Björn Mitzinneck, Florian Noseleit and co-authors win Best Paper in Entrepreneurship and Natural Environment Award

Researchers Björn Mitzinneck and Florian Noseleit (Faculty of Economics and Business), together with co-authors Jana Coenen and Christian Rupietta, have won the ONE Best Paper in Entrepreneurship and Natural Environment Award. They received the award at the Academy of Management’s (AOM) Annual Meeting 2025 for their article “Impact creation approaches of community-based enterprises: A configurational analysis of enabling conditions” that was published in Journal of Business Venturing.

Björn Mitzinneck is an associate professor at FEB’s department of Innovation Management and Strategy and Florian Noseleit is professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation at this department. Their co-authors are affiliated with the University of Wuppertal (Germany) and Queen’s University Belfast (United Kingdom). In their paper, the authors investigate which local conditions enable community-based enterprises (CBEs) to create impact. Advancing our limited understanding of the various contexts that enable CBEs to tackle societal issues locally, they examine supportive conditions across 77 CBEs driving the energy transition in their geographic community.

Four condition configurations for impact creation

Through qualitative comparative analysis, the authors identify four condition configurations for CBE impact creation and emphasize that no single condition is necessary or (by itself) sufficient for impact creation. Across these condition configurations, they reveal transferable mechanisms helping CBEs to engage community members: Opportunity-achoring (highlighting benefits) and Community-anchoring (emphasizing relationships). The authors also uncover mechanisms that help CBEs to enhance resourcefulness in the absence of a supportive conditions (Circumventing and Compensating). The study by Mitzinneck, Noseleit, Coenen and Rupietta suggests how CBEs can combine these mechanisms to create impact in varied local contexts.

The ONE Best Paper in Entrepreneurship and Natural Environment Award

ONE is the Organizations and the Natural Environment Division of the Academy of Management (AOM). The Organizations and the Natural Environment Division is dedicated to the advancement of research, teaching, and service in the area of relationships between organizations and the natural environment. The division focuses on understanding the causes, effects, and opportunities tied to these complex relationships. Whether it is the workplace, local communities, or the global ecosystem, ONE aims to explore and address the problems organizations encounter in coexisting with the natural environment. The Best Paper in Entrepreneurship and Natural Environment Award is sponsored by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. The foundation provides access to opportunities that help people achieve financial stability, upward mobility, and economic prosperity – regardless of race, gender, or geography. Their grant making to non-profit organizations connects students, educators, families, and small business owners with practical solutions and resources to realize their ambitions.

More information

Mitzinneck is currently involved in the organization of an interdisciplinary public symposium, where he and his co-authors will share lessons for the Dutch context based on their paper in the Journal of Business Venturing. They have transferred their findings to the Netherlands to identify the impact potential of community-based enterprises in the Dutch energy transition, mapping what impact approaches appear most promising in which municipalities. The interdisciplinary symposium is being organized in collaboration with the UG’s Wubbo Ockels School for Energy and Climate. It will take place on the 18th of December and is open to academics, community organizers, and those involved in local government and policy making.

Mitzinneck, B. C., Coenen, J., Noseleit, F., & Rupietta, C. (2024). Impact creation approaches of community-based enterprises: A configurational analysis of enabling conditions. Journal of Business Venturing, 39(6), 106420. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusvent.2024.106420

Questions? Please contact Björn Mitzinneck