Abstract
In this paper, I inquire into the imaginative processes of organizational actors and their interactions to argue how it is important for co-producing an entrepreneurial opportunity.
Organisational actors experience the organization differently because of their imaginative processes. To explore the imaginative processes, the paper introduces the case of the wedding planning industry in India which is a network of various kinds of entrepreneurs including wedding planners, vendors, and caterers. Based on extensive interviews, I was able to observe how imagination helps actors co-create their imagined future.
While understanding their process of doing business, I noticed that amongst various social practices, trust played an important role in communicating their imagined future. Trust was used as a commodity between the organizational actors and through which their businesses were sustained. Trust was co-created and reproduced by the actors. Therefore, the core research question became: How is trust commodified and communicated to aid the imaginative process of the various organizational actors and drives entrepreneurial opportunity?
In the results section, I empirically document the process of commodifying trust progressing from communication and its implications on entrepreneurial opportunity. In the concluding discussion, I indicate the theoretical potential of the imaginative process for the literature on experiencing organizations differently and discuss its relevance for entrepreneurial opportunity.