Wesley Sine

Tilting at Windmills? The Environmental Movement and the Emergence of the U.S. Wind Energy Sector

Through a study of the emergent U.S. wind energy sector, 1978–1992, this paper examines how large-scale social movements external to an industry can influence the creation of new market opportunities and hence encourage entrepreneurship. We theorize that through the construction and propagation of cognitive frameworks, norms, values, and regulatory structures, and by offering a preexisting social structure, social movement organizations influence whether entrepreneurs attempt to start ventures in emerging sectors. We find that the direct and indirect effects of social resources (e.g., environmental groups) had a larger impact on entrepreneurial activity in this sector than the availability of natural resources such as land with high-quality wind. Greater numbers of environmental movement organization members increased nascent entrepreneurial activity, and this effect was mediated by favorable state regulatory policy. Greater membership numbers also enhanced the effects of important natural resources, market conditions, and skilled human capital on entrepreneurial activity. Taken together, these results have important implications for the study of social movements, entrepreneurship, and institutional theory.

Risky Business? Entrepreneurship in the New Independent-Power Sector

Building on sociological research on institutions and organizations and psychological research on risk and decision making, we propose that the development of institutions that reduce the risks of entering new sectors has a stronger effect on the founding rates of firms using novel technologies than on firms using established technologies. In an analysis of the independent-power sector of the electricity industry from 1980 to 1992, we found that the development of regulative and cognitive institutions legitimated the entire sector and provided incentives for all sector entrants; thus, foundings of all kinds of firms multiplied rapidly but had a stronger impact on those using risky novel technologies. In contrast, the central normative institutions that developed in this sector, state-level trade associations, provided greater support for particular forms (those using established technologies) and thus increased foundings of those favored forms more than foundings of less favored forms (those using novel technologies). Our study demonstrates how institutional forces can alter the mix of organizations entering a new industry and thus contribute to diversity, as well as similarity, among organizations.

From Pabst to Pepsi: The Deinstitutionalization of Social Practices and the Creation of Entrepreneurial Opportunities

In this paper, we examine the dual role that social movement organizations can play in altering organizational landscapes by undermining existing organizations and creating opportunities for the growth of new types of organizations. Empirically, we investigate the impact of a variety of tactics employed by the Womans Christian Temperance Union (WCTU), the leading organizational representative of the American temperance movement, on two sets of organizations: breweries and soft drink producers. By delegitimating alcohol consumption, altering attitudes and beliefs about drinking, and promoting temperance legislation, the WCTU contributed to brewery failures. These social changes, in turn, created opportunities for entrepreneurs to found organizations producing new kinds of beverages by creating demand for alternative beverages, providing rationales for entrepreneurial action, and increasing the availability of necessary resources.

Studying Choice and Change: The Intersection of Institutional Theory and Entrepreneurship Research

Although there are many potential points of intersection between institutional theory and contemporary studies of entrepreneurship, these have generally remained distinct literatures, with the connections left more implicit than explicit. We argue that there are a number of benefits to explicitly articulating the links between these bodies of scholarship. In this context, we review work that relates to two key questions we believe are especially likely to benefit from the integration of these literatures---namely, how do institutions affect entrepreneurial choices? And how is entrepreneurship related to changes in institutions? We conclude by considering a number of topics for future research suggested by this integration.

From Plan to Plant: Effects of Certification on Operational Start-up in the Emergent Independent Power Sector

In this paper, we study the transition from planned venture to operational start-up in the emergent independent power sector. Planned ventures face tremendous obstacles in assembling the resources necessary to begin operations; we hypothesize and show that formal certification from authorized actors increases the likelihood of making this transition. Moreover, we find that the effects of certification are contingent on the legitimacy of the sector as a whole: Certifications have a stronger effect on start-ups when sector legitimacy is low than when it is high. This research helps us understand a rarely studied organizational transition---from entrepreneurial intention to actual operations---within nascent sectors. It directs attention to the legitimating effects of formal certification, highlights the importance of a multilevel approach to legitimacy, and contributes to the growing rapprochement between entrepreneurial studies and institutional theory.

Seizing Opportunity in Emerging Fields: How Institutional Entrepreneurs Legitimated the Professional Form of Management Consulting

We draw on the early history of the management consulting field to build theory about how institutional entrepreneurs legitimate new kinds of organizations in emerging fields. We study the professional form of management consulting organization, which came to dominate other alternatives. Pioneers of this organizational form seized opportunities arising from broad institutional change to discredit the status quo and legitimate their model of how to advise organizations on strategic and operational issues. Similar to institutional entrepreneurs seeking to change mature fields, those in this emerging field engaged in theorization, undertook collective action, and established affiliations with recognized authorities and elites. But unlike institutional entrepreneurs in mature fields, the actors we studied could not leverage logics, positions, or collectivities within their emerging field; instead, they drew on logics from outside their field, sought affiliations with external authorities and elites, and emphasized the benefits of their activities for society at large. Our analysis thus suggests important differences in how actors legitimate novel organizational forms in emerging versus mature fields and underscores the need for theories of institutional entrepreneurship that explicitly account for field context.

A Framework for Organizational Quality Culture

A framework for organizational quality culture is introduced, and its legitimacy is analyzed empirically. The framework is needed because of the lack of success in various types of quality initiatives and their confusing relationship with effectiveness..

Professions, Organizations and Institutions: Tenure Systems in Colleges and Universities

A common strategy used by professions to support claims of workplace jurisdiction involves the institutionalization of professionally endorsed formal structures, yet both theory and research suggest that ensuring the implementation of such structures after formal adoption can be problematic. This study investigates the influence of organizational characteristics on the implementation of one professionally created institution in higher education organizations, tenure systems for faculty employment. Our results suggest that implementation of tenure systems is negatively affected by internal resource pressures but positively affected by countervailing pressures from professionally linked constituents. The results also suggest self-limiting aspects of the use of tenure systems.

Manu Militari: The Institutional Contingencies of Stakeholder Relationships on Entrepreneurial Performance

This study examines how ventures can leverage relationships with heterogeneous government stakeholders to enhance survival in different institutional environments. We consider how the distinct resources provided from venture ties to military and political actors represent complementary strategic assets that differentially influence performance in varying political and economic environments as well as under conditions of violence and political conflict. Empirically, we examine the effect of these respective stakeholder relationships on new venture survival across 10 countries over a 65-year period. By distinguishing between the resources obtained through relationships with different types of government stakeholders and showing how the value of these resources varies in different contexts, this study contributes to nonmarket strategy and stakeholder management research and highlights the need for studies to take a pluralistic view of government stakeholders. This paper also presents managerial insights to f...

Gone with the Wind: Industry Development and the Evolution of Social Movement Influence

Recent work linking social movements and organizations has shown that social movements can promote entrepreneurial activity in new industries. Social movements can increase acceptance of new industries among consumers, drum up state support, call entrepreneurs’ attention to new opportunities, connect entrepreneurs to resource providers, and promote the formation of supportive infrastructure. All of these actions facilitate new industry emergence and expansion. In this paper, we argue that when social movements successfully foster industry expansion, three related things happen. First, the movement-encouraged development of industry infrastructure reduces the need for continued support by social movements. Initially because of the difficulty of starting a new organization in a new sector, initial entrants are more likely to be highly motivated by ideology. Second, movements’ efforts on behalf of new industries increase the importance of resource availability: by improving opportunities to earn profits, entrepreneurs who are motivated more by financial considerations and less by movement ideologies are increasingly attracted to the industry; for such instrumentally motivated entrepreneurs, resources are more important than movement support. Third, industry growth motivates counter movements that compete with initiator movements, further reducing the beneficial impact of imitator movements. To test these arguments, we use panel data on the US wind power industry and related social movements. We conclude by considering the implications of our findings for the study of social movements, organizations, and entrepreneurship.