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Previous literature on sustainable supply chain management has largely adopted an instrumental view of stakeholder management and has focused on understanding the effect of powerful stakeholders who have a more decisive influence on an organization's supply chain decisions. Social enterprises have emerged as organizations that often aim to create impact by integrating marginalized stakeholders into their operations and supply chains. This study examines the trade-offs that social enterprises experience due to their moral stance toward stakeholder engagement, evidenced in their commitment to serving marginalized stakeholders, as well as the responses adopted to these trade-offs.

The study follows a theory elaboration approach through a multiple case study design. The authors draw on insights from stakeholder theory and use the empirical insights to expand current constructs and relationships in a novel empirical context. Based on an in-depth analysis of primary and secondary qualitative data on ten social enterprises, the authors examine how these organizations integrate marginalized stakeholders into various roles in their operations.

When integrating marginalized customers, suppliers and employees, social enterprises face affordability, reliability and efficiency trade-offs. Each trade-off represents conflicts between the organization's needs and the needs of marginalized stakeholders. In response to these trade-offs, social enterprises choose to internalize the costs through slack creation or vertical integration or externalize the costs to stakeholders. The ability to externalize is contingent on the growth orientation of the organization and the presence of like-minded B2B (Business-to-Business) customers. These responses reflect whether organizations accept the trade-offs at the expense of one or more stakeholders or if they avoid the trade-offs and find mutually beneficial solutions.

Building on the empirical insights, the authors elaborate on stakeholder theory with a focus on the integration of marginalized stakeholders by emphasizing a moral justification for stakeholder engagement, identifying the nature of the underlying trade-offs which can arise when various stakeholder needs are in conflict and examining the contingencies affecting organizational responses to these trade-offs.

This paper aims to describe an exploratory study aiming to identify the mechanisms adopted by social enterprises for effective operations based on volunteer work.

An inductive multiple case study method was used addressing three social enterprises whose operations rely on a volunteer workforce.

Volunteer-based operations benefit from the establishment of a formal structure, involving different levels of volunteering complemented with other mechanisms, namely, educate and train, empower and connect. Special attention must be given to first-level volunteers, reinforcing the range of practices to motivate and engage them, as they serve as intermediaries between the paid employees and lower-level volunteers.

The study provides valuable insights for managers for the implementation of effective operations, building on volunteer work, aiming at the generation of social and economic value.

Due to their innovative character, social enterprises are well-positioned to mobilize more and more qualified volunteers for a significant change in their communities. Adopting a more strategic and structured approach to volunteer management can enable these organizations to take advantage of it.

This study contributes to the literature on social enterprise by identifying a set of mechanisms adopted for effective volunteer-based operations. It also contributes to the literature on volunteer management by addressing an underexplored context.

This paper aims to help understand how community-based social entrepreneurs experience world-class “performance excellence” models and to explore the core values that enable social enterprises to become high-performance organizations.

Underpinned by Mindsponge processes, the proposed conceptual framework critiques the Baldrige criteria for performance excellence (BCPE) model in a global south context. The mixed-methods study fosters an in-depth analysis. First, it validates the BCPE mechanism in community-based social enterprises (CBSEs) before identifying the significant core values and concepts of BCPE that influence CBSEs to achieve high performance.

The BCPE, adapted from global north corporate principles and applied at a community level, can significantly develop global south organization performance excellence. Five core values and concepts from the 11 fundamental beliefs in driving performance excellence were found to support performance excellence in CBSE management. These values and concepts are “customer-focused excellence,” “social responsibility,” “systems perspective,” “visionary leadership” and “focus on success.”

First, factors influencing performance excellence are not limited to the core values elements discussed. Future research may clarify factors extracted from the “Process” category of BCPE to explore further how CBSEs can enhance their performance in a different formation path. Second, this study only considered the Thai-Phuan community in Pho Tak village, Nong Khai, Thailand, to represent as a single case study. However, different, clustered or contrasting CBSEs in other regions remain open for further exploration to enrich the knowledge of “performance excellence” in a community organization. Finally, a longitudinal study would be a welcome addition.

The following must be considered. First is setting a clear direction: the organization’s vision and mission, by purposeful design, should ensure that CBSE managers are leading by example and demonstrating the importance of social and environmental value creation. Second is developing institutional culture: fundamental core values focused predominantly on “customer-focused excellence” and “social responsibility” encourage collaboration by “working together to drive success”. Third is developing integrated management system: CBSEs need to ensure that the management systems can collaborate and complement each component to create performance excellence. Fourth is creating a learning organization: CBSEs need to create a culture of continuous learning through data collection, measurement, analysis and modification.

This study clarifies that the implementation of BCPE is crucial to the establishment of performance excellence at both macro- and micro-level organizations. According to the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, the fundamental drivers of BCPE are the same for all types of organizations and in all sectors, whether in the private sector, education, health care or government (Blazey and Grizzell, 2021). By applying the Baldrige excellence model at the community level, this study found that CBSE can similarly strive for excellence and improved performance. This can lead to strengthened services, increased productivity and enhanced quality of life for the community.

This study provides a novel viewpoint on the Baldrige paradigm. Expressly, BCPE is compatible with global south community-based organizations to enhance performance excellence. Its essential contribution demonstrates that Baldrige model concepts are more widespread within smaller and underdeveloped territories than imagined. The recent (post-study) inclusion of “Community” as an independent sector in the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Awards validates the research findings and recommendations proposed by this study.

In this book chapter, we analyse social entrepreneurship (SE) development in the Western Balkans and present a regional overview. SE has become a globally known contributor to alleviating societal, economic, social, and environmental concerns. Its influence on increasing people’s quality of life has put the concept on a pedestal, and the Balkans are no different. The new advances have increased the efforts from the third sector in advocating for increased visibility, recognition, and support for social enterprises (SEs) as contributors to the development of resilient communities and facilitating the countries’ recovery from economic, social, and environmental crises. To provide a regional development overview, we use the institutional perspective. We base the analysis on data by applying qualitative methods, including document analysis, conference speeches, round tables, consultations, and other impactful events conducted over the last decade. The evidence suggests that the Western Balkan countries are similar in their development and lack a clear vision, a strategic pathway, and sustainable solutions to accelerate the sector’s growth. The awareness of the SEs’ contributions is still low, hindering their impact and potential scalability. Raising awareness campaigns is much needed to increase SEs’ visibility, recognition, revenues, and financial sustainability. Intersectoral collaboration is not at a suitable level, and the coordination and partnerships between the SE actors are lacking. The region needs to make a significant and consistent effort to facilitate the sector’s development and support SEs to provide the expected societal impact.

The purpose of this study was to ascertain organizational factors that impacted the performance of social enterprises.

For this research study, a structured close-ended survey questionnaire was prepared based upon literature inputs. The data was collected from 370 executives in social enterprises in India. The data was analysed through structural equation modelling.  The data was analysed towards hypothesis development as well as model development explicating the success of social enterprises.

This research study’s findings developed a model towards explicating firm level performance in social enterprises. The antecedent factors were organizational commitment (OC), organizational orientation (OO), employee empowerment (EE) and top management support (TMS). The factor business innovation capability (BIC) was the mediating variable, whereas the firm performance (FP) of social enterprises was the dependent variable. Business innovation creativity had full mediation effect.

In this research study, the variable influencing the performance of social enterprises were ascertained. TMS and EE were independent organizational variables in any social enterprise along with the two organizational factors of OC as well as OO that did matter for enhancement of BIC of social enterprises. BIC had full mediating effect based upon the mentioned factors of OC, organization orientation, EE and TMS, which subsequently manifested in superior social enterprises FP.

Social enterprises had to balance the twin objectives of social good (doing good for society) as well as earning economic benefits for the enterprise.  Given this challenge, social enterprises had to develop an organizational context in which employees were empowered towards undertaking social issues proactively. Furthermore, top management team must provide support for such causes. When this aspect coupled with the presence of OC and OO then in the social enterprise, BIC got developed.  With the presence of BICs, it became easier for social enterprises to undertake innovation that were also socially oriented and led to superior FP.

It has often been observed in developing countries like India that social innovation and entrepreneurial ventures associated with these have become a necessity. However, such ventures often do not to scale up. Hence, its case for business continuance and sustenance have been challenging. This study provided insights regarding the existential aspect of social enterprises in terms of its performance.

This study was one of the first research studies that integrated the factors of OC, OO, EE and TMS in building organizational capability towards innovation in social enterprises. This in turn contributed towards the improvement of FP of social enterprises.

Although scaling is considered a “hot topic”, very little is known about how knowledge management (KM) assists in scaling social impact. To fill this gap, the authors draw on knowledge-based and social capital theories and investigate how various KM practices and external networks (e.g. bridging social capital) affect scaling social impact in developing countries.

Applying structural equation modeling (SEM) with AMOS version 23, the authors conducted a survey with 354 women leaders who are working in women-led social enterprises in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

The authors found that knowledge codification, training and mentoring, and bridging social capital are positively and significantly associated with scaling social impact.

This is one of the pioneering study that explore how KM impacts scaling social impact for women-led social enterprises in the context of a developing country. The authors also extend knowledge-based theory by applying it at the individual level. Finally, the authors enhance the understanding of women entrepreneurship by showing that women entrepreneurs in developing countries are also utilizing bridging social capital to overcome challenges associated with scaling social impact.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

This paper aims to make sense of the social enterprise in a frame of social procurement and conceptualise it as a provider of public welfare based on bibliometric material. Comprehensively, it contributes to developments in social procurement, which has received limited attention.

Scoping literature from Web of Science and using bibliometric methods, the paper identifies and qualitatively explores the literary intersections between social enterprise and social procurement.

Of the 183 articles, four literary clusters are revealed illustrating scholarly intersections and a detailed exploration of social enterprise as a public provider. The alignment and themes of the clusters further indicate the application of, and role played by, social enterprise in social procurement. Collectively, they reveal the dominance of social enterprise in this dyadic relationship and a minor undertaking of research in social procurement.

This “sense-making” groundwork forms a foundational step in developing our understanding of procurements through social enterprises. Furthermore, a positioning and conceptualisation of social enterprise accredits their utility and applicability in delivering public benefits. In this way, the paper informs and supports scholarly and practice-based interest into social enterprises for the delivery of public services.

The paper presents the first bibliometric conceptualisation of social enterprise in relation to social procurement and offers detailed insights through the bibliometric clusters. Furthermore, the paper contributes to the underdeveloped social dimension of procurement and bridges the gap between two distinct fields of scholarship: public management and administration and social entrepreneurship.

The adoption of social procurement, the emerging practice of using a firm's spending power to generate social value, requires buying firms to navigate conflicts of institutional logics. Adopting an institutional work perspective, this study aims to investigate how buying firms change their existing procurement institutions to adopt and advance social procurement.

The authors conducted an in-depth case study of a social procurement initiative in the UK. This case study comprised of 16 buying firms that were actively participating in the social procurement initiative at the time of data collection (2020–2021). The data were largely captured through a set of 41 semi-structured interviews.

Four types of institutional work were observed: reducing institutional conflicts, crossing institutional boundaries, legitimising institutional change and spreading the new institutional logic. These different types of institutional work appeared in a sequential way.

This study contributes to various strands of literature investigating the role of procurement in generating value and benefits within societies, adopting an institutional lens to investigate the buying firms' purposeful actions to change procurement institutions. Secondly, this study complements the existing literature investigating the conflicts of institutional logics by illustrating the ways firms address such institutional conflicts when adopting and advancing social procurement. Finally, this work contributes to the recently emerging research on institutional work that examines the creation and establishment of new institutions by considering the existing procurement institutions in the examination of institutional work.

The aim of this paper is to provide insights and knowledge about the motivations and implications for social enterprises' participation in SIBs, particularly in terms of collaboration and partnership with the public sector, as well as the different positions on this issue. The overall aim, therefore, is to show how social enterprises and public organisations have interacted in the context of SIBs and what has been achieved by participating.

This multiple case study approach applies qualitative methods like observations and semi-structured and unstructured interviews.

The study shows that SIBs can be an option for financing social enterprises within a strategy of income diversification and resource dependency. Despite tensions and complexities, SIBs can renew the traditional funding relationship by adding innovation, strengthening the co-creation process and creating a stable relationship.

Research findings may lack generalisability due to the specific context in which the case study is rooted.

The paper offers practical implications in terms of insights and suggestions for social enterprises and the public sector interested in developing the scheme.

This paper adds the voice and perspective of social enterprises on the relationship with the public sector within the framework of SIBs initiatives.