Sensing Opportunity and Acting to Create Change: A Case of Institutional Entrepreneurship
Date
2023-06-08
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
Over the past few decades, institutional entrepreneurship theory has been increasingly explored in business research since it helps explain how change can be created by lone actors embedded in well-established institutional environments. Much of the existing literature identifies and clarifies the institutional factors within an environment in which individual actors can exercise agency to change institutional arrangements. Scholars of institutional entrepreneurship literature mostly agree that individual actors’ success with institutional change depends on them (a) obtaining resources, (b) sensing opportunities, and (c) leveraging their social position. Still, exactly what actions these actors take—“how” they create change within heavily institutionalized environments—remains unclear. Similarly, little research has investigated how these individuals navigate pressures to conform to the existing institutional arrangements when embedded in an established institution. In my study, I sought to uncover and explain how a manager in a family-owned and controlled company engaged the three factors noted above to achieve significant revenue growth for his business line, which ultimately also changed some institutional practices and norms within the company. Specifically, I studied a case of institutional entrepreneurship where a manager created change from within a mid to large–sized, privately held, family-run company that has well-established practices and norms, with deeply embedded cultural values originating from the company founder. This manager created change by improving the success of the business, influencing long-standing cultural values, and spawning new company practices and norms not seen by his predecessors, despite pervasive institutional pressures. Through a review of data comprising documents and interview data, I explain the manager’s actions and illustrate what he did to create these changes. I identify four main actions taken by the manager and discuss how companies can actually implement them if they wish to foster institutional entrepreneurship.
Description
Keywords
institutional entrepreneurship, opportunity, actions, change, practices, strategy
Citation
Peet, S. (2023). Sensing opportunity and acting to create change: a case of institutional entrepreneurship (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.