From community rootedness to individuated entrepreneuring: The development of entrepreneurial motivation through a temporary community of practice

We study the development of entrepreneurial motivation of participants in an Ecuadorian incubator. Using a narrative inquiry approach based on 41 interviews, we uncover how different modes of rootedness in distinct communities shape entrepreneurial dispositions and shed light on the role of a temporary community of practice in intermediating the development and ultimate transformation of these dispositions into individuated motivations. By bringing to the frontline the role of communities in shaping the formation process of entrepreneurial motivation, we offer a new theoretical angle for understanding intricate relations between social embeddedness, temporary communities of practice, and entrepreneurial pursuits in non-Western contexts.