A growing body of research has cataloged the myriad actors involved in tackling persistent institutional problems. Yet we lack a theoretical toolkit for explicitly conceptualizing and comparing diverse modes of institutional entrepreneuring—the processes whereby actors are created and equipped for institutional action—aimed at ameliorating grand challenges. Drawing on assemblage theory, we articulate two ideal-typical modes of assembling actorhood: arborescent and rhizomatic. We differentiate each mode along four principles: association, combination, division, and population. Building on our theorization, we propound an arborescent-rhizomatic space comprising clusters of arborescent, rhizomatic, and hybrid actorhood. To explore the generativity of our framework, we revisit selected research at the intersection of institutional entrepreneurship and grand challenges. We close by articulating how our concept of assembling actorhood reorients research toward institutional entrepreneuring and contributes to the application of assemblage theory within organization studies.

越来越多的研究对参与解决持续性制度问题的无数参与者进行了编目。然而，我们缺乏一个理论工具包来明确地概念化和比较旨在减轻重大挑战的制度创业的不同模式——行动者被创造和装备以进行制度行动的过程。借鉴组装理论，我们阐明了组装演员的两种理想典型模式：树状和根状。我们根据四个原则区分每种模式：关联、组合、划分和人口。在我们的理论基础上，我们提出了一个树根 - 根状空间，包括树状、根状和混合行为的集群。为了探索我们框架的生成性，我们在机构创业和重大挑战的交叉点重新审视了选定的研究。我们最后阐明了我们的组合演员的概念如何将研究重新定位到制度创业，并有助于组合理论在组织研究中的应用。