Preparation of the article was assisted by the financial support received from an Ontario Graduate Scholarship and an Ivey Doctoral Grant. The author gratefully acknowledges the suggestions and comments of reviewers and of Professors Mary Crossan and John Hulland. The author would also like to thank the inspirational thinking of Hubert Saint‐Onge, Leif Edvinsson and Thomas Stewart. Previous versions of certain sections of this article may have appeared elsewhere as a working paper, conference proceeding or book chapter.