Distributed bricolage - Digital technologies affordances for a collaborative entrepreneurial agency

My work explores the emergence of a collaborative and distributed entrepreneurial agency in the form of bricolage, facilitated by digital technologies (DT). This study uses the context of COVID-19 pandemic's challenge to global supply chains, particularly for personal protective equipment (PPE). Showing the collective action of diverse, geographically dispersed actors, leveraging digital platforms to creatively adapt resources, addressing urgent needs and institutional voids. Drawing on the concept of bricolage and its application in entrepreneurship and innovation, I extend the understanding of creative resource adaptation in the face of constraints, emphasizing the collaborative agency and the role of DT in enabling distributed bricolage.

My work underscores the potential of collective action to address complex problems, suggesting that the future of agency is not just digital but inherently distributed, participatory, and inclusive. As we navigate an increasingly volatile and uncertain world, embracing this new paradigm may well be our best strategy for building a more resilient and adaptive society.

KEYWORDS

Bricolage; collaboration; distributed agency; distributed bricolage; digital technologies; COVID-19