Navigating compromise: How founder authenticity affects venture identification amidst organizational hybridity

• Published in: Journal of business venturing 2021-03, Vol.36 (2), p.106085, Article 106085
• Main Authors: Wagenschwanz, Anna M., Grimes, Matthew G.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Authenticity; Businesspeople; Case studies; Entrepreneurship; Founder identity; Hybrid organizations; Organizational identification; Social entrepreneurship
• ISSN: 0883-9026; 1873-2003
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusvent.2020.106085

Founders of hybrid ventures encounter organizational tensions that can compel compromise in both their organizations' and their own personal values. Such compromises may, in turn, undermine founders' identification with their ventures. In a multi-case study analysis we examine why social entrepreneurs differ in their responses to organizational tensions, both at the firm- and individual-level, and how such differences relate to their venture identification. Specifically, our findings reveal that strategic decisions made in the context of values-based complexity are often accompanied by concerns regarding founder authenticity—that is, judgments about the alignment between founders' actions and the commitments or responsibilities associated with their identities as entrepreneurs. Yet, because founders differ in the basis from which they seek to maintain such alignment, these differences shape both hybridity management and subsequent venture identification. By unpacking such differences, our findings contribute new theory, bridging recent scholarship on founder authenticity with longstanding research on organizational identification and hybrid organizing. •Organizational tensions raise questions regarding founder authenticity.•Founders differ in terms of how they look to uphold founder authenticity.•Such differences influence whether and how founders instill organizational and emotional guardrails.•The use of guardrails is linked to founders’ intrinsic or instrumental venture identification.