The Integral Place of Dialogue in Social Entrepreneurial Ventures
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Trivedi C, Misra S. The Integral Place of Dialogue in Social Entrepreneurial Ventures. Oral presentation at 2017 SciTS Conference. Clearwater Beach, FL. Jun 14, 2017. Dialogue Approaches To Build Bridges Across Disciplines And Perspectives. Online at: http://www.scienceofteamscience.org/2017-agenda.
This article focuses on the integral significance
of dialogue in the creation of cross-institutional
knowledge networks in the context of Social
Entrepreneurial Ventures (SEVs). SEVs are collaborative
and participatory organizational forms whose
goals are to address social problems and facilitate
sustained positive social change (Trivedi & Stokols,
2011). This research scrutinizes the process of intersectoral
and inter-organizational knowledge network
creation, collaborative capacity building, and local
empowerment in SEVs. Qualitative data from seven
urban SEVs in India and the US were analyzed to reveal
the centrality of communication in the collaborative
space of social enterprises and understand the critical
role it plays promoting social change.
Dialogue, conceptualized as a continuous inquiry
into the assumptions and certainties that constitute
everyday life (Isaacs, 1993), is key to developing a shared understanding of the social problem to
be addressed; and coordinating and integrating
the efforts of many different actors across diverse
knowledge domains. We find that since knowledge
of complex (social) systems is often gained iteratively
and progressively, it is critical to transfer and translate
member experiences and informal understandings
through written rules, oral transmission, and systems
of formal and informal apprenticeships. Effective SEVs
invest in creating learning organizations through the
creation of organizational routines and structures
that provide opportunities for dialogue among and
between diverse actors. Sustained dialogue encourages
the sharing of experiences and when used with
effective metaphorical language, enables members to
suspend their assumptions, articulate their perspectives
and express feelings, thereby revealing tacit
knowledge that is otherwise difficult to communicate.
Organizational knowledge creation through this
dialogic process amplifies individual-level knowledge
and crystallizes it as a part of the knowledge network
of an organization, allowing the discovery of insights
not attainable individually. However, the effectiveness
of dialogue as organizational knowledge creation
tool is limited by the nature and boundaries of the
organizational context. Organizational structures
that promote social interaction; encourage decisional
autonomy and personal responsibility; focus on group
performance; combined with strong leadership are
necessary conditions for fostering dialogue.
This research advances the SciTS field by offering
new insights on collaborative, participatory, and
communicative processes in a comparatively less
researched organizational form, social enterprises.
Language(s):
English
Type of Publication:
Oral presentation
Keywords:
scits 2017 conference, presentation, integral, social, entrepreneural, dialogue
Addresses these goal(s):
- Learn about the field of team science: history, theory and concepts
- Enhance team performance, interactions, and attitudes
- Conduct research on/evaluate team science
Resource created by Jane Hwang on 10/5/2017 3:48:27 PM.