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Restricted by unfavorable external environments and weak operational capabilities, social enterprises often fail. However, the issue of whether and how learning from failure affects social enterprise growth performance has not yet been sufficiently focused and effectively addressed. Based on resource orchestration theory, this study analyzes the mechanism between learning from failure and social enterprise growth performance using a two-stage sample of 189 Chinese social enterprises from Shandong and Beijing. We also explore the moderating role of failure normalization, which supplements research gaps and buffers Chinese social enterprise growth. The results show that learning from failure is significantly and positively related to social enterprise growth performance. Resource orchestration intervenes in the link between learning from failure and social enterprise growth performance. In addition, the contingency impact of failure normalization influences learning from failure and social enterprise growth. Our study underscores the significance of resource orchestration in the integration and application of commercial and social elements in social enterprises to achieve the co-development of economic and social performance. The findings not only reveal the mediating mechanism and contextual conditions under which learning from failure drives the growth performance of social enterprises but also provide insights into the survival and development of Chinese social enterprises in the context of economic transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How does a social enterprise pursue its ethical mandate of social impact growth while navigating the perils of the most vulnerable stage in a venture's life—scaling up? We observe a small inclusivity social enterprise attempting to scale up rapidly to create equality for people with disabilities throughout the world. Our embedded, ethnographic study is terminated with the venture's unfortunate demise after their dramatic effort to scale up failed. By examining scaling decision-making and conflicts around creation reasoning longitudinally, our study identifies over-use of effectual logic—a creation reasoning type considered more ethical and more appropriate for high-innovativeness contexts than causal logic—as a major factor in the venture's failure. From this insight, we extend the parameters of effectuation theory to scaling up and dimensionalize its ethical implications. Guidance for social entrepreneurs to scale up successfully while maintaining ethical integrity is also provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nonprofits must navigate a unique tension—meeting the financial demands of the market while pursuing a social mission. As a result, market and mission concerns are often framed in a competitive, dualistic relationship. However, organizational communication scholars argue that the mission-market tension is a natural, even ontologically defining feature of nonprofits. Thus, rather than seek to resolve these tensions, scholars should examine how organizational members construct the market-mission relationship, as these understandings are essential to strategically navigating market-mission concerns. This study examines how organizational members construct the market-mission relationship at 18 organizations that serve survivors of commercial sexual exploitation, 15 of which operate social enterprises. The findings indicate that organizations frame "the market is the mission but much more," positioning mission and market in a synergistic relationship that births creative possibility and organizational third space. This article charts the local-level tensions organizational members experience, identifying how they are discursively framed and pragmatically navigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on a global sample of microfinance institutions (MFIs), this paper offers insights into the trade-off versus synergy debate of adopting multiple institutional goals in hybrid organisations. Additionally, it unravels which organisation- and country-specific determinants associate with top joint performance using machine-learning techniques. We find that the synergy versus trade-off debate is not dichotomous. Rather, MFIs can be strong both socially and financially but not while charging low interest rates. In our sample, 17% of MFIs serve a low-income clientele in need with a diverse range of services while remaining financially sustainable and ask a close-to-average interest rate. These organisations are larger and more mature as well as financially prudent in that they minimize both financial and credit risk. Moreover, they are located in countries where their services can create larger benefits regarding their underlying goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A social enterprise is a business with specific social objectives. Like every business endeavor, it is built on a commercial framework, yet the social enterprise aims to make - besides its money-making purpose - a powerful social, and environmental impact on the populace which it serves. Nowadays profit-making shareholders-only, mantra makes it challenging to fund a social enterprise. On the same token, the current volatile economic climate is calling for more such adaptable, and dynamic structures, which provide a solid vehicle for sustaining change, as well as strengthening the fabric of their communities, fostering socio-economic innovation, and sustainable growth. In financing such a bold and complex undertaking, we aim to find sustainable ways of funding a social enterprise, in order to make them attractive to investors, by looking at financial and non-financial return of investment. In analyzing the donor-investor model, we posit that sustainable growth can be fueled by sustainable giving, which in turn nourishes deep brain structures of fulfillment. We aim to escape the profit-loss dualistic paradigm, and expand to the plurality of multiple capitals, hence multiple returns of investment, by promoting business structures acting as pillars of socio-economic stability, in times of rapid business change, by adding new essential business skills such as social entrepreneurship (and intrapreneurship) into today's economic enterprise, as steps towards a more sustainable business, and socio-economic future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Efil Journal of Economic Research / Efil Ekonomi Araştırmaları Dergisi is the property of Efil Journal of Economic Research and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Purpose: The paper examines the key driving factors behind the rapid and uneven growth of social enterprises in China based on Kerlin's Macro-Institutional Social Enterprise (MISE) model of social enterprise development, with an emphasis on testing key local institutional factors. Design/methodology/approach: The study adopts the quantitative method approach. The hypotheses have been tested based on a cross-regional empirical analysis with two national datasets on China. Findings: This study shows that among the state, market and civil society, local government support in terms of favorable policies is the sole determinant factor driving China's social enterprise growth. On the other hand, the market is irrelevant and local civil society impedes social enterprise growth. This demonstrates that the current growth model is the result of government intervention. Research limitations/implications: The datasets have a limited sample size. We suggest that future studies may collect a larger sample size with more comprehensive information. We think this study will encourage more comparative qualitative studies at the local level to reveal the underlying mechanisms of growth. Practical implications: Since government policy is the determinant factor, the quality and quantity of government-backed incubation programs and platforms would matter the most for social enterprise growth. Our study also helps social entrepreneurs understand what factors matter when they try to develop social enterprises in China. They are advised to work on aspects of gaining legal legitimacy and political support in order to grow the sector. Social implications: This conclusion suggests that professionals and practitioners should review the implications of the current growth of social enterprises in China, in terms of their sustainability, given their institutional isolation from other sectors. Originality/value: Current studies have yet to thoroughly explore the role of meso- and micro-institutional factors in social enterprise development, especially in different contexts. With reference to Kerlin's framework and the tri-sector model, this paper advances the understanding of social enterprise growth in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aims to understand the importance of participatory governance in the identity of social enterprises (SEs). To this end, this paper provides a framework by means of the value co-creation process and by drawing from the service-dominant logic perspective and the stakeholder theory. An explanation is also provided regarding the opportunity to include fundamental issues in defining SE collective identity, such as those related to an organisation's participatory nature of involving the stakeholders affected by its activities, the exercise of democratic decision-making and its autonomy from the state and market. Design/methodology/approach: On the statistical exploitation of a large international data set, the authors approach the conceptualisation of SEs by providing an index to measure their social, economic and governance characteristics, thereby enabling these enterprises to be categorised into different groups. Findings: This study found that the inclusion of the governance dimension in the research incorporates the greatest variability between the various models of SE, thereby justifying participatory governance as the raison d'être of the two fundamental schools in SE, namely, Anglo-Saxon and European. Practical implications: This research offers a tool to policymakers to be used as a criterion of classification and hierarchical organisation for public procurement. It enables the various organisations to be ordered and takes social and cultural influence into consideration. This tool would be highly useful as a support of social entrepreneurship from the public environment, especially at the local level. Originality/value: This study justifies the value of incorporating participatory governance as a distinctive dimension for the definition of categories of SEs. Furthermore, an index to craft taxonomies of SEs is developed based on social, economic and governance indicators, which provides a framework that facilitates the empirical research of the SE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the extent to which social enterprise practitioners' outlook on the capacity of social enterprises to transform inequitable socio-economic systems conforms to compensatory or transformative social enterprise theories of change. Data for the study was drawn from in-depth, semi-structured interviews with social enterprise managers and business developers in Manitoba, Canada. Study findings suggest that social enterprise practitioners can and often do hold both compensatory and transformative perspectives at the same time. In other words, while they may operate within a flawed, inequitable socio-economic system, they can also work towards the ultimate transformation of the system into a more equitable one. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper brings together the fields of social entrepreneurship and social networks by using the social network analysis approach to map the evolution of the network of a social enterprise in India. The paper adopts a case-study approach. The paper asserts that local resources who are more proximate to the final beneficiaries, are central to a social enterprise's network along with the social entrepreneur using the centrality measures of actors in the network, which had not been attempted in previous studies of social networks of social enterprises. The study can thus provide lessons to social enterprises in identifying local resources and positioning them in the enterprise's network so as to optimise their utilisation. Additionally, the paper aims to throw light on high resource dynamism, a challenge that arises while leveraging these local human resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the global trend of sustainable development, traditional nonprofit organizations are facing the challenge of economic value creation. Entrepreneurship offers a possibility for nonprofit organizations to survive with innovative business methods. Entrepreneurial orientation (EO) reflects the degree of innovativeness, proactiveness, and risk‐taking in terms of organizational entrepreneurial behavior. Research on the mechanisms of EO formation in a social context is still in the exploratory stage. While a large number of studies have explored dimensional modifications to EO, it has yet to consider how EO in a social context is affected at the individual level. To address this gap, we explain the potential impact of social entrepreneurs' core self‐evaluation (CSE) on EO from social cognitive theory using a sample of Chinese social enterprises. The findings suggest that CSE has a significant positive effect on EO. We also distinguish the partially mediating role played by the two approaches and avoidance motives. The findings also suggest that the high socioeconomic status of social entrepreneurs strengthens the relationship between CSE and EO, as well as the relationship between CSE and both motives. Our findings provide valuable insights into the decision‐making behavior of social enterprises for sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study utilizes Q‐methodology to assess the perspectives of 37 executives of government‐certified social enterprises in South Korea on their organization's relationship with the public sector in terms of the complementary‐supplementary‐adversarial conceptual frameworks of Toepler et al. and Young and the literature on co‐production. The perspectives of social enterprise executives that participate in co‐production arrangements represent an underexplored domain. Our findings contribute to the framework of Toepler et al. by empirically gauging the effects of, in particular, an enabling regulatory framework and public funding relative to the tensions represented by potentially excessive regulation. Although the focus on a single context limits the generalizability of the study, it provides insights on the nuances and complexities of public sector patronage while highlighting that such patronage is generally seen as being more complementary than adversarial. Our findings contribute to efforts to empirically gauge perceptions of co‐production arrangements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Borrowing from paradoxical leadership literature and using the case of a social enterprise formed from a traditional nonprofit, the present study identifies a set of multilevel skills that helped the leader address the two social–business tensions, namely, continuance as a nonprofit and the forming of a social enterprise and the sustenance of a social enterprise and preventing the drift towards a for‐profit orientation during the formation of social enterprise and in its sustenance thereafter. The individual‐level paradoxical leadership skill of balancing idealism and pragmatism, the organizational‐level paradoxical leadership skill of navigating organizing contradictions, and the societal‐level skill of gauging societal developments and their organizational implications helped address the two different manifestations of social–business tensions during the formation and sustenance of a social enterprise. Implications for paradoxical leadership, social–business tensions, and social enterprise literature are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social enterprises combine social and financial goals. Previous studies have theorized the existence of a dual objective and maintain that it can lead to conflicts and create trade-offs. While the literature on trade-offs is extensively developed, empirical evidence is lacking on how the intensity of trade-offs might vary among organizations. We fill the void by investigating the moderating effect of female directorship on the relationship between the social and financial goals of social enterprises. Using data on 1193 microfinance organizations (MFOs) from 108 countries between 2007 and 2019, we find that a high proportion of women in the boardroom attenuates social-financial trade-offs. Further, our results show that the mitigating effect of female directorship on social-financial trade-offs is more pronounced in nonprofit MFOs, in unsubsidized MFOs, in the period since the recent microcredit crisis, and in countries where women are more empowered in terms of access to higher education, leadership positions, and employment opportunities. We attribute our findings to the distinctive skills, competences, and experiences of women, including an ethical social orientation, as well as their transformational and relational leadership style. The findings are supported by predictions based on resource dependence and leadership style theories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The social enterprise model, which is characterized by economic, social, and governance dimensions, has become a key aspect of modern welfare states in Europe. Despite its potential to increase revenue diversification for nonprofits, particularly through commercial income, its effects in the context of Mediterranean countries within the European Union are untested. This study aims to examine the adoption of the social enterprise model by Mediterranean nonprofits. The results suggest that organizations with high levels of diversification through commercial income exhibit some characteristics of the social enterprise model, and this behavior is influenced by factors such as the type of promoter, user, organizational aims, and activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is growing recognition of the important role that collective enterprises for social impact can play in resolving grand challenges. New forms of collective organisation are appearing on a global basis, yet we still know little about the process by which they are created. Paradoxically, the literature tends to rely on the concept of individual agency to explain the emergence of collective organisations. Based on inductive research of two French cases, our analysis unpacks the key role of collective agency in collective enterprises created for social impact. By revealing three dynamics – collective entrepreneurship, collective animatorship and collective organising – and their interrelations, this study provides conceptual clarification of the understudied notion of collective agency in entrepreneurship. The study also takes a fresh look at the creation of collective enterprises for social impact beyond the vision of a 'heroic' entrepreneur. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social enterprises have emerged as promising solutions for addressing environmental and societal challenges. To enhance their access to financial capital and align their business proposals with the preferences of impact investors, it is crucial to understand how Philanthropic venture capitalists (PhVCs) evaluate potential portfolio companies. This study introduces a framework to assist PhVCs in making more informed investment decisions, fostering successful, long‐term partnerships between investors and investees. The proposed approach begins by determining the significance of investment criteria using the Best‐Worst Method (BWM). Subsequently, the performance of portfolio companies is evaluated, ultimately identifying the most favorable investment opportunities. We apply this framework to a Dutch philanthropic venture capitalist, and our analysis reveals that 'Potential' and the 'Management team' rank highest in terms of investment criteria importance, while 'Assessment of the deal' and 'External environment' carry lower significance. Furthermore, our approach, incorporating the BWM outcomes, considers investors' personal preferences and offers a method for ranking portfolio companies based on their value and performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The main aim of the article is to assess the financial condition of social enterprises as entities influencing regional development. An additional aim is to present the legal basis for the functioning of these entities in Poland, as well as to illustrate their diversity in relation to the analysed group of entities. Design/methodology/approach: The research methods used in the study include critical analysis of literature, law regulations, and analysis of social enterprises9 financial data. The scope of research refers to 25 selected social enterprises operating in the KujawskoPomorskie Voivodeship. The liquidity, profitability, and debt ratios were used and the values of selected descriptive parameters were calculated for each ratio. Findings: The main balance sheet items of the analysed entities show values that are more characteristic for non-profit organisations than for businesses. As a result, not all indicators commonly used in financial analysis could be used, but this justified the inclusion of two additional ratios used for assessment of non-profit entities. The analysis of the financial situation indicates that the surveyed entities have a high level of liquidity. Half of them could cover their costs for at least one month with the funds they had at the end of the previous financial year. However, the fact that half of the analysed entities do not meet the equity to noncurrent assets ratio is worrying, as well as the existence of negative equity (fund) in some entities. Originality/value: Taking into consideration the relatively recent introduction of social enterprise status regulations and the limited information available on the financial standing of such entities in Poland, the article complements the literature by presenting the results of the assessment of social enterprises from the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Voivodeship. In addition, the article contributes to the discussion on how to evaluate social enterprises in Poland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social Entrepreneurship is a popular business model that proposes entrepreneurship to solve social and environmental problems by selling products or services. In Indonesia, the development of the number and awareness of entrepreneurs supported by the Social Entrepreneurship ecosystem is growing. However, due to the need for a unified definition of 'Social Entrepreneurship' and the slow pace of formal recognition from the government, organizations have developed with mixed practices and results. This study aims to describe the practice of Social Enterprise through the disclosure of corporate identity. Using Identity and Stakeholder Theory, this study explores the five characteristics of identity: mission, activity, governance, performance, and accountability. This multiple case study uses 10 Indonesian Social Enterprises. Data was collected through interviews and speeches in webinars coupled with documentation studies of uploaded narratives, photos, and videos on the company's official website, carried out from March to June 2023. Data analysis uses Nvivo to find themes from various Social Enterprise identity criteria groups. The results show that Social Enterprise has a unique mission and activities that carry a social value where community, empowerment, welfare and sustainability are more emphasized than profit. Institutional commitment as a Social Enterprise is proven by disclosing the impact achieved through impact reports, impact achievement profiles, SDG achievements, or articles in the news column. However, Financial performance is rarely disclosed, even though several companies have disclosed the distribution of their profits. Accountability practice in formal and informal to its stakeholder. This study provides guidelines for how companies disclose and be accountable for their identity as a Social Enterprise.

This article examines the potential contribution of social enterprise to the "wicked" problem of creativity and literacy in a performative schooling environment, drawing on an ethnographic study of Ciento, a social enterprise organization that works with under-resourced young people, families, and communities in Melbourne, Australia. In light of the growing body of research on the ways in which schools navigate creativity and performativity, this article contributes new knowledge on non-school organizations that is largely missing from this conversation, as well as new insights on the operations of education-focused social enterprises in Australia. It considers the social, political, and historical factors that have shaped this unique space of educational "wickedity" and the ways in which organizational rationales and practices, as well as the experiences and views of staff and participants, indicate a complex, promising, and innovative approach to educational problem-solving. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accepted by: Aris Syntetos Can mathematical research from a business school professor that is published in academic journals also substantially improve actual industrial practice in global supply chains? Yes. Can mathematics and operations management help improve fairness in access to organ transplants? Yes, again. Can mathematics developed for business applications facilitate the development of new types of quantum hardware? Also, yes. I have three main messages in this invited essay: (1) free yourself from self-imposed constraints and explore a wider range of new problems and arcane mathematics; (2) be bold and imaginative in developing novel solutions and (3) implement your ideas in practice, scaling them with a channel partner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Indonesian Journal of Business & Entrepreunership is the property of IPB University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Journal of Marmara University Social Sciences Institute / Öneri is the property of Marmara University, Institute of Social Sciences and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Environmental & Social Management Journal / Revista de Gestão Social e Ambiental is the property of Environmental & Social Management Journal and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Purpose: The aim of the article is to identify the key research areas addressed in scientific discussions simultaneously addressing the issues of social enterprises and sustainable development. Design/methodology/approach: To achieve the declared research aim, a structured literature review method was used to explore the Scopus database. As a result, through a Q1 query, 531 unique scientific papers from the period 2000-2022 were generated for bibliometric analysis in the VOSviewer software. The discussion was additionally supported by conclusions drawn from a classic literature review within the scientific papers identified for this study. Findings: Social enterprises, like other business entities operating in the market, face the need to implement solutions aimed at sustainable development in their operations. Hence, the question of how such specific entreprises should implement the ideas of sustainable development while maintaining the continuity of their social mission, which is the process of inclusion of socially and professionally excluded people, is increasingly raised in the literature. The indicated analyses showed that the issue of social enterprises is discussed in the context of numerous areas related to the issue of sustainable development. In terms of these areas, a special place is given to the role of social enterprises in the process of striving to achieve certain sustainable development goals, or the issue of sustainable entrepreneurship. Based on the latter area, more and more researchers of the subject distinguish two new categories of social enterprises which are sustainable social enterprises and green social enterprises. Research limitations/implications: The analyses were limited to the Scopus database. The Q1 query used is, however, of universal character, which means that it can be used in the scope of other databases after possible changes in the form of valid queries (primarily, after adjusting the characters formulating the query). The results obtained based on other bibliometric databases, despite the identical query, may be different, which is due to the issue of indexing individual scientific journals in them. Hence, the results obtained may be a source for other researchers to compare the research results obtained by them on an identical or similar bibliometric query. Practical implications: The ongoing transformation of social enterprises under the impact of the idea of sustainable development is already being observed. This process is an inevitable direction for the development of social enterprises and, at the same time, may involve additional costs (depending, among other things, on the size and type of activities carried out by individual social enterprises), of which those managing these entities should be aware. Hence, already now those responsible for managing social enterprises should initiate changes in this direction, which should take place gradually, so that this kind of transformation does not take place at the cost of the social services provided. Originality/value: The article presents the results of the bibliometric analyses undertaken. Based on the author's keywords, the key research areas addressed in the analyzed scientific publications dealing simultaneously with the issues of social enterprises and sustainable development are indicated. Using overlay visualization, the change in interest over time in particular research areas in the context of the discussed issues from the researchers was highlighted. The performed classical literature review in terms of the author's keywords used, in turn, showed that one of the future directions of research in the context of transformation under the influence of the idea of sustainable development of social enterprises is the issue of the process of greening of such entities. The indicated observed direction of research, in the author's opinion, will play an increasingly important place in the literature on the subject. As a result, researchers will increasingly pay attention to at least the issue of green social enterprises. The article is addressed to all those interested in the issues of social enterprises and their gradual transformation under the influence of the idea of sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social cooperatives, as powerful economic organizations aiming to respond to social needs, are an economic model that has attracted attention by public and policy makers, activists and recently academics. This study provides a detailed look at the role and importance of social cooperatives, which is an element of social economy, by addressing the concept of social economy. The aim of the study is to analyze the current situation and potential of social cooperatives in Turkey, to highlight their strengths, to identify their weaknesses, to evaluate opportunities and threats, and to offer suggestions for the development of social cooperatives. With this study, the existence and functioning of social cooperatives in Turkey will be better understood and will contribute to future social cooperative discussions. As a result, it has been revealed that social cooperatives in Turkey have not been able to realize their full potential and therefore need political, supportive measures and developments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents an investigation of how Early Years leadership is conceptualised by frontline staff in the context of a social enterprise nursery group in London, England. Moving beyond academic splits in the conceptualisation of Early Years leadership, it considers how those in practice make sense of leadership in the complex and fragmented Early Years sector in England. A diverse sample of 18 staff members across four nurseries developed conceptualisations of Early Years leadership through reflective dialogue. Thematic analysis suggested the following four facets in their conceptualisations of leadership: 1) being hands-on, warm and non-hierarchical, 2) renewing passion through a culture of sharing, 3) committing to a strong sense of social purpose and 4) acting with optimism in difficult contexts. We argue that these themes respond directly to the difficult balance of pedagogical, business and social needs encountered in the Early Years sector. Our main contribution though is the emphasis on leadership as a dialogical construct made and re-made in context and the implications of this for practice-based leadership development in the sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hybrid organizations' success should effectively fulfill both beneficiaries' and customers' needs, requirements, and expectations, being embedded in the conflicting—and often incompatible—institutional logics of social mission and commercial activities. Despite the increasing attention to such a phenomenon in the business research literature, still little is known regarding how hybrid organizational structures may facilitate or hinder the co-existence of such conflicting institutional logics. Relying on an inductive comparative case study realized on 9 socially entrepreneurial NPOs—which represent significant examples of socially imprinted organizations involved in commercial activities (hybrid)—operating in the Italian socio-healthcare sector, two main concerns have arisen as particularly influenced by organizational decisions, namely (a) effectively combining multiple identities within the organization and (b) gaining legitimacy from stakeholders. Results show that a coherent identity for a hybrid organization seems to be facilitated by an integrated structure, i.e., social programs and commercial activities run in a unique organization. On the contrary, a compartmentalized organizational structure creates two separate legal entities of a social or commercial nature only and is more crucial in gaining external legitimacy. Finally, some hybrids seem to mimic both features of these organizational structures, tackling both necessities. Thus, this study provides comparisons and practice-oriented implications to implement such organizational changes and explores the complex universe of hybrid organizational design by simultaneously comparing different organizational structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a debate in the literature about whether one can address food system problems with market-based approaches while seeking food justice or food sovereignty. However, as part of a team of researchers and community leaders, we have found that this debate is less relevant in practice. The concepts are interrelated within real-world food systems. As such, we were motivated to ask, how do social enterprises (SEs) interact with food justice and food sovereignty movements and their visions in order to realize more democratic and equitable local food systems in communities? To answer this question, we conducted a systematic review at the intersection of SE, food sovereignty, and food justice literature. Analyzing nine articles, which included 17 food-related SEs, we found evidence of potential interactions between food SEs, food justice, and food sovereignty that are compatible (e.g., create employment) and incompatible (e.g., limited ability to address issues like community employability and green gentrification). The literature includes at least three important characteristics that inform how food-related SEs may interact with food justice and sovereignty, including employee and ownership demographics, the enterprise business model, and aspects of the food system targeted by the enterprise via market activities. If we consider a systems perspective, we can envision the ways in which the aspects are embedded and interdependent in a neoliberal society. SEs, as market-based agents for social change, exist in the same system as justice and sovereignty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since their birth in the 1990s, social enterprises, as a kind of third-party organization with the attributes of both a not-for-profit entity and a profit-making enterprise, have played a significant role in the socio-economic development of cities, in particular those facing the challenge of shrinking. But why are social enterprises so deeply embedded in the regeneration process of shrinking cities, and how do they promote their multi-dimensional revitalization? In order to answer these questions, this paper presents a case study on Shimizusawa in Japan based on a literature review and field research. In line with the embeddedness and institution–function–instrument theories, it reviews the revitalization of Shimizusawa by involving a social enterprise in the adaptive reuse of industrial heritage sites and the development of industrial tourism, analyzes the establishment process and organizational characteristics of this social enterprise, and summarizes the four major experiences of its practice—that is, the governance structure of two types of institutions and two types of functions, the planning for both profitable and non-profitable activities, the operation of both for-profit and not-for-profit businesses, and the fund management of leveraging multiple parties to raise funds and reinvesting the profits locally. The extensive support provided by the Shimizusawa Social Enterprise that creates not only economic value but also social value justifies the significant role of social enterprises in the revitalization of shrinking industrial areas. This case study, together with its analytical framework, may serve as a meaningful reference for the revitalization of shrinking industrial areas in other parts of the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper offers a detailed and systemic representation of the process of organizational identification in social enterprises, and a better understanding of how individuals position themselves in these organizations. We highlight that identification in social enterprises is the result of the interplay between the multiple identities of the individuals who take part in coalitions defending different institutional logics. Identification will depend on whether or not it is easy for the individual to find a coalition that corresponds to him or her, and on whether or not the ideas of this coalition are dominant. The relative size of the various coalitions among the staff and the way they evolve will have a clear impact on what the dominant logic of the social enterprise will be. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]