The Theoretical Consideration about the Generating Process of Subjectivity of Intrapreneur in the New Business Creation Process through the Concept of ”Agencement”

Abstract

In this paper, I examine the process of how entrepreneurs acquire subjectivity in creating new businesses by using the concept of agencement. In recent years, the concept of "institutional entrepreneurship" has been gaining attention in the field of entrepreneurship research, in which the entrepreneur is not regarded as an "elite individual who brings novelty to an institutionalized stable state from outside" as Schumpeter puts it, but as a being who creates innovation by utilizing existing institutions as a resource. This is an important perspective because it opens up the possibility that anyone can become an entrepreneur by taking a systematic approach to the concept of the entrepreneur from an institutional perspective, rather than relying on the transcendental qualities of the individual. However, this approach does not fully explain where the subjectivity of the entrepreneur, who is the in fact subject that ultimately aims to realize the new business, comes from. In this study, by examining the case of intrapreneurs (intracompany entrepreneurs), I use the concept of “agencement” to argue that the subjectivity of intrapreneurs does not come from transcendental personal qualities, but rather from the diverse relational networks that surround intrapreneurs and give them a role as subjects.

Keywords

• intrapreneurship
• new business creation
• subjectivity
• agencement
• creating legitimacy for resource mobilization
• innovation