Volume 10, Issue 1 -

The hybridity of social enterprises – that is to say, their simultaneous pursuit of both economic and social value – has increasingly drawn the attention of scholars in the fields of social entrepreneurship and, more broadly, entrepreneurship. To date, there has been significant debate as to whether or how social enterprises are distinct from for- and non profit organizations and whether generating economic rents and achieving a social mission can complement or substitute for each other. To add nuance to this literature, this study focuses on the role of social entrepreneurs’ practical intelligence, seeking to understand how the practical intelligence of social entrepreneurs can contribute to creating both economic and social value. We generally find positive relationships between practical intelligence and the creation of both social and economic value. However, empirical evidence suggests that some dimensions of practical intelligence are closely related to the creation of economic value, whereas others are related to creating social value. Based on the findings, we discuss how practical intelligence can effectively help social entrepreneurs manage the hybridity of their social enterprises.

This study analyzes how agri-food Entrepreneurial Assistance Programs (EAPs) create value for entrepreneurs. Using the MSU Product Center as a unit of analysis, the effect of agri-food EAP assistance on firms’ venture evaluation, perceived legitimacy, and performance is examined. Results indicate that agri-food EAP assistance prevents untenable business ideas from launching, improves the survival of launched ventures and develops entrepreneurs’ perceived legitimacy with trading partners. Further, results imply that targeted EAPs are a viable policy approach for promoting entrepreneurial activity in the agri-food industry, and that they can be particularly well suited to assisting nascent entrepreneurs.

Recognizing the right opportunities is a key capability in the entrepreneurial process, and creative entrepreneurs’ well-being at work can strengthen their inherent motivation to absorb external knowledge for desirable outcomes. Well-being at work is pleasant judgments of positive attitudes or pleasant experiences, but previous research mainly regarded well-being as an outcome variable. Therefore, this study considers the role of well-being as a mediator conceptualized in physical, psychological, and social well-being dimensions in the opportunity recognition process. Based upon the self-determination theory, this study examines how creative entrepreneurs’ motivation, including creative thinking, self-efficacy, and relatedness, influences their well-being and further affects opportunity recognition. Results from a sample of 234 creative entrepreneurs in Taiwan show that well-being positively mediates the effect of relatedness on opportunity recognition capabilities and absorptive capacity. Moreover, creative thinking and self-efficacy are associated with relatedness, and further with well-being. The key findings suggest that well-being plays a critical role to stimulate motivation for further capability building. This study extends the self-determination theory by linking entrepreneurial motivation with well-being in the entrepreneurial opportunity seeking process.

Entrepreneurial ecosystems provide a rich context for analyzing entrepreneurial outcomes such as new venture growth. In most entrepreneurship research, influence of context or environment is undermined or controlled. Also, most studies consider either macro- or micro-level factors using single-level analysis, which mute the higher-level influences on new firm growth. To overcome these gaps, we empirically consider macro- and micro-level factors together, and their cross-level interactions to portray the nexus of entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial ecosystem in growth of new independent ventures in the various US metros. Our findings provide interesting insights on the moderating effects of prior experiences of founders on ecosystem attributes and firm growth.

Drawing on social dominance theory, the present research examines how the characteristics of a potential investor – namely, social dominance orientation (SDO) (i.e. the degree to which individuals seek to maintain inequality between groups) interacts with the characteristics of the entrepreneur (i.e. race) to influence capital decision-making. Study 1 found that as a function of individuals’ SDO, individuals supported a policy that would increase funding access to White but not minority entrepreneurs. Study 2 found that as a function of SDO, individuals were willing to invest in White but not minority-owned firms. The perceived threat of the entrepreneur’s success to the extant racial hierarchy explained differences in investment decisions. The present research in the field of entrepreneurship is the first to apply Social Dominance Theory and Social Dominance Orientation (Sidanius, J., and F. Pratto. 1999. Social Dominance: An Intergroup Theory of Social Hierarchy and Oppression . New York: Cambridge University Press.), which have received much attention in social psychology and organizational behavior, to funding access and investment decisions. In doing so, these studies answer the call by (Klotz, A. C., and D. O. Neubaum. 2016. “Research on the Dark Side of Personality Traits in Entrepreneurship: Observations from an Organizational Behavior Perspective.” Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice 40 (1): 7–17.) to examine the relationship between “darker” personality traits, such as SDO, and entrepreneurial outcomes.