they may look to their board members' connections to other firms to acquire needed resources. Using a sample of US Standard & Poor's (S&P) 1500 firms for years 2009 to 2018, we find that firms with a greater number of board interlocks achieve lower GHG emissions intensity. We also find that boards for the best performing companies have interlocks in the same industry, in other industries, and with firms leading in GHG emissions intensity, especially for firms in higher environmentally impacting industries, as they face greater emissions challenges.     

Entrepreneurship through Bricolage: a study of displaced entrepreneurs at times of war and conflict

ABSTRACT

War and conflict brings about adverse changes for those who are displaced. How do entrepreneurial individuals respond to such adversity to either set-up, or continue with their existing entrepreneurial endeavours that would improve their own livelihood or that of others who have been affected? Whilst previous studies have found local knowledge, networks and resources to be crucial in the development of ventures in the war and conflict context, alienation from mainstream society within the host location often means that to succeed, those who are displaced require alternative strategies and approaches. Through examining the entrepreneurial ventures of six internally displaced entrepreneurs in Pakistan, our study identifies that entrepreneurial individuals find different ways to adapt to the new order, with both internal and external bricolage becoming the key strategies deployed to either re-establish their previous businesses or to develop new endeavours in the host location. To compensate for lack of local knowledge, networks and resources, we found that entrepreneurs followed closely their previous paths in their bricolage attempts, relying on reconfigurations of their pre-existing competencies, as well as utilizing pre-established and clandestine networks.     

A resilient social economy? Insights from the community food sector in the UK

At a time of global economic and environmental crisis, academic and policy debates are re-emphasizing the potential of the social economy in providing an alternative development model that reconnects communities with their resource-base and enhances their ‘resilience’. The goal of this paper is to explore this potential through a focus on the practices and values of those who are concretely involved in the social economy. Based on data collected on five community food enterprises in Oxfordshire, UK, the analysis focuses on the perceptions of social entrepreneurs in relation to the ‘alternativeness’ of the social economy, its potential for expansion and its resilience. The research highlights the capacity of social entrepreneurs to empower local communities through a process of collective mobilization of local resources. Theoretically, this study generates new insights into the nature and meanings of resilience as a process of creation of more self-reliant communities of people, places, tools, skills and knowledge. From a policy and practice perspective, the paper raises the need for regional development strategies that capture the gains of these isolated initiatives, particularly in relation to their innovative capacity to create a shared vision that fosters synergies between local ecological, social and economic resources.     

The dynamics of entrepreneurs’ networks in a transitioning economy: the case of Russia

Despite its theoretical and practical importance, the evolution and development of entrepreneurs’ networks has attracted a little attention of researchers. The emerging research literature on this topic found that the dynamics of entrepreneurial networks were contingent upon venture lifecycle, industry and region, and resource needs of the firm. In addition and contrast to the previous research, this article examines the effects of the initial network structure, and firm performance of previous years on the changes in entrepreneurs' network structure, relations, and resources over 4 years. The empirical data is composed of the face-to-face interviews with 75 Russian entrepreneurs in 1995, and the follow-up interviews with 56 original respondents in 1999. I found that the greater the initial network size, the less the increase in network size, strong and weak ties, and resources over time. Further, the findings indicate that revenue growth of previous years predicts the changes in networks in the reverse manner. Thus, I found that the greater the average revenue growth, the less the increase in network size, weak ties, and resources over time.     

Responsible Innovation Toward Sustainable Development in Small and Medium‐Sized Enterprises: a Resource Perspective

What resources do small enterprises need to develop responsible innovations that enhance sustainable development? Does lack of resources prevent innovation toward sustainability in small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) or can innovations be created with scarce resources? This study investigates environmentally and socially responsible innovations of SMEs from a resource perspective, based on empirical data from 13 Nordic SMEs. The findings indicate that SMEs can create responsible innovations with very different resource combinations. The most common resource combination comprises equity, research and development cooperation, networks, industry knowledge and reputation. Except for financial capital in the form of equity, which appears a necessary condition for responsible innovation from SMEs, resource needs vary between technological and business model innovations. Creating business model innovations appears to be possible with scarce resources, at the very least with equity and social capital. Environmental technology innovations call for more abundant resource combinations. In particular industry knowledge appears to be a key resource for such innovations. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment     

Balancing on a tightrope: Managing the boundaries of a firm-sponsored OSS community and its impact on innovation and absorptive capacity

Realizing the innovation potential of OSS communities, firms now create or sponsor their own open source software (OSS) communities, generally as part of an open innovation strategy. However, maximizing the innovation capability of a sponsored OSS community is a challenging task since firms cannot rely on traditional hierarchical authority to control community members. Furthermore, a firm's efforts to manage its sponsored community may also impact the firm's absorptive capacity, or its ability to effectively absorb and leverage the valuable knowledge created by the community. Thus, the purpose of this article is to investigate two research questions: 1) How does the boundary management of a firm-sponsored OSS community impact the community's innovation capacity? and 2) How does the boundary management of a firm-sponsored OSS community impact the firm's absorptive capacity? Using the results from our qualitative analysis of eZ Systems and its successfully sponsored OSS community – eZ Publish – we develop a theoretical model depicting how the boundary management of a firm-sponsored OSS community influences both the community's innovation capacity and the absorptive capacity of the firm. In addition, the results of our study highlight the central importance of an integrative IT platform in boundary management activities.     

What entrepreneurs discover when creating opportunities? Insights from Skype and YouTube ventures

Although the scholarly conversation about how entrepreneurial opportunities emerge has suggested that entrepreneurs both discover and create opportunity components, specific knowledge about what components are discovered is lacking. In this research, we use an exploratory case study to investigate the opportunity creation process. We found that entrepreneurs discover several opportunity-related components based on the prior experience and knowledge of other entrepreneurs. Drawing on the evidence from these exploratory cases, we identify three important types of components that entrepreneurs creatively recombine within an emerging opportunity: technology stack, business model, and product and service design architecture. These findings have important implications for our understanding of entrepreneurial bricolage and entrepreneurial recycling, and their connection to the process of opportunity creation.     

和谐社会视域下制约延安市社区体育发展的因素调查研究

本课题采用文献资料法、问卷调查法等研究方法,对延安市社区体育开展现状以及各制约社区体育发展的因素进行调查研究。结果表明:社区体育场地器材设施投入力度较大,活动参与人群日渐增多,但仍存在社区体育活动参与人群结构不均衡,社区体育活动经费少,社区体育组织管理机构不健全等方面问题。针对存在的实际问题进行了对策研究,以期为延安社区体育和谐发展提供理论参考。     

Reflections on Working with Homeless People

As a housing case manager in a homeless shelter, I work closely with homeless people every day. While there is an important place for the tools of social science in understanding the challenges they face, we should not distance ourselves emotionally from the homeless and treat them as stereotypes rather than as unique individuals. My main task in the shelter is to help the guests find their way through the almost impenetrable maze of government programs that are supposed to assist them in finding housing and work. Yet, about one-third of homeless people struggle with some form of mental illness, which adds to the complexity of serving them in a shelter. Physical disabilities, substance abuse, and criminal backgrounds create additional obstacles for a large number of homeless people. Those problems are often caused or compounded by homelessness. The primary cause of homelessness does not lie in the people themselves but in the capitalist system. Homelessness will remain a chronic problem until we create a society and economy in which accountability is localized, and communities on the scale of neighborhoods are strengthened to the point that they can respond to problems humanely.     

Introduction

The new education must be less concerned with sophistication than compassion. It must recognize the hazards of tribalism. It must teach man the most difficult lesson of all—to look at someone anywhere in the world and be able to see the image of himself. The old emphasis upon superficial differences that separate peoples must give way to education for citizenship in the human community. With such an education and with such self‐understanding, it is possible that some nation or people may come forward with the vital inspiration that men need no less than food. Leadership on this higher level does not require mountains of gold or thundering propaganda. It is concerned with human destiny. Human destiny is the issue. People will respond. Norman Cousins The preceding quote provides a powerful message grounded in the idea that our world is becoming increasingly smaller and it is becoming increasingly difficult to make local decisions without global consequences. However, Cousins' quote also indicates the complexity and enormity of the issues facing leadership. To address the development of intercultural communities through humanistic means, leaders will be challenged to create innovative paradigms and practices along with educational curricula that will create the impetus for the development of future global leaders. This scenario is further complicated, as leadership educators will be asked to innovate and attend to the needs of their learners within a system of depleted resources. Higher education and corporate training have been forced to endure the reduction of resources stemming from growing economic concerns. Such diminished resources have created a considerable challenge for leadership educators, as they attempt to develop learners who are competent and equipped with the skills to work with intercultural populations. Parsons (2005) wrote that divisions within the federal government have created the need for new alternatives for learning within higher education, as government funds exacerbated by domestic spending limitations are now, and will be in the foreseeable future, diverted to other priorities. It is unlikely that leaders like Claiborne Pell or Robert Stafford will be walking through the proverbial door and onto the national landscape anytime soon, considering the depletion of the national treasury and the bipartisan struggles facing Congress. Thus, the plight of our learners will fall to the innovative capacities of our educators to create opportunities for growth through alternative means and innovative practice. Where in the past immersion provided the opportunity for the development of these learners, the future will force educators to consider much different methodologies in an effort to develop the necessary competencies for successful interactions with global populations. This symposium addresses the challenge. The symposium provides a collection of scholarly perspectives exploring innovative practices aimed at preparing learners for the work that they do with intercultural communities. With respect to the competing resource limitations, the symposium specifically addresses innovative practices within nonimmersive contexts. Through the symposium, the authors have addressed the cognitive, behavioral, and affective competencies that aspiring leaders need to be successful in global contexts. The following contributions focus on the importance, issues, and methods of developing global competence as a vital piece of leadership education.     

高寒山地作战装备维修资源整合问题探讨

维修资源是战时维修保障系统的重要组成部分,维修资源的有效整合是生成维修保障能力的物质基础和前提条件。针对当前高寒山地作战装备维修资源整合存在的问题和挑战,以战时维修保障理论成果为支撑,运用资源整合理论及方法,从转变能力生成模式、明确资源整合需求、聚合集成要素单元、耦合优化能力结构、维修资源动态整合等5个方面对问题进行了多角度的理论探讨,为高寒山地作战装备维修资源整合提供了理论参考。     

A case for resource‐based view and competitive advantage in banking

This paper discusses the importance of the strategic planning process and presents a case study on JPMorgan Chase and how the resource‐based view (RBV) was used to align their resources with the overall strategy of the organization in achieving their goal of becoming the top nationally ranked commercial bank in the Unites States. This required JPMorgan Chase to implement strategic changes to their internal and external environment utilizing their resources and competencies. The objective of this paper is to provide a theoretical and practical insight of RBV on the “what happened” aspect of JPMorgan Chase and then discuss their ability to achieve and maintain competitive advantage.