Article ID Journal Published Year Pages File Type
7425592 Journal of Business Venturing 2018 16 Pages PDF
Abstract
Using the study of hybridization in evolutionary biology as metaphorical inspiration, I offer a thought experiment about the emergence and proliferation of social enterprise and the influence of hybrid organizing on the entrepreneurial ecosystem. After establishing a number of analogues between biological and organizational hybrids, I analyze the degree to which social enterprise may be indicative of hybrid speciation - i.e., a new organizational form - versus introgressive hybridization - i.e., a variant of a more traditional organizational form. I then use the metaphor to examine whether social enterprise: (1) possesses distinct rules and features, (2) is shaped by or shaping the entrepreneurial ecosystem, (3) still remains a hybrid organization, and (4) might even be considered an invasive species.
Related Topics
Social Sciences and Humanities Business, Management and Accounting Business and International Management
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