Identity and Externalities toward Sustainability

Paola Francesca Spadaro (Università degli Studi di Bari Aldo Moro, Italy), Gianvito D’Aprile (Università del Salento, Italy), Maria Beatrice Ligorio (Università degli Studi di Bari Aldo Moro, Italy), and Neil Schwartz (California State University, Chico, USA)
Copyright: © 2012 |Pages: 125
EISBN13: 9781466603530|DOI: 10.4018/978-1-61350-314-0.ch006
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Abstract

Two focus group discussions involving 14 entrepreneurs and 106 questionnaires administered to employees were analyzed to explore various parameters of externalities, such as: (1) how externality is conceived; (2) the interplay between a sense of community and a re-definition and negotiation of identity; (3) the role of technology; the sense of belonging, and (4) the propensity to collaborate. Data are analyzed through both thematic discourse analysis and quantitative frequencies analysis. Results show that entrepreneurs hold a multidimensional definition of externality, meditated by their professional and private experience. Ultimately, the reflection on externalities sustains a sense of innovation connected to multi-membership and to re-negotiation of the sense of identity. Within this framework, technology is conceived as a tool supporting the appropriation and sharing of externalities.
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