The interplay between entrepreneurial and organizational identities in the configuration of corporate entrepreneurial practice

Biniari, Marina and Zhang, Ying (2011) The interplay between entrepreneurial and organizational identities in the configuration of corporate entrepreneurial practice. Working paper. UNSPECIFIED. (Unpublished)

Abstract

While we assume in the corporate entrepreneurship literature that organizational members develop entrepreneurial behavior, little is known of how these members construct an entrepreneurial identity and how this affects the organization. We draw from the social constructionist approach to identity and specifically the identity work literature to explore how the interplay between entrepreneurial and organization identities influence individuals and the organization. We empirically investigate our theorization through the identity work of the champions of two corporate venturing programs that led to the configuration and legitimization of entrepreneurial practices within their parent corporations. Our findings reveal a multilevel entrepreneurial identity work process carried out by organizational members, which through interplays with the dominant organizational identity gives rise to entrepreneurship practices within an organization.

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