Addressing Societal Grand Challenges through Entrepreneurial Means

Management research has advanced our understanding about the systems-level interventions to address the complex nature of societal grand challenges through multi-actor coordination and collective action. In focusing on complexity, management scholars have given less attention to how SGCs could be addressed through novel breakthrough solutions. Based on entrepreneurs’ reflective narratives in which they share subjective experiences of creating and enacting breakthrough solutions for SGCs, we inductively develop a framework that articulates how imagined possibilities are shaped from initial conception to novel material solutions, and to strategic pathways for initiating market-order change. Our framework captures three shaping processes: First, actors construct a conception of the possible by expounding on the experiential process of possibilistic thinking, foregrounding how it intertwines counterfactual thinking and moral conviction to formulate impact intentions. Second, they explain how they actualize the possible, navigating radical uncertainty through resolute exploration. Third, their reflective narratives reveal how they expand conceptions of the possible by showcasing strategic pathways to change markets from within. Our framework contributes to research on societal grand challenges, shaping possibilities, and strategy under uncertainty.

This seminar will take place in person in Room T10-67, Mandeville Building. Alternatively, follow the details below to join this seminar online.

Meeting URL: https://eur-nl.zoom.us/j/94676236023?pwd=REFvMk9JbVZJL2VaSmtjL0IxR1VJZz09

Meeting ID: 946 7623 6023

Passcode: 140715