Social entrepreneurship: Creating value in the context of institutional complexity

Drawing on literature on institutional complexity and social movement and paradox theories, we examine the possibility for institutional complexity to provide opportunities for social entrepreneurship. Our ethnographic case study based on a social venture in India shows that institutional complexity manifests in forms of overlapping and/or contradictory institutional logics and provokes paradoxical tension. We identify four strategic responses to institutional complexity: appropriation, integration, differentiation, and working-through. These strategies enable reaching out to a broader range of stakeholders. In conclusion, we argue that institutional complexity can be resourceful in a dynamic process of social value creation.