Entrepreneurs or Employees? The Emergence of “Disciplining Entrepreneurialism” in Subsidiary Organizations at Cyberagent

Abstract

This chapter presents an in-depth inductive analysis of a parent organization and the network of subsidiaries that it has created. The authors identify the significance of organizational processes label as “disciplining entrepreneurialism.” These are activities that encourage entrepreneurial individuals to propose and lead new businesses while also promoting strong identification with the parent firm. The authors explore the emergence of this phenomenon through an examination of subsidiary–headquarter relations. While conventional conceptualization of inter-organizational collaboration has tended to exclude ­subsidiary–headquarter network relationships, we use the Systems of Exchange framework (Biggart & Delbridge, 2004) to categorize disciplined entrepreneurship alongside market, hierarchy, and network relations. Disciplining entrepreneurialism is not experienced as either market nor hierarchy by the individual members in the subsidiaries, and these subsidiaries move between the two in ways that are not adequately captured as a network either. This disciplining entrepreneurship approach can thus be contrasted with networks as well as differentiated from both markets and hierarchies. Entrepreneurship is encouraged while maintaining commitment to the overarching enterprise of the parent company.

Citation

Delbridge, R., Endo, T. and Morris, J. (2019), "Entrepreneurs or Employees? The Emergence of “Disciplining Entrepreneurialism” in Subsidiary Organizations at Cyberagent", Sydow, J. and Berends, H. (Ed.) Managing Inter-organizational Collaborations: Process Views (Research in the Sociology of Organizations, Vol. 64), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 163-183. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0733-558X20190000064012