The dynamic construction of an incubation context: a practice theory perspective

Abstract

To deepen theory on the interplay between entrepreneurship and context, recent scholarship calls for more understanding on how entrepreneurs and stakeholders collectively do “contexts.” In this study, we examine how a dynamic and flexible incubation context is constructed by joint efforts between entrepreneurs and incubator management. Findings from a 4-month ethnography point to four practices—onboarding, gathering, lunching, and feedbacking—through which entrepreneurs and incubator management maintain a productive balance between agency and structure on a daily basis. These findings have several theoretical implications for theory on incubation processes and the entrepreneurship-context nexus.