ORGANIZING FOR SUSTAINABLE CHANGE: COLLECTIVE ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN THE GERMAN ENERGY SECTOR

Mitzinneck, Bjoern C.

ORGANIZING FOR SUSTAINABLE CHANGE: COLLECTIVE ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN THE GERMAN ENERGY SECTOR

Abstract

Many established markets are seeing a rise in alternative organizing models to dominant corporate structures, aimed at promoting sustainable change from the ground up. Collective entrepreneurship initiatives are arising as social activists seek to address sustainability challenges in their local communities through business means. Commensurate with the emergent nature of this phenomenon, I rely on qualitative studies of two examples of collective enterprise to inductively develop new theory in this nascent field of research. In particular, a study of Renewable Energy Source Cooperatives in the transitioning German energy sector puts forward new theory on how collective social entrepreneurship initiatives generate and sustain member participation. A study on Bio-Energy Village initiatives in the same market context develops theoretical insight into how such collective entrepreneurial ventures can move individuals to disrupt the extant institutional arrangements they have taken for granted. Collectively, these studies advance our understanding of how community-based, collective entrepreneurship can break with unsustainable consumption patterns of the past and generate unprecedented citizen involvement in change towards greater sustainability in established markets.

Date Issued

2018-05-30

Keywords

Organization theory; Management; renewable energy; Institutions; Collective Entrepreneurship; Hybrid Organizing; Social Entrepreneurship; Entrepreneurship; sustainability

Committee Chair

Dowell, Glen W.S.

Committee Member

Besharov, Marya L.
Tolbert, Pamela S.
Marquis, Christopher

Degree Discipline

Management

Degree Name

Ph. D., Management

Degree Level

Doctor of Philosophy

Types

dissertation or thesis