The Collective Entrepreneurial Process: From Public Entrepreneurship to Collective Action for the Common Good

Abstract

In this chapter, the authors explore collective entrepreneurship through the lens of how public entrepreneurship boosts collective action towards a common good. The role of public entrepreneurs and the collaborative nature of innovation community members evidence a collective action that pursues a socio-political change. Through a case study contextualized during the COVID-19 pandemic crisis in Spain, the authors explore how a public entrepreneur triggered a collective action that led to the creation of the innovation community: The Coronavirus makers. This collaborative network groups more than 20,000 researchers, developers, and engineers. They altruistically put their knowledge and resources at the service of the community to provide solutions for one of the healthcare system’s main problems at that time – the shortage of medical supplies to cope with the increasing number of COVID-19 cases. The collective action of the Coronavirus makers has impacted the health and wellbeing fields, the community and the values that should define social change and allow the construction of a more open, equitable and sustainable society. Potentially, our findings confirm that collective entrepreneurship derives from a function of collective action.

Citation

Arroyo, L. and Valls-Pasola, J. (2023), "The Collective Entrepreneurial Process: From Public Entrepreneurship to Collective Action for the Common Good", Fernández Pérez, P. and San Román, E. (Ed.) Collective Entrepreneurship in the Contemporary European Services Industries: A Long Term Approach (Frontiers of Management History), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 153-168. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80117-950-820231010