Sixteenth International Conference on Environmental, Cultural, Economic & Social Sustainability

Abstract

This study advances research on organizational efforts to tackle grand challenges such as the enlarging income disparity that plagues many societies. Recognizing the limitations of conventional individual-based entrepreneurship in tackling such challenges, I position the study at the community/collective level and ask how “collective entrepreneurship” can be organized to address grand challenges with the potential to scale up impact to the masses that stimulate positive social change. By tracing the ten-year evolution of a large community-based enterprise in China, the study identifies three interrelated mechanisms that are integral to the collective entrepreneurship process: (1) consociation – pioneering ventures with an altruistic/collective mindset, (2) equalization – balancing diverse interests within a collective platform, and (3) adaptation – progressing stepwise to adapt to problematic situations. The study provides insights to the organizational research by illustrating a collective entrepreneurship process by which robust actions in response to grand challenges can be organized locally and collectively