Entrepreneurship in religious organizations: How the Church of England developed an entrepreneurial orientation.

Prior research established that religion shapes country-level entrepreneurial activity as well as individual-level entrepreneurial decisions. The organizational level has received less research attention. It is particularly unclear how the combination of entrepreneurship and religion is forged in established religious organizations. Through a historical case study of the Church of England's efforts toward developing an entrepreneurial orientation (EO), my paper sheds light on that issue. The findings indicate that, in religious settings, an entrepreneurial orientation materializes through a lengthy, contested process. Two mutually reinforcing mechanisms – polysemy dynamics and idea sedimentation – play an important role in this process. I theorize that these mechanisms, despite delaying EO development, address resistance and thereby drive progress toward a comprehensive entrepreneurial orientation. Plain English Summary: How do traditional religious organizations end up embracing entrepreneurial ideas? This historical case study of the Church of England answers that question. Religious organizations, especially those facing decline, are increasingly feeling the pressure to launch entrepreneurial initiatives. When such initiatives are seen as violations of religious beliefs, they tend to be resisted. How religious organizations overcome such resistance, and how they try to combine entrepreneurial and religious principles, is unclear. My study shows that the Church of England became more entrepreneurial after it (1) slowly arrived at a common understanding of what entrepreneurship meant to them and (2) continued building on entrepreneurial ideas that were previously accepted or rejected. The main implication of this study is that, while religious organizations may be slow to combine entrepreneurial and religious values, the process is difficult to stop once it has been set in motion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]