Maintenance and creation of roles during socialization processes in entrepreneurial small firms: An institutional work perspective

Abstract

Entrepreneurial small firms (ESFs) are characterized by a permanent dynamic of innovation not only regarding their commercial offers, but also their organizational processes. Potentially, newcomers play a key role in the maintenance of this innovation dynamic, but there is a lack of knowledge regarding their socialization. In this research, we develop an understanding of socialization processes in ESFs by taking an institutional work perspective. Through a qualitative, longitudinal and inductive research design based on two case studies, we make several contributions. First, we identify different socialization activities enforced jointly and separately by newcomers and insiders. Second, we explain the dynamics of these activities with the achievement of two socialization outcomes: maintenance of institutionalized roles and the creation of new ones. Our results enrich the organizational socialization literature by introducing a new field of enquiry and by showing that role creation can be a major distal outcome of socialization processes. We also develop new perspectives on institutional work by demonstrating the importance of newcomers and the dimensions of agency at play during socialization processes.