@article{SeelosMair, author = {Seelos, Christian and Mair, Johanna}, title = {Eine lohnende Investition mit ungewissem Ausgang}, series = {Neue Caritas}, volume = {17}, journal = {Neue Caritas}, pages = {9 -- 13}, abstract = {Innovation in sozialen Organisationen bedeutet vor allem eines nicht: die Garantie auf eine schnelle L{\"o}sung von Problemen. Vielmehr ist Innovation ein Prozess, der das Lernpotenzial des Unternehmens steigert und damit auch den gewollten Mehrwert generiert.}, language = {de} } @article{SeelosMair, author = {Seelos, Christian and Mair, Johanna}, title = {Innovation and Scale: A Tough Balancing Act}, series = {Stanford Social Innovation Review}, volume = {Spring 2013}, journal = {Stanford Social Innovation Review}, number = {Special Supplement: Innovation for a Complex World}, pages = {12 -- 14}, language = {en} } @article{SeelosMair, author = {Seelos, Christian and Mair, Johanna}, title = {Innovation Is Not the Holy Grail}, series = {Stanford Social Innovation Review}, volume = {Fall 2012}, journal = {Stanford Social Innovation Review}, pages = {45 -- 49}, language = {en} } @article{DaskalakiHjorthMair, author = {Daskalaki, Maria and Hjorth, Daniel and Mair, Johanna}, title = {Are Entrepreneurship, Communities, and Social Transformation Related?}, series = {Journal of Management Inquiry}, volume = {24}, journal = {Journal of Management Inquiry}, number = {4}, doi = {10.1177/1056492615579012}, pages = {419 -- 423}, abstract = {This article explores new forms of organizing (and organization creation) in relation to entrepreneurship and social transformation. In particular, in the dialogue that follows in this issue, we initiate a discussion regarding the ways through which social transformation is or can be related to community action and public and/or social entrepreneurship. By focusing on socioeconomic environments in flux, we suggest that emerging alternative initiatives are not simply oppositional, resistance forces, but new organizing assemblages that co-constitute new social realities that urgently need to be actualized. We conclude the article with a number of theoretical propositions, which as we suggest, instigate the study of embedded and socially transformative organizing.}, language = {en} } @article{EbrahimBattilanaMair, author = {Ebrahim, Alnoor and Battilana, Julie and Mair, Johanna}, title = {The Governance of Social Enterprises: Mission drift and accountability challenges in hybrid organizations}, series = {Research in Organizational Behavior}, volume = {34}, journal = {Research in Organizational Behavior}, doi = {10.1016/j.riob.2014.09.001}, pages = {81 -- 100}, abstract = {We examine the challenges of governance facing organizations that pursue a social mission through the use of market mechanisms. These hybrid organizations, often referred to as social enterprises, combine aspects of both charity and business at their core. In this paper we distinguish between two ideal types of such hybrids, differentiated and integrated, and we conceptualize two key challenges of governance they face: accountability for dual performance objectives and accountability to multiple principal stakeholders. We revisit the potential and limitations of recently introduced legal forms to address these challenges. We then theorize about the importance of organizational governance and the role of governing boards in particular, in prioritizing and aligning potentially conflicting objectives and interests in order to avoid mission drift and to maintain organizational hybridity in social enterprises. Finally, we discuss future research directions and the implications of this work for rethinking traditional categories of organizations, namely business and charity.}, language = {en} } @article{MairHehenberger, author = {Mair, Johanna and Hehenberger, Lisa}, title = {Front-Stage and Backstage Convening: The Transition from Opposition to Mutualistic Coexistence in Organizational Philanthropy}, series = {Academy of Management Journal}, volume = {57}, journal = {Academy of Management Journal}, number = {4}, pages = {1174 -- 1200}, abstract = {Actors who support dissimilar institutional models can overcome conflict and move toward mutually beneficial coexistence. To see how, we studied the emergence of venture philanthropy, a rationalized approach to organizational philanthropy in Europe. Our analysis leverages multiple sources of data and focuses on field-configuring events as settings for interactions. We show how convening—bringing together dissimilar actors—in different types of events creates relational spaces for negotiation over institutional models, their practices, and their underlying assumptions. Front-stage interactions in public spaces are important in making models accessible to a broad audience, whereas backstage interactions in protected spaces allow models to be deconstructed. Our findings show that the interplay between front stage and backstage enables the reframing of institutional models by refining the constituent practices, which neutralizes opposition and facilitates joint courses of action. Our results contrast with popular accounts of competing institutional logics, advance organizational research on the role of events in field trajectories, and expose the collective rationalization of giving.}, language = {en} } @article{UzoMair, author = {Uzo, Uchenna and Mair, Johanna}, title = {Source and Patterns of Organizational Defiance of Formal Institutions: Insights from Nollywood, the Nigerian Movie Industry}, series = {Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal}, volume = {8}, journal = {Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal}, number = {1}, pages = {56 -- 74}, abstract = {We extend research on informal economic activity and investigate why organizations adopt informal rules when formal ones exist and how and why patterns of defiance vary across organizations. We build on data from an in-depth study of four organizations operating in the Nigerian movie industry. We identify ambiguity of formal institutions as a major source of organizational defiance. We also find that the organization's domain of embeddedness mediates the relationship between institutional ambiguity and organizational defiance. According to our analysis, the rationale for organizing propelled by the dominant domain of embeddedness affects whether organizations consistently or selectively defy ambiguous formal rules. Our findings highlight the importance of the interplay between institutional and organizational dynamics in understanding informality within an economy.}, language = {en} } @article{TobiasMairBarbosaLeiker, author = {Tobias, Jutta M. and Mair, Johanna and Barbosa-Leiker, Celestina}, title = {Toward a theory of transformative entrepreneuring: Poverty reduction and conflict resolution in Rwanda's entrepreneurial coffee sector}, series = {Journal of Business Venturing}, volume = {28}, journal = {Journal of Business Venturing}, number = {6}, doi = {10.1016/j.jbusvent.2013.03.003}, pages = {728 -- 742}, abstract = {This study illustrates how entrepreneurship may catalyze prosperity as well as peace in entrenched poverty-conflict zones. We bring to life a conceptualization of transformative entrepreneuring by assessing interrelationships between poverty and conflict indicators from the perspective of rural dwellers in Rwanda's entrepreneurial coffee sector. Our findings suggest that individuals' perceptions of poverty alleviation and conflict reduction are sequentially linked, notably via increased quality of life. This enables us to advance theory on entrepreneuring by unpacking the mechanisms through which entrepreneurial processes may transform the lives of such 'ordinary' entrepreneurs in settings where economic and social value creation are desperately needed.}, language = {en} } @article{MoschieriMair, author = {Moschieri, Caterina and Mair, Johanna}, title = {Managing divestitures through time - expanding current knowledge}, series = {Academy of Management Perspectives}, volume = {26}, journal = {Academy of Management Perspectives}, number = {4}, pages = {35 -- 50}, abstract = {Although most existing literature has focused on the motives and consequences of divestitures, we have little more than anecdotal evidence illustrating their design and implementation. Even less is known about the evolution of divestitures, especially when parent companies retain a relationship with the divested unit. Using a multi-method approach that blends quantitative analysis with insights from field research, this study analyzes how and why companies structure and implement divestitures. The resulting framework provides new insights for strategy scholars on how divestitures can be used to shape corporate strategies and our understanding of multi-business companies.}, language = {en} } @article{MairBattilanaCardenas, author = {Mair, Johanna and Battilana, Julie and C{\´a}rdenas, Julian}, title = {Organizing for Society: A Typology of Social Entrepreneuring Models}, series = {Journal of Business Ethics}, volume = {111}, journal = {Journal of Business Ethics}, number = {3}, doi = {10.1007/s10551-012-1414-3}, pages = {353 -- 373}, abstract = {In this article, we use content and cluster analysis on a global sample of 200 social entrepreneurial organizations to develop a typology of social entrepreneuring models. This typology is based on four possible forms of capital that can be leveraged: social, economic, human, and political. Furthermore, our findings reveal that these four social entrepreneuring models are associated with distinct logics of justification that may explain different ways of organizing across organizations. This study contributes to understanding social entrepreneurship as a field of practice and it describes avenues for theorizing about the different organizational approaches adopted by social entrepreneurs.}, language = {en} } @article{MairMartiVentresca, author = {Mair, Johanna and Mart{\´i}, Ignasi and Ventresca, Marc J.}, title = {Building Inclusive Markets in Rural Bangladesh: How Intermediaries Work Institutional Voids}, series = {Academy of Management Journal}, volume = {55}, journal = {Academy of Management Journal}, number = {4}, pages = {819 -- 850}, abstract = {Much effort goes into building markets as a tool for economic and social development; those pursuing or promoting market building, however, often overlook that in too many places social exclusion and poverty prevent many, especially women, from participating in and accessing markets. Building on data from rural Bangladesh and analyzing the work of a prominent intermediary organization, we uncover institutional voids as the source of market exclusion and identify two sets of activities—redefining market architecture and legitimating new actors—as critical for building inclusive markets. We expose voids as analytical spaces and illustrate how they result from conflict and contradiction among institutional bits and pieces from local political, community, and religious spheres. Our findings put forward a perspective on market building that highlights the on-the-ground dynamics and attends to the institutions at play, to their consequences, and to a more diverse set of inhabitants of institutions.}, language = {en} } @incollection{SeelosMair, author = {Seelos, Christian and Mair, Johanna}, title = {Organizational closure competencies and scaling: A realist approach to theorizing social enterprise}, series = {Social entrepreneurship and research methods}, booktitle = {Social entrepreneurship and research methods}, publisher = {Emerald Group Publishing Limited}, address = {Bingley}, isbn = {978-1-78441-142-8}, pages = {147 -- 188}, abstract = {Purpose Social entrepreneurs create novel approaches to social problems such as poverty. But scaling these approaches to the dimension of the problem can be a difficult task. In the social enterprise sector, the subject of scaling has become a key dimension of organizational performance. This chapter advances the scholarly literature on the scaling of social enterprises, a literature which is currently in an embryonic stage and characterized by conceptual ambiguity and fragmented perspectives. Methodology/Approach We engage realist philosophy of science to develop mechanism-based causal explanations of the scaling performance of social enterprises. We also develop a coding scheme to guide systematic empirical analysis and highlight the explanatory power of counterfactuals. Counterfactuals have been largely neglected in empirical research as they represent mechanisms that are enabled but remain unobservable - in a state of suppression or neutralization of their effects. Findings We question the ability of organizations to "socially engineer" desired outcomes and introduce a new construct - organizational closure competence. Anchored in realism, this construct provides a basis for productive approaches to social engineering. We elaborate on the importance of organizational closure competencies for scaling, derive a series of propositions, and develop ideas for future research and for practice. Research, Practical and Social Implications Applying a realist lens allows us to add empirical rigor to research on social enterprises and scaling. Our approach constitutes a move from rich narratives to causal models and informs the way we design and evaluate efforts to address important societal challenges. Originality/Value of Chapter This chapter demonstrates how to operationalize realist philosophy of science for causal explanations of complex social phenomena and better utilize its theoretical and practical value.}, language = {en} } @incollection{MairGanly, author = {Mair, Johanna and Ganly, Kate}, title = {Social Entrepreneurship: Innovation on Dual Frontiers}, series = {Wiley Encyclopedia of Management}, volume = {6: International Management}, booktitle = {Wiley Encyclopedia of Management}, publisher = {John Wiley \& Sons}, isbn = {9781119002352}, abstract = {Over the past two decades, social entrepreneurship as a phenomenon has gained increased momentum and is widely recognized for its potential to address social needs or problems that too often fall through the gaps of our market and governance systems. This article presents social entrepreneurship as a powerful tool to shape and change institutions and ultimately to inspire the commercial and public sectors. It is conceptualized as a process involving innovation on two levels: (i) the innovation of a new type of product, service, or structure that is created to fulfil unmet needs; and (ii) the innovation of envisioning and enacting alternative institutional arrangements. We contend that the dual nature of this type of innovation is what makes social entrepreneurship more effective than existing solutions and distinguishes it from conventional entrepreneurship. Two case studies are examined to show how social entrepreneurs kick start change by challenging taken for granted ways of doing things and demonstrating how new strategies can make a real impact. They illustrate that more sustainable solutions are possible and often provide "proof of concept" leading to the creation of new markets, new policies, and even new behaviors and attitudes.}, language = {en} } @incollection{MoschieriMair, author = {Moschieri, Caterina and Mair, Johanna}, title = {Successful Divestitures Need Proper Cultivation}, series = {Crafting and Executing Strategy: The Quest for Competitive Advantage : Concepts and Cases}, booktitle = {Crafting and Executing Strategy: The Quest for Competitive Advantage : Concepts and Cases}, publisher = {McGraw Hill Higher Education}, isbn = {9781259011801}, language = {en} } @incollection{MairSharma, author = {Mair, Johanna and Sharma, Shuchi}, title = {Performance Measurement and Social Entrepreneurship}, series = {Social Entrepreneurship and Social Business: An Introduction and Discussion with Case Studies}, booktitle = {Social Entrepreneurship and Social Business: An Introduction and Discussion with Case Studies}, publisher = {Gabler Verlag, Springer Fachmedien}, address = {Wiesbaden}, isbn = {978-3-8349-2729-3 (Print) 978-3-8349-7093-0 (Online)}, pages = {175 -- 189}, language = {en} } @incollection{RimacMairBattilana, author = {Rimac, Tomislav and Mair, Johanna and Battilana, Julie}, title = {When Social Entrepreneurs Act as Institutional Entrepreneurs: The Case of Sekem.}, series = {Using a Positive Lens to Explore Social Change and Organizations (Organization and Management)}, booktitle = {Using a Positive Lens to Explore Social Change and Organizations (Organization and Management)}, publisher = {Routledge}, isbn = {0415878861, 978-0415878869}, pages = {71 -- 89}, language = {en} } @incollection{Mair, author = {Mair, Johanna}, title = {Social Entrepreneurship: taking stock and looking ahead}, series = {Handbook of Research on Social Entrepreneurship}, booktitle = {Handbook of Research on Social Entrepreneurship}, publisher = {Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd}, isbn = {0857933302, 978-0857933300}, pages = {16 -- 33}, language = {en} } @book{MairSeelos, author = {Mair, Johanna and Seelos, Christian}, title = {Innovation and Scaling for Impact}, publisher = {Stanford University Press}, address = {Stanford}, isbn = {9780804797344}, pages = {256}, abstract = {Innovation and Scaling for Impact forces us to reassess how social sector organizations create value. Drawing on a decade of research, Christian Seelos and Johanna Mair transcend widely held misconceptions, getting to the core of what a sound impact strategy entails in the nonprofit world. They reveal an overlooked nexus between investments that might not pan out (innovation) and expansion based on existing strengths (scaling). In the process, it becomes clear that managing this tension is a difficult balancing act that fundamentally defines an organization and its impact. The authors examine innovation pathologies that can derail organizations by thwarting their efforts to juggle these imperatives. Then, through four rich case studies, they detail innovation archetypes that effectively sidestep these pathologies and blend innovation with scaling. Readers will come away with conceptual models to drive progress in the social sector and tools for defining the future of their organizations.}, language = {en} } @article{MairMarkmanRussoetal., author = {Mair, Johanna and Markman, Gideon and Russo, Michael and Lumpkin, G.T. and Jennings, P. Devereaux}, title = {Entrepreneurship as a Platform for Pursuing Multiple Goals: A Special Issue on Sustainability, Ethics, and Entrepreneurship}, series = {Journal of Management Studies}, volume = {53}, journal = {Journal of Management Studies}, number = {5}, issn = {1467-6486}, doi = {10.1111/joms.12214}, pages = {673 -- 694}, abstract = {The great challenge of sustainability is addressed by firms with varying levels of social and environmental responsibility and performance. Though traditionally, firms sought a balance, we argue that this is not enough. Rather, we advocate that the natural environment be the foundation on which society resides and the economy operates. Sustainable, ethical, entrepreneurial (SEE) enterprises are moving in this direction, seeking to regenerate the environment and drive positive societal changes rather than only minimizing harm. We also note that sustainability is justified and motivated by ethical considerations and pioneered by entrepreneurial engagement. The eight articles included in this Special Issue draw from cross-disciplinary scholarship to elaborate how SEE enterprises approach sustainability through new organizational forms, business models and innovation, and new governance mechanisms. They also emphasize the roles of institutional forces and logics, government policies and social movements for promoting or impeding sustainable practices. Collectively, they reveal new and compelling insights while spotlighting the great questions for SEE enterprise that await study.}, language = {en} } @article{MairStephanPattersonetal., author = {Mair, Johanna and Stephan, Ute and Patterson, Malcolm and Kelly, Ciara}, title = {Organizations driving positive social change : A review and an integrative framework of change processes}, series = {Journal of Management}, volume = {42}, journal = {Journal of Management}, number = {5}, issn = {0149-2063}, doi = {10.1177/0149206316633268}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b1570-opus4-21722}, pages = {1250 -- 1281}, abstract = {Academic and practitioner interest in how market-based organizations can drive positive social change (PSC) is steadily growing. This paper helps to recast how organizations relate to society. It integrates research on projects stimulating PSC—the transformational processes to advance societal well-being—that is fragmented across different streams of research in management and related disciplines. Focusing on the mechanisms at play in how organizations and their projects affect change in targets outside of organizational boundaries, we (1) clarify the nature of PSC as a process, (2) develop an integrative framework that specifies two distinct PSC strategies, (3) take stock of and offer a categorization scheme for change mechanisms and enabling organizational practices, and (4) outline opportunities for future research. Our conceptual framework differentiates between surface- and deep-level PSC strategies understood as distinct combinations of change mechanisms and enabling organizational practices. These strategies differ in the nature and speed of transformation experienced by the targets of change projects and the resulting quality (pervasiveness and durability), timing, and reach of social impact. Our findings provide a solid base for integrating and advancing knowledge across the largely disparate streams of management research on corporate social responsibility, social entrepreneurship, and base of the pyramid and open up important new avenues for future research on organizing for PSC and on unpacking PSC processes.}, language = {en} } @article{MairVenkataramanVermeulenetal., author = {Mair, Johanna and Venkataraman, Hemalatha and Vermeulen, Patrick and Raaijmakers, Aafke}, title = {Market Meets Community: Institutional Logics as Strategic Resources for Development Work}, series = {Organization Studies}, volume = {37}, journal = {Organization Studies}, number = {5}, issn = {0170-8406}, doi = {10.1177/0170840615613370}, pages = {709 -- 733}, abstract = {We investigate how an intermediary organization, PRADAN, introduces and promotes market-based activities in tribal villages as a means to improve the social and economic conditions of rural women and their families in two districts in India. We draw from the literature on institutional logics and focus on the strategies and activities of PRADAN - an NGO working in poor rural areas in Northern India - to show how PRADAN instrumentally used a market logic and a community logic to develop new social structures in these rural communities. Moreover, we show what effect this had on beneficiaries and their families and how difficult it has been to convince rural communities and gain their trust. On the basis of these findings we show how logics can be deployed as a means to alter institutional arrangements. We find that the simultaneous enactment of both community and market logics was critical in the development of new social structures (Self-Help Groups). Finally, we show how the introduction of market-based activities by PRADAN is best understood as an ongoing and staged process that strongly builds on a continuous interplay of multiple logics.}, language = {en} } @article{MairHuysentruytStephan, author = {Mair, Johanna and Huysentruyt, Marieke and Stephan, Ute}, title = {Market-Oriented and Mission-Focused: Social Enterprises around the Globe}, series = {Stanford Social Innovation Review}, journal = {Stanford Social Innovation Review}, abstract = {Social enterprises contribute significantly to the economy, and simultaneously are fiercely social mission-driven.}, language = {en} } @article{MairSeelos, author = {Mair, Johanna and Seelos, Christian}, title = {When Innovation Goes Wrong}, series = {Stanford Social Innovation Review}, volume = {14}, journal = {Stanford Social Innovation Review}, number = {4}, issn = {1542-7099}, pages = {27 -- 33}, abstract = {Efforts by social enterprises to develop novel interventions receive a great deal of attention. Yet these organizations often stumble when it comes to turning innovation into impact. As a result, they fail to achieve their full potential. Here's a guide to diagnosing and preventing several "pathologies" that underlie this failure.}, language = {en} } @article{MairMoschieri, author = {Mair, Johanna and Moschieri, Caterina}, title = {Corporate Entrepreneurship: Partial Divestitures as Real Option}, series = {European Management Review}, volume = {14}, journal = {European Management Review}, number = {1}, issn = {17404754}, pages = {67 -- 82}, abstract = {Scholars in strategy and entrepreneurship have discussed the benefits and difficulties of keeping ventures inside the firm versus separating them through divestitures and the balance between control and autonomy. Using an in-depth analysis of cases of partial divestitures, this study examines the organizational arrangement that arises from divestitures with a retained parent-unit relationship. The emerging framework connects the parent-unit relationship and its modifications along the divestiture's objective - specifically, the exploration carried out by the unit. Partial divestitures are designed as real options, for firms to manage corporate venturing, taking advantage of the flexibility that such arrangement may grant.}, language = {en} } @article{MairWolfSeelos, author = {Mair, Johanna and Wolf, Miriam and Seelos, Christian}, title = {Scaffolding: A Process of Transforming Patterns of Inequality in Small-Scale Societies}, series = {Academy of Management Journal}, volume = {59}, journal = {Academy of Management Journal}, number = {6}, issn = {0001-4273}, doi = {10.5465/amj.2015.0725}, pages = {2021 -- 2044}, abstract = {This study advances research on organizational efforts to tackle multidimensional, complex, and interlinked societal challenges. We examine how social inequality manifests in small-scale societies, and illustrate how it inheres in entrenched patterns of behavior and interaction. Asking how development programs can be organizing tools to transform these patterns of inequality, we use a program sponsored by an Indian non-governmental organization as our empirical window and leverage data that we collected over a decade. We identify "scaffolding" as a process that enables and organizes the transformation of behavior and interaction patterns. Three interrelated mechanisms make the transformation processes adaptive and emerging alternative social orders robust: (1) mobilizing institutional, social organizational, and economic resources; (2) stabilizing new patterns of interaction that reflect an alternative social order; and (3) concealing goals that are neither anticipated nor desired by some groups. Through this analysis, we move beyond conventional thinking on unintended consequences proposed in classic studies on organizations, complement contemporary research about how organizations effect positive social change by pursuing multiple goals, and develop portable insights for organizational efforts in tackling inequality. This study provides a first link between the study of organizational efforts to alleviate social problems and the transformation of social systems.}, language = {en} }