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Literature on the relationship between social performance and economic performance of social enterprises has long been inconclusive. This paper aims to investigate whether and, if so, how social performance contributes to economic performance of social enterprises. Specifically, drawing from the resource-based view and signalling theory, the study examines how the development of reputation, which enables social enterprises to signal the enterprises' stakeholders' commitment towards social causes, mediates the relationship between the two.

Employing a quantitative research design, data were collected from a sample of 164 social enterprises in the UK and analysed using structural equation modelling (SEM).

The results illustrate that whilst the direct relationship between social and economic performance is inconclusive, social performance contributes indirectly to improve economic performance through improving social enterprise reputation.

To the best of the authors' knowledge, this study is the first of this kind in the context of social enterprises which sheds light on the long-standing conflicting literature on the relationship between the dual objectives (i.e. social and economic) by providing reputation as the mediating variable.

Social enterprises (SEs) offer a unique context as they have the challenge of finding solutions that not only improve their economic performance but also their social performance, simultaneously. The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether learning orientation and new product development capability can support SEs to enhance both their economic and social performances.

A quantitative research design has been employed and data have been collected from a sample of 164 SEs in the UK.

The findings of this study illustrate that if SEs want to enhance their economic performance, they should ensure that learning orientation leads to new product development capability. Otherwise, learning orientation cannot improve their economic performance. However, surprisingly, learning orientation can impact SEs' performance not only by developing new product development capability but also by having a direct impact on their social performance.

This article contributes to the social entrepreneurship literature by illustrating the role of learning orientation and new product development capability in enhancing the economic as well as the social performance of SEs.

The purpose of this paper is to propose that a stakeholder orientation (SO) can explain social and economic performances. It happens because the more the organisation acquires and disseminates stakeholder intelligence, the more it will be aware of the needs of different stakeholder groups, bending the decision making towards less powerful stakeholders and creating social performance. At the same time, more stakeholder intelligence is a strategic resource to be exploited favouring the economic performance. Moreover, it is proposed this effect is mediated by social motivations.

In all, 251 Brazilian agricultural cooperatives were sampled and a survey primary data collection method was applied. To test our hypothesis, the partial least squares structural equation modelling method is used.

It is found that SO positively influences social and economic performances. Social motivation mediates the relationship between SO and social performance.

Social performance has gained importance because strategies harmful to society are not acceptable anymore and because of the link with economic performance. However, the strategic marketing literature is still scant on how marketing can drive economic and social performance at the same time.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the research conducted among the interim, dyadic interactions that bridge the stand-alone measures of economic, environmental and social performance and the level of sustainability, as suggested in the Carter and Rogers (2008) framework.

This paper conducts a systematic literature review based on the Tranfield et al. (2003) method of the articles published in 13 major journals in the area of supply chain management between the years 2010 and 2016. Results were analyzed using an expert panel.

The area of research between environmental and social performance is sparse and relegated to empirical investigation. As an important area of interaction, this area needs more research to answer the how and why questions. The economic activity seems to be the persistent theme among the interactions.

The literature on the “environmental performance and social performance (ES)” interactions is lacking in both theoretical and analytical content. Studies explaining the motivations, optimal levels and context that drive these interactions are needed. The extant research portrays economic performance as if it cannot be sacrificed for social welfare. This approach is not in line with the progressive view of sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) but instead the binary view with an economic emphasis.

To improve sustainability, organizations need the triple bottom line (TBL) framework that defines sustainability in isolation. However, they also need to understand how and why these interactions take place that drive sustainability in organizations.

By examining the literature specifically dedicated to the essential, interim, dyadic interactions, this study contributes to bridging the gap between stand-alone performance and the TBL that creates true sustainability. It also shows how the literature views the existence of sustainability is progressive, but many describe sustainability as binary. It is possible that economic sustainability is binary, and progressive characterizations of SSCM could be the reason behind the results favoring economic performance over environmental and social.

This paper investigates the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and the economic performance of corporations. It first examines the theories that suggest a relationship between the two. To test these theories, measures of CSR performance and disclosure developed by the New Consumer Group were analysed against the (past, concurrent and subsequent to CSR performance period) economic performance of 56 large UK companies. Economic performance included: financial (return on capital employed, return on equity and gross profit to sales ratios); and capital market performance (systematic risk and excess market valuation). The results supported the conclusion that (past, concurrent and subsequent) economic performance is related to both CSR performance and disclosure. However, the relationships were weak and lacked an overall consistency. For example, past economic performance was found to partly explain variations in firms’ involvement in philanthropic activities. CSR disclosure was affected (positively) by both a firm’s CSR performance and its concurrent financial performance. Involvement in environmental protection activities was found to be negatively correlated with subsequent financial performance. Whereas a firm’s policies regarding women’s positions seem to be more rewarding in terms of positive capital market responses (performance) in the subsequent period. Donations to the Conservative Party were found not to be related to companies’ (past, concurrent or subsequent) financial and/or capital performance.

The purpose of this paper is twofold. First is to investigate the impact of social supplier development practices on the suppliers’ social performance. Second is to analyze if the implementation of supplier development practices by Western buying firms pays off in terms of operational and economic results.

Hypotheses are tested in a sample of 120 Spanish manufacturing firms using Path Analysis.

The results suggest that while supplier development practices help to improve the suppliers’ social performance and the buying firm’s operational performance, they do not pay off in terms of economic performance.

The paper shows that supplier development practices help to improve the suppliers’ social performance while improving the operational performance of the buying firm. The study has two main limitations. First, because cross-sectional data are used, possible recursive relationships could not be accounted for. Second, the study is limited to the Spanish scope and, as such, results need to be interpreted in that context.

The results of this study provide insights to managers with respect to the implementation of supplier development practices to make their suppliers more socially responsible. Furthermore, managers are shown the implications of implementing such practices in terms of operational and economic outcomes.

This paper contributes to the existing literature on the effectiveness of sustainable supplier development practices by including the suppliers’ performance, which has been generally neglected. Objective measures for economic performance are also included.

The objective of the study is to explore the mediatory role of the environmental performance of organisations on their economic and social performances. It demonstrates that implementing environmental management techniques should not only be done to comply with environmental regulations, but also as a means of improving social and economic performance.

The data were gathered from the manufacturing industry of Zimbabwe, and 302 useable responses were received. Data analysis was performed through structural equation modelling (SEM) using SMART PLS 3.

Improvement in environmental performance led to improvements in both social and economic performances. Also, environmental performance contributes the greatest total effect; hence, it deserves attention, not only for compliance but also for economic reasons.

Our goal is to quantify the extent to which environmental performance might improve the social and, more importantly, the economic performance of organisations. The study also explores the relative importance and performance of lean manufacturing (LM), green manufacturing (GM), social performance and environmental performance for purposes of prioritisation of organisational improvement initiatives.

This study holds the objective of evaluating the impact of formal (e.g. ease of doing business score, start-up procedures to register a business, property rights) and informal (e.g. school life expectancy, collaboration between companies and human capital) institutions on the economic performance of countries in conjunction with the mediating effect of entrepreneurial activities and social performance.

The authors collected quantitative, secondary data from a range of different sources, specifically the World Bank (WB), Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM), World Economic Forum (WEF), Freedom House (FH) and Doing Business (DB) for the years between 2016 and 2018. The authors deployed a quantitative approach based on estimating structural equation models according to the Partial Least Squares (PLS) method.

The authors find that institutions, whether formal or informal, impact positively on economic and social performance with entrepreneurial activities positively mediating the relationship between informal institutions and economic performance and social performance.

The study research holds key implications for strengthening institutional theory. The authors find that our empirical results draw attention to the impact that institutions and their functioning can have on economic performance. Through this alert, the authors aim for researchers, politicians and other diverse decision-makers involved in public policies to prioritise not only the good working of institutions but also fostering entrepreneurship, in order to boost the resulting economic performance.

The study research contributes to the literature by testing the model that links institutions, entrepreneurial activity and economic performance. The authors also help policymakers to become aware of the importance that the quality of institutions has on entrepreneurial activity, and, consequently on economic performance.

This paper aims to investigate the following two research questions: Do corporate social responsibility (CSR) investments enhance a firm’s economic performance? Does the firm’s economic performance influence CSR investments? That is, the bidirectional relationship between CSR investments and economic performance.

This paper analyzes three types of CSR investments (environmental, labor-related and social investments) using a simultaneous equations model with a data set of 185 Japanese firms.

Environmental investments reduce economic performance, labor-related investments do not significantly affect economic performance and social investments increase economic performance. Moreover, strong economic performance decreases environmental investments but increases social investments. Labor-related investments are chosen considering economic performance in both the present and previous terms.

For managers, environmental and labor-related investments are not effective for improving economic performance. However, eradicating them completely might harm corporate reputation. In contrast, social investments have now become important. For policymakers, different approaches may be adopted to encourage firms to increase CSR investments. In some cases, policymakers can rely on firm initiatives instead of regulating or encouraging CSR activities.

First, the authors empirically examine the bidirectional relationship between CSR investments and economic performance. Second, they clarify the determinants of CSR by specifying the investment function of each type of CSR. Third, they consider three types of CSR investments, with interrelations among them allowed in the model, and determine how each type affects firm performance.