Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Business Commons™

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Brandon Lee

Articles 1 - 8 of 8

Full-Text Articles in Business

Toward A Theory Of Entry In Moral Markets: The Role Of Social Movements And Organizational Identity, Brandon Lee, Panikos Georgallis Jul 2018

Toward A Theory Of Entry In Moral Markets: The Role Of Social Movements And Organizational Identity, Brandon Lee, Panikos Georgallis

Brandon Lee

A growing body of research on moral markets—sectors whose raison d’être is to offer market solutions to social and environmental issues—has offered critical insights into the emergence and growth of these sectors. Less is known, however, about why some firms enter moral markets while others do not. Drawing from research on market entry, organizational identity, and social movements, we develop a theory that highlights the potential of organizational identity to explain variation in entry into moral markets. We then expand our framework by theorizing about contingencies that alter the shape of the relationship between organizational identity and market entry: the …

Go to article

Gone With The Wind: The Evolving Influence Of Social Movements And Counter Movements On Entrepreneurial Activity In The U.S. Wind Industry, Chad Carlos, Wesley Sine, Brandon Lee, Heather Haveman Dec 2017

Gone With The Wind: The Evolving Influence Of Social Movements And Counter Movements On Entrepreneurial Activity In The U.S. Wind Industry, Chad Carlos, Wesley Sine, Brandon Lee, Heather Haveman

Brandon Lee

Social movements can disrupt existing industries and inspire the emergence of new markets by drawing attention to problems with the status quo and promoting alternatives. We examine how the influence of social movements on entrepreneurial activity evolves as the markets they foster mature. Theoretically, we argue that the success of social movements in furthering market expansion leads to three related outcomes. First, the movement-encouraged development of market infrastructure reduces the need for continued social movement support. Second, social movements’ efforts on behalf of new markets increase the importance of resource availability for market entry. Third, market growth motivates countermovements that …

Go to article

Collective Action And Market Formation: An Integrative Framework, Brandon Lee, Jeroen Struben, Christopher B. Bingham Dec 2017

Collective Action And Market Formation: An Integrative Framework, Brandon Lee, Jeroen Struben, Christopher B. Bingham

Brandon Lee


While extant research places collective action at the heart of market formation, it provides little understanding about when and to what extent collective action is important. In this paper, we develop a novel theoretical framework detailing what collective action problems and solutions arise in market formation and under what conditions. Our framework centers on the development of market infrastructure with three key factors that influence the nature and extent of collective action problems: perceived returns to contributions, excludability, and contribution substitutability. We apply our framework to diverse market formation contexts and derive a fresh set of attendant propositions. Finally, we …

Go to article

Market Mediators And The Tradeoffs Of Legitimacy-Seeking Behaviors In A Nascent Category, Brandon Lee, Shon Hiatt, Michael Lounsbury Dec 2016

Market Mediators And The Tradeoffs Of Legitimacy-Seeking Behaviors In A Nascent Category, Brandon Lee, Shon Hiatt, Michael Lounsbury

Brandon Lee

Although existing research has demonstrated the importance of attaining legitimacy for new market categories, few scholars have considered the tradeoffs associated with such actions. Using the U.S. organic food product category as a context, we explore how one standards-based certification organization—the California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF)—sought to balance efforts to legitimate a nascent market category with retaining a shared, distinctive identity among its members. Our findings suggest that legitimacy-seeking behaviors undertaken by the standards organization diluted the initial collective identity and founding ethos of its membership. However, by shifting the meaning of organic from the producer to the product, CCOF …

Go to article

A Contingency Theory Of Collective Action In Market Formation, Brandon Lee, Jeroen Struben Feb 2014

A Contingency Theory Of Collective Action In Market Formation, Brandon Lee, Jeroen Struben

Brandon Lee

We develop a novel analytical framework to study the role of collective action in the formation of new markets. Using supply and demand uncertainty as two central dimensions underlying all market formation efforts, we theorize under what conditions collective action is necessary for the successful formation of a market and examine the role and form of coordination. To do this, we identify tactics utilized by actors seeking to form a new market and three important contingency factors that impact formation success: returns to contributions, substitutability of contributions, and interest heterogeneity. Our findings have implications for organization theory, economic sociology, and …

Go to article

Institution Building In Nascent Markets: Lessons From The Carbon Offset Market, Hans Rawhouser, Brandon Lee Dec 2013

Institution Building In Nascent Markets: Lessons From The Carbon Offset Market, Hans Rawhouser, Brandon Lee

Brandon Lee

In order to compete in nascent markets, an infrastructure of institutions that support economic exchange needs to be built in order. Little is known about whether and to what extent benefits accrue to firms that help develop a nascent market’s institutional infrastructure. To address this gap in the literature, we argue that involvement in building the regulative institutions in a new market—one form of participation on institutional building—helps a firm to build a reputation for as a leader in the market with a firm’s stakeholders. We argue that firms with reputations that are more established and more positive are benefit …

Go to article

Tilting At Windmills? The Environmental Movement And The Emergence Of The U.S. Wind Energy Sector, Wesley Sine, Brandon Lee Dec 2008

Tilting At Windmills? The Environmental Movement And The Emergence Of The U.S. Wind Energy Sector, Wesley Sine, Brandon Lee

Brandon Lee

Through a study of the emergent U.S. wind energy sector, 1978–1992, this paper examines how large scale social movements external to an industry can influence the creation of new market opportunities and hence encourage entrepreneurship. We theorize that through the construction and propagation of cognitive frameworks, norms, values, and regulatory structures, and by offering a preexisting social structure, social movement organizations influence whether entrepreneurs attempt to start ventures in emerging sectors. We find that the direct and indirect effects of social resources (e.g., environmental groups) had a larger impact on entrepreneurial activity in this sector than the availability of natural …

Go to article

The Infrastructure Of Collective Action And Policy Content Diffusion In The Organic Food Industry, Brandon Lee Dec 2008

The Infrastructure Of Collective Action And Policy Content Diffusion In The Organic Food Industry, Brandon Lee

Brandon Lee

Little is known about the relationship between industry self-regulation organizations and the diffusion of policy content. Using the organic food industry as a context, this study examines the relationship between local and federated standards-based certification organizations and specific changes in U.S. state laws. The study’s findings indicate that local structures correspond to greater legal innovation and elaboration, but less variation. Conversely, federated structures correspond to less legal innovation and elaboration, and greater content variation. These findings both challenge extant theories regarding organizational capacities of local and federated organizations and extend contemporary conceptions of diffusion.

Go to article