Meta-organizations – or organizations whose members are organizations – are lauded as protected spaces that neutralize conflict among their members and foster effective interorganizational collective action, especially in response to grand challenges and complex social problems. By emphasizing the positive role they can play in promoting collaboration, scholars have potentially painted a too rosy picture of meta-organizations. Few have recognized or explained that meta-organizations may be vulnerable to attacks from members with potentially malevolent intentions. Responding to this concern, we explore the possible ‘dark sides’ of meta-organizations through the prism of cooptation, or the ability of organizations to bring the interests of their challengers into alignment with their own. In this conceptual piece, we seek to identify structural conditions under which meta-organizations may be infiltrated and manipulated by potentially subversive ‘Trojan Horses'.

This paper explores how FemTech entrepreneurs challenge taboos related to sex, urinary incontinence, and menopause, each associated with moral, physical, and tribal stigma regarding their activity. By examining macro- and micro-emancipation strategies, the study reveals how these entrepreneurs simultaneously alleviate and, at times, inadvertently reinforce taboos. Drawing on entrepreneurship as emancipation literature and research on stigma and taboo, the paper offers insights into the complexities of navigating societal barriers in taboo settings, contributing to a deeper understanding of entrepreneurial efforts to foster social change.

Cross-sector partnerships (CSPs) are crucial for responsible social innovation, but sustaining these collaborations is often challenging, with many initiatives failing to deliver on their promise. Despite growing recognition of the role of innovation intermediaries as critical facilitators in sustaining these ecosystem partnerships, their mechanisms to align diverse stakeholders and foster innovation efforts have received limited empirical attention. This paper investigates how intermediaries sustain social innovation across CSPs. Through an inductive study of 36 CSPs facilitated by the Dutch National Research and Technology Organization, we uncover three fundamental mechanisms that drive successful collaboration: Ecosystemic Calibration (identifying ecosystem success and failure symptoms), Strategic Convergence (aligning and clustering stakeholders around shared innovation goals), and Interdependence Mapping (clarifying the roles and interdependencies within the partnership). These mechanisms interact in dynamic feedback loops, requiring intermediaries to dynamically adjust and manage evolving stakeholder relationships and innovation trajectories. Our findings contribute to the literature on innovation ecosystems by demonstrating how intermediaries enable collaboration and resilience and provide actionable insights for managers seeking to accelerate collective impact in socially innovative partnerships.

The Base of the Pyramid (BOP) encompasses 70% of the global population living below the poverty line and has increasingly been recognized as a significant market opportunity for multinational corporations. This research seeks to answer a vital question: How can multinational companies utilize their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives to support the BOP? The study aims to enhance BOP literature by elucidating the intricate relationship between CSR activities and various BOP strategies. It is organized into three sections: a conceptual review of BOP approaches, an examination of these strategies through the CSR framework, and an analysis of how CSR initiatives can support each BOP approach to create a comprehensive market strategy. Employing a qualitative methodology, the research analyzes 30 sustainability reports from six multinational companies over five years. The findings indicate that effective CSR initiatives consider and integrate multiple BOP approaches, revealing their interrelated nature. This study clarifies how CSR can contribute effectively to BOP strategies, providing a more coherent understanding of support mechanisms for this demographic.