IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jbvent/v33y2018i2p179-206.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Category membership, identity control, and the reevaluation of prosocial opportunities

Author

Listed:
  • Conger, Michael
  • McMullen, Jeffery S.
  • Bergman, Brian J.
  • York, Jeffrey G.

Abstract

We extend current knowledge on prosocial organizing by explaining how membership in organizational categories lead entrepreneurs to reevaluate their firms' activities and opportunities. Through a qualitative study of 46 firms that pursued B Corp certification, we developed an identity control model of prosocial opportunity. Our findings suggest that joining a prosocial category catalyzes identity-driven reflexivity, which can alter the firm's engagement in prosocial activity. This identity-driven process occurs in tandem with evaluations of opportunity viability and attractiveness, the potential for intra-organizational conflict, and the relative power and position that category legitimacy affords the firm. Our findings contribute to literature streams on prosocial organizing, identity, and categories.

Suggested Citation

  • Conger, Michael & McMullen, Jeffery S. & Bergman, Brian J. & York, Jeffrey G., 2018. "Category membership, identity control, and the reevaluation of prosocial opportunities," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 179-206.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jbvent:v:33:y:2018:i:2:p:179-206
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusvent.2017.11.004
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0883902616303731
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jbusvent.2017.11.004?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Rodolphe Durand & Hayagreeva Rao & Philippe Monin, 2007. "Code and conduct in French cuisine: Impact of code changes on external evaluations," Post-Print hal-00459450, HAL.
    2. Albert Hyunbae Cho, 2006. "Politics, Values and Social Entrepreneurship: A Critical Appraisal," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Johanna Mair & Jeffrey Robinson & Kai Hockerts (ed.), Social Entrepreneurship, chapter 4, pages 34-56, Palgrave Macmillan.
    3. Jeffery S. McMullen & Benjamin J. Warnick, 2016. "Should We Require Every New Venture to Be a Hybrid Organization?," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(4), pages 630-662, June.
    4. Kai Hockerts, 2017. "Determinants of Social Entrepreneurial Intentions," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 41(1), pages 105-130, January.
    5. York, Jeffrey G. & Venkataraman, S., 2010. "The entrepreneur-environment nexus: Uncertainty, innovation, and allocation," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 25(5), pages 449-463, September.
    6. Mair, Johanna & Marti, Ignasi, 2009. "Entrepreneurship in and around institutional voids: A case study from Bangladesh," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 24(5), pages 419-435, September.
    7. J.-P. Vergne & Tyler Wry, 2014. "Categorizing Categorization Research: Review, Integration, and Future Directions," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(1), pages 56-94, January.
    8. Tobias, Jutta M. & Mair, Johanna & Barbosa-Leiker, Celestina, 2013. "Toward a theory of transformative entrepreneuring: Poverty reduction and conflict resolution in Rwanda's entrepreneurial coffee sector," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 28(6), pages 728-742.
    9. Bruton, Garry D. & Ketchen, David J. & Ireland, R. Duane, 2013. "Entrepreneurship as a solution to poverty," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 28(6), pages 683-689.
    10. Jennings, Jennifer E. & Jennings, P. Devereaux & Greenwood, Royston, 2009. "Novelty and new firm performance: The case of employment systems in knowledge-intensive service organizations," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 24(4), pages 338-359, July.
    11. Jeffrey G. York & Isobel O'Neil & Saras D. Sarasvathy, 2016. "Exploring Environmental Entrepreneurship: Identity Coupling, Venture Goals, and Stakeholder Incentives," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(5), pages 695-737, July.
    12. Sieger, Philipp & Gruber, Marc & Fauchart, Emmanuelle & Zellweger, Thomas, 2016. "Measuring the social identity of entrepreneurs: Scale development and international validation," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 31(5), pages 542-572.
    13. Rodolphe Durand & Hayagreeva Rao & Philippe Monin, 2007. "Code and conduct in French cuisine: Impact of code changes on external evaluations," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(5), pages 455-472, May.
    14. Zahra, Shaker A. & Gedajlovic, Eric & Neubaum, Donald O. & Shulman, Joel M., 2009. "A typology of social entrepreneurs: Motives, search processes and ethical challenges," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 24(5), pages 519-532, September.
    15. Rodolphe Durand & Robert M. Grant & Tammy L. Madsen & Eric Yanfei Zhao & Greg Fisher & Michael Lounsbury & Danny Miller, 2017. "Optimal distinctiveness: Broadening the interface between institutional theory and strategic management," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(1), pages 93-113, January.
    16. Jeffery S. McMullen, 2011. "Delineating the Domain of Development Entrepreneurship: A Market–Based Approach to Facilitating Inclusive Economic Growth," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 35(1), pages 185-215, January.
    17. Mcmullen, Jeffery S., 2015. "Entrepreneurial judgment as empathic accuracy: a sequential decision-making approach to entrepreneurial action," Journal of Institutional Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 11(3), pages 651-681, September.
    18. David L. Deephouse, 1999. "To be different, or to be the same? It’s a question (and theory) of strategic balance," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(2), pages 147-166, February.
    19. Andrew M. Pettigrew, 1990. "Longitudinal Field Research on Change: Theory and Practice," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 1(3), pages 267-292, August.
    20. Hoang, Ha & Gimeno, Javier, 2010. "Becoming a founder: How founder role identity affects entrepreneurial transitions and persistence in founding," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 41-53, January.
    21. Jeffery S. McMullen & Dimo Dimov, 2013. "Time and the Entrepreneurial Journey: The Problems and Promise of Studying Entrepreneurship as a Process," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(8), pages 1481-1512, December.
    22. O'Neil, Isobel & Ucbasaran, Deniz, 2016. "Balancing “what matters to me” with “what matters to them”: Exploring the legitimation process of environmental entrepreneurs," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 133-152.
    23. Sutter, Christopher & Webb, Justin & Kistruck, Geoff & Ketchen, David J. & Ireland, R. Duane, 2017. "Transitioning entrepreneurs from informal to formal markets," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 32(4), pages 420-442.
    24. L·szlÛ PÛlos & Michael T. Hannan, 2002. "Foundations of a theory of social forms," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 11(1), pages 85-115, February.
    25. Johanna Mair & Ernesto Noboa, 2006. "Social Entrepreneurship: How Intentions to Create a Social Venture are Formed," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Johanna Mair & Jeffrey Robinson & Kai Hockerts (ed.), Social Entrepreneurship, chapter 8, pages 121-135, Palgrave Macmillan.
    26. Dean, Thomas J. & McMullen, Jeffery S., 2007. "Toward a theory of sustainable entrepreneurship: Reducing environmental degradation through entrepreneurial action," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 50-76, January.
    27. Pacheco, Desirée F. & Dean, Thomas J. & Payne, David S., 2010. "Escaping the green prison: Entrepreneurship and the creation of opportunities for sustainable development," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 25(5), pages 464-480, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Gras, David & Conger, Michael & Jenkins, Anna & Gras, Michael, 2020. "Wicked problems, reductive tendency, and the formation of (non-)opportunity beliefs," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 35(3).
    2. McMullen, Jeffery S., 2018. "Organizational hybrids as biological hybrids: Insights for research on the relationship between social enterprise and the entrepreneurial ecosystem," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 33(5), pages 575-590.
    3. Matthew P. Johnson & Stefan Schaltegger, 2020. "Entrepreneurship for Sustainable Development: A Review and Multilevel Causal Mechanism Framework," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 44(6), pages 1141-1173, November.
    4. Jeffery S. McMullen & Katrina M. Brownell & Joel Adams, 2021. "What Makes an Entrepreneurship Study Entrepreneurial? Toward A Unified Theory of Entrepreneurial Agency," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 45(5), pages 1197-1238, September.
    5. Miller, Danny & Amore, Mario Daniele & Le Breton-Miller, Isabelle & Minichilli, Alessandro & Quarato, Fabio, 2018. "Strategic distinctiveness in family firms: Firm institutional heterogeneity and configurational multidimensionality," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 9(1), pages 16-26.
    6. Adélie Ranville & Marcos Barros, 2022. "Towards Normative Theories of Social Entrepreneurship. A Review of the Top Publications of the Field," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 180(2), pages 407-438, October.
    7. O'Neil, Isobel & Ucbasaran, Deniz & York, Jeffrey G., 2022. "The evolution of founder identity as an authenticity work process," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 37(1).
    8. Geradts, Thijs H.J. & Alt, Elisa, 2022. "Social entrepreneurial action in established organizations: Developing the concept of social intrapreneurship," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 197-206.
    9. Jeffery S. McMullen & Benjamin J. Warnick, 2016. "Should We Require Every New Venture to Be a Hybrid Organization?," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(4), pages 630-662, June.
    10. O'Neil, Isobel & Ucbasaran, Deniz, 2016. "Balancing “what matters to me” with “what matters to them”: Exploring the legitimation process of environmental entrepreneurs," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 133-152.
    11. Kaushik, Vineet & Tewari, Shobha & Sahasranamam, Sreevas & Hota, Pradeep Kumar, 2023. "Towards a precise understanding of social entrepreneurship: An integrated bibliometric–machine learning based review and research agenda," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    12. Paola Bernardi & Alberto Bertello & Canio Forliano & Ludovico Bullini Orlandi, 2022. "Beyond the “ivory tower”. Comparing academic and non-academic knowledge on social entrepreneurship," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 18(3), pages 999-1032, September.
    13. Sutter, Christopher & Bruton, Garry D. & Chen, Juanyi, 2019. "Entrepreneurship as a solution to extreme poverty: A review and future research directions," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 34(1), pages 197-214.
    14. Eric Yanfei Zhao & P. Devereaux Jennings & Masakazu Ishihara & Michael Lounsbury, 2018. "Optimal Distinctiveness in the Console Video Game Industry: An Exemplar-Based Model of Proto-Category Evolution," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 29(4), pages 588-611, August.
    15. Kimmitt, Jonathan & Muñoz, Pablo & Newbery, Robert, 2020. "Poverty and the varieties of entrepreneurship in the pursuit of prosperity," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 35(4).
    16. Gregori, Patrick & Holzmann, Patrick & Wdowiak, Malgorzata A., 2021. "For the sake of nature: Identity work and meaningful experiences in environmental entrepreneurship," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 488-501.
    17. Branzei, Oana & Parker, Simon C. & Moroz, Peter W. & Gamble, Edward, 2018. "Going pro-social: Extending the individual-venture nexus to the collective level," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 33(5), pages 551-565.
    18. Engel, Yuval & Ramesh, Anusha & Steiner, Nick, 2020. "Powered by compassion: The effect of loving-kindness meditation on entrepreneurs' sustainable decision-making," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 35(6).
    19. Sarkar, Soumodip & Pansera, Mario, 2017. "Sustainability-driven innovation at the bottom: Insights from grassroots ecopreneurs," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 327-338.
    20. Alisa Sydow & Benedetto Lorenzo Cannatelli & Alessandro Giudici & Mario Molteni, 2022. "Entrepreneurial Workaround Practices in Severe Institutional Voids: Evidence From Kenya," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 46(2), pages 331-367, March.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jbvent:v:33:y:2018:i:2:p:179-206. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jbusvent .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.