How the West Was Won? The Dark Side of Institutional Entrepreneurship

Institutional entrepreneurs are often responsible for bringing practices to developing countries that, while novel for the latter, are highly institutionalized in the West. This cross-border diffusion often involves the exercise of power that while serving institutional entrepreneurs interests generates unintended consequences. Consideration of these unintended consequences illuminates power dynamics that led to them and thus extends our understanding of institutional entrepreneurship. Through a detailed study of the campaign to eliminate child labour in Pakistans soccer ball manufacturing industry, we identify how and why power was deployed and unintended consequences were produced. Our analysis problematizes the conventional understanding of institutional entrepreneurship and holds significant implications for future studies