Knowledge creation through co-entrepreneurship

This study examines the role that social capital plays when partners collectively develop new knowledge to pursue entrepreneurial opportunities. Qualitative data were collected and enabled a deep exploration of the structural, cognitive and relational dimensions of social capital. Findings show that the structural dimension helps initiate partnerships, gain access to important markets and build capabilities within partnerships. The cognitive dimension involved partners unfreezing the sense-making frames of the parent company and co-constructing a new interpretive framework, specific to the partnership, with the alliance partner. Relational aspects of trust through professional competency, open communication and personal integrity were critical for close relationships to be formed in order that ideas could be integrated and developed. Thus, we argue that co-entrepreneurship is a process whereby both partners contribute to value creation through their ability to transcend differences and ‘negotiate space’ in order to ‘learn how to learn’ for knowledge creation.