Entrepreneurship and the Socio-Technical Chasm in a Lean Economy

Kentaro Toyama, Tawanna Dillahunt, Vaishnav Kameswaran

Abstract:

Online technologies are increasingly hailed as enablers of
entrepreneurship and income generation. Recent evidence
suggests, however, that even the best such tools disproportionately
favor those with pre-existing entrepreneurial advantages.
Despite intentions, the technology on its own seems
far from addressing socio-economic inequalities. Using participatory
action research, we investigated why this might be,
in an intimate, close-up context. Over a 1-year period, we—
a collaborative team of university researchers and residents
of Detroit’s East Side—worked to establish a neighborhood
tour whose initial goal was to raise supplementary income
and fundraise for community block clubs. We found that in
addition to technical requirements, such as communication
tools, a range of non-technological efforts is needed to manage
projects, build self-efficacy, and otherwise support community
participants. Our findings widen Ackerman’s “socio-technical
gap” for some contexts and offer a counterpoint to overgeneralized
claims about well-designed technologies being able to
address certain classes of social challenges.