Becoming a green entrepreneur: An advanced entrepreneurial cognition model based on a practiced-based approach

This paper examines how entrepreneurs develop the intention to make their venture green, even when “being green” doesn’t happen right from the start, or where the company does not operate in a business that is considered green. It crosses the literature on entrepreneurial cognition and entrepreneurship-as-practice, as it seeks to contribute to the emerging literature on green entrepreneurship, and more precisely on the reasons and processes that motivate entrepreneurs to develop a green strategy for their company. Based on the idea that most ventures are driven not only by an entrepreneur, but by an entrepreneurial team, and through the use of the concepts of praxis and practices, we propose a model that explains how entrepreneurs develop the intention to make their venture that competes in a non-green field enter into a green strategy. We argue that “becoming green” is not a radical process, but is instead strongly influenced by the entrepreneurial praxis the entrepreneur progressively adopts and even plays with. An illustrative case study reveals how this model works.