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In order to explain a phenomenon/problem, some of the mechanisms which elicit the phenomenon/problem must be clarified, since: “a goal of scientific research is to uncover reality beneath appearance”. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the following issue: how can social mechanisms be examined from a systemic point of view?

The paper investigates, at an abstract level, what is meant by social mechanisms in social systems in Part 1. Social mechanisms and various explanation models are investigated in Part 2, using the systemic approach.

However well‐functioning the models developed, this procedure will not have developed a theory of the phenomenon. For that purpose, explanations at a more basic level than the model is able to disclose, will be necessary. The empirical causal model says something about the strength in the relation between the variables and can be used in practice in order to change certain variables to facilitate the desired change in the system.

The paper usefully shows that, if possible, explanations at a more basic level would be desirable; but not necessary for the application of insights in practical contexts. By this, the paper has stated that a theory can be desirable, but not necessary, in order to develop, e.g. innovative organisations. Models and social mechanisms, on the other hand, are necessary to organise knowledge for the purpose of use in practical contexts.

Social entrepreneurs create novel approaches to social problems such as poverty. But scaling these approaches to the dimension of the problem can be a difficult task. In the social enterprise sector, the subject of scaling has become a key dimension of organizational performance. This chapter advances the scholarly literature on the scaling of social enterprises, a literature which is currently in an embryonic stage and characterized by conceptual ambiguity and fragmented perspectives.

We engage realist philosophy of science to develop mechanism-based causal explanations of the scaling performance of social enterprises. We also develop a coding scheme to guide systematic empirical analysis and highlight the explanatory power of counterfactuals. Counterfactuals have been largely neglected in empirical research as they represent mechanisms that are enabled but remain unobservable – in a state of suppression or neutralization of their effects.

We question the ability of organizations to “socially engineer” desired outcomes and introduce a new construct – organizational closure competence. Anchored in realism, this construct provides a basis for productive approaches to social engineering. We elaborate on the importance of organizational closure competencies for scaling, derive a series of propositions, and develop ideas for future research and for practice.

Applying a realist lens allows us to add empirical rigor to research on social enterprises and scaling. Our approach constitutes a move from rich narratives to causal models and informs the way we design and evaluate efforts to address important societal challenges.

This chapter demonstrates how to operationalize realist philosophy of science for causal explanations of complex social phenomena and better utilize its theoretical and practical value.

In this chapter, we reexamine the notion that socially responsible behavior by firms will lead to increased financial performance. By identifying the underlying processes, institutional settings, and actors involved, we present a framework that is more attentive to the multiplicity and conditionality of the mechanisms operating in the often tenuous connection between firms’ social behavior and financial performance. Building and expanding upon existing analyses of the CSP–CFP linkage, our model helps to explain the mixed results from a wide range of empirical studies which examine this link. It also provides a novel theoretical account to help guide future researches that are more attentive to conditionalities and contextual contingencies.

This study mainly aims to examine whether entrepreneurs’ utilization of political connections is purely egoistic. Addressing this issue could shed light on traditional debate which concerns whether political connections still have strategic value at advanced stage of institutional transition today in China. Here, at the background of Chinese economic transformation, the utilization of political connections is studied, and a double-role model of the pro-self-mechanism and the pro-social mechanism between political connections and performance in China is put forward.

This study uses survey of questionnaires randomly from 363 entrepreneurs in Jiangsu, Anhui and Shandong Provinces of China and adopts the first stage and direct moderation model in examination.

The results show that there exists mediated mechanism of both pro-self and pro-social mechanism in the relationship between political connections and firm performance. The authors conclude that utilization of political connections is not only purely egoistic but also altruistic. So, both dark-side and bright-side mechanisms of political connections in China are of equal importance. In addition, the authors take into consideration of the contingency effects of institution, industry and firm-level factors of this moderation model. The pro-self and pro-social mechanisms have differences in terms of moderator-within and moderator-between comparisons of these three contingency effects. Among these comparisons, the pro-self-mediating mechanism is most sensitive to changes of institutional quality, whereas the pro-social mediating mechanism is most sensitive to the uncertainty of industry competition.

This evidence furthermore verifies that the process of institutional transition is nonlinear and political connections still have strategic value in advanced stage of institutional transition today.

This study combines the dual perspectives of “give” and “take.” The former implies the pro-social motivation, while the latter implies the pro-self-motivation. Based on the framework of “resource-conduct-performance,” this study explores how these two mechanisms mediate the relationship between political ties and firm performance. In addition, the authors adopt the framework of “Strategy Tripod,” which was proposed by Peng et al. (2009) and examine the difference between pro-self and pro-social motivation at different level of institution environment improvement, industry dynamics and firm absorptive capacity.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a conceptual framework for improving the interaction between horizontal and social accountability mechanisms for enhanced accountability outcomes.

This is a conceptual paper drawing on six published anti-corruption cases in the Asian region and in theory to develop a framework for understanding and improving the interaction between horizontal and social accountability mechanisms.

The paper proposes that to have more improved interactions between horizontal and social accountability mechanisms, any or all of the following eight conditions must be met. These include, independence and capacity of horizontal accountability agencies; legal backing for horizontal and social accountability interaction; vibrant and independent media; strong partnership of civil society with the media for information dissemination; organisation of civil society into groups; credibility of horizontal and social accountability mechanisms; capacity of civil society (including human and financial capacity); horizontal accountability mechanisms to support and motivate social mechanism to “blow the alarm”.

The conceptual framework developed in this paper makes a significant contribution to the accountability literature. In terms of policy, this framework can serve as a tool for governments, especially in Asia, seeking good governance through enhanced accountability outcomes.

This chapter investigates the antecedents to the development of the three components of subsidiaries’ absorptive capacity (ACAP): recognition, assimilation and application of transferred knowledge in the context of the vertical flow of social and environmental accounting and reporting (SEAR) knowledge from the HQ to acquired subsidiaries. Our analysis is based on an embedded multiple case study of a UK-based MNC, informed by 44 semi-structured interviews and capitalising on agency theory and socialisation theory. Prior knowledge is not a sufficient explanation to the development of ACAP but it is also dependent on organisational mechanisms that will trigger the learning processes. Depending on the nature and degree of the social, control and integration mechanisms, the effects of prior stocks of knowledge on ACAP may vary. Our propositions only hold for one direction of knowledge transfer. The study is based on an embedded multiple case study in one sector which restricts its generalisation. It excludes the specific relationships between the three ACAP learning processes and the existence of feedback loops. Our findings suggest that the HQ’s mix of social, control and integration mechanisms should account for initial stocks of SEAR knowledge. The contribution lies in uncovering the interaction between heterogeneous levels of prior knowledge and organisational mechanisms deployed by the HQ fostering ACAP. We address emerging issues regarding the reification of the ACAP concept and highlight the potential of agency theory for informing studies on HQ-subsidiary relations.

The purpose of this article is to provide a comprehensive understanding of the roots of family firms' competitive advantages by defining and testing the familiness learning mechanisms that emerge from the interaction between family and firm. Because family members are economically, emotionally and socially attached to the firm, family firms are expected to be able to develop unique and difficult to imitate learning mechanisms related to family firm value creation.

This study operationalizes and tests the concept of the familiness learning mechanism using a sample of nonlisted Spanish family firms. The sample is analyzed using the structural equation modeling method.

Results show that family firms' ability to accumulate internal and external knowledge, integrate social knowledge, as well as create and retain socioemotional knowledge forms the concept of the familiness learning mechanism, and the authors show what implications it might have for family firm value creation.

By using the dynamic capabilities approach, this article highlights the importance of the knowledge and learning derived from family involvement in the firm. The creation of learning mechanisms occurs because of the close relationships between family members and their simultaneous participation in the family and in the company systems, which creates a unique context wherein knowledge and learning emerge in an idiosyncratic manner.

Following recommendations by scholars for further research on the business incubation process, the purpose of this paper is to build new theory on incubation using the social mechanisms approach – a well-developed body of theory on social processes.

A critical review of dominant theoretical approaches in the area highlighted that researchers in the past have not studied incubation as a social “process.” In order to study a social process such as incubation, a case is made for the value of social mechanisms theory. In order to study incubation as a social mechanism, an inductive-qualitative research design based on ethnography was used. Data were collected over six months each at two Dublin-Ireland-based business incubators.

Results highlight the significant role of a positive relational bond between the incubator manager and client entrepreneurs. Incubation is triggered in a sophisticated normative environment under the prevalence of ground rules, subtle signals and the interplay of personal histories. These contribute to the incubation mechanism's non-linearity, thereby, making the prediction of outcomes difficult.

A contribution of this research comes in the form of a new conceptualization of incubation based in mechanisms reasoning. The mechanisms approach was found to be versatile and helped in extending the work of previous researchers who proposed advancements in the area based on dyadic theory, social capital theory and social network theory. Further, a new, and it is argued, more fruitful direction for incubation process-related research is also highlighted; one which takes on board the often glossed over idiosyncrasies of incubation as a social mechanism for promoting early stage entrepreneurship.

The purpose of this paper is to identify and prioritise social responsible mechanisms in apparel supply chains to extend social responsibility from large retailers in developed countries to producers in developing nations.

A framework that consists of supplier qualification and supplier relational mechanisms as two socially responsible mechanisms, with five factors and 18 dimensions is proposed. To prioritise the dimensions, analytic hierarchy process is employed by using a case study methodology of a major Australian retailer sourcing from Bangladesh manufacturers.

Results indicate that at the mechanism level, both retailer and manufacturers perceive qualification of manufacturer as by far the most critical element compared to the relational mechanism. However, substantial differences exist at the factor level; namely, that the social factor is critical for the retailer, whereas the economic factor is critical for the manufacturer. Within the relational mechanism, evaluation helps retailers to enforce social responsibility, while manufacturers believe collaboration helps.

The major limitation of this study is the generalisation of the findings. The results obtained by focusing on a particular context in the Australian retail sector importing from Bangladesh, may not be applicable to other nations.

By highlighting the difference of opinion, this study assists managers in developing guidelines to better understand the socially responsible mechanisms in the retailer-manufacturer dyadic relationship and to propose strategies to address the differences.

This study advances the literature on inter-organisational relationship to retailer-manufacturer dyad for the implementation of social responsibility by including supplier qualification along with supplier relational mechanism.

The purpose of this paper is to extend the macro-social marketing approach by detailing a framework to better understand the driving forces of wicked problems.

This is a conceptual paper that uses the financial crisis in Iceland as a demonstrative example to show how social mechanism theory can help social marketers and policy makers overcome complexity and strive for the social transformation they seek.

This paper suggests the utility of social mechanism theory for understanding wicked problems, how they came to be and how social marketing practices can be applied to resolve market complexities.

Social marketers need to identify what is driving what, to plan and implement interventions that will lead to the social change desired. This paper presents a framework that guides the analyst through this social change process.

This work provides social marketers with the means to understand the “moving parts” of a wicked problem to identify where an intervention is required to achieve the social change sought.