The emergence of collective corporate entrepreneurial identity: an identity work and practice perspective

We report on the findings of two inductive, interpretive case studies of collective corporate entrepreneurial identity emergence, resulting from the establishment of corporate venturing units in two established corporations. We examined middle managers’ identity work and the collective enactment of communities of entrepreneurial practices as the mechanism to transcend effects of individual identity work to the group and organizational level. The emergent model of collective corporate entrepreneurial identity revolves around the fragmentation and exemplification processes by which the corporate entrepreneur role identity prototype is constructed at the individual level, and around the reconstruction and legitimization processes through which other organizational members embrace the emerging collective corporate entrepreneurial identity at the meso and organizational level of analysis. The moderating role of organizational pressures and individuals’ distinctiveness drive is also highlighted.