Network Resource Mobilisation Process in Tourism Social Entrepreneurship Ecosystems

Tourism social entrepreneurs are embedded in ecosystems that they use to acquire resources. These relational processes are scarcely explored in the literature. Employing in-depth interviews and an informed grounded theory approach, this study offers a holistic conceptual framework in which it unravels the process of network resource mobilisation in these ecosystems in terms of the type of social capital that characterises them (bonding and bridging). Bridging ecosystems serves to obtain tangible and explicit intangible resources, while Bonding ecosystems serve to obtain tacit intangible resources. Furthermore, there are significant differences in the three phases of network resource mobilisation: 1) access to networks, 2) types of alliances and gaps in mobilisation, and 3) generation of social capital. This study systematises relational patterns of the complex network of alliances within entrepreneurial ecosystems for mobilising resources. Therefore, these results can help entrepreneurs adapt their relational strategies according to the type of resource they need. Also available in Spanish. See supplemental material for details.